Although costs of medical malpractice claims are difficult problems to solve, passing Senate Bill 33 might create a bigger problem for the country.

Senate Bill 33, he explained, will cap noneconomic damage rewards at $500,000, which too many seems like enough money but lawyers argue it isn’t.

“What about a child who must live a lifetime with a disfiguring or debilitating medical injury?” he, said, “A cookie-cutter approach hardly seems the fair way to assess the damages of every case.”

He went on to explain that the bigger problem with the bill is its seemingly “free pass” to medical staff if they make a mistake.

The bill states that damages will only be awarded for "gross negligence, wanton conduct or intentional wrongdoing." In laymen’s terms, this means that if they for example, cut off a leg by mistake, but they weren't drunk, the victim will have no cause for a claim.

“That is flat-out unconscionable,” the Lawyer said, “We're astonished that 36 senators voted to approve it and only 13 saw the breathtaking injustice of it.”

After being told countless times by two republican former state Supreme Court justices that the nature of capping damages in this bill is unconstitutional, the Senate still overwhelmingly passed it.

The source pointed out that even if the Bill passes, he believes it won’t decrease the costs of
because the suits have been already steadily declining due to the current strong screening processes for such cases.

“Studies show caps on judgments have little effect on the incidence of malpractice or the cost of physicians' insurance,” he said, “What would like work best is a strong regulatory process that weeds out the small number of incompetent doctors who are so often involved in these malpractice claims.”

He concluded that he believes the bill will more than likely help insurance companies in Queens and Manhattan limit what they have to pay out, and sadly allow tragic mistakes to happen in emergency rooms with no legal ramifications.

The man claimed he had called her psychiatrist more than eight times to explain his wife was suicidal from the antidepressants that were prescribed by the doctor. Sources confirm the doctor repeatedly ignored these phone calls.

A Lawyer said the reason the man is being heard now versus before is a legislative committee is reviewing a bill regarding medical malpractice suits that makes the process easier. This bill, he explained, will “make it more difficult for judges to dismiss these types of cases so easily.”

“The bill basically will require plaintiffs to obtain a certificate of good faith from another medical expert with similar credentials to the one involved in the case,” said another source.

“In this particular case,” he added, “The plaintiff still had trouble because the certificate was presented several years after the initial complaint.”

The proposed law will revise the 2005 statute that was meant to help courts filter out senseless malpractice cases by requiring a medical expert who works in the same field testify.
"The original intent of the statute was not such a bad thing," said a doctor. "The idea of trying to prevent frivolous medical malpractice suits from being filed is a legitimate one. But there have been so many issues that have arisen over the past five years as to how to implement it."
“Also, he said, conflicting state Supreme Court decisions have come down since the law was passed, and language that requires plaintiffs to get certificates from a ‘similar health care provider’ can be problematic.”

The 46-year-old woman who had died, reportedly backed into her garage and left her car running with the door shut. She died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

"I loved her in life," her husband said during an interview this week. "I tried to get her help. Now I'm fighting for her in death."

The plaintiff brought the lawsuit to the courts in 2006 and represented himself the entire time. He is reportedly unemployed but works as a photographer on the side. Courts in New York City and Westchester are taking note.

What’s going on in Texas could go on in Manhattan and Long Island and may well spill over to other states and this is something that needs to be watched carefully, as the legal impact may be enormous. In Texas, there are concerns tort reform just may override their own state limits on medical liability issues. Seems they don’t think the feds have the power to do that under the Commerce Clause. They also want to ensure the med mal reform law does not violate states’ rights under the 10th amendment. Missing here seems to be the concern for victims, which does come up later, but a little too little too late.

What’s going on in Texas is that they want to keep their own med mal reform law, which caps pain and suffering at $250,000 and they like the idea of tort reform. In fact, they want tort reform for all states – something other Americans are not so sure is a good idea.

Unfortunately, medical malpractice tort reform and capping damages for victims has become a political football, at the expense of those who are victims of medical malpractice.

On the Republican side of the med mal reform debate is the conviction med mal lawsuits drive up health care costs and malpractice insurance fees. On the Democrat side, they feel the problem is way overblown, that most injured patients do not sue and limiting lawsuit damages for valid cases would be unfair to the victims. The real problem is that politicians don’t seem to know what medical malpractice really is and what causes it.

Currently, the bill being discussed is one that would slap a three year statute of limitations on med mal lawsuits, cap non-economic damages at $250,000 and limit punitive damages at $250,000, or twice the economic damages or whichever is the greater. Tort reform is really taking aim at states that don’t have their own laws in place already and not taking victims into consideration in the drive to save money.

With the advent of tort reform, those victims of medical malpractice are seeing their rights being chipped away until there is not much left. Already, in some states, lawyers will not take medical malpractice cases, because the amount the victim may recover is limited – limited in such a manner that their medical expenses and legal expenses will never be fully recovered, reported a Lawyer.

Consider the case of a family that did choose to file a med mal lawsuit, after a serious medical error caused catastrophic injuries to their child. When the child was in hospital, the doctors negligently prescribed a dose of nutrients that turned out to be 100 times stronger than was necessary. The baby went into cardiac arrest and became blind and developed cerebral palsy. Her life will never be what it could have been, had it not been for the doctor’s malpractice, outlined the New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer.

At trial, the story was so horrific and the future expenses to care for this severely disabled child were so enormous, that the jury awarded the family $19.2 million. Sadly, because medical malpractice liability in their state is capped, the damage award may be cut by 90%.
If the proposed federal medical malpractice reform bill – also known as HR 5 – passes, victims will be left holding the financial, emotional and physical bag for negligent doctors. What will happen to patient rights? Who will hold the doctors accountable? When did the victims of medical malpractice become victims again within the justice system? Why can’t medical malpractice cases be decided on a case by case basis and the negligent medical professionals in The Bronx and Brooklyn be held liable for their mistakes?

The case was appealed on the grounds that the damages were far too low given the egregious nature of the doctor’s actions. The Appellate court agreed that the damages were far too low and directed a new trial to deal with damages only. They had no problem ordering a new trial, as there was ample evidence on record that indicated the residents at the hospital and the on call physician, who subsequently died, were negligent.

The on call physician didn’t supervise any of the treatment provided to the mother in this case and his lack of oversight resulted in severe brain damage to the baby. In other words, there was a direct link between the doctor’s negligence and the baby’s brain damage – referred to as proximate cause.

The Appellate court further found that the initial damage award was too low considering what would be reasonable compensation in light of the severe nature of the baby’s permanent brain damage. The other argument advanced was that the jury award was low due to juror confusion and ambiguity. The courts in NYC and Westchester did not see this as being a valid reason to hand out a low amount when the issue could have been addressed at the lower court level.

In June 2004, the boy was born at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn. The boy suffered injuries that were severe when, during the delivery, medical personnel misinterpreted his mother’s heartbeat as his. This misinterpretation led to the staff not realizing that he had an abnormal heartbeat. Had the staff been more diligent and questioning, they would have noticed and been able to avoid the birth injury. Their misunderstanding led to a catastrophic delay in the boy’s delivery which resulted in the fetus’s heart beat stopping. Serious brain injury occurred because of the ensuing oxygen starvation to the brain.

The family’s legal counsel genuinely argued that had his birth been just ten minutes sooner, his client would have escaped injury completely, and the sole responsibility for that should reside on the medical doctor and staff present. The boy will have to suffer with cerebral palsy and learning difficulties for the rest of his life. He will also be wheelchair dependent forever.
Early last week, the Judge at the High Court in London read and approved of the offered settlement package. It is expected to be awarded to the boy over the course of his lifetime. A source from Manhattan and Long Island said, “The specifics of his payment schedule are unknown, but similar cases usually result in a lump-sum payment coupled with annual amounts paid out to cover the cost of extensive care needs. Professional legal counsel undoubtedly took into consideration the annual cost of caring for a growing child with such dependencies, and when attempting to reach an agreement they no doubt argued those points.”

The judge was heard congratulating the boy’s parents on the level of care they were providing for their son already.

The parents felt that by not being told about the reason for the blood test that they were denied the chance to make an informed decision about continuing the pregnancy or not. When their child was born with a defect, both were devastated and filed for economic and non-economic losses, along with a claim for wrongful life. This motion to hear the claim for wrongful life was precluded and only the parent’s claims were heard.

The jury trial found in favor of the plaintiff parents and awarded past and future economic damages totaling $5 million. Another $5 million was handed down in non-economic damages to the mother and a further $2 million to the father, reported the source.

Medical malpractice cases involving a set of horrendous mistakes that result in a botched birth with the baby being born with a birth defect are tough and emotionally difficult cases. There is no question that plaintiffs in a situation like this need the experience and expertise of a Lawyer.

When doctors in Nassau and Suffolk are responsible for making sure their patients get the best of care and treatment, they need to live up to that responsibility and not let things fall through the cracks. Not providing vital information to a pregnant mother about a crucial test is not living up to the accepted standard of medical care. When in doubt about a birth injury your baby may have sustained, always seek an experienced expert to find out your rights.

When this case went to court, the judge indicated that there was plenty of evident the father suffered from emotional distress and that both the parents were entitled to damages for this as well, said the doctor. Further, the court said that if the mother had known about the results of the test prior to birth, her decision would not have been speculation.

A video of the baby at birth shown during the trial was quite telling and spoke for itself about the consequences of the mother not knowing about her child’s disease. In other words, there was no prejudice and the video dealt in facts alone. Based on what the jury saw, the court did not feel that the $5 million award was out of line for economic damages and that the $7 million for non-economic damages was fair.

The true bottom line of this lawsuit is that the doctors practicing in Queens and Staten Island did not give the couple all the information they needed to make an informed decision on whether or not to continue with the pregnancy or terminate it.

The victim in this case is a 46-year-old woman from Loughlinstown, Ireland. Coworkers described her as “bubbly and vivacious” from her time as a receptionist. Today, she is unable to work and requires almost constant care, observed the source.

The victim’s husband brought the suit forward in her behalf. He alleged the hospital and the surgeon in charge of his wife’s case were responsible for her current condition. Formally, they were charged with negligence and of acting in breach of duty at St. Michael’s Hospital, where the surgery that led to the victim’s condition took place.

The only matter in which the defendants would admit fault was failure to provide a nutritionist, indicated a doctor. The case was still in litigation when the case was settled. As of yet, there are no details regarding that settlement and it is unclear if the facts will ever be released.
It has been discovered that the victim first became ill in June 2005 while she was on her honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. Her illness had nothing at all to do with the brain damage that has since affected her life. Instead, she was treated for abdominal adhesions on July 18th in St. Michael’s hospital.

The surgery did not alleviate her problems and when her conditions worsened, the victim returned in August, when part of her small bowel was removed. It was determined then that she emergency intravenous feeding of a type called total parenteral nutrition (TPN) was necessary. Medical malpractice ensued.

According to the victim’s attorneys, the intravenous feeding was missing a nutrient – the vitamin thiamine. This lack permanently affected the patient’s brain, leaving her with symptoms ranging from disorientation to memory loss to an actual drop in her IQ score. Hospitals in The bronx and Brooklyn have studied this case. Doctors have learned she suffers still from unsteadiness, dizziness, debilitating fatigue, and depression.

The midwife received a sentence of four years, but most of it was suspended. The witness explained that this actually meant that she would probably be in jail for five days. She received a fine of $5,000 and is not permitted to practice midwifery or applying for a license for the next four years.

The doctor remarked that it was a victory that she saw the error of her ways. This is actually fairly unusual in these types of cases, with the guilty person still protesting their innocence.

The case relates to when the midwife was supervising a home delivery. The parents were initially receiving treatment from Birth Care. However, this clinic advised against a home delivery because the baby was in breach. The midwife was chosen so that the parents could still have a home delivery.

The midwife presented herself as an expert in complicated births. She did not have a license for midwifery in Virginia, however she was experienced. Court records show that she has supervised with over 1,000 births throughout her career.

This delivery became much more complicated than it was first thought. The head of the child became stuck. The baby was born around 15 minutes later but he did not have a heartbeat due to the medical malpractice.

The midwife managed to successfully resuscitate the baby. After some time she asked the parents to request further medical assistance. The baby was transferred to hospital by ambulance and died two days later as a result from the complications at the time of birth.

The midwifing community in brooklyn and Staten Island explained that this would put many midwives off accepting to supervise home births which were complicated in nature. There is even a Facebook page which has information about past successful births and many letters of support for the midwife.

The mother gave birth to her son in 2006. Doctors did not have any reason to suspect that this was not a normal pregnancy. She went to hospital ad was prepared for the birth of the baby.

The woman was prepared for her caesarean section and the operating went very well. However, the surgeons performing the operation failed to close the womb up correctly. This left her in a serious condition.

The patient alerted doctors to severe chest and stomach pains stated the expert. She collapsed and was given oxygen. However, she was not operated on for up to four hours because they did not realize the problem. Another surgeon discovered that the previous operation had failed to close the womb.

The patient alleges that the doctors did not spot the mistake in time to prevent her suffering from pain. The surgeon had to remove her entre womb which now leaves her unable to have any more children as a result of this mistake.

The woman initially wanted to have a large family, but unfortunately because of the hospitals negligence in performing the C-section this will never come true. The patient filed a suit against the hospital for medical negligence.

An investigation looked at whether or not the behavior of the hospital staff was negligent. It admitted that although these mistakes do happen they are rare. The doctors should have noticed that something was seriously wrong when they saw that the patient did not stop bleeding. If the mistake was noticed earlier then it could have been corrected rather than having to remove the entire womb. Hospitals in Queens and Staten Island have watched carefully.

They got awarded a six figure payout to compensate for pain, suffering, and because she is left unable to have children. The family said that they hoped to use this money to fund surrogacy to give their child – who is now five – a brother or sister.

The hospital board worked very quickly to investigate the case. They have decided to suspend the doctor while the investigation is ongoing. They decided to take this action due to lots of protests.

The child suffered a reaction to the pesticide and was rushed to the government hospital as her condition seemed to be getting worse. The pediatric expert in the hospital was away on leave, which delayed her treatment.

The child was then taken to a doctor’s surgery who demanded upfront payment before he would look at her, even though she was in a critical state. After this the child was taken to a private hospital for treatment.

The doctor at the state owned university has been suspended while the health board looks into the allegations and decides what best to do.

This is a very upsetting incident, which simply shouldn’t have been able to happen. If medical attention was given on time then it is likely that the child would have made a full recovery. It is a shame that such a young child has died because of something which was completely avoidable.

The area around Kasargode is well known for its high use of pesticides including endosulfan. These chemicals are sprayed on crops including cashew nut trees. These pesticides are thought to result in many people dying every year and creating even more health problems.

There are already lots of protestors in Long Island and New York City which believe endosulfan is bad for them. There is a growing global movement to try and ban endosulfan so that it cannot cause any harm to the world’s population.

It’s important that doctors are aware that treating pesticide reactions are easier the quicker they are treated. They should know exactly what to look out for so they can deal with these conditions quickly.