New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

A man shared information about a civil trial of a woman who says that she was wrongfully committed to a psychiatric institution after she vented angrily about how she felt about her church’s pastor.

The woman hired a medical malpractice lawsuit and sued the psychiatric hospital along with other staff members. The woman has claimed that the psychiatrists did not follow the acceptable standards of psychiatric care as she was committed to their institution without her consent and was held there for ten days.

However, the hospital’s attorney is defending the medical malpractice because their defense is that they had every reason to believe that the woman was a danger to society at the time. A source reported, the woman had been volunteering at the church as a treasurer and after a while, she turned against the pastor of the church. The woman asked if she could speak to a psychiatrist because she felt that the pastor was not making it easy for her to do her work. According to the report, the woman talked about killing the pastor and that is what got her taken away to the psychiatric ward.

Although, she used those words, the woman claimed that she would not have carried out the threat. The woman testified in court that she was not a threat to society, but the defendant’s lawyer said that the woman would come to the church even after her working hours to harass the pastor. Hospitals in Manhattan and Long Island face these situations all the time.

A souce indicated that the pastor felt as if his life was in danger and may have had reason to feel threatened.

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If medical malpractice immunity is instituted in return for treating Medicaid patients, the system would become a shambles, indicated a New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer.
Perhaps this is an idea that may find favor with the general public; a way to treat those who don’t have much in the way of proper medical care. On the surface, this sounds very humanitarian. Deep in the heart of this idea though lies a very real threat. This is also true of things like misdiagnosis which can be a suable offense.
By providing doctors with immunity to lawsuits for treating Medicaid patients, what is to say that they will get the same standard of care someone with health insurance will get? What is to say that the care given to Medicaid patients may not on occasion be substandard and a mere nod to the rules of providing care for immunity from being sued, asked the New York City Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Sovereign immunity is a slap in the face to medical malpractice patients, whether they have health insurance or not or whether they are on Medicare or Medicaid. Should a State give immunity to doctors, the State then becomes the doctor who was negligent.
This means if a patient sues, taxpayers would then be footing the bill for med mal claims, while the doctor gets off scott free. Where is the justice in that? Where is the compassion for victims of a medical professional’s negligence? The very idea is an affront to victims, indicated the Lawyer.
Medical professionals in Long island and Manhattan need to be held accountable for their errors and if they are not held up to scrutiny, then the old saying of “Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” would certainly hold true.

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Some physicians in the Nevada area are fretting the possibility of the law limiting pay outs for damages on medical malpractice suits, will soon be overturned based on a pending case where a woman wrongfully lost her life and left her family behind, said a N York Medical Malpractice Lawyer.

The woman, who died in 2007, was allegedly incorrectly diagnosed by a doctor and died shortly after. She left behind six children and a husband. The doctors involved in the case admitted no fault. These kinds of cases are often reported in Manhattan and Westchester.

The Nevada Supreme Court is in discussions about the current law regarding damages for pain and suffering, which states, “In an action for injury or death against a provider of health care based upon professional negligence, the injured plaintiff may recover non-economic damages, but the amount of non-economic damages awarded in such an action must not exceed $350,000.”

A NY Medical Malpractice Lawyer explained that the family’s counsel feels the $350,000 should be awarded to each family member involved in the case, which would bring these damages to $5.6 million. This far exceeds the current $350,000 limit.

In response to this case and it’s possibility for overturning the law, several Medical Associations and Societies have petitioned the Supreme Court asking that the law stay the same.

Doctors fear the changing of the law will limit their ability to practice medicine at all due to the increase costs.

“If I have to double my malpractice insurance because of this lawsuit, I'll probably have to leave town. A lot of doctors will be hurt,” one doctor said.

Continue reading "Doctors are worried over possible increased costs associated with Medical Malpractice Suits reported a New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer" »