A Broward County, Florida jury has awarded $3.5 million to the family of a man who died 17 days after being implanted with a pacemaker. According to the family's wrongful death lawyer, the jury found that doctors committed medical malpractice by not delaying the procedure because the man developed lung problems prior to the surgery.
You can find the story here.
Chemotherapy patients taking the popular cancer drug Avastin more likely to develop blood clots in the veins according to a Journal of the American Medical Association study released this week. Researchers found that patients combining Avastin with chemotherapy treatment raise their risks for clots by about a third.
The study of 8000 patients demonstrates "a significant increased risk with Avastin for patients while they are taking chemotherapy," said Dr. Shenhong Wu of Stony Brook University Cancer Center in New York
Avastin's package insert contains warnings about the potential for arterial clotting.
Two units of Johnson & Johnson were orded to pay $16.6 million to the family of a Chicago-area woman who died after using a Duragesic pain-patch. This is the 4th consecutive pain pump verdict against for Johnson & Johnson in the pain pump litigation. Last month, a Florida jury awarded $13 million to the family of a woman who died after using a similar patch.
If you have a Duragesic pain patch case, call our attorneys at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free initial consultation.
A recent Jury Verdict Research study found that the average motor vehicle accident case jury verdict in Oregon is $36,721. Car and other motor vehicle accident plaintiffs received money damages in 75% of these Oregon personal injury accident cases, a much higher percentage than the national average.
If you have been injured in a car accident in Portland, Eugene, Salem, Gresham, Beverton, Hilsboro, Medford, Springfield, Bend, or Corvallis and need a car accident lawyer, call 1-800-553-8082 or click here for a free no obligation Internet consultation.
The family of a CVS pharmacy clerk who was stabbed to death by a shoplifter cannot pursue wrongful death claim against CVS because a provision of the Massachusetts workers’ compensation law prohibits employees from seeking damages for work-related injuries, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found this week.
Very sad case but not a surprising outcome as workers compensation law is fairly well settled on this issue in most jurisdictions.
The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled last week in a Maryland workers’ comp appeal that testimony from a vocational expert is not required in an appeal of Workers Compensation Committee award for industrial loss.
In this case, the Claimant, a fleet service clerk for American Airlines, sustained a permanent partial disability of 50% under “Other Cases” industrial loss from a back injury and related psychiatric injury and as the result an accident unloading baggage at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. The employer appealed the decision to Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. An Anne Arundel jury reduced the award to 35%.
On appeal, Claimant argued that American Airlines was required to provide testimony from a vocational expert in addition to the testimony of a psychiatrist and orthopedic surgeon. Judge Lynne A. Battaglia, writing for a unanimous Maryland Court of Appeals decision, found that Maryland law, like most other states, is that expert vocational testimony is not required to determine industrial loss.
You can find the full opinion in Maldonado v. American Airlines here.
Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry signed into law a medical malpractice tort reform law in Oklahoma. Called the "Affordable Access to Health Care Act" (“Let’s Stop Victims from Getting Fair Compensation” was already taken), the law requires a certificate of merit by a medical expert before a nursing home or medical malpractice lawyer in Oklahoma can file a claim.
As I’ve written before, I’m fine with this new Oklahoma rule. I’m also okay – I guess – with the rule that attorney fees are no longer awarded to plaintiffs in nursing home liability lawsuits (although that rule seemed fair). My problem with this bill is that it puts a $300,000 cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases involving birth injuries and emergency care. In other words, they are putting a cap on what are usually the most serious medical malpractice cases where the victims have suffered the most.
Bad law but it received large support in Oklahoma City.
Personal injury verdict reviews reports on $3,990,000 settlement in a cerebral palsy case in New York. Plaintiff alleged hospital malpractice in failing to train and supervise its medical team who administered an excessive amount of fluid to the infant, causing the child to become waterlogged and develop life-threatening hyponatrenia. Plaintiff’s medical malpractice lawyer’s theory of the case was that the hospital should have used (1) a more concentrated solution in a peripheral line and (2) the hospital should have installed a central line, causing them to use too much fluid to deliver adequate amounts of sugar to the child.
Plaintiff’s medical malpractice lawyer was Richard A. Gurfein. The case was defended by Lake Success lawyer Henry Zee. Plaintiff’s expert witnesses included Edmund H. Mantell, Ph.D. (economist in White Plains, New York) Daniel Adler, M.D. (pediatric neurologist) and Joseph Carfi, M.D.(rehab expert).
The Baltimore Injury Lawyer Blog has a post on a Maryland Daily Record article looking at how President-Elect Barack Obama might change the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals which includes Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
I've spend far more time thinking about how President Obama will change the country than his impact on lawyers or even my own clients. But President Obama is going to nominate judges that I am going to stand before and argue. While I do think President Bush has nominated a lot of good judges, this fact makes me a little happier to be a lawyer today. I'm not saying every plaintiffs' lawyer is going to have a better shot at success in front of judges nominated by Obama. I just think they are likely to be fair and reasonable judges.
The New York Medical Malpractice Law Blog - which I found via the New York Personal Injury Attorney Blog - reports on something I did not know: electronic medical records are now being widely utilized in Great Britian. For one, York Hospital is now using electronic medical records in an effort to improve communication among doctors in treating patients.
The reality is that this is a public safety issue but it's also a "it is 2008 and we have no money left in the budget" issue. The federal government pays for nearly 40% of the over $1.3 trillion spent on medical care in this country and spends millions more providing disability benefits to medical malpractice victims. Accordingly, besides saving potentially thousands of lives, electronic medical records will reduce the costs associated with medical malpractice and the government and our health care system will see signifcant savings in the long run. This will, in turn, decrease medical malpractice lawsuits which will lower medical malpractice premiums.
All good. What is the problem? The problem is the cost. While a national system of computerized medical records is on Obama's wish list, that list is getting cutback as we look at the economic realities of our federal budget in light of our country's financial crisis. Ironically, this is the perfect kind of project for deficit spending because it is not a money pit - electroic medical records are going to save us more in the long run than the 3% interest the government would pay for the investment. But while I'd love to be wrong about this, I do not see a great push for electronic medical records in Obama's first term.
By the way, bravo to the Eric Turkewitz and his New York Personal Injury Lawyer Blog for publishing a link of a fellow New York medical malpractice attorney. Eric's mentality is that he is writing with a focused eye on what would be interesting to his readers, which is one of the reasons why his blog has been so successful.
AOL provides this morning blinding insight into how to avoid car accidents with the news breaking "drive defensively" and the completely practical suggestion that we all take a refresher course on driver safety.
Car accidents are caused by human error in the overwhelming majority of auto accident cases - the failure to pay time and attention to what we should be doing on the roadway. We don't need to become more educated on the rules of the road or take another driving lesson. We need to (1) pay attention and (2) not combine alcohol and driving. That is the magic elixir. Period. What is hysterical is how many car accident lawyer blogs will link to this article and point to the insight it provides.
Justice Diaz, while controversial, was a loss for personal injury accident and medical malpractice victims in Mississippi. But Mississippi voters also threw out Chief Justice Jim Smith who upheld verdicts for insurance companies 100% of the time, while ruling to overturn verdicts on behalf of victims 88% of the time. It is is just hard to imagine there is no political bent to this types of rulings - the numbers just jump off the page at you. Challenger Mississippi lawyer Jim Kitchens (a former district attorney). Although he was outspent 2:1, Jim Kitchens' clobbered Justice Smith 54% - 36%.
Our lawyers are investigating ReliOn syringe lawsuits after the FDA notified doctors and patients that Tyco is recalling one lot of ReliOn sterile, single-use, disposable, hypodermic syringes with permanently affixed hypodermic needles on the suspicion that the ReliON syringes have been mislabeled. This possible defect may lead to patients receiving an overdose of as much as 2.5 times the intended dose on insulin. Such an overdose can cause hypoglycemia and other serious health consequences, including death.
This recall appears to impact ReliOn Insulin Syringes sold at Wal-Mart or Sam’s Clubs since August 1, 2008. Approximately 471,000 potentially defective Sam’s Club and Walmart Insulin Syringes are subject to this recall (which is 4,710 boxes).
Wal-Mart is doing the right thing, telling ReliOn consumers to return the recalled syringes to their local Wal-Mart store or Sam's Club pharmacy. Customers will be provided a replacement product.
If you have been injured by a ReliOn Insulin Syringes and want your case evaluated for a potential ReliOn Syringe lawsuit, call 800-553-8082 or click here for a free internet consultation by a ReliOn Syringe Recall Lawyer. .
Malpractice tort reform in Arkansas enacted in 2003 seems to be accomplishing the goal of less medical malpractice lawsuits.
2001: 383 Malpractice Lawsuits
2002: 383 Malpractice Lawsuits
2003: 385 Malpractice Lawsuits
2004: 305 Malpractice Lawsuits
2005: 282 Malpractice Lawsuits
2006: 255 Malpractice Lawsuits
2007: 285 Malpractice Lawsuits
The problem is that Arkansas' medical malpractice reform is not eliminating weaker cases but eliminating cases where the economic damages are not high enough to entice Arkansas medical malpractice lawyers to file malpractice lawsuits.
Related Posts
Valuing Medical Malpractice Cases in Arkansas (malpractice verdicts around the country)
Article on Arkansas Malpractice Reform (Arkansas Times article on impact of medical malpractice tort reform in Arkansas)
Reports of some 30 deaths involving ATVs - including the Yamaha Rhino ATV have prompted federal safety regulators to open an investigation into the new and unregulated products. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Yamaha Rhino, which differs from traditional all-terrain vehicles in size and design, is the primary focus of the Consumer Product Safety Commission probe. Other similiar vehicles, including the Polaris Razor, Honda''s Big Red, Kawasaki Mule and Arctic Cat Prowler, may also be included in the investigation.
If you or someone you love has suffered a serious rollover injury or death in a Yamaha Rhino ATV or other ATV, our lawyers may be able to help. Our Yamaha Rhino lawyers are handling Yamaha Rhino ATV rollover lawsuits in serious injury and death cases across the country. Call us for a free consultation at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free Rhino AVT Internet consultation.
The Los Vegas Sun reports that a unanimous Nevada Supreme Court ruled that a Las Vegas woman whose child suffered brain damage allegedly from medical malpractice during the child's birth may continue her malpractice lawsuit against a doctor who delivered her child. The Nevada court found that a 10-year statute of limitations instead of the four-year statute should be applied in cases where a child suffers brain damage or a birth defect.
Leakesville native Judge Randy "Bubba" Pierce's defeated Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr. Tuesday by securing 58 percent of the votes. You can find the article here.
Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar was named in a lawsuit following a fatal alcohol-related car crash. In the lawsuit, plaintiff claims the bar overserved a man on the night of the accident and was negligent in the death of her daughter.
This is an awful case. The man's pickup truck collided with a car occupied by three teenagers, killing two people of them and seriously injuring the third. The drunk driver was also killed in the car accident.
As tragic as this case is, I do have some concern with dram shop laws that hold bars accountable in these case just because I think it is so difficult to track who has been served what at a bar.
The South Dakota Supreme Court has upheld South Dakota Circuit Judge Jon Erickson’s decision to grant a new trial in a medical malpractice lawsuit against a Huron doctor. The medical malpractice lawsuit arose out of complications from gall bladder surgery in 2001. The jury instruction stated:
A doctor is not necessarily negligent because the physician errs in judgment or because efforts prove unsuccessful.The physician is negligent if the error in judgment or lack of success is due to a failure to perform any of the duties defined in these instructions.
I don't know how the change of heart came about but, to his credit, Judge Erickson acknowledged the error and ordered a new trial. The doctor's malpractice lawyer appealed, arguing that is was an abuse of discretion to grant a new trial. Specifically, the defendant's lawyer relied on Veith v. O'Brien where the court found that the plaintiff did not prove that this "error in judgment" instruction "in all probability" had an impact on the jury's verdict.
The South Dakota Supreme Court agreed with Judge Erickson that the instruction was inappropriate and found that it was not an abuse of discretion to find that the instruction prejudiced the Plaintiff's case. Interesting, the court stated in a footnote that "concededly, there may be little to distinguish our holding in Veith." I just thought this was a remarkable candid admission from the South Dakota Supreme Court.
The decision was unanimous and I think it is hard to argue with the result because every medical malpractice plaintiff has the right to have a jury consider what the malpractice law actually is. That said, I feel for the doctor who received a verdict and now must go through the entire process all over again. Finding for the plaintiff is the lesser injustice but it is intellectually dishonest to think that the jury in this case likely would have found medical malpractice but for this incorrect jury instruction.
You can read the entire opinion here.
The San Jose Mercury News has an article on tort reform in Nevada. The story profiles the a man who cannot find a lawyer because of Nevada's cap of $350,000 in pain and suffering (noneconomic) damages in medical malpractice lawsuits in Nevada.
What is almost as bad is Nevada's statute of limitations in medical malpractice cases which has been reduced to 1 year.
The Mercury News points out that the median salaries for general surgeons in this area of the country are $292,000, according to Salary.Com, compared with $235,000 for OB-GYNs and $158,000 for family practitioners. Which indirectly states the obvious: why are we sacrificing justice so doctors can pay less in medical malpractice insurance premiums?
AstraZeneca is going to keep pushing Seroquel. Last week AstraZeneca asked the FDA to let it market the antipsychotic drug Seroquel for the treatment of schizophrenia in teenagers and for the treatment of acute manic episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in children and teenagers between 10 and 17.
It is amazing that there are over 13,000 Seroquel lawsuits and AstraZeneca is looking to expand the uses of Seroquel. Currently, two atypical antipsychotics are approved to treat adolescents and the literature to support their use with children is certainly not overwhelming. You have a drug under siege and you try to use that drug for a purpose for which pharmacological efficacy is highly questionable. This is called pushing all of your chips to the center of the table.
In other Seroquel news, About Lawsuits reports that the MDL judge in Orlando, Florida, who is overseeing all federal Seroquel lawsuits, denied a request by AstraZeneca last week to file motions in the Seroquel litigation under seal.
Note: For information on Seroquel class action cases involving diabetes and pancreatitis, click here.
If you think you may have a potential Seroquel lawsuit and have a question about the Seroquel class action lawsuit, you can call one of our Seroquel lawyers for a free consultation at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free Internet Seroquel consultation.
A Florida jury awared more than $13 million to the family of a woman who died of a drug overdose caused by a painkilling patch. Jurors found that the manufacturing defects that in the Duragesic patch caused the death.
In the middle of all of the recap of Sunday's action in the NFL, ESPN had sad story that I do not remember hearing about. A University of Central Florida football player who collapsed died in March during workouts in March. A former player was interviewed who suggested that the coaches were not paying attention to the stress the player was under and that the significantly understated the intensity of the workout. The family of the player intends fo file wrongful death lawsuit in Florida against the school.
I can't judge the merits of the case. But it is just awful to think that this death could have been averted but for some old school "there is nothing wrong with you, just suck it up" garbage from coaches.
Avandia should be off the market, Public Citizen told the FDA last week, citing the life-threatening risks of Avandia, including heart and liver damage.
It was the second blow to Avandia in the last two weeks for Avandia. The American Diabetes Association and a European counterpart jointly released updated treatment guidelines for doctors that recommended against using Avandia.
Dr. John B. Buse, chief of endocrinology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and president of the American Diabetes Association has expressed grave concerns about Avandia, citing “a worrisome trend in cardiovascular deaths and severe adverse events” among patients using the Avandia. Dr. Buse's letter was also critical of the Glaxo's marketing of Avandia, accusing the company of “pervasive and systemic” efforts to understate the Avandia’s risks and overstate its benefits.
Some lawyers believe an Avandia settlement is in the near future. If you have a potential Avandia lawsuit, call our Avandia lawyers at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free consultation.
Max Myers' Washington Injury Lawyer Blog report on a $4.2 million verdict in King County jury in a birth injury case.
