Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

Many people assume that doctors tend to flock to states that have damage caps so that they won’t be sued for all of their money if they make a mistake in a medical procedure. This common belief is actually false. While medical malpractice reform advocates claim that the medical malpractice damage caps attract too many phsyicians away from states that do not have the damage caps, they are not actually citing a fact.

In fact, if all states have damage caps, then this would also reduce the incentive to relocate. A nationwide cap would reduce all relocation among doctors. Currently, Colorado, Indiana, Virginia, Nebraska, New Mexico and Louisiana have total damages caps in place. West Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Michigan, Kansas, Maryland, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Kansas, Georgia, Utah, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida, Michigan, Montana, Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Oklahoma and Nevada are all states that have a noneconomic damages cap. This means that the cap pertains to any pain and suffering or emotional stress reimbursements, Massachusetts operates with both caps.

Researchers have studied the impact that these caps have on phsyicians, and discovered that damages caps may have a positive impact on the physician supply in rural areas. One study suggests that states that adopted damage caps had 3.2% more physicians per capita in rural counties. Research shows that damage caps don’t have any effect on physician supply but did report positive and significant increase in phsyicians per capital in quartile counties that have low population densities.

Some people believe that the medical malpractice justice system doles out compensation on a regular basis. Uninjured patients can take home millions if they have a convincing attorney, whereas those who have gone through traumatic ordeals can leave with no money at all in their trial. While this is a common concept that is affixed to medical malpractice cases, it is not always the truth. In fact, not all medical malpractice cases are evidences of “jackpot justice.”

Instead, people with the right attorney on their side naturally have a greater chance of receiving a large settlement. One researcher points out that many medical malpractice cases are the juxtaposition of bad luck and neglect of care. When a person cannot determine whether or not their case was because of poor care or because of an unfortunate circumstance, it can be hard to prove why that victim needs compensation.

Many patients who experienced relatively appropriate care may initiate claims, whereas other patients who were truly harmed by medical negligence may decide not to file suit. There are also times that people cannot find a lawyer willing to take on their case. These patients who truly deserve compensation may fail to initiate claims. This is what causes many to view the system as a jackpot justice system. Naturally, the justice system tries to award people more compensation based on the severity of their injuries.

Birth injuries can be one of the hardest things for new parents to deal with, especially in the event that it could have been prevented. Birth injuries are often caused as a result of negligence on behalf of the medical professional during the birthing process. Children all over the country are being mishandled during the birth and it is resulting in life long damages. A family in Chicago unfortunately had to suffer the hardship of hearing that when their little baby was born with cerebral palsy. This condition is one that affects the brain and nervous system which then hurts the bodies’ ability to control muscle movement and can affect many other areas of the body as well.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children who have cerebral palsy by the age of 8, 33% of them have no ability to walk, 11% use walking devices, and 56% can walk independently. Each case is unique and the severity can clearly vary, though the effects will likely affect the children for the remainder of their life. This family decided that what had happened to their precious child could have been prevented. In their lawsuit, the family describes that when the wife went into labor their certified physician wasn’t present so a house doctor oversaw her.

This house doctor had no formal training in obstetrics, the care for the woman’s reproductive parts and the child during the pregnancy throughout the postnatal period, and therefore was uncertified to perform the child labor. Unfortunately for the family, once the certified physician arrived the baby already had extreme damage due to not receiving oxygen; the baby was diagnosed with cerebral palsy soon after. The family took this to a personal injury attorney and filed a claim against the hospital and they were awarded $13 million dollars as a result. Suffering from the medical malpractice or neglect during the labor process is a terrible thing to go through, and now because of this the Chicago family’s baby will forever suffer from cerebral palsy.