Injury Law Firm Blog

Former Cy Young Pitcher Jim Palmer Wins Malpractice Suit After Failed Eye Surgery

Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer was awarded $890,000 after a West Palm Beach jury found an ophthalmologist liable for damaging his vision. After a two-week trial, it took a jury about four hours to decide Palmer should receive the money for suffering, lost wages and mental and physical pain. The jury awarded Palmer $327,000 in lost earnings and $563,000 in pain and suffering.

Former Dallas Cowboy's Wife Files Malpractice Lawsuit

Adriane Springs, the wife of former Cowboys running back Ron Springs, has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit in state district court after her husabnd, Ron Springs, 51, fell into a coma in October during a surgical procedure to have a cyst removed from his elbow and reportedly remains in an incapacitated state. According to published reports, named in the lawsuit, which is seeking unspecified damages, are Dr. Joyce Abraham, an anesthesiologist; Dr. David Godat, a plastic surgeon; and the Texas Anesthesia Group.

Surgical Tools Left in Patients Account for Thousands of Injuries

According to the FDA and Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), about 2500 surgery patients leave the hospital with surgical devices such as clamps, and tweezers or pieces of surgical devices that unintentionally fell off during surgery.

98% of malpractice cases aren't even started

Accoring to NewsWireToday.com, medical malpractice causes about 80,000 deaths and injures many more, each year. Shockingly, they report only two percent of malpractice victims seek compensation.

$150M Suit Filed Against Naval Hospital

The parents of Gavin Alcorn are filing a $150 million claim against Naval Hospital Jacksonville, claiming medical malpractice. The couple said the boy is brain damaged because of a botched delivery.Gavin, born in May 2005, suffers from a form of cerebral palsy.

Protect yourself from prescription and pharmacy errors

* When you are prescribed medication, read the prescription out loud and ask the physician to confirm it.
* Verify and write down the drug's name and dosge, confirm this with your doctor.
* Use a reputable pharmacy with adequate staff. Avoid understaffed pharmacies and "internet" pharmacies.
* When picking up your prescription, verify the dosages and drug names match what you wrote down, including opening the bottle looking at the actual medication. Ask the pharmacist to verify the medication is correct.
* If you have any questions about the medication or the directions for taking it, ask the pharmacist for a detailed explanation.
* Ask for the package insert, and read it.

Medical Malpractice in Jails: A Common Occurrence

If you're ever in a Los Angeles County Jail, you just have to hope you don't fall ill. The deaths of at least 14 inmates since 1999 in the nation's largest county jail system came after treatment errors and other breakdowns in their medical care, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The jail system lacks enough doctors, nurses and other medical workers, resulting in long delays in treatment for conditions ranging from hernias to heart disease, an investigation by the Los Angeles Times found.

Learn About Your Doctor's Death Rate!

Massachusetts is actually taking a giant leap forward in providing potential patients with information regarding their physicians. Unfortunately, most other states are not likely to follow.

Massachusetts health officials have decided to publicize the patient death rates for individual heart surgeons, the first time the state will release information on the quality of care provided by individual doctors --not just by hospitals and physicians' groups.

Beginning Dec. 18, it will be possible to go to a website and look up the mortality rates for 55 surgeons who perform cardiac bypass operations. About 4,000 patients had bypass surgery at 14 Massachusetts hospitals in 2004, according to the state's most recent figures. It is one of the most common operations.

Aetna Insurance Company Sued for Failure to Cover Anorexia Treatment

A message to Aetna - tisk, tisk. Shame, shame, shame on you. As physicians and other health care providers are warning parents of the dangers of anorexia, insurance companies like Aetna are looking at making a fast buck by refusing to cover such a genuine illness.

A New Jersey couple filed suit against Aetna Inc., the Hartford-based insurance company, on November 7, claiming that it refused to fully cover their daughter’s treatment for anorexia.

The suit was filed in United States District Court here. The couple, Cliff and Maria DeAnna of Mountainside, N.J., said Aetna refused to pay for nearly 10 weeks of their daughter’s inpatient treatment, saying her eating disorder was not “biologically based.” Insurers have balked at covering mental illnesses that they say do not have a proven physiological basis.

When Suicide is a Wrongful Death

The husband of a Chicago woman whose suicide in 2001 spurred greater awareness of the dangers of postpartum mental illness has reached a $900,000 settlement with a doctor and hospital that treated her. (Of course, in Texas, barring any economic damages, such an award would be capped at $250,000 in most circumstances).

Sam Stokes III filed a wrongful-death suit in 2002 against Dr. George Melnyk and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, alleging that his wife, Melanie, had not been treated properly for depression in late May 2001--about three months after the birth of the couple's daughter.