The thought of a surgeon taking a scalpel to the wrong limb or patient sends chills down the spine of anyone who has been admitted to the hospital. Eighty-four cases of what's known in the business as "wrong site surgery" were reported in the United States last year. But that's just the "tip of the iceberg" because many hospitals across the country aren't obligated to account for such blunders...
Cases of nursing home abuse and neglect are quite common these days. The main reason is that many of these facilities are run with an eye towards the bottom line for the owners and not the benefit of the patients. Some corporations which own nursing home facilities will squeeze every last dime out of the facility in part by reducing staff. Another game that the nursing home industry has been...
So many drivers these days are talking on the phone while driving. Studies have shown that talking on the cell phone while driving is very close to the danger of driving while drunk. The reason is that your mind is taken up with your conversation and not 100 percent focused on the road.It is the slight lapses in focus that lead to car wrecks. In litigation over car wrecks causing personal...
Virginia recently changed its laws related to medical malpractice cases. The new law requires that the lawyer certify that he has an expert witness in the appropriate specialty who will testify that the defendant violated the standard of care before serving the lawsuit. This law is actually a good thing. Now, there will be fewer lawsuits filed by lawyers who are not really experienced medical...
Long ago, the federal government and its agents could not be sued for torts (a civil wrong). However, the federal government passed an act called the Federal Tort Claims Act many years ago that allows suits for negligence against federal agents, including postmen, if they are negligent and the negligence leads to injuries.What if your postal carrier leaves your box in a strange position outside...
Five years ago, the Institute of Medicine issued a startling report that acted as awake-up call to hospitals, health care providers, and patients: As many as 98,000people die each year in hospitals in the United States from infections, drug mix-ups,and other mistakes--mistakes that could have been prevented. Two of the authors of that report recently published a follow-up article in...
The Bush Administration has taken yet another step to weaken the rights ofvictims of medically related mistakes. The latest effort to protect the drugmanufacturers in the United States is the issuance of a new rule by the Food and DrugAdministration pertaining to labeling requirements by drug manufacturers. The firstthing this new rule does is make it clear that the Food and Drug...
The ultimate embarrassment: An experienced DEA agent demonstrates gun safety to children in Orlando, Florida, and during the videotaped safety discussion he accidentally shoots himself in the foot! In the aftermath, he is now suing the DEA! Why?Paige alleges that the DEA intentionally leaked the tape to the media, and that the video has made him the butt of jokes on the internet, affecting...
Is it safe to pull over on the shoulder of a highway to change a tire, change drivers, get something out of the trunk, or even to be pulled over by a police officer?Based on my experience as an injury lawyer, the answer is a resounding "no." If you can, get off the busy highway first, or at least pull all the way off the shoulder at an exit ramp where the main traffic is not blasting by your...
For years, the automobile manufacturers of the world have touted air bags as soft pillows that will greatly reduce injuries and deaths on our nation's highways. While it is true that air bags have reduced deaths and injuries, these achievements have come at a high cost. Due to the manufacturer's decision to rush air bags into our cars when first required by the National Highway Transportation...