New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

Many professionals including a doctor think that if doctors had a surgical checklist, it would help to prevent many medical malpractice cases. This conclusion was reached after looking at numerous data from one of the biggest medical liability insurance company. What was found proved alarming – almost a third of all the claims made were from errors that happened in the medical arena. Had the doctors have a checklist, a doctor thinks that these cases could have been avoided.

The doctor also agrees that it is very challenging and hard to place a price tag on how the system works with medical liabilities. However, a recent study showed that the cost could add up to an excess of $55 billion each year or a small chunk of the health care expenditure in the United States.

Additionally, many experts including a representative believe that many citizens in America die each year because of medical mistakes and most of these are in relation to surgery.

Other medical studies done earlier prove that when there is a surgical checklist, there is a reduction in the amount of deaths that take place. In addition, more money is saved by avoiding complicated treatment and lawsuits.

According to one hospital, “These studies are important to seeing how professionals can come together and fix this problem, but no one wants to come to the table.” The medical field needs to corporate as many health professionals may think.

Continue reading "New Efforts to Cut Down Medical Malpractice Cases " »

The latest hot off the presses idea by the federal government to save money, or that’s what they say when it comes to cutting costs in health care, is HR 5, also referred to as tort reform. In short, this resolution, if passed, will fatally slice and dice patient’s rights to sue doctors and hospitals in medical malpractice cases, reported the New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer.
This is a scary proposition when you stop to think that over 98,000 people die every year as a result of medical malpractice; as a result of surgical errors that did not need to happen. What on earth is the government thinking? Unfortunately, it looks like they are trying to curry favor with insurance companies by helping them cap the damages they need to pay out in medical malpractice cases. What happened to victim’s rights?
If you spend any time reading HR 5, the first thing you will notice is that it ignores patient safety. Instead, it forcefully imposes a strict cap on damages victims may seek if they have been harmed by their doctor, suffered severe side effects due to defective drugs, abuse in nursing homes or defective medical devices.
This is a roundabout way of saying that it will be ok for medical professionals in Brooklyn and Queens to harm their patients, because they will only have to pay out a limited amount of money – meaning the insurance company will only pay out a cheap change settlement. Meanwhile, the victims of medical negligence will be paying for the doctor’s mistake out of their own pocket. An odd concept for the 21st century when it comes to defining justice.
If you don’t think this is too serious, consider this, the med mal cap even applies when it comes to medical professionals who intentionally kill or harm patients and to insurance companies that refuse to pay claims for medical bills. Be afraid; be very afraid for your rights.
What is happening is that big government is getting into bed with big insurance companies to limit their losses so they can stay in business. What happens to the patients? That’s something people should really start thinking about, and soon, suggested the New York City Medical Malpractice Lawyer.

Continue reading "Rights may be a thing of the past" »

A mother whose infant daughter was injured because the delivery was not carefully monitored has been able to move her case forward thanks to the efforts of a New York medical malpractice lawyer. The problem began on the day of delivery, when the mother went to a Manhattan HIP Center and was examined by the defendant, the attending physician on call. The doctor then left the hospital and had no further contact with the mother. Although the mother was placed on a fetal monitor, she began the labor process on her own with no medical personnel present, and she remained alone until part of the baby’s head had emerged from the birth canal and she was forced to hold it in the palm of one of her hand. At that point, her husband ran out and found another doctor standing in the hallway, and this second doctor, along with several nurses, completed the delivery. NYC Medical Malpractice Attorneys in the Bronx and Brooklyn are often involved in this kind of case.
Shortly after the deliver, the baby, an infant girl, began suffering from serious respiratory difficulties. She was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, and placed in a ventilator. Although the medical records of this time were incomplete, it is clear that the baby remained in the ventilator for four days, and in the neonatal intensive care unit for twelve. The girl currently suffers from cognitive and developmental problems, and from seizure disorders. These problems will require lifelong medical care.
The mother brought an action against the attending physician on call. The attending physician claimed that no doctor-patient relationship had been established, and that the doctor was therefore not responsible for the delivery. The mother claimed that the doctor had told her that the doctor would be the one who would deliver her baby, and further, that the doctor had examined her when she was admitted and was present during the early stages of labor. Ultimately, the court determined that a jury could find that the attending physician on call was responsible for the damages caused to the baby girl by the partially unattended birth.

Continue reading "MOTHER WHOSE DAUGHTER WAS INJURED AT BIRTH FIGHTS BACK" »