Bronx

Published on: March 27, 2012

Pedophile Doctor Medical Malpractice Case

by Stephen Bilkis

A recent investigation has uncovered a shocking truth at St Francis Hospital. It has been discovered that a doctor there has been taking photos of thousands of naked children while masturbating them. It is claimed by the doctor that he was conducting growth studies on his patients.

The case will be put before a jury shortly, which means the outcome of this medical malpractice case will be decided by the public.

The trial is filed against the hospital. The plaintiffs are filing for negligent supervision of their doctors when dealing with young children. The source explained that the disgusting study has left many young children traumatized.

Published on: March 1, 2012

Abuse Victims of Nursing Homes Face new Risk

by Stephen Bilkis

Some new legislation is trying to remove some of the rights that victims of medical malpractice have. This includes people who are injured due to the negligence of nursing homes explains a doctor.

Florida has recently adjusted the way that expert witnesses can be called to assist in various lawsuits. For an out of state expert to be considered as an expert they must first obtain a certificate from the health department. The requirements for the experts are also much tougher remarked the reporter.

Some of the provisions in the bill can be applied directly to malpractice cases including abuse cases in nursing homes. Nursing home residents require both physical assistance and medical care. Most of these facilities employ a number of trained nurses who are capable of administering the same types of treatments that the people could receive in hospital. Because of this it’s possible for the same sorts of mistakes and negligence to affect patients being treated in nursing homes rather than being admitted to hospital.

Published on: February 16, 2012

North Carolina Medical Malpractice Laws Getting An Overhaul

by Stephen Bilkis

A bill in North Carolina’s Senate may send shockwaves throughout the medical community in the state, believes a doctor. The bill, which would limit all Medical Malpractice verdicts to $250,000 for non-economical damages, has some strong supporters and some equally strong opposition. A non-economical damage is described as pain, suffering or emotional distress. Neurological cases can also be considered in this context.

The bills co-sponsor stated that the proposal aims to reduce the practice of defensive medicine. Defensive medicine supposedly adds 20 to 25 percent to the cost of health care. He also states that the main goal of the bill is to keep medical professionals in North Carolina and to make sure that citizens can still receive quality healthcare, stated a source.

Critics of the bill range from patient advocates to trial lawyers. North Carolina Coalition for Patient Safety’s executive director disagreed with the bills co-sponsor, saying it wouldn’t really do anything to bring down medical costs, or to keep them from rising in the future. She went on to say that the government doesn’t seem to focus on the cause of the rising medical costs, but merely want to focus on the symptoms. In The Bronx and Brooklyn, doctors are taking note in the hopes that this kind of legislation does not come north.

Published on: January 24, 2012

Widower files suit against hospital for death of wife

by Stephen Bilkis

A man has filed a lawsuit against Teton Valley Hospital, stating that their lack of care and medical errors resulted in the death of his wife. He reported to doctors that there were numerous errors and omissions which caused her demise. He also alleges that the hospital and its associates are guilty of racketeering and falsifying medical documents and records.

The man has also accused a physician of not performing an adequate autopsy and failing to properly preserve some of the viable organs. The certificate of death was also allegedly inaccurate. The suit has been filed in federal court and seeks to recover over $35 million in damages. The hospital and affiliates have declined to comment to attorney.

The lawsuit not only blames physicians and hospital staff for the death of the woman, but claims that their actions were torturous and deliberately indifferent. It has not been indicated why the woman was initially hospitalized at the Teton Valley Hospital. There are several parties named in the lawsuit, including doctors, nurses, facilities, and other medical groups. Hospitals in Brooklyn and The Bronx try to prevent these mistakes.

Published on: January 12, 2012

New Efforts to Cut Down Medical Malpractice Cases

by Stephen Bilkis

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.

Published on: December 26, 2011

The case was appealed on the grounds that the damages were far too low

by Stephen Bilkis

When this medical malpractice case first went to trial, the doctor was found negligence and the jury awarded $1,500,000, a low amount considering the nature of the birth injuries and the fact the child could never be left alone for the rest of its life. The damage award was based on a 47% negligence ratio assessed against the defendant doctor.

The case was appealed on the grounds that the damages were far too low given the egregious nature of the doctor’s actions, explained the source. 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.

Published on: December 14, 2011

Birth injuries may happen either before, during or just after birth

by Stephen Bilkis

Birth injuries may happen either before, during or just after birth and typically tend to involve oxygen deprivation to the child’s brain. These kinds of birth injuries are usually referred to as hypoxic brain injuries and in most cases, the child’s life will never be normal. Depending on how severe the birth injury is, the child may require medical care for the rest of their lives and never know what living a normal life means, explained the source.

The parents in this case were expecting a normal delivery and weren’t anticipating any difficulties with their baby. They trusted their doctor to do the right thing. Unfortunately, while the doctor was trying to do the right thing, he made three egregious errors that forever changed the baby’s life. He burst the membranes in her head, didn’t resuscitate her properly and didn’t immediately order a C-section.

As a direct result of this doctor’s errors, the baby sustained a hypoxic brain injury and for the rest of her life she and her parents will deal with her inability to hear properly, her learning disabilities and her cerebral palsy, indicated the observer.

Published on: November 26, 2011

Doctor violates standard of medical care resulting in medical malpractice

by Stephen Bilkis

The patient in this med mal case was admitted to a medical center in the US, where she was treated by one of the doctors on staff. While the records are not clear on precisely why the woman was admitted or what treatment the doctor administered, it was evidently something that the patient felt amounted to medical malpractice, or she would not have chosen to sue the doctor.

As a part of the statement filed in court, the papers indicate that the doctor violated the accepted standard of care for the treatment he provided and that the plaintiff suffered harm because of that violation. In many medical malpractice cases, the presence of another doctor, an “expert,” is required to provide testimony that what the doctor being sued did was not up to the accepted standards of the area the physician practiced in. For this reason, medical malpractice cases are often long and involved and deal with complex medical information, outlined the reporter.

Interestingly enough, even though the latest lawsuit against this particular doctor does not specify what he did, this is not the first time that he has been named in a lawsuit. An earlier lawsuit in which the jury found for the doctor, said he did nothing wrong when he did not order restraints to be put on an elderly woman. In that case, the woman was overmedicated after surgery and fell out of her bed.

Published on: November 18, 2011

Stillborn baby due to medical malpractice wins award of $1million

by Stephen Bilkis

In the initial case, the jury found for the plaintiff in the amount of $1 million, citing the hospital malpractice and doctors in the stillborn birth of a baby. The hospital appealed and their findings were that it was okay to have amended the original complaint, that negligence was not the direct cause of the baby’s death was not inconsistent or against the evidence, that there was medical malpractice by the hospital, that the doctor did not actually treat the mother and that reducing the damages was not warranted.

The plaintiff alleged that when she went to the hospital in the 32nd week of her pregnancy with abdominal pains that she was not properly assessed or treated. The lack of proper care resulted in the woman having her baby at home without medical help. The baby presented feet first and died of asphyxia due to the head being stuck in the birth canal. The mother’s claim indicated that she suffered terrible emotional pain because of this situation.

At trial there was an argument over whether or not the baby was born dead or alive, as it made a difference in how the court arrived at its judgment. The court stood by 2004 ruling in a similar case and indicated that even in the absence of an injury, med mal in The Bronx and Brooklyn resulting in a stillbirth or miscarriage is a violation of the duty of care to the mother and will mean she is entitled to damages for emotional distress.

Published on: October 31, 2011

Birth Injury Eligibility to Alternative Program to Avoid Med Mal Lawsuit not Acceptable

by Stephen Bilkis

Legal payments may be blocked in one state’s birth-injury program; a saving for the state, but potential anguish for the parents who will be unable to sue for med mal, said a New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer.

In a case that made headlines, a state commission reversed an earlier decision to allow the birth-injury program to pay defense lawyers who were seeking to have a dead child accepted into the program. Evidently, a child who had died shortly after birth, under the care of a local obstetrician, was deemed qualified for benefits under the birth-injury program. Parents in The Bronx and Queens could claim up to $100,000 from the program. However, the fact that the child qualified, meant that a separate medical malpractice lawsuit against the obstetrician for millions was ended.

The state’s attorney general pointed out that program funding was not to be used to pay lawyers who were trying to avoid exposure to med mal lawsuits for their clients. In other words, the eligibility issue was not to protect the interests of the dead child, but to ensure the negligence doctor was not sued for medical malpractice, explained the Doctor.