Source: Injuryboard
A group of New Jersey ob-gyns has begun asking prospective patients to sign away their right to a jury trial, touching off a debate about the enforceability of the waivers. Citing the high cost of medical malpractice insurance, more than a dozen ob-gyns have joined Obstetricians & Gynecologists Risk Retention Group of America (OGRRGA), a new Montana-based company that is reportedly reducing their premiums by about 50 percent. As part of their participation in the group, these physicians are requiring patients to sign agreements stating that they will pursue any subsequent disputes through binding arbitration. They also must agree that pain-and-suffering awards will be capped at $250,000.

Source: injuryboard.com
A San Diego jury awarded $5.7 million to Regis Reilly, now 53. They found that Reilly’s doctor failed to diagnose his skin cancer. The verdict will be reduced to $1.9 million because of the medical malpractice caps that exist in California. In most other states, the entire verdict would be paid. There have been numerous valid studies that have shown that medical malpractice caps do not lower doctor’s insurance premiums. The cap laws only serve to reward the insurance companies and the doctors who committed the malpractice.

Source: The Record
POINT PLEASANT - Two lawsuits involving Pleasant Valley Hospital have come to a conclusion, one resulting in an out-of-court settlement, and another in its favor. On Dec. 26, Mason Circuit Judge David W. Nibert dismissed with prejudice a malpractice claim Phyllis Mitchell on May 5, 2006. In her suit, Mitchell named Dr. Clyde J. Rorrer as a co-defendant.

According to court records, Mitchell accused PVH and Rorrer of malpractice when Rorrer improperly diagnosed her breathing problems as bronchitis. Her suit alleged that a follow-up examination by another physician discovered her breathing problems were a result of the remnants of a peanut being lodged in her lung, which later resulted in an acute case of pneumonia, and partial removal of the lung. On Dec. 13, Paul Farrell with the Huntington law firm of Farrell, Farrell and Farrell, which was representing both PVH and Rorrer, asked PVH be dismissed from the suit. Nibert granted Farrell’s motion noting that the case “has been fully compromised and settled.”

Source: The Record
POINT PLEASANT - Following the lead of a Mason County physician, an Ohio man has brought a malpractice suit against a former Point Pleasant doctor, now living and working in Illinois, without filing a certificate of merit.

On Dec. 12, Ralph A. Barcus, of Gallipolis, Ohio, filed suit against Dr. Jack Levine. In his suit, Barcus, who is represented by Michael A. Eachus, of the Gallipolis law office of Eachus and Finley, named Pleasant Valley Hospital as a co-defendant. In his suit, Barcus, 65, alleges both committed malpractice when Levine in 2001 failed to remove the entire catheter he inserted into Barcus’ chest two years earlier.

Though he provided both defendants the requisite 30-day notice of a pending lawsuit, Eachus maintains that the malpractice was so obvious that a certificate of merit from a qualified physician in Levine’s field is not necessary. Eachus position is similar to one taken by Dr. Danny R. Westmoreland in his appeal to the state Supreme Court claiming that a 2003 law designed to curb malpractice cases actually hamstrings legitimate ones. [more]

Source: Palm Beach Post
Julie McPherson figured it would be easy to punish those she believes caused her mother’s death. Hire a lawyer. Sue. Little did she know that her age (42) would scare off attorneys who initially indicated an interest in taking her case. According to Florida law, only spouses or children under 25 can file a lawsuit seeking damages for a wrongful death caused by medical malpractice. [more]

Source: nwi.com
HAMMOND | A Lake County Superior Court jury deliberated nearly nine hours Friday before awarding Steven Sangster $3 million in a medical malpractice suit. Sangster, 30, filed against orthopedic surgeon Dr. Richard Oni and anesthesiologist Dr. James Kim whose medical actions left Sangster with brain damage. After four days of testimony and a day of deliberations, the seven-member jury found the physicians negligent.

On July 12, 1996, Sangster, then 19, underwent spinal surgery by Oni at Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary, for the correction of congenital scoliosis or curvature of his spine, the release stated. About three hours into the surgery, the anesthesiologist informed Oni that some of the patient’s monitoring equipment had malfunctioned, but Oni chose to continue the surgery. An hour later, Sangster went into cardiac arrest and a coma. Later, he was diagnosed with permanent brain damage due to lack of oxygen during the surgery, Kopack said in the statement. In 2001, a medical review panel of three doctors ruled that Oni and Kim had breached the standard of care during surgery and caused Sangster to suffer injuries.

Source: Edwardsville Intelligencer
Attorney David Damick laid out his case against Dr. James Dalla Riva in a medical malpractice trial, telling jurors on Tuesday that the local obstetrician and gynecologist rushed through his treatment of a woman who had come to him complaining of severe abdominal pain. Dalla Riva was employed by Anderson Hospital on Jan. 4, 2002, the date he performed an abdominal hysterectomy on Mary Baugus, and removed her ovaries. Following the surgery, Damick said that Baugus experienced severe pain and abnormal bleeding and was later found to have a half-inch perforation to her bladder. Eventually the severe bleeding was stopped, and she was discharged from the hospital, but for several weeks “the pain never stopped,” Damick told jurors. [more]

Source: Naples Daily News
A Naples gastroenterologist took the stand for more than four hours Wednesday, when a widower’s attorney grilled him about why he performed an “unnecessary” colonoscopy that resulted in a 59-year-old’s woman’s death four years ago. And although Dr. Michael Marks of Consultants in Gastroenterology contended the procedure was necessary to decompress Judith Dill’s colon, a Harvard gastroenterologist testifying as an expert witness, said Marks’ notes showed he did a routine colonoscopy — not a decompression colonoscopy, as Marks maintained Wednesday. That expert said X-rays and CAT scans clearly showed the correct diagnosis. [more]

Source: Washington Post
Continuing on the revelations that juries have been found to sympathize more with doctors in malpractice cases, the Washington Post is running an article that states “There is no empirical evidence to support the much-publicized notion that the tort system amounts to a lottery for injured plaintiffs, as President Bush and others have long maintained, writes Philip G. Peters Jr. in the May edition of the Michigan Law Review. If anything, the system appears to be biased against them”.

Who’s going to put two and two together and come up with the conclusion that insurance companies are taking professionals in the medical field for as much as they can and for as long as they can get away with it?

Source: Hartford Business
The state House of Representatives unanimously approved SB-249 which would — for the first time in Connecticut — make chiropractor malpractice records public information. The vote followed the unanimous approval by the state Senate on April 11th. The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. M. Jodi Rell for her signature.

“We are delighted that legislators agree the people of our state have a right to make informed decisions about their health care,” said Janet Levy, president of Victims of Chiropractic Abuse. SB-249 would require insurance companies to inform the state Insurance Commissioner whenever there has been a settled malpractice claim so that the information can be published for the public to make informed decisions about picking a chiropractor, just as been the case for years regarding medical doctors. “If this bill is signed into law chiropractors will no longer be able to hide under the radar,” Levy said. Levy suffered a stroke after chiropractic manipulation of her neck five years ago. She founded VOCA to advocate for others who have been injured by chiropractic treatment.

Source: Local News 8
DAHO FALLS, Idaho The trial is underway in a malpractice lawsuit against the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. The lawsuit was filed in 2002 by 23-year-old Brock Higham. Higham underwent surgery that year for a minor wrist injury. But his attorneys say negligence by the Idaho Falls hospital’s nursing staff caused brain damage, leaving Higham with a condition defined by slowed speech and tremors.

During jury selection yesterday, attorneys told potential jurors Higham was given the wrong drug. They say that caused Higham to suffocate and that the nursing staff waited too long to react. But hospital attorneys claim the nursing staff acted appropriately. They also contend the drug blamed for Higham’s condition is not at fault. The trial is expected to last three weeks. The lawsuit does not include a specific dollar amount sought in damages. But Higham’s attorneys say the jury could deliberate on a multi-million dollar award.