Lawsuits are so common these days that you need very concrete evidence to prove that wrongdoing has been done. In the case of a possible medical malpractice lawsuit, this fact is even more emphatic since many times the proper course of action is a judgment call by the doctor or medical team, and many times there is not really a right or wrong answer.
May
17
Comments (0)
May
17
Comment by Attorney Gerry Oginski:
Medicare is a federal program that pays for medical bills and hospital expenses. In a dramatically new twist, Medicare has decided that where a patient suffers injuries at the hands of a doctor or a hospital, and the patient requires additional medical care or treatment because of that wrongdoing, they will refuse to pay for those errors. The dilema that Medicare will face is trying to determine exactly what constitutes error by a doctor or hospital, as opposed to a possible complication that might arise from a particular procedure.
May
17
In many respects, Virginia has been more conservative about modifying the common law than its sister states. To the extent modifications have been approved, many restrict rather than expand the rights of the victims of medical negligence. For example, Virginia has adopted three major modifications of medical malpractice law: a damage cap, screening of proposed lawsuits by a medical review panel, and a state fund to compensate victims of birth-related neurological injuries. Much of the legislation specific to medical malpractice can be found in the Medical Malpractice Act, Va. Code Ann. ยงยง 8.01-581.1 to 8.01-581.20.
May
3
Most people when thinking about malpractice suits are not aware that there are also dental malpractice suits filed. Dental malpractice suits are in their own category but just as any other person in the medical field, dentists are liable for improper treatment services.
The frequency of the number of claims in dental malpractice is pretty steady. The claims are smaller of course than in the medical field. Here is a range of injuries, due to improper dental treatment that can lead to a dental malpractice claim: injuries to jaw, lip and tongue nerves, injuries related to anesthesia and death.
Apr
28
Learn how to be a black belt attorney when questioning a doctor at their deposition.
1. Never give advance warning of what you intend to ask.
A black belt is confident of their abilities. They don’t need to show off. They don’t need to put on a show. They certainly don’t need to impress the doctor with their legal prowess. When questioning a doctor at a deposition, I always advocate asking the key questions in the case AT THE VERY BEGINNING of the questioning.
Apr
5
Medical malpractice is now the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease and cancer. It has been reported that as many as 98,000 people die each year in American hospitals due to medical mistakes. The very place where you entrust the staff to save your life, may be the very place that a life-threatening mistake can be made. The statistics below show just how pervasive a problem medical malpractice really is in our country.
