More Medical Malpractice News

Medical Malpractice Law News is happy to announce that we have added a new resource to bring you more timely medical malpractice news. We have added the latest headlines on medical malpractice topics from the Kaiser Health News resource in our right column, just below the Google news feeds.

Visit us daily for the latest news in med mal. Also, remember you can submit your a news release on a significant settlement or verdict by your firm. Please submit a trial report or published news link here.

We have also added the KHN's Daily Health Policy Report to the sidebar... so visit us daily.

Massachusetts: Operating Room Fall Lawsuit Settles for $900,000

From The Boston Globe — Two years to the day after a women's tragic fall from an operating room table following hip surgery, has reached a settlement. According to the report...

"The settlement halted a trial that was set for today and saved Boston University’s teaching hospital a potentially embarrassing trip to Suffolk Superior Court. The family’s lawyer, Andrew C. Meyer Jr., said the hospital agreed to pay $900,000. Meyer said the case exposed gaps in operating room procedures and hopefully will prevent future tragedies."

See the full article here: Family, hospital settle after mother’s fatal fall in operating room.

Posted using ShareThis

Arizona Medical Malpractice Birth Injury Case Settles

According to the ClaimsJournal.com, an Arizona medical malpractice case has settled for $312,000 to be paid to the plaintiff. The case involved "a boy who suffered permanent injuries during childbirth more than six years ago."

"According to a medical malpractice claim, the medical staff at Maricopa Medical Center failed to offer Estela Cruz a Cesarean section in May 2003 despite ultrasound scans that depicted a baby of 'enormous size.'

As a result, the claim says her son Jose was delivered vaginally, causing severe damage to his right shoulder as well as injuries to the mother."

See the full article: Maricopa County Settles Medical Malpractice Claim

Medical Malpractice Payments Fall, While Health Care Cost Rise

A new report out by Public Citizen shows that medical malpractice payments were at or near record lows in 2008, but the decline almost certainly indicates that a lower percentage of injured patients received compensation, not that health safety has improved.

It finds that:

"The cost of the medical malpractice liability system — if measured broadly by adding all malpractice insurance premiums — fell to less than 0.6 percent of the $2.1 trillion in total national health care costs in 2006, the most recent year for which the necessary data to make such comparisons are available. The cost of actual malpractice payments fell to 0.18 percent - one-fifth of 1 percent - of all health care costs in 2006. Annual malpractice payments have subsequently fallen from $3.9 billion in 2006 to $3.6 billion in 2008, but comparative data on total health care costs are not available."

You can download the full study here: The 0.6 Percent Bogeyman — Medical Malpractice Payments Fall to All-Time Low as Health Care Costs Continue to Rise

See summary press release here: Med Mal Payments

NYT Opines on Med Mal and Health Care Reform

Here's an editorial from the New York Times, published June 17, 2009:

Malpractice and Health Care Reform

President Obama’s promise to help doctors limit their vulnerability to malpractice lawsuits is a reasonable offer, but only if malpractice reform is done carefully.
Click to read...

NEJM Looks at Medical Liability in Health Care Reform

The New England Journal of Medicine takes a look at medical liability reform at the federal level. The article, The Role of Medical Liability Reform in Federal Health Care Reform, provides a bit of background on the topic of tort reform and sees "at least three reasons why government champions of health care reform might consider bundling medical liability reform. These are: defensive medicine, physician support, and to attract Republican support. For more details, please read the article here: medical liability in health care reform.

New York Med Mal Payouts Stable

An article in the Insurance Journal reports Data Show New York Malpractice Payouts Steady.

"The federal data show 2,000 to 2,400 malpractice payments in New York each of the past 15 years. Total payments were $515 million in 1993. Horner said after adjusting for inflation, the cost has held relatively stable."

This in light of consumer advocates pushing to extend statute of limitations. See previous post.

New York Considers Change in Statute of Limitations for Medical Negligence Lawsuits

ALBANY, NY — A group of cancer patients and victims families in New York is pressing the legislature there to revise the malpractice laws to change the start date of the 2 1/2-year statute of limitations on medical negligence lawsuits from the date of discovery instead of from the time the medical mistake is made.

Read more on the Legislative Gazette: Patients should have more time to file malpractice suits, say advocates.

Rhode Island Jury Awards $4 Million for Medical Negligence

PROVIDENCE, RI — The Providence Journal reports that a Superior Court jury awarded a man $4 million for a doctor's negligence.

The jury awarded "$1.5 million for physical pain, $1.5 million for mental suffering, $500,000 for disfigurement and $500,000 for lost wages..." related to a case of misdiagnosed Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, a chronic neurological disorder that causes severe pain.

Read full article at: Rhode Island verdict.

In Wisconsin, $17.3 Million Settlement in Spleen Removal Case

Wisconsin's medical malpractice fund will pay a $17.3 million settlement to the family of a girl who was injured during a spleen removal surgery. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the surgeon, used a procedure using small holes in the abdomen as opposed to a large incision.

"To retrieve the fist-sized spleen through one of the holes, he encased the organ in a bag and used a blender-like device called a morcellator to chop it up inside the girl’s body.... The device punctured the bag, cut major blood vessels and severed part of her bowel, causing serious blood loss and permanent brain damage, according to allegations in the lawsuit that the state fund confirmed."

It’s one of the largest payments by the fund, supported by fees from health care providers. Read full article here.

Harvard Study Finds Reduced Malpractice Rate Tied To Use of Electronic Medical Records

A Harvard Study has determined that lower malpractice rates for healthcare providers are tied to the use of electronic medical records (EMRs). Leading medical record retrieval service provider, MedSave USA, concurs with this assessment and indicates that overall, a greater accuracy is reported with the use of EMRs.

The study, which was conducted by Harvard researchers, found that 6.1% of physicians with electronic records had malpractice settlements, compared to 10.8% without electronic records.

This is according to a press release issued by MedSave USA, a leading national provider of medical record retrieval services to the insurance industry, legal firms, and third party administrators (TPAs).

State Round-up Medical Malpractice Laws

Over at TortsProf Blog, published today, a quick summary of legislation and reform laws related to medical malpractice law.

• Hawaii's House Judiciary Committee approved a bill on Tuesday that could lead to caps on noneconomic damages in med mal claims against doctors in five specialties. See article: Honolulu Advertiser
• Utah Senate gives initial passage to a bill raising the burden of proof in emergency room med mal cases to "clear and convincing" evidence. See article: Salt Lake Tribune.
• Oklahoma House passes a tort reform bill that would, among other things, cap noneconomic damages at $300,000. See article: NewsOK.
• In Albany, New York, physician rally for decreased med mal insurance premiums and the ability to collectively bargain with insurers. See article: Times Union.

Jury Says Hospital At Fault for Nurse Trainee Misreading Fetal Heart Monitor -- Awards $4.4 Million in Birth Injury

This via Cerebral Palsy Law News...

South Carolina Jury Awards $4.4 Million in Birth Injury

A York County jury awarded $4.4 million to the parents of a child who suffered a brain injury at birth leading to cerebral palsy diagnosis. The award was against Piedmont Hospital.

"The jury said the hospital was at fault when it assigned a nurse trainee to monitor a woman, who arrived three days before her scheduled induction with nausea and vomiting. The nurse misread fetal heart monitoring data showing the baby was in dire distress and needed emergency intervention, according to the plaintiffs."

Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Perennial Powerhouse Lubin & Meyer

BOSTON — Medical malpractice lawyers at law firm Lubin & Meyer PC top the charts once again in the annual listing by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly of the largest verdicts and settlements of the year. Each January, the publication compiles the top verdicts of the year and top settlements of $1 million or more. And each year, one name turns up again and again. Lubin & Meyer, led by Andrew Meyer, far outpaced the pack with 2 of the top 5 verdicts in Massachusetts and 23 of the top settlements.

Attorney Robert Higgins tried the two medical malpractice verdicts: A much publicized $9.43 million verdict ($13.5 with interest) to the family of woman who died from an infection while undergoing cancer treatment at Dana Farber; and a $9.1 million verdict ($14.5 with interest) to the family of woman who died after thyroid surgery.

Of the 23 settlements, 22 were medical malpractice claims, many for baby's brain injuries leading to cerebral palsy, medical errors related to surgery and misdiagnoses of cancer. A summary list of these cases can be viewed on the firm's web site here: Largest settlements 2008.

Las Vegas, Nevada: Med Mal Jury Award Is $2.5M

Las Vegas ReviewJournal reports that a Clark County District Court jury awarded $2.5 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The suit contended that a physician and nurse were negligent and in not diagnosing a women's cancer. According to the report:

"Nevada caps malpractice lawsuit awards at $350,000 for pain and suffering. In this case, the jury awarded at least $2 million in "economic losses," or future lost wages."

See full article here. The verdict was reported to be the largest medical malpractice verdict in District Court since 2004, but a correction was printed later indicating a 2007 Clark County jury awarded $20.5 million to a woman whose husband died of lung cancer.

In N.H. Lawmakers Battle over Med Mal Screening Panels

An article in the Manchester Union Leader reports on the battle shaping up between lawmakers who want to repeal the medical malpractice screening panels law, and hospitals and doctors who feel the law is working. Click on the headline to read the full article, Lawmakers face battle over malpractice law.

Injury Law News - Publish Your Successes

Stay up to date with injury law news with our sister news sites:

• Cerebral Palsy Law News
• Vermont Personal Injury News
• Massachusetts Personal Injury News
• NH Medical Malpractice News

If you have specific verdict or settlement information that is on topic that you'd like covered in one of these online publications, please submit a trial report or published news link here.

Are you interested in having a site like this published for your firm? Please contact the editor for more details.

Trial Report for $13.5 Million Dana-Farber Medical Malpractice Verdict Now Online

Boston medical malpractice law firm Lubin & Meyer has just posted to its web site, the trial report for its recent $13.5 million jury verdict in a medical negligence lawsuit against doctors at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The news of the verdict was announced in a Boston Globe article, previously reported on by this news blog (here), but the trial report offers much more detail on the case involving a woman who developed an infection that went undiagnosed or treated while she was being treated with chemotherapy for a rare form of cancer.

For those interested in learning more about this significant 2008 Massachusetts medical malpractice verdict, click on: med mal verdict.

To read the Globe article click here.