Results tagged “law” from Medical Malpractice Lawyers & Attorneys

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has introduced a new bill that will require medical malpractice plaintiffs who lose their lawsuits to pay the legal costs for both sides. 

Graham feels the legislation will help reduce the amount of people who file frivolous malpractice lawsuits.

"When both parties in a lawsuit are subject to financial penalty, people think longer and harder about bringing a questionable case forward," said Graham.

Experts believe fear of being sued for medical malpractice has caused physicians to feel more pressure to order or perform unnecessary tests or practice defensive medicine, thus driving up health care and insurance costs.  Supporters of health care reform also believe medical malpractice insurance has caused medical costs to rise.

"While no one with a valid claim for medical malpractice should be denied his day in court, those who bring frivolous lawsuits raise the cost of health care for everyone," argued U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), who co-sponsored the bill with Graham.

Under the terms of the bill, dubbed the Fair Resolution of Medical Liability Disputes Act of 2009, both parties would be required to preliminary, non-binding arbitration before the lawsuit could be filed in court. If either party rejects the arbiter's decision, they can bring the claim to court. However, the loser of the lawsuit will be required to pay the legal costs for both sides.

To be clear, only the party that rejected the arbiter's decision would be required to pay for the legal fees, and that is only if the judgment is less favorable than the arbiter's decision.

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A Harris County jury has awarded a Texas man $10 million dollars in a medical malpractice lawsuit against Methodist Hospital.

John German went to the hospital for heart surgery. But after developing an infection, doctors were forced to amputate his left leg above the knee, the toes on his right foot, and his fingers on both hands.

German claims that the hospital staff failed to properly monitor him for blood disorders after prescribing him the blood thinner Heparin. German had an allergic reaction to the drug, causing his blood to clot instead of thin. As a result, blood was prevented from flowing to his extremities.

The jury agreed with German's claim that the nurses failed to recognize and treat his condition until it was too late.

German may be one of the last Texans to be awarded such a high settlement in a medical malpractice case. The Texas Torte Reform Law, passed in 2003, caps the amount of non-economic damages a patient can claim at $250,000.

German was awarded a multi-million dollar settlement because his case was filed before the law took effect.

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A settlement has been reached in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a Florida woman who claims she contracted a flesh-eating bacteria during the delivery of her child at Orlando Regional South Seminole Hospital.

Claudia Mejia Edwards, who eventually lost all four of her limbs, said the hospital attempted to discharge her after she complained of chills, rash, a fever, and other symptoms of the bacteria. Doctors eventually operated and discovered that Edwards had gangrene and Group A Streptococcal infection, which in layman's terms refers to a flesh-eating bacteria.  The removal of her limbs was necessary to prevent her death.

Edwards' lawyer alleged that one of her nurses was guilty of "wanton and reckless conduct" after she refused to testify under oath as to whether she was ever trained to identify the infection, and as to whether or not she noticed the infection on Edwards.

Doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other healthcare professionals have a legal duty to abide by the proper standard of medical care in their field.  When a medical professional fails to do this, and as a result causes injury or death to a patient, they can be sued for damages.

Edwards' lawsuit was settled for an unspecified amount.

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Dozens of people who contracted hepatitis C after an outbreak in two now-closed Las Vegas clinics waited in anticipation as the Assembly Judiciary Committed debated AB495, a new bill that would permit people to seek bigger settlements for gross medical negligence.

More than 50,000 people were notified last year that they may have been infected with the bloodborne disease from reused syringes and vials.

Under current state laws, victims of medical malpractice can only seek up to $350,000 in damages. AB495 would remove that limit in cases of "gross negligence."  The bill would also extend the amount of time a victim has to file his or her claim.

Opponents of the bill argue that the bill will drive up liability insurance, pushing Nevada doctors out of town because they couldn't afford to stay in business, which would consequently affect the quality of healthcare in Nevada.

But supporters of the bill state that doctors need to be held accountable when their actions result in a condition that drastically affects the quality of a patient's life.

"This bill in essence lets a jury decide the damages a patient can receive against a doctor, and not the doctors," said Attorney Marni Rubin, who received countless calls after the outbreak.

Bill Bradley, a representative for trial lawyers, agrees with Rubin. "These healthcare providers, under anybody's standards, were grossly negligent, and they absolutely put profit ahead of patient safety," he said.

In addition, patients affected by the outbreak say the bill protects bad doctors, not the people who have to live with the disease for the rest of their lives.

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