Norfolk-Portsmouth Personal Injury Lawyer - Medical Malpractice

Feres Doctrine on Chopping Block After House Panel Vote

Rick Shapiro — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:17:00 GMT

I have long advocated for the overturning of the Feres Doctrine, a nearly 60-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling that bars active-duty military personnel from receiving compensation for injuries they suffer due to medical malpractice. The rule denies basic protections and protections to the very people who have done the most to earn those rights and protections and guarantee them for other Americans through their service to the country.

So I was pleased to see the members of the U.S. House of Representative Judiciary Committee earlier this week sent legislation that would invalidate the Feres Doctrine to the full House for a vote. According to an Air Force Times report, the Carmelo Rodriguez Military Medical Accountability Act is named after a Marine Corps sergeant who died at 29 of melanoma after military doctors withheld their diagnosis from him for 10 years. Like every other active-duty military member since 1950, neither Rodriguez nor his family could seek justice once the gross malpractice of the military doctors came to light.

The bill to overturn the Feres Doctrine may face tough opposition in the Senate, according to the Air Force Times, but at least federal legislators are beginning to recognize the injustice the rule perpetuates. As a member of law practice dedicated to representing victims of medical malpractice, I know how devastating errors and negligence by doctors, nurses, surgeons and pharmacists can be. I hope military members will soon no longer be left to suffer the consequences of medical malpractice without relief.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and our attorneys have experience handling medical malpractice cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. In addition, check out our FREE special reports on the Top 10 Tips from a Medical Malpractice Insider and the top 5 surgical errors you must know about. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) and we also have a North Carolina (NC) law office. Our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service.

EJL

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rick Shapiro

Wrong Drug, Wrong Dosage - Medication Errors in Hospitals Can Kill

John Cooper — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:38:34 GMT

Every year approximately 100,000 people are given the wrong medication from a medical professional. Being given the wrong medication can lead to other medical problems and complications simply as a result of negligence. Patients are being given the wrong medication and wrong dosage in every medical profession setting, including hospitals, nursing homes, in home care, and pharmacies.

There are many accidents and mistakes that can happen in medication delivery. Wrong medication can take the form of incorrect prescriptions, improper dosage, medication given to one patient when it should have been given to another, and patients taking medicine that has adverse reactions to other medicines and preexisting conditions the patient may have. These accidents can cause serious medical problems and injury.

In the medical profession there are certain rules that nurses and doctors are supposed to follow in drug administration. They include seeing that the right medication is given, to the right person, in the right dosage, through the right route, at the right time. This is commonly referred as the “5 R’s”. Taking these precautionary steps, the doctors and nurses can ensure that the medication is delivered properly and safely. However, if these standards of care are not adhered to then the medical professional can be held liable for damages, harms, and losses caused by the medical malpractice.

There are steps you can take to protect yourself from medical mistakes involving medication. First you should always ask the name of the drug, and correct dosage, so that you can double check that against what the pharmacist or nurse is administering to you. Take care that you know when and how the drug should be taken, and make your doctor aware of any current conditions or medications you are taking.

When receiving treatment and medication you should never worry that you are asking too many questions as it is your health that is on the line. If you are unsure about a detail of your treatment, clarify it before proceeding. As always, staying informed is staying safe.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by John Cooper

Night in the Hospital II: An Injury Lawyer’s Diagnosis

Jim Lewis — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:53:22 GMT

Why are preventable deaths and prolonged illnesses resulting from hospital neglect and malpractice more common during weekend and night shifts? As a Virginia medical negligence attorney, I think it is perhaps because many veteran employees prefer and have the seniority privilege of working during the day, which leaves the less experienced workers with the night hours. “Skeleton crews” contribute to medical malpractice during late hours of the night because leading specialists and topnotch surgeons tend to be in the comfort of their own homes as opposed to walking the halls of a hospital at 3 in the morning. New and timid staff members may be hesitant to contact off duty high ranking physicians if a problem arises. Those qualified doctors that do stay throughout the night hours may fall victim to fatigue, resulting in a significantly lower performance level. Employees may be completely competent, but it may not make a difference if the facility is understaffed. A breast cancer patient at UCLA Medical Center recalls not only screaming for help when she couldn’t breathe in the middle of the night, but listening to other’s cries that went unanswered, even when the emergency buttons were pressed. Without a visitor there to assist this patient, she may have lost her life.

This brings us to a list of precautions and items to be aware of when entering a hospital or any other health facility. Insisting a friend or family member stay with you will provide protection and help from at least one source, if others can’t be reached. As the evening is progressing into the night hours, verify your doctor’s name so that you may request the same employee throughout the night. It is absolutely essential that as a patient you know not only the type of medicine, but the name and dosage to confirm future nighttime treatment that is more susceptible to errors. Do not let a certified position fool you; top doctors are capable of making mistakes just like everyone else. It is your responsibility to do a background check of the hospital before you are admitted. Be aware of the possibility of mistakes and do not be intimidated by staff’s knowledge or authority. Ask all nurses and orderlies to wash their hands to prevent infection. Whether it’s your life or the life of a loved one, protect it the best you can.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm (VA-NC law offices) edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, as well as the Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono service to consumers. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY, who handle car, truck, railroad, and medical negligence cases and more.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jim Lewis

A Patient’s Rights: Night in the Hospital

Jim Lewis — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:51:13 GMT

According to an article in Reader’s Digest, fatal accidents in a hospital tend to be more common during late night shifts and weekends, leading to an increase in medical malpractice. Hospital neglect is an absolutely unnecessary reason why many patients have suffered from illnesses that could have otherwise been prevented.

For example, a fifteen year old boy named Lewis voluntarily elected to undergo surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina Children’s Hospital to correct a birth defect called pectus excavatum, more commonly known as sunken chest. Although there were no current, significant respiratory problems, he and his family decided it would be best if Lewis obtained extra breastbone support in order to avoid possible respiratory complications in the future. The three day recovery period following the elective surgery turned into something the family would have never imagined. Toradol, the painkiller, couldn’t stop Lewis’ excruciating pain coming from his stomach after the operation. After insisting the problem was nothing more than gas, the nurses and doctor who performed the surgery left Lewis, with a dropping temperature and rising heartbeat.

The boy’s mother shrieked for help as Lewis’ complexion began to go white, and a doctor finally answered the call. His parents and sister watched in horror and shock as this boy slipped away in front of them, from a minor routine surgery he should have recovered from. Lewis bled internally until his body gave out in front of a family that had no idea he was even near death. What caused this bleeding? Toradol. If a senior doctor had been on staff during the night, the symptoms might have been recognized and even prevented.

$950,000 from the Medical University was accepted as settlement; a lawsuit wasn’t even needed. Lewis’ mother, now a patient advocate, helped pass the Lewis Blackman Hospital Safety Act, requiring all hospital employees in South Carolina to not only call a doctor immediately upon request from a patient, but also (for the physician to) wear some sort of indication of their rank. Mothers Against Medical Errors was founded by Lewis’ mother and will continue to enforce hospital and other health facility procedures to ensure safety for all patients.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jim Lewis

Veterans Affairs Centers Lack Proper Training to Perform Endoscopies and Other Common Procedures

Jim Lewis — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:50:00 GMT

When a member of the military visits a Veterans Affairs (VA) center to get a check-up, treatment, or procedure they put their trust in the employees of that center to be up-to-date and capable of performing basic medical tasks. Unfortunately, 57 percent of VA centers do not have standard operating guidelines or properly trained staff to perform endoscopic procedures such as colonoscopies, according to the Associated Press.

As an injury lawyer with 20 years of experience representing our heroic veterans in Virginia, it’s surprising to learn our VA centers continually fail to offer proper preparation for a very common, minimally invasive procedure such as a colonoscopy.

A colonoscopy helps find tumors, ulcers, colon polyps, and inflammation or bleeding, according to WebMD.com. During the procedure, tissue samples can be collected, known as a biopsy, and abnormal growths can be removed. A colonoscopy can also be utilized to check for cancer or precancerous growths, commonly referred to as “polyps,” in the colon or rectum,

The doctor uses a tube called a colonoscope to examine the colon. Apparently, the doctors and staff at numerous VA centers improperly used a colonoscope and other endoscopic equipment or were not well-trained with these items.

An even more disturbing aspect of this revelation is the fact that in February, the VA warned roughly 10,000 former patients at facilities in Miami to get blood tests for HIV and hepatitis due to a potential infection from VA procedures.

Here’s a video discussing the HIV infections of veterans possibly from VA procedures…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HweJDx3ZFU

It’s clear the VA needs to make some dramatic changes to their policies and procedures. This lackadaisical attitude toward caring for our veterans is unacceptable. They deserve the very best care possible and a majority of VA centers simply fail at this task.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car,truck,railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jim Lewis

Virginia Lawsuits Against Doctors and Hospitals for Medical Errors are not a Main Reason for High Health Insurance Costs

Jim Lewis — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Anyone in Virginia Beach/Norfolk, Virginia (VA) who watches the news knows that the country has an extremely expensive medical system that doesn’t always deliver quality care. In figuring out the solutions, some of the loudest voices are the lobbyists for the doctors, hospitals and health insurance companies who often try to blame injury lawyers and medical malpractice actions as the reason for “defensive medicine” and higher healthcare costs. However, this argument has been shown to be false by various researchers who have studied the problem. Healthcare costs and health insurance premiums continue to rise whether the state is like North Carolina where there are no medical malpractice caps or the state is like Virginia where there are unfair limits as to the maximum award no matter what the harms are caused by medical errors.

In fact, Virginia lawyers making claims against the medical insurers for doctors and hospitals tend to increase the quality of care and decrease medical mistakes by weeding out incompetent and forcing health care providers to obey the medical guidelines. For example, some hospitals have been adopting better pre-surgical procedures, at least in part because of preventable errors pointed out by lawyers for patients who were victims of past errors. In Virginia Beach now most operative reports show a pause before the procedure begins to make sure that the hospital is operating on the right patient and that the surgeon and nurses know what procedure is to be performed and on what body part. By checking these things the hospital staff make sure that their operating rooms are not making obvious mistakes like doing a procedure on the left knee when they are supposed to be doing it on the right knee of the patient. When consumers and lawyers stand up and demand that changes be made, good things happen both in terms of improving health outcomes and making sure that families who have been harmed get restitution from those who were at fault.

To read more about how medical malpractice lawyers are part of the solution, not the problem, please click here.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal My injury lawfirm (VA-NC law offices) edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, as well as the Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono service to consumers. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY, who handle car, truck, railroad, and medical negligence cases and more.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jim Lewis

Less Independent Doctors Could Mean More Medical Mistakes

Randy Appleton — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:49:40 GMT

Medical errors are a leading cause of death and injury, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. A recent report by the Institute of Medicine estimates that roughly 44,000 to 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year as the result of medical errors. To put that staggering number into perspective, more people die from medical errors than from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS.

Another interesting trend to note is the decreasing number of independent doctors in favor of doctors working for large corporate health care groups. For example, Riverside Medical Group added 82 physicians, nurse practitioners and physician's assistants in 2008. Sentara Medical Group added roughly 100 physicians in the past two years while Bon Secours Medical Group nearly doubled in size when it added 24 physicians this past year, according to the dailypress.com.

Could there be a connection between mistakes and the expanding size of major health care groups? Possibly. There are certain benefits for doctors to join health care groups. It alleviates the business aspect of running an independent health facility and can provide additional stability.

However, when doctors join a large health group like Bon Secours and Sentara, they’re also subject to certain policies and practices that may increase the workload to a point where the likelihood for mistakes increases. There could also be less one-on-one time between the doctor and the patient since the doctor is beholden to the health group, not their own practice.

Here’s a video talking about medical mistakes:

Video

As a personal injury lawyer practicing for over two decades, I’ve represented numerous clients who’ve suffered horrific injuries due to medical errors. Though some doctors may benefit from joining large health companies, we need to keep an eye on the number of medical errors occurring in Virginia (VA) and throughout the country. If it increased precipitously, we may need to examine this connection further.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Randy Appleton

Doctors Handling Independent Medical Exams May Be Sued For Wrongly Concluding No Medical Care Required

Rick Shapiro — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 06:25:00 GMT

Doctors conducting medical evaluations or exams for medical-legal or forensic purposes are usually careful to place in the consent form that they are not providing actual medical care. These doctors do not want to be saddled with the patient-doctor relationship issues under state medical-legal requirements. However, in an interesting case, the Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled that an Independent Medical Exam doctor, who saw a worker at the request of a workers’ compensation carrier still had responsibility to the man once he issued a written report stating that the man did not need any further medical care and that he needed no work restrictions whatsoever.

Based on the medical examination, the man’s employer terminated his workers' compensation benefits entirely and presumably the right to medical coverage. However, the man’s condition got worse and he actually suffered what is called spinal cord death and he developed a condition that caused, chronic pain. He took drugs for the chronic pain and other medications and then died of an accidental overdose.

In a suit by his family relating to his wrongful death, a jury in Arizona found the doctor to be 28.5 percent responsible/negligent in relation to the man’s wrongful death.

Attorneys for the doctor appealed in the case called Ritchie v. Krasner, Arizona Court of Appeals, April 21, 2009. As part of the Appeals Court opinion the court stated as follows:

“We…cannot envision a public benefit in encouraging a doctor with specific individualized knowledge not to investigate the symptoms of a cervical [neck] spine injury. We recognize the very real concern that imposing a duty on [the IME doctor] to practice reasonable care under the circumstances might create a chilling effect within the IME community…[H]owever, ethical standards govern physicians, and they likely limit the threatened flood of litigation to a trickle…we do not hold that every IME physician has a duty of care in every situation. In this case, [the IME doctor] was hired to determine the extent of the…work-related injury and make treatment recommendations. By agreeing to do so, he assumed a duty to conform to the legal standard of reasonable conduct in light of the apparent risk. Therefore we hold that the trial court correctly held that [the IME doctor] owed a duty of reasonable care….’”

In Virginia and Carolina personal injury litigation, just like anywhere else in the U.S.A.,these medical evaluations (we call them “defense” medical exams) and evaluations are requested by insurance companies and defendants in personal injury cases. Unfortunately, there are orthopedic doctors and others that engage in a business of earning money from medical exams on a daily and weekly basis to the point where it becomes the primary income generator for that doctor’s practice. Also, some of the reports that are generated by these litigation savvy positions becomes a major income source and the reports tend to look the same almost irrespective of the symptoms. This is particularly noticeable where a patient has a serious whiplash or soft tissue back or neck injury without MRI findings. Some of the examining doctors tend to believe that the patient never has continuing pain and the reports look like they are pumped out of a cookie cutter, with very few changes to the name and the circumstances because the conclusions seem to be the same over and over.

Where the scope of the medical examination is merely a request for an opinion on whether the patient has a permanent injury, or whether the patient suffered permanent or temporary injuries, it does not appear that the medical doctor conducting the exam would have liability for an opinion.

The Arizona Court was careful to point out that the reason the doctor was liable was because he was being asked on whether any further medical care was required and what were the recommendations for medical care. This is clearly beyond an opinion to state to a reasonable degree of medical probability of whether a patient suffered an injury from a certain cause, and also is well beyond an opinion on what the current snapshot or picture of the patient is at the time of the exam.

There is a growing body of law pertaining to such Medical Examinations (what injury lawyers call defense requested medical examinations) in other areas such as allowing a spouse or friend to observe an Independent Medical Exam/defense medical exam occur. Sometimes injury lawyers think that these defense medical doctors overstate the length of the exam and the nature of the exam so independent witnesses are now usually allowed, if requested. Even video taping is now allowed by some states, or by motion approved by a court.

My take: it may be a good thing to let defense medical doctors know they have some limited responsibility for the opinions they render. Lets be sure that such doctors recognize that their opinions may have consequences.

RNS

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rick Shapiro

Military Must be Held Accountable for Medical Malpractice

Rick Shapiro — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:47:00 GMT

Tech Sgt. Connie Wilson gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia (VA). Twelve hours later, she was dead. The circumstances leading up to her death indicate a level of negligence by the doctors who delivered Connie’s child. Her uterine artery was cut and there were two surgical sponges left in her abdomen. Despite this glaring malpractice, her family is unable to pursue any legal action against the doctors in question.

According to an article in The Virginian-Pilot, the military is free from accountability to active military patients when it comes to medical malpractice due to a set of cases from the 1950s decided by the Supreme Court known as the Feres Doctrine. One of the cases featured a soldier who was barred from suing the military even after discovering an Army doctor left a towel marked “Medical Department U.S. Army” inside his body (very similar to what happened to Connie Wilson).

As a personal injury lawyer practicing for over 20 years in Virginia (VA), I’ve seen multiple cases of medical negligence. I handled a malpractice case involving a woman whose husband was in active service. She underwent obesity-reducing gastric bypass surgery in December 1996 by a surgeon in at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, (VA), and endured horrendous after effects due to the improper stapling of the gastric pouch. These effects included vomiting, ulceration, the loss of her teeth due to nutrient deficiency, and multiple surgeries to correct the initial error. I argued the case effectively by illustrating the damage done to my client’s body and the lifelong ramifications. The judge ruled in our favor.

Another case example was in 2002 when my colleague John Cooper, also a personal injury lawyer, represented a 43-year-old woman who went in for a hysterectomy, but the surgeons and staff left a medical sponge in her body. This wasn’t discovered for six months and led to the creation of fistula in her bowels. This required an additional surgery. This client was able to recover under Virginia medical malpractice laws, unlike active military men and women victimized by negligence at a U.S. military hospital or clinic.

It’s outrageous that our brave men and women in the military have no legal options when medical malpractice occurs at a military run facility, but that the same military person can recover for the same malpractice in a private, civil hospital. Under the current unfair, illogical Feres doctrine, the spouse and family members of our courageous military men and women can sue under the Federal Torts Claim Act for malpractice over their care, but the active military member has no recourse! So Connie Wilson’s family including her parent’s Tommy and Connie Wilson are left with no legal remedies, but if the malpractice happened to a spouse, there is a remedy. Totally illogical in today’s world.

Another limiting factor is the fact that actions for medical malpractice involving military families (against the government) can only be filed in federal court and no jury trial is available. Let’s call a spade a spade: The current law makes no sense.

U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) is wrong when he said, “How do you look someone in the eye and say we’re going to take a service member who was not in a combat situation and give them an elevated position for compensation and recovery that we would not give to someone who was in combat? I think that would create a huge problem in terms of morale.”

The better question to ask is, “How do you look a military service member in the eye and say we’re not going to provide elevated compensation and recovery if a military doctor does something wrong while you’re under their care in a civilian, not cambat setting?” We can make the situation more fair by allowing suits in the civilian setting-not in a combat setting.

The fact is, the military should be held accountable when medical malpractice occurs. Congress needs to act and pass legislation nullifying the outdated, archaic law enabling military doctors to shirk their responsibilities when malpractice occurs involving active military—especially in the civilian setting.. It’s just basic, common sensewyAbout the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car,truck,railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY. PA

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rick Shapiro

Arm Amputation Is The Kind Of Serious Injury Leading To Landmark Cases

Emily Mapp Brannon — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:17:14 GMT

The loss of an arm is the kind of damage that cries out for justice when caused by a negligent company or doctor. Other than paraplegia, quadriplegia or death there are not many injuries that are more tragic than the unnecessary loss of a limb because of someone else's mistake. Such was the case in a lawsuit, which was big news in injury lawyer circles, in an appeal of a jury verdict against the drug maker Wyeth who had put a drug on the market that when it touched arterial blood would cause the loss of a limb almost immediately. Despite this risk, the drug manufacturer sold the product and had doctors administering it in ways where the contact with arterial blood was bound to happen because of a simple mistake made by a phlebotomist or blood tech putting in an IV needle and hitting an artery rather than a vein. Despite this huge risk, the drug manufacturer made no effort to warn doctors, through the labeling and warning on the product, to be careful about this particular risk. A jury in Vermont awarded millions for this failure to take reasonable steps in violation of state law. The insurance attorneys for the at‑fault company fought the case all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Finally, even with an extremely conservative court, the one-armed musician won her case against the big company and the jury's verdict was upheld. To read more about the key legal issues in this major case, please check out my law partner, Jim Lewis', article on our firm web site.

Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the Northeast North Carolina (NC) border, practicing primarily in the southeastern U.S. and handles only injury law, including car, truck, railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. The firm's website is: hsinjurylaw.com, the firm edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, as well as the Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard and also hosts a video library covering many FAQ’s on personal injury subjects. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Emily Mapp Brannon