Operating Room Fall Causes Lawsuit in Massachusetts

A Massachusetts family has filed a lawsuit after a women falls off an operating table following hip surgery. According to an article in the Boston Globe, the woman "fell, buttocks first, through a gap in an orthopedic surgical table on Oct. 6 after a nurse removed a safety strap around her torso as medical staff prepared to transfer her to a hospital bed, according to an investigative report by the state Department of Public Health."

The paper said that the women who was "under anesthesia and had a breathing tube in her mouth, struck her head on the floor, fracturing her skull and causing internal bleeding.... She died Oct. 13 despite a second operation that removed part of her skull to relieve pressure from the bleeding."

According to the article, Boston plaintiff attorney Andrew Meyer, a medical malpractice lawyer for 30 years who has won some of Massachusetts's biggest judgments, said "he has never encountered a case of a patient dying as a result of a fall from an operating table."

See the full Globe article: Family sues in operating room fall.

Insurance Department Issues Second Annual Ohio Medical Liability Closed Claim Report

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Department of Insurance has issued its second annual Ohio Medical Liability Closed Claim Report, shows a total of 4,004 medical malpractice claims were closed in 2006. The average paid per claim was $288,080.

Some key findings in the report include:

• Total Claims: 4,006 claims reported for 2006 by 93 entities.
• Indemnity Payments: Almost 80 percent of medical malpractice claims resulted in no payment to a claimant. A total of 3,210 claims had no indemnity payments while 794, or 20 percent, closed with an indemnity payment.
• Claim Expenses: While most medical malpractice claims closed with no payments to claimants, almost all claims generated expenses for investigation and defense. These expenses totaled $88,131,139, an average of $25,672 per claim.

For more information on medical malpractice claims paid by state, see statehealthfacts.com.

Medical Errors: Informative Web Site

Bookmark this: A wealth of information related to Medical Errors & Patient Safety courtesy of the US government. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality web site with the mission of improving care and reducing errors. Some of the information available includes:

• Subscribe: AHRQ's Patient Safety E-newsletter
• Online Journals
• Documents
• Patient Safety Task Force
• Quality Interagency Coordination (QuIC) Task Force
• Conferences and Workshops
• Speeches and Statements on Medical Errors
• Congressional Hearings

State Roundup on Medical Malpractice Developments from Kaisernetwork.org

More from Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report's State Watch:

"Indiana: The rates that physicians pay to participate in the state Patient's Compensation Fund will decrease by 19.1% next year, and the rates that hospitals pay will decrease by 1.3%, according to the Indiana Department of Insurance, the Indianapolis Star reports. Read more...

Maryland: The Medical Mutual Liability Insurance Society of Maryland, the largest malpractice insurer in the state, last week announced plans to use an almost $100 million dividend to reduce malpractice insurance premiums for physicians by 8%, pay physicians $13.8 million in credits against premiums for 2008 and return $84 million to the state for emergency subsidies, the Baltimore Sun reports... Read more...

New Jersey: The state Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance Premium Assistance fund plans to pay $16.4 million in subsidies to help physicians in the highest-risk specialties cover the cost of malpractice insurance, state Banking and Insurance Commissioner Steven Goldman announced last week, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. Read more...

New York: The 475 physicians in the state who participate in the state Medical Malpractice Insurance Plan, which provides malpractice insurance to those who cannot obtain coverage in the private market, might have to pay significantly higher premiums because the fund has a $525 million deficit, Long Island Newsday reports." Read more...

Defibrillation Shock Comes Too Late for Some in Hospitals

In Hospitals Do Not Deliver Defibrillation Shock Within Recommended Two Minutes in 30% of Cardiac Arrests, Study Finds, Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report today describes a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showing that...

"70% of participants received defibrillation to restart their hearts within the recommended time of less than two minutes after their cardiac arrest, with a survival rate of 39%. About 17% of participants received defibrillation between three and five minutes after their cardiac arrest, with a survival rate of 28%..."

Also, the study showed a likelihood for delays in defibrillation increased by...

• "23% for black participants"
• "18% when cardiac arrests occurred on nights or weekends"
• "27% when cardiac arrests occurred in hospitals with fewer than 250 beds"

More research is needed to determine if delays in defibrillation for black participants resulted because of "geographical differences in access." View full article.

More on Medical Error Mea Culpas

This New York Times article written by Sandeep Jauhar, MD, is a personal account of a case trying to diagnose a man's chest pains. In the end he misses the diagnosis, but the patient keeps him as his cardiologist for his personal attention. It presents the physician's side of the medical error situation. Read Explain a Medical Error? Sure. Apologize Too? and if you want more of this personal story, look for the book — Sandeep Jauhar's memoir, “Intern: A Doctor’s Initiation,” goes on sale this month from Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Looking At Causes of Medical Errors and How to Fix

Nashville, TN (PRWEB) December 11, 2008 — Administrators of healthcare agencies are no-doubt familiar with the Institute of Medicine's much publicized report, To Err Is Human; Building a Safer Health System, which found that preventable medical errors account for at least 44,000 and possibly as high as 98,000 deaths each year. Additionally, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) estimates that over 770,000 people are injured or die each year from medication errors, costing providers millions of dollars in unrecoverable expenses. Research also shows that "the majority of medical errors do not result from individual recklessness, but rather by faulty systems, manual archaic processes, and the lack of congruent or compatible information systems."

A free white paper, from eTransX, delves deeper into these issues and explains the practices, methodologies, and technologies required to effectively manage the four stages of an holistic approach to the management of the entire life cycle of healthcare data:

Massachusetts Supreme Court Says Doctor's Liability Goes Beyond Patient

From The Boston Globe today: "BOSTON — A doctor who failed to warn his patient about the potential side effects of medication can be held liable for the man's car crash that killed a 10-year-old boy, the state's highest court ruled Monday in the first such decision to make doctors responsible for harm to nonpatients." Read full article here.

Romney Raises Malpractice Caps As Campaign Issue

Presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has raised the issue of medical malpractice caps as part of his campaign... Link here for more from The Associated Press.

Pennsylvania Jury Awards $3 Million for Sinus Infection Misdiagnosis

In today's Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Jury awards $3 million in malpractice suit for sinuses treated with steroids, not antibiotic...The case involved a woman who visited her family doctor's office, reporting having headaches and nasal discharge — "symptoms consistent with a sinus infection," according to the report.

"But the physician's assistant who saw her failed to make that diagnosis or to prescribe antibiotics. Instead, according to [the patient's] attorney, his client received a prescription for steroids, was told to undergo additional testing and return in a week.

But just five days later, she developed stroke-like symptoms, including facial drooping and disorientation, said one of her attorneys, Stephen Del Sole."

See article online.

Massachusetts Jury Verdict - Medical Malpractice

The Lowell Sun reports on a case in Lowell Superior Court involving a woman who died 19 days after having surgery to remove ovarian cysts in a wrongful death lawsuit, calling it "one of the largest jury verdicts in the Merrimack Valley [Massachusetts]." A jury decided after 3 days of deliberations and an 11-day trial.

Attorney for the plaintiff Suzanne McDonough said that:

"the lawsuit, filed in 2002, arose from the June 6, 1999, death of .... the mother of an 11-year-old daughter, who went into Lowell General Hospital a few weeks earlier on May 13 to remove an ovarian cyst. But while in the hospital, Edwards developed pneumonia.

McDonough alleges that at trial, the attorneys representing the doctors argued that the ovarian problems were making the pneumonia worse, so surgery was necessary even though Edwards had not been a candidate for surgery five days earlier."

She further comments in the article: "The jury found that both doctors were negligent and their negligence caused Edwards' death." The jury awarded $2 million to the daughter of the deceased, and $500,000 to the estate. Boston attorney Andrew Meyer who also represented the family said, "This was a big verdict," and with interest, the verdict could rise to $4.1 million, he said."

See full account here.

Ruling on Med Mal Caps: Award Limits Unconstitutional

The Chicago Tribune today reports on the controversy over limits on medical malpractice awards in the article: Judge rejects medical suit caps, Cook County ruling calls award limits unconstitutional.

"Cook County Circuit Judge Diane Larsen decided that caps on malpractice awards violated the Illinois Constitution's "separation of powers" clause, in effect ruling that the legislature can't interfere with the right of juries and judges to determine fair damages. Her ruling falls in line with a 1997 Illinois Supreme Court decision that overturned a 1995 law implementing caps on personal-injury cases."

This one's not over though, defense lawyers will appeal the decision, which sends it on to the state Supreme Court.

Medical Malpractice News Roundup

From the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, a summary of recent developments to medical malpractice law in three states. Briefly,

"Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Medical Society has asked state lawmakers to pass a bill sponsored by state Sen. Robert O'Leary (D) under which plaintiffs could not use statements of guilt or admissions of error by physicians as evidence in malpractice lawsuits, the Boston Globe reports. In addition to that bill, state Sen. Richard Moore (D) has introduced legislation that would create a "Health Apology Pilot Program"" with similar provisions. Go to article...

"Pennsylvania: The amount of claims paid by the state Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error, or MCARE, fund will decrease for a fourth consecutive year to $191 million, about a 50% decrease from 2003, Gov. Ed Rendell (D) said last week, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports." Go to article...

"Washington state: A state malpractice law enacted last year prevents public disclosure of reports of medical errors by individual hospitals, according to a legal opinion sent last week by the state Office of the Attorney General to the state Department of Health, the Seattle Times reports." Go to article...

Emotional Costs of Medical Errors - Patient, Family, Physician

An editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine examines the issue of medical errors, in "Guilty, Afraid, and Alone — Struggling with Medical Error," in its October 25, 2007 edition. Tom Delbanco, MD and Sigall K. Bell, MD, ask "How can we characterize and address the human dimensions of medical error so that patients, families, and clinicians may reach some degree of closure and move toward forgiveness?"

"In interviews that our group conducted for a documentary film, patients and families that had been affected by medical error illuminated a number of themes. Three of these themes have been all but absent from the literature. First, though it is well recognized that clinicians feel guilty after medical mistakes, family members often have similar or even stronger feelings of guilt. Second, patients and their families may fear further harm, including retribution from health care workers, if they express their feelings or even ask about mistakes they perceive. And third, clinicians may turn away from patients who have been harmed, isolating them just when they are most in need."

Link to the entire article at NEJM: Guilty, Afraid, and Alone — Struggling with Medical Error

Pennsylvania: Is Medical Malpractice Crisis Over?

The jury is still out on this one, but Philadelphia's Bulletin just published an article titled, Critics Dispute Rendell's Assertion Malpractice Crisis?Has Come To End.

A few facts:

"Mr. Rendell, a Democrat who has vocally opposed Republican-led efforts to cap damage awards and lawyers' contingency fees in medical liability cases told reporters and health care experts at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia that a number of policy changes made since 2002 have contributed to a decline in medical malpractice litigation in the state.
Such lawsuits contribute to the cost of business for physicians who pay hefty premiums for medical malpractice insurance. Doctors in Pennsylvania must have at least $1 million in malpractice coverage."

Read entire article here.

The Houston Chronicle has article on the same topic and provides some dollar amounts.
Gov: Pa. Medical Malpractice Costs Drop

Maine Jury Awards $8 Million Malpractice Award

The Boston Globe reports on October 25, 2007:

AUBURN, Maine — A jury Thursday awarded nearly $8 million to a brain-damaged 5-year-old boy and his mother in their medical malpractice lawsuit against a Lewiston hospital and one of its midwives. It is believed to be the largest malpractice award ever handed down in Androscoggin County Superior Court. Read full article here...

Massachusetts Jury Awards $26.5M Med Mal C-section delay

The Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly reports on October 12, 2007 that a Suffolk jury issues largest med-mal verdict of the year.

"In what appears to be the largest reported medical malpractice jury verdict of 2007, the jury found two doctors liable for the child’s condition, but a nurse defendant was found not negligent."

See also: Boston Herald's Doctors must pay $26.5M in baby malpractice case.

The largest medical malpractice verdict in Massachusetts remains a 2005 case also involving a baby's brain damage after a traumatic delivery — $40 million.

New Hampshire's Malpractice Screening Law and How it Works

This Boston Globe article looks at New Hampshire's medical malpractice screening panels and how they work.

"Medical malpractice screening panels were developed in the 1970s in response to complaints that claims were driving up insurance rates, forcing some doctors to give up their practices. Supporters hoped the panels would help contain costs by screening out weak cases and resolving the rest as early and inexpensively as possible.

New Hampshire set up screening panels in 2005 based on a 1987 Maine law."

Related links provided by the article include:

American Medical Association article

Maine Supreme Judicial Court opinion

2005 NH law

Another view on the same story offered by Maine's Portland Herald: N.H. law backfires, slows malpractice suits. The law, based on one in Maine aimed at lowering malpractice rates, is having growing pains, supporters say. Break: Social Security Disability Claims Lawyer

Kaiser's Medical Malpractice Resources

Medical Malpractice Law in the United States is a Kaiser Family Foundation report that provides an overview of the issues surrounding medical malpractice law, including the legal changes that states have made over the past 30 years in response to periodic concerns about rising medical malpractice costs; some newer proposals for changing medical malpractice law; and trend data for malpractice claims. While this report is from 2005, it provides excellent background info.

To access Kaiser Daily Reports on medical malpractice related issues, bookmark: Medical Malpractice Spotlight for headlines such as:

• State Watch - Maryland Insurance Administration, Medical Malpractice Insurer Dispute Dividend

• Republican Presidential Candidate McCain Announces Health Care Proposal That Focuses on Cost Containment

• Presidential Candidate McCain To Propose Health Care System Overhaul Offering Insurance Tax Incentives; Focusing on Prevention, Quality of Care

• State Watch - Doctors Relocating to Texas After Implementation of Medical Malpractice Caps

• Presidential Candidate Edwards Discusses Proposals To Address Medical Malpractice Lawsuits, Provide Universal Health Coverage

$16 Million Jury Award for Heart Attack Death Among Largest Medical Malpractice Verdicts in Connecticut

October 3, 2007 issue of Newsday reports: "BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - A Superior Court jury has awarded more than $16 million to the family of a man who died of a heart attack more than a decade ago, an attorney said."

Defendants, the Stamford Medical Group, were accused of "failing to diagnose and treat his cardiac disease." The award is believed to be one of the largest wrongful death verdicts in state history. Read entire article here.