Medical Malpractice | Grant Law Office - Part 4

Proving a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

By Grant Law Office on August 11, 2014

If you have sustained significant losses because of mistakes made by a medical professional, you may want to research your legal options. Victims of egregious errors and negligence can file a medical malpractice claim against the at-fault party. Experiencing an undesirable outcome from medical treatment is not, however, enough to win a malpractice claim. You will have to prove your case.

All healthcare providers have a legal duty to provide care that meets professional standards. In order to have a successful malpractice case, you will need to prove that the doctor did not meet the required standard of care.Read more…

What Elements Do You Have to Prove in a Medical Malpractice Case?

By Grant Law Office on March 26, 2014

Medical malpractice is when a doctor, surgeon, nurse, or other medical practitioner causes injury or harm by acting in a negligent manner. When mistakes are made and such negligence contributes to an injury, the victim may file a medical malpractice claim against the at-fault doctor or medical facility. A medical malpractice claim will only succeed in court if the basic elements of the case are proven.

The elements of any medical malpractice case include duty, breach, causation, and damages:

• Duty: Doctors are required under the law to provide a certain standard of care to patients. Therefore, you must prove that you had a doctor-patient relationship and that the doctor owed you a certain level of care.Read more…

Medical Malpractice Suits and the Ineffectiveness of Tort Reforms

By Grant Law Office on September 9, 2013

The second-highest New York medical malpractice suit payout was recently awarded by a jury to a Long Island family, a staggering $130 million. An $8 million settlement was offered and rejected before the trial was initiated.

The trial, Reilly v. St. Charles Hospital, revolved around a birth gone wrong, where a child was born in 2002 with severe brain injury and cerebral palsy. The jury determined the cause of the injury to be malpractice on the part of the Long Island hospital. The obstetric nurse assigned to the birth missed signs of distress by the baby, an oversight that led to devastating consequences. The plantiff’s attorney argued that the medical errors were preventable, and the jury agreed.

The lawyers who represented St. Charles Hospital expressed discontentment with the trial’s outcome and pushed for more tort reform. Unlike 29 other states, New York does not limit the amount a claimant can be awarded for pain-and-suffering. The state also has a less restrictive statute of limitations for medical malpractice suits.Read more…

Study Shows Malpractice Payouts Account for Small Portion of Healthcare Costs

By Grant Law Office on June 10, 2013

The idea that medical malpractice claims are a major reason why healthcare costs are so high is a popular talking point. A recent study by the National Practitioner Data Bank, however, showed that large medical malpractice payouts by doctors only account for a fraction of national healthcare expenditures. According to the report published in The Journal for Healthcare Quality, the $1.4 billion a year spent on high payouts only accounts for .05 percent of healthcare costs.

As reported by Reuters, up to $60 billion in costs annually come from unnecessary procedures and tests. This is a considerably larger amount than the cost of medical malpractice lawsuit payouts.Read more…

May is National Stroke Awareness Month

By Grant Law Office on May 6, 2013

In 1989, President George H. W. Bush designated May as National Stroke Awareness Month. It is a unique time of year when healthcare providers band together to raise awareness about the danger of strokes. This is important because strokes are extremely common. The National Stroke Association reports that strokes are the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, killing more than133,000 people annually. It is also the leading cause of serious, long-term adult disabilities.

A stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery or blood vessel, interrupting blood flow to an area of the brain. Shortly after this happens, brain cells may begin to die and permanent brain damage can occur.Read more…

FDA Reports Numerous Safety Problems with Compounding Pharmacies

By Grant Law Office on April 15, 2013

Filthy conditions at the New England Compounding Center (NECC) led to a fungal meningitis outbreak that resulted in 53 fatalities and 680 illnesses. This outbreak spurred inspections at specialized pharmacies nationwide by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials. According to a news report in The Washington Post, federal inspectors discovered dozens of safety issues at 30 specialized pharmacies.

At a Florida company, for example, inspectors discovered unknown black particles in seven vials of an injectable medicine. During other facility visits, they found mold and rust in rooms that are supposed to be clean. They also found tears in gloves worn by technicians. The FDA has stated that while many of these facilities have adequate standards and oversight, other specialized drug manufacturers have been able to slip through the cracks. The FDA is now asking Congress for more authority over compounders of high-risk sterile products to ensure that patients are not put in harm’s way.Read more…

Harmful Diagnostic Errors Made by Doctors

By Grant Law Office on March 29, 2013

When a patient is given an incorrect diagnosis, he or she may suffer serious consequences from taking the wrong medication or from not receiving the proper care. When this occurs, there is the potential for serious harm. A recent study published online in Journal of the American Medical Association’s Internal Medicine issue reviewed how and why primary care physicians make diagnostic errors. According to their study, almost 80 percent of diagnostic errors resulted from breakdowns in the patient-practitioner clinical encounter.

Breakdowns during the clinical encounter of the primary care physicians studied the most common occurrence, includes:

• taking down a patient’s history (56.3 percent) or during the physical examination (47.4 percent);
• ordering further diagnostic tests (57.4 percent);Read more…

Doctors Receiving Millions from Drug Companies

By Grant Law Office on March 28, 2013

A recent review of how doctors in Louisiana receive compensation from drug companies should be a warning to patients throughout the country. ProPublica reports that over $23 million was given to these physicians for a myriad of reasons, including speaking engagements, trials and consultations, and 36,000 payments were made to Louisiana doctors between 2009 and 2012. The data from 15 companies show that over $2 billion was paid to doctors nationwide. In some cases, doctors are prescribing and recommending the products made by companies from whom they are receiving compensation.

According to a recent article in The Shreveport Times, the level of transparency regarding which doctors are receiving payments from corporations is about to change. When the Physician Payment Sunshine Act goes into effect in 2014, all drug and medical device companies will have to report how much they are paying to doctors. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, patients will be able to determine for themselves if his or her doctor is acting in their best interests, or in the interests of a drug company.Read more…

Surgical Nightmare

By Grant Law Office on February 15, 2013

Sometimes surgeons accidentally leave items inside a patient’s body – a sponge, for example. However, a recent case filed by the family of a man in Germany revealed 16 different items had been left inside his body in 2009, during routine surgery for prostate cancer.

According to the Mail Online Dirk Schroeder, age 74, suffered a lot of pain after his surgery for prostate cancer in 2009. It took several months to discover the cause. Schroeder was visited by a home nurse a few months after the surgery, and she was shocked to see a gauze pad sticking out of his wound. Surgeons in two additional procedures found many items, including a 6 inch long compress, swabs, a needle, a piece of a surgical mask, and a 6 inch roll of bandage.Read more…

February is Heart Health Month – Don’t Let Heart Disease Beat You

By Grant Law Office on February 6, 2012

February is “Heart Health Month” in the United States. If you have risk factors for heart disease, or don’t know your heart disease status, now is a great time to see your doctor, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). It’s also a good time to get a second opinion if you suspect your heart disease has been misdiagnosed or isn’t being treated properly.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, especially those over age 55. Each year, heart disease takes more lives than every form of cancer combined. Heart disease occurs when the heart or the blood vessels that feed it are damaged, often by the buildup of plaque that narrows the blood vessels. Narrow blood vessels means the heart gets less blood in and out with each beat, forcing it to work harder.Read more…