New York Senator Lobbies To Get Rid Of Caps On Lawyer Malpractice Fees

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Posted on 27th March 2011 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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The hot-potato topic of medical malpractice is stirring up controversy in New York State.

In this instance, the brouhaha is over an alleged conflict of interest on the part of state Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, who is chairman of the Finance Committee as well as serving “of counsel” for a medical-malpractice law firm, DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, according to the New York Post,   

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/lawyer_pol_bids_for_higher_malpractice_0uP9h1C93p5NNF6H9wXe7O

DeFrancisco has been supporting a bill that would abolish a cap on legal fees in medical malpractice cases, the Post reported.

Some watchdog groups claim that putting an end to limits on attorney contingency fees will cause malpractice-insurance premiums to skyrocket and will mean smaller payouts to patients. I think this is a kneejerk reaction.

New York Gov. Cuomo is advocating that there be  $250,000 cap on “pain and suffering awards,” which he claims will reduce malpractice costs by $700 million. Right now New York lawyers have caps on how much of their clients’ award they can keep.

Currently attorneys can get up to 30 percent of judgments below $250,000, the Post reported, but not any more than 10 percent of awards that are larger than $1.25 million. The bill that DeFrancisco supports would throw out those limits.    

Doctor Lawmaker Pushing Malpractice Caps Paid Toward $500,000 Settlement

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Posted on 9th February 2011 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Is it a potential conflict of interest for a lawmaker, a retired doctor, to push for legislation limiting malpractice awards when he himself was involved in the settlement of such a case for $500,000? Maybe not technically, but it doesn’t seem quite kosher.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/health/09malpractice.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

The New York Times Wednesday did a story about Rep. Phil Gingrey of Georgia, a retired obstetrician, who has introducd a number of versions of a malpractice reform bill. 

As it turns out, according to The Times, Gingrey was one of  several doctors named in a lawsuit filed by a pregnant woman. The suit alleged that  Gingrey and two fellow doctors failed to realise that the woman had appendicitis. When her appendix burst the woman not only lost her fetus but also suffered a stroke.

The malpractice suit, which had been reinstated after being dismissed at a trial. was settled in 2007.

Gingrey’s office gave The Times a prepared statement about the settlement, saying that the parties in the case agreed to settle because they want to deal with the cost, time, commitment and stress of a second trial.          

The bill that Gingrey is backing would collar damages for pain and suffering in malpractice cases at $250,000. It would also limit the fees that attorneys could collect for handling a patient’s case and it would offer alternatives to litigation to resolve malpractice suits.

In his statement Gingrey defended the malpractice legislation, saying that it will stop third-parties, such as attorneys,  from from collecting big fees at the expense of patients who are suing.

It seems to me that capping malpractice awards and attorneys’ fee will discourage talented lawyers from representing patients in such  cases. And then it follows that these patients won’t be getting the benefit of the best counsel around .

Quadriplegic Suffers Traumatic Brain Injury When Ventilator Dislodges

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Posted on 29th November 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Here’s a textbook lesson in how nurses should not care for a patient.

You have quadriplegic patient who is on a ventilator. His ventilator accidentally becomes disconnected, setting off a warning light at a nurses’ station. You don’t notice the flashing light, and for 24 minutes the man’s brain is deprived of oxygen. The patient suffers traumatic brain injury and develops a seizure disorder. You get sued.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/li_nurses_ignored_gasp_man_rItooJg8Tmf8XzFgNS0AhK

That’s the case in hand.

The family of Robert Knowles has filed suit in Suffolk County Supreme Court against the Medford Multicare Center on Long Island, N.Y., over the March 21, 2009 incident, according to the New York Post. The state Attorney General’s office is also investigating the incident. 

Knowles, an ex-truck driver, broke his neck when he fell from a ladder on Dec. 30, 2007. But he did not let his paralysis daunt him. He got around using a wheelchair that he controlled using a strawlike device that he would blow into. But then Knowles was admited to the Medford facility, and his life took another sad turn. 

When Knowles’ ventilator got detached, it set off a blinking green light on a computer screen. But for 24 minutes, none of the medical staff noticed that the warning light was on. According to the Post, there is a video from a surveillance camera that shows medical staff  “fiddling around” as the light flashes.  

Not surprisingly, Medford officials didn’t return the Post’s phone calls seeking a comment.

Study Finds That Patient Safety Remains An Issue At Hospitals

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Posted on 26th November 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Call me a cynic, but this headline doesn’t surprise me: “Study Finds No Progress in Safety at Hospitals.”

 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/health/research/25patient.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

In a Page One story this week The New York Times reported that a new study — which tracked 10 North Carolina hospitals from 2002 to 2007 — determined that patients were fairly commonly harmed, and those incidents were not declining. 

Complications from procedures and drugs, as well as hospital-acquired infections, were the culprit in most cases, according to The Times.

Ironically the study, led by Dr. Christopher Landrigan of the Harvard Medical School, was conducted in North Carolina because hospitals there have instituted a lot of programs to improve patient safety. Instead, the research determined that roughly 18 percent of the patients were harmed by their medical care, and 63.1 percent of their injuries were considered preventable, according to The Times. Some 2.4 percent of the problems caused or contributed to a patient’s death.

The preventable problems included: bad bleeding during an operation; breathing problems caused by a procedure that was not done correctly and a hip dislocation caused by a fall.

The North Carolina hospitals that were part of the study were not named. That was lucky for them, since the research found 588 cases where a patient was harmed by medical care, or 25.1 injuries per 100 admissions, according to The Times. 

 

 

The study was published this week in The New England Journal of Medicine.     

 

Doctors’ Brawl Leads To Botched Birth In Italy

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Posted on 31st August 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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I don’t know what the medical malpractice laws are in Italy, but if this family doesn’t have legal recourse, it’s a crime.

In Messina, Sicily, a mother had to have her uterus removed and her newborn sustained possible brain damage and heart problems after her two doctors got into a fist fight during the baby’s delivery last Thursday.  

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11129608

 The incident at Messina’s public hospital was such a disgrace and embarrassment that Italy’s health minister, Ferruccio Fazio, trekked to Sicily to apologize to Laura Salpietro, 30.  

Her husband Matteo Molonia told officials that her two physicians disagreed about whether Salpietro should have a Caesarean section, and fists flew while the woman was in labor. One doctor grabbed the other by the neck and banged him into a wall, while the other doctor punched a window and hurt his hand, according to BBC News. 

The fistfight wound up delaying the C-section for about an hour, which lead to the problems for Salpietro and her son Antonio.

Physician, first do no harm. Why can’t some of them remember that?

 

 

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/minister-says-sorry-for-doctors-fight-2066153.html

New York Tests Program To Curb Medical Malpractice Costs, But Will It Be Fair To Patients?

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Posted on 23rd July 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Five New York City hospitals will be taking part in a pilot program that aims to reduce medical malpractice costs through mediation, avoiding trial, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. One of the cornerstones of the program is for hospitals to admit their mistakes and to offer potential defendants settlements early on. 

 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467304575383501123709186.html?mod=WSJ_NY_LEFTTopStories

While I believe this is an intriguing initiative that could help curb medical errors at hospitals, I share some of the concerns raised in the story by the president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, Nichlas Timko. 

The issues are will the early disclosure and settlement program essentially let negligent doctors and hospitals off the hook for their mistakes, and will this system take advantage of patients who don’t retain counsel.

The pilot program, which starts in the fall, is getting $3 million in federal funding, and “aims to cut the $1.4 billion spent annually in New York State on medical-malpractice premiums,” according to The Journal.

The participating hospitals are Beth Israel Medical Center, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Maimonides Medical Center and Montefiore Medical Center. Four of the hospitals will focus on trying to cut down on mistakes in obstetrics, while New-York Presbyterian is looking to stop surigcal mistakes.

 The program will use state “health courts,” where judges will help hospitals and patients negotiate settlements, avoiding such cases going to trial. 

State officials stressed that patients can still decide to take their cases to trial, and if they choose the judge-directed negotiations, they will be notified that they have the right to have an attorney at their settlement talks.

It will be worth studing the results of this pilot program. But again, the proper measures must be taken so that patients aren’t railroaded into settling a lawsuit for far less money than they are due.       

        

Epilepsy Drug Connected To Major Birth Defects In Babies

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Posted on 16th June 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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The epilepsy drug valproic acid, when taken by expectant mothers in their first trimester, has been linked to birth defects in the brain, heart and arms of newborns, according to a new study.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20100609/hl_hsn/epilepsydruglinkedtoseriousbirthdefects

For example, babies whose moms took valproic acid , whose brand names include Depakene and Depakote, were almost seven  times more likely to suffer with craniosyostosis, which is a fusion of the skull when the fetus is still in the womb. That fusion put hinders skull and brain development.

In terms of other birth  defects, mothers who took valproic acid during the first three months of their pregnancy incresed their odds, by 12.7  times, of  having a baby with spina bifida, which is when the spinal cord and backbone don’t develop properly, compared to women who didn’t take the drug.

Newborns whose mothers took valproic acid were also five times more likely to have a cleft palate;  2.5 times more likely to have the athrial septal heart defect; and more than two times as likely to have an extra finger on their hand. 

Those statistics have to be put in context. Even though there is a higher risk of birth defects for children of  mothers who took the anti-seizure medication, that risk overall is not huge. In the case of spina bifida, the risk went from 0.6 percent, or six in 1,000, compared with 0.5, or five in 1,000, for children whose mother’s hadn’t taken the anti-sezure medication.

Scientists are advising women of childbearing age to find a substitute drug to ward off seizures.

The study was published in The New England  Journal of  Medicine.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/362/23/2185

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Ex-NFL Star Awarded $11.5 Million For Career-Ending Toe Injury

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Posted on 13th May 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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A hurt toe has translated to a $11.5 million verdict for an ex-football player whose promising career was cut short by the injury. http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2010/05/12/former-nfl-star-wins-115-million-verdict-against-team-doctor/

Former Miami Dolphins player Otis J. McDuffie won his case against the team’s physician, Dr. John Uribe. The claims that McDuffie had against other physicians who treated him and two hospitals were settled prior to the medical malpractice trial involving Uribe.

After three hours of deliberations, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court jury in Florida rendered the judgment for McDuffie.  It awarded him $10 million for lost wages from 2001 through 2004; $750,000 for past pain and suffering; and $750,000 for future pain and suffering.         

 “O.J.” McDuffie was a football star both in college and  in the National Football League. At Penn State, he set single-season as well as receiving records. The Dolphins drafted him in the first round in 1992, and he became a starting wide receiver. In 1998 McDuffie was named the team’s Most Valuable Player.

But that success came to a halt in November 1999, when the Dolphins were playing the New England Patriots. McDuffie was tackled and he hyperextended the big toe on his left foot. The player left the field and Dr. Uribe  examined him and taped his toe.  The physician then sent MCDuffie back into the game.

McDuffie had heard a pop when he first hurt his toe, and when he was sent back to the field he heard that pop a second time, and left the field once again. This time,  Dr. Uribe gave McDuffie a needle to stifle his pain, taped the toe again and sent the player back out to play again.   

At the malpractice trial, McDuffie testified that Dr. Uribe never informed him of the results of  MRIs that found that he had raptured the ligaments in his toe. And the team physician told McDuffie to keep on playing and practicing, according to the athlete. 

Months later a new team doctor sent McDuffie to a foot and ankle physician, who suggested the player have surgery. But during this period McDuffie was still playing ball with his ruptured ligaments, and as a result he sustained irreversible joint-surface damage.

When McDuffie finally had his surgery, but he still developd arthritis in his toe, which put an end to his football career. The Dolphins let him go in 2002.

During the trial Dr. Uribe’s lawyer argued that pro football players often ask doctors to minimize their pain so they can continue playing, and not lose any pay for missing games.

 

Jury Awards Florida Mom $10 Million in Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit

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Posted on 13th April 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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 A Florida mother was awarded $10 million in a case where she alleged an ambulance service’s negligence lead to her son getting cerebral palsy. That’s because the ambulance took her to the wrong hospital when she was in labor. http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/cerebral-palsy-lawsuit-birth-in-ambulance-9606/

 The medical malpractice lawsuit had been brought by Margarita Chess of Volusia County, naming as defendants EVAC Ambulance, Bert Fish Medical Center, Halifax Medical Center, Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando and two physicians.

 All of the parties except the ambulance service had settled with Chase for $1.4 million before the case when to trial, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

 Chess’s son was premature, born when she was just six months into her pregnancy. As she went into labor in 2003, she was first at Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach. She was then supposed to be transferred and transported by EVAC to Halifax Medical Center. But somehow, the ambulance was instead sent to Arnold Palmer Hospital, more than 50 miles away.

 Chess’s son, Addison Chase, was born on the way to Arnold Palmer.

 The malpractice suit alleged that the infant had trouble breathing after he was born. The paramedics performed CPR, but Addison’s brain was deprived of oxygen. As a result he sustained brain damage, and now has the long-term disabilities of cerebral palsy.      

Illinois Family Awarded $29.1 Million In Malpractice Case That Left Their Baby a Quadriplegic

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Posted on 11th April 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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  A family has secured $29.1 million in a medical malpractice case where they claimed their son became a quadriplegic due to negligence during his birth at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/2142707,CST-NWS-verdict06.article

  The payout for the Arroyo family is a combination of an award they received last Friday from Judge Amy St. Eve of the Northern District of Illinois and a prior settlement. The judge awarded the family $22.6 million, in addition to the $6.5 million settlement the family reached with the hospital in 2009.

  The Arroyo’s son, Christian, is a spastic quadriplegic who has cerebral palsy and can’t walk, talk or eat through his mouth.

  Maria Arroyo came to Northwestern Hospital on May 16, 2003 with labor pains. Because of the baby’s premature condition and the fact that the mother’s water had broken, Maria was supposed to receive antibiotics to ward against Group Beta Strep Infection for the baby.

  But the obstetrician, a federal employee, didn’t administer the antibiotics to Maria, and during the baby’s first few hours he was showing symptoms of infection. But the government pediatricians still didn’t step in and order the antibiotics for Christian.

  The infection spread from Christian’s blood stream to his brain, causing permanent damage and cerebral palsy.        

  “Had the federal government’s doctors followed the standard of care and provided the antibiotics to Maria or Christian at the appropriate timed, Christian would have been a normal baby boy,”  David Pritchard, one of the family’s lawyers, said in a prepared statement.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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