Brooklyn

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 26, 2012

A stillborn baby, born at home, was the reason for a mother to file a medical malpractice lawsuit

by Stephen Bilkis

A stillborn baby, born at home, was the reason for a mother to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, commented the doctor. The mother has gone to hospital in April with a headache, lower abdominal pain and a fever. She remained in care for six days. In June she went back and said she was spotting. She was admitted to rule out her being in labor, as she was in the 32nd week of her pregnancy.

During her second admission, she received drugs to relax the uterine muscles and stop any premature labor and was hooked up to a fetal monitor, reported the source. She was given an antibiotic, diagnosed with cervicitis and sent home.

Two days later, she was admitted once again with the same complaints, was again given another drug to stop labor and was discharged against medical advice. Two more days went by and she returned to the hospital once again, where she was told she was not in labor and given another antibiotic for a possible urinary tract infection and send home.

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 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 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 29, 2011

Rights may be a thing of the past

by Stephen Bilkis

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.

Published on: October 2, 2011

MOTHER WHOSE DAUGHTER WAS INJURED AT BIRTH FIGHTS BACK

by Stephen Bilkis

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.

Published on: September 19, 2011

Bankrupt Hospital still has bills to pay, says New York Malpractice Lawyer

by Stephen Bilkis

After a New York hospital closed, hundreds of people were left out in the cold, says one New York Malpractice Lawyer The hospital, which closed due to having about $1 billion of debt, filed for bankruptcy, which has so far protected it from any lawsuits for malpractice, some of which could give the victim millions in dollars.

According to a New York Malpractice Lawyer, the hospital did have insurance for malpractice, although it may have been underfunded, with only $150 to $250 million left for the families of those who suffered while staying in the hospital. That money, unfortunately, would first have to go to creditors, who would legally have first dibs on the remaining funds, meaning that the roughly 260 people who are currently suing the hospital would end up with nothing, even though some have suffered serious injury or had loved ones die.

One such case involves the family of a woman who died in the hospital due to a misdiagnosis and a faulty defibrillator. Her family sued the hospital and won over $5 million, and not a single dollar has been paid. The family is struggling to get by, and the woman’s daughter needs her tuition paid for, which the $5 million would have certainly done. Doctors and Hospitals in The Bronx and Brooklyn have to take note and be on guard.