Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

Surgeons are expected to provide a reasonable level of competent care for patients, and to alert patients if things go wrong on the operating table. Patients are under anesthesia so cannot know what exactly doctors are doing or if there is a problem. If something goes wrong, however, doctors are supposed to disclose. Unfortunately, not all doctors follow best practices for letting patients know what happened when the patient was under anesthesia and undergoing surgery.

If you are a surgical patient and your doctor makes a mistake during your procedure, you could potentially have a claim for medical malpractice. While it can be a challenge to get the information necessary to show what happened during surgery or how your doctor let you down, an Atlanta medical malpractice lawyer can help you.

Do Surgeons Let Patients Know When Something Goes Wrong?

In more than 30 states throughout the country, victims of medical malpractice are limited in how much compensation they can obtain for non-economic losses, such as compensation for pain and suffering. These limits have come about through tort reform. Now, the Washington Post reports that some lawmakers on the federal level are considering tort reform efforts that could apply nationwide. Unfortunately, depending upon the decision that are made by federal lawmakers, this could result in substantial additional limits on the rights of injured patients and their families.

An Atlanta medical malpractice lawyer can provide assistance to victims in pursuing claims for compensation after harm due to medical negligence, with the goal of recovering the maximum possible compensation. Victims who get hurt should be fully and fairly compensated for all loss, but tort reform efforts can interfere with this by allowing only partial recovery for some of the most damaging losses a victim endures.

Tort Reform Could Hurt Victims of Medical Malpractice in Atlanta

Last week we discussed the efforts by a local lawmaker to mandate that each state across the country, including Georgia, abide by federal standards regarding certain legal principles in medical malpractice lawsuits. Unfortunately, last Monday in Washington the House passed Georgia Representative Phil Gingrey's bill that would set a cap on medical malpractice awards. The specifics of the bill include a $250,000 cap on economic damages, a limit on punitive damages to two times the amount of economic damages or $250,000 (whichever is greater), and a sliding-scale limit on attorney's fees in medical malpractice cases. The final vote in the House was 223 for, 118 against.

As noted in the previous post, Representative Gingrey says that this is necessary to stop "frivolous lawsuitsand increasing costs of liability insurance. There are skeptics of this on both sides of the aisle, though, and the bill still faces a tough battle in the Senate. President Obama has already indicated that even if it passes, he intends to veto the measure. Representatives of the White House said, "The administration opposes placing artificial caps on malpractice awards which will prevent patients and other claimants who have been wrongfully harmed from receiving just compensation.

Aside from the federalism issues as discussed in the previous post, this whole argument may be missing the point if the goal is to lower the cost of liability insurance to doctors. Last month, the American Association for Justice issued a report showing that medical liability insurance companies have invented this "crisisto justify charging higher premiums, even though the companies are more profitable than ever. The insurance companies want everyone, including doctors, to believe that the reason for higher premiums is expensive malpractice litigation. But a closer look at the numbers show that while the amount paid out by the companies on average for each claim did increase, it was a gradual increase with no sudden spike in terms of dollar amounts. And the number of claims the companies paid out actually decreased. This resulted in the money being paid out remaining stable, but the premiums skyrocketing regardless.

Our Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers have been following the legal case over the tragic death of 15 year old Shaquille Johnson in 2007. The Supreme Court of Georgia issued its judgment in the case last week and sided with the Johnson family, meaning they can finally have a jury trial and seek justice for their son’s death.

In December 2007, Shaquille had arthroscopic knee surgery for a football injury. Eight days later, his mother, Thelma Johnson, took him to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, complaining of pain on the left side of his chest. Dr. Price Paul Omondi examined him, diagnosed him with pleurisy, prescribed him Naprosyn as a painkiller and sent him home. About two weeks later, Shaquille again complained of pain in his chest and he had trouble breathing. He was taken by ambulance to Phoebe Putney, where he died of a bilateral pulmonary embolism, which is a blood clot in the lungs.

The Johnson’s sued Dr. Omondi and Southwest Emergency Physicians, PC, for medical malpractice. The trial court granted summary judgment for Dr. Omondi and his employers, using Georgia’s emergency medical care statute, which says that in an emergency setting, a doctor or health care provider won’t be held liable unless they acted with “gross negligence. The Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s decision.

In 2010, the Georgia Supreme Court struck down a law imposing a damage cap on non-compensatory damages in medical malpractice cases. Damage caps limit the amount of money that a patient can receive for non-economic losses caused by medical negligence. For example, if a jury determines that a victim has suffered $500,000 in pain and suffering but there is a damage cap of $350,000 in place, the victim cannot receive more than the $350,000.

Damage caps are an infringement on the right of medical malpractice victims to be fully compensated for the injuries and losses that they may suffer due to poor quality medical care. Unfortunately, these caps still exist around the country. Recent evidence suggests that when damage caps are put into place, they not only harm the patient who is unable to recover compensation but they also make the healthcare system worse for everyone.

Medical negligence is a serious problem, with some estimates suggesting 200,000 or more deaths each year because of preventable medical mistakes. Malpractice claims help to ensure that healthcare providers are held accountable in situations where they fail to provide professional care. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer can provide assistance to those who wish to take legal action to pursue a claim for compensation after medical negligence occurs.

Surgeons are highly trained medical professionals expected to exercise appropriate care and exhibit necessary expertise when performing procedures on patients. Surgeons, however, make mistakes. In some cases, the errors made are so basic it is hard to imagine how a professional could have made the mistake. For example, a surgeon operating on the wrong patient; operating on the wrong side of a patient; putting in the wrong implant; or leaving an instrument inside of someone can seem unthinkable because such a highly trained doctor should never make such an obvious error. These events are even called never events because they shouldn’t ever occur.

The reality, however, is never events happen every year. Some estimates suggest a “never event” happens about once every 12,000 procedures. If you are one of the victims of these mistakes, you need to contact an Atlanta surgical malpractice lawyer to find out how you can pursue a case to recover compensation for losses.

Understanding the Causes of Surgical Errors Affecting Atlanta Patients

When a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is sustained, it can be difficult or impossible for the victim to fully recover. The function of the brain can be permanently affected and victims can be left cognitively impaired, suffering from memory loss or mood swings, and coping with a whole host of other serious health issues. Unfortunately, in the event that the brain injury victim is a child, the long-term effects could be even worse because the developing brain is hurt.

A child who sustains a traumatic brain injury needs extensive medical intervention. Unfortunately, a recent study showed that money affects the likelihood of a child getting appropriate care. Children are much less likely to receive the necessary rehabilitation if they come from poor families and/or if they come from families where English is not spoken as a first language.

In the event that a child was hurt by someone else through negligence or intentional wrongdoing, money should never be a barrier to a child getting appropriate care. An Atlanta traumatic brain injury lawyer should be consulted to provide help to the family when a child has sustained a brain injury so the family may pursue a claim for full compensation.

A patient who is considering undergoing a surgical procedure at a particular hospital, or considering having a procedure done by a certain physician, probably wants to know if the doctor or hospital has made any serious mistakes. Hospitals and care providers, on the other hand, have a vested interest in keeping their errors secret so patients still choose them for medial procedures.

Throughout most of the United States, hospitals and physicians are able to buy the silence of many patients who are harmed by serious medical errors. 9 Investigates looked at the practice of confidential settlements in which hospitals pay out millions of dollars to prevent patients from becoming aware of frequent mistakes and substantial risks to patient health.

Atlanta Medical Malpractice Cases Kept Secret Due to Confidentiality Clauses

Our Atlanta medical malpractice attorneys know that many people complain about medical malpractice lawsuits flooding our courts and resulting in unfair judgments for people simply looking for a quick payday. Sometimes for political reasons, government officials jump on this bandwagon. However, working with people who have had their lives ruined, or even ended, by the negligence of a medical professional, we know that there are many cases that deserve justice and compensation for the injuries suffered.

Now there is a new study proving just how non-existent this problem of “floodingthe courts with frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits is. The study was conducted by the American Medical Association and released by the Archives of Internal Medicine, focusing on cases at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. It found that not even five percent of cases alleging medical malpractice actually go to trial €“ a mere 4.5 percent €“ actually reach the verdict stage, and of those that reach this stage, 80 percent of those trial outcomes favor the doctors. Obviously, the complaint that the court system is overburdened by medical malpractice cases is simply a myth.

This AMA study examined the number of medical malpractice claims resolved between 2002 and 2005. About 10,000 such claims were filed, but only 55 percent of them ended in actual lawsuits. Of that 55 percent, more than half were dismissed in court, and the majority of remaining cases were resolved prior to trial, with a settlement for example.

This November, in a surprise upset, Donald J. Trump won the presidency of the United States. This means President Elect Trump and those who he appoints to manage federal agencies will be shaping policies for at least the next four years. One of the announcements that Trump made following his election was the appointment of Tom Price to serve as the head of Health and Human Services. This appointment could mean that there are changes coming on the federal level which could affect the ability of injured patients and their families to make medical malpractice claims.

It is very important for victims of medical negligence to be able to recover full and fair compensation for damages. Unfortunately, tort reform efforts nationwide have already made malpractice cases harder across the country. If federal law changes, victims could face new challenges on recovering the compensation they need following injury due to medical negligence.

An Atlanta medical malpractice lawyer can provide assistance to victims in responding to legal changes that affect their rights. An attorney can also provide help working within the legal framework to make the strongest possible case so victims can get the compensation that they deserve.