New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

Doctors believe our American healthy care system needs change but the recent bill passed in the Senate last week, they conquer, is not the answer.

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.

Continue reading "Senate Bill 33 will likely only help insurance companies" »

While some people think that medical malpractice reform, meaning capping damage awards, is a good idea, the victims don’t, and with good reason. Many medical malpractice lawyers are also joining the hue and cry against med mal reform because of what it will do to innocent victims whose damages exceed the proposed caps – in most cases, $250,000, explained a New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer.

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.

Continue reading "Med Mal Reform in Texas may be in Hot Water" »

An Ohio mother is suing the Cleveland Clinic for medical malpractice. The mother claims that surgeries performed at the Cleveland Clinic left her infant son severely brain damaged, and ultimately led to his premature death.

The mother has filed the wrongful death complaint against the Cleveland Clinic and the two surgeons who performed the surgeries in 2003 on her son. The surgeries were performed to repair an abnormal vein the base of the boy’s brain. This vein was causing excessive blood flow to his heart. A study stated the surgeons used a surgical device that was specified for adult use on an infant without receiving the mother’s permission.

A doctor explained that glue from the surgical device leaked, seeping into the baby’s brain. This glue then caused a stroke and permanent brain damage. There were no medical reports about the severity of his brain damage, or the lasting effects of it. No other information about his medical condition following surgery was provided. The boy passed away in 2008. The mother filed a wrongful death complaint against the Cleveland Clinic and both surgeons on January 24th.

A spokesperson for the Cleveland Clinic reported that the physicians took every appropriate measure they could to save the child’s life. Unfortunately, according to the Cleveland Clinic, the boy died from complications surrounding his severe underlying medical condition, and not from complications following the surgical procedure. Hospitals and doctors in Manhattan and Long Island try to avoid situations like this.

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When you go to hospital to have surgery, you expect that when the surgical team is done, they will make sure they have all their equipment and sponges before closing. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen in this case, said a New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer. In fact, this particular plaintiff found out the surgeons left a sponge in his abdomen after surgery for rectal cancer.
It wasn’t long after his surgery that this patient started to have bad abdominal pain. A CT scan showed he had a foreign body in his abdomen. This meant another surgery to get the sponge out. As a result of the sponge being in his body and the need for a second operation, the plaintiff stated he has had to undergo extensive medical treatments, has experienced numerous infections and has spent a lot of time in hospital. Doctors and hospitals in Manhattan and Long Island need to take note of this case and make provisions to prevent a duplication of these mistakes.
When his case went to trial, the patient was asking for damages for depression, anxiety, medical costs, disability, frequent medical care, mental anguish and pain and suffering, along with court costs and interest. The basis of that lawsuit was that the hospital and the doctors didn’t meet the accepted standard of medical care and that they were negligent in their care and treatment of the patient. This case was a complete comedy of medical malpractice errors from the moment of the first surgery, indicated the NY Medical Malpractice Lawyer.

Continue reading "Surgical sponge left in patient’s body causes infections and other problems" »

It is an old tale: insurance premiums hurt doctors and it's all the fault of evil lawyers. But a new start up group is aiming to change all that, says a New York Medical Malpractice LawyerThey seek to reduce premium payments and thus save doctors money by becoming an all online medical malpractice insurance group. Innovative techniques and new thought processes are helping to reshape an industry long filled with clunky ways of doing business.

Currently, your average regular doctor pays around $7,000 in insurance premiums every year (with that number rising to around $30,000 for a surgeon). Surgical Errors are usually more serious and call for more insurance. This may surprise some people who have been lead to believe that doctors are innocent victims of out of control lawsuits and that as a result they struggle to make a buck. Mostly, that is a lie spread by an out of control medical industry that seeks to avoid responsibility for its actions. These doctors want to harm patients without any fear of repercussion. The richest and most demanding of trust profession simply wants to never be held accountable.

Well, this new insurance group can help them to so for a great deal less money, reports a Medical Malpractice Lawyer in New York. Backed by Blue Cross Blue Shield, in Long Island and Manhattan, and other major insurance groups, they will reduce doctor's premium payments even more. It didn't take an act of Congress, or a new law, or the banishing of lawyers, it just took a little brain power and the desire to make a buck.

Continue reading "New Insurance Group to Reduce Med Mal Payments" »