Category Archives: Articles
Medical Panel Deprives Birth Injury Victim of Compensation
In a recent birth injury case, Mwangi v. Merlin, the Massachusetts Appeals Court panel affirmed the dismissal of the plaintiff’s claims against two physicians. This case illustrates the problems with medical panels and arbitration panels that have been established in many states to take these case out of the hands of capable juries, and… Read More »
CDC Warns of Risks of Overprescribing Antibiotics in Hospital Patients
Antibiotics, a type of medication that treats bacterial infections, have enabled doctors to make huge strides in treating and curing diseases. The success of antibiotics has led to their widespread use in hospitals, and this has led to concern that doctors and hospitals may be overusing them or using them incorrectly in many cases…. Read More »
Supporters of a Midwife Clinic in South Carolina Protest State Regulations That Could Close It
There have been recent protests in Charleston, South Carolina having to do with a natural birth center and new state health department laws governing midwives. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control states that, in order to protect the yet unborn babies and their mothers, there should be an “on call” physician… Read More »
British Authorities Fault Hospital in New Mother’s Death After Error Administering an Epidural
Authorities in the UK have ruled that a new mother’s death from brain bleeding in 2010 was due to “gross failures” by the hospital where she stayed during the labor. Malgorzata Doniec stayed at Croydon University Hospital, where she received an epidural by an anesthetist in training. The epidural needle punctured the dural membrane… Read More »
Lawsuits Allege that Medical Group Concealed Information About Plastic Surgeons and Botched Surgeries
Two separate lawsuits accuse doctors affiliated with a single cosmetic surgery practice of medical malpractice. One lawsuit, which settled in early 2014, accused a doctor with the same group of performing a procedure on the plaintiff while she was still conscious. Hatanaka v. Schaefer, et al, No. 37-2013-00028700 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Diego Co.,… Read More »
Maryland Court of Appeals Rejects Doctor’s Argument that Filing Deadlines Expired in Cancer Misdiagnosis Claim
Maryland’s highest court reversed an order dismissing a wrongful death claim alleging that a doctor failed to diagnose and treat the decedent’s cancer in a timely manner. The circuit court in Mummert v. Alizadeh held that the plaintiffs had not filed their claim within the time limits set by Maryland law for medical malpractice… Read More »
Case of Teenager Who Suffered Brain Death Raises Questions About the Legal Definition of Death in Medical Malpractice and Other Cases
A tragic situation in California has led to a discussion about the medical and legal definitions of death, and how they affect people’s rights in legal proceedings. Under most state laws, “death” occurs once a physician declares that either circulation and breathing or brain activity have permanently ceased. This definition has led to controversy… Read More »
New York Court Denies Boy With Developmental Disorder the Right to Pursue a Birth Injury Claim
Recently, the New York Appeals Division of the Supreme Court dismissed the complaint of a mother and her child on the grounds that the notice of claim was not timely. In Abad v. New York Health and Hospitals Corporation, young Abad was diagnosed at the age of two-and-a-half with pervasive developmental disorders, thought to… Read More »
Wrongful Death Lawsuit Alleges that Hospital Failed to Supervise Patient
A lawsuit is accusing a hospital of failing to provide adequate supervision to a psychiatric patient, who left the hospital on his own while still under sedation. Martinez v. Oak Bend Medical Office, Ltd., et al, No. 14-DCV-212068, am. petition (Tex. Dist. Ct. – Fort Bend Co., Jan. 23, 2014). The patient wandered onto… Read More »
Texas District Court Denies Family’s Request to Have Their Birth Injury Case Reconsidered in Rodriguez v. United States
Recently, a federal district court in Texas denied a family’s request to have their birth injury case reconsidered. In Rodriguez v. United States, Jessica Rodriguez gave birth to a full term baby referred to as “E.R.” on March 23, 2005 after a scheduled Caesarian section at Wilford Hall Medical Center. At the time of… Read More »
