Recent Blog Posts
What Do I Do If I Am In a Car Accident?
Whether you drive a car, truck, or motorcycle you do not plan on being involved in a motor vehicle accident. So, when an accident occurs, it is easy to become overwhelmed and frustrated. Many people have not given thought as to what they should do after an accident takes place, until it is too… Read More »
Medical Malpractice Tragedy Ends With $17.9 Million Settlement
A medical misdiagnosis caused a New York mother of three to become legally blind in one eye and a quadruple amputee. In September of 2008, Tabitha Mullings presented to the Brooklyn Hospital Center Emergency Room with complaints of kidney pain. The hospital diagnosed her with a kidney stone, prescribed some pain killers, and sent… Read More »
Autonomy of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority In Jeopardy?
Last week, we reported on the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority’s poster campaign, which was aimed at giving healthcare providers and patients information on how they can be more engaged with each other. The future of the Authority, which collects reports of medical errors and near errors in an attempt to prevent mistakes in the… Read More »
New Court of Special Appeals Decision: Yiallouros v. Tolson
The Court of Special Appeals recently issued an interesting opinion regarding the basis of expert witness testimony. The full opinion is available here: Yiallouros v. Tolson. In that case, Yiannis Yiallouros (plaintiff) filed suit in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County against John Tolson (defendant) seeking damages for injuries he sustained as a result… Read More »
The Four
In 2003, the American Academy of Pediatrics (“AAP”), along with the American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology (“ACOG”), published Neonatal Encephalopathy and Cerebral Palsy: Defining the Pathogenesis and Pathophysiology (“NEACP”). The NEACP (or Green Book) sought to identify four “essential” criteria necessary to attribute the events of labor and delivery to neonatal encephalopathy and… Read More »
Informed Consent – What Should Your Doctors Tell You Prior to Treatment?
Medical malpractice cases are not limited to those involving a doctor deviating from the standard of care in his treatment of a patient and as a result causing significant injuries or even death to the patient. Medical malpractice may occur when a doctor fails to obtain “informed consent” from the patient prior to rendering… Read More »
Hospital Infections Are a Serious Threat to Patient Safety
Nosocomial infections, also known as hospital-acquired infections, occur at alarming rates causing millions of patients to become sick and, in many instances, die. Not to mention that treatment of patients who get a hospital born infection increase the costs of medical care exponentially. MRSA, or Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus has been of particular significance… Read More »
State Cites St. Luke’s Hospital for Failing to Protect its Patients
According to a State Department of Health report, nurses at St. Luke’s Hospital on three occasions in 2010 and 2011 improperly programmed patient controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps. A PCA pump is a computerized pump that contains pain medication that is connected directly to a patient’s intravenous (IV) line. Typically, the pump is set to… Read More »
Caps on Medical Malpractice Damages, Bad For Patients
Approximately half of the states currently have caps on payments in malpractice cases. These states have passed laws that typically limit the amount that a victim of medical malpractice can be awarded for non-economic (pain and suffering) damages; however, some states have limited both non-economic and economic damages (medical expenses and lost wages). And… Read More »
Not All Doctors Want to Help You
After a Maryland personal injury claim has been filed by a plaintiff, the other side will have the right to have their own doctor perform a physical examination of the injured plaintiff. Maryland Rule 2-423 permits such examinations. The defense bar has dubbed this physical examination “independent” in an attempt to convince the jury… Read More »
