In a prior post, we highlighted the prospective success of safe harbor provisions, which essentially protect physicians who want to give alternative recommendations when medical procedures don’t go as planned. These provisions are envisioned as a way to improve health care; which in turn, may limit medical malpractice lawsuits. However,…
With 12 months in a year, it can be difficult to keep up with the numerous causes that monthly awareness campaigns bring forward. Awareness causes, however, provide crucial opportunities for communities to become informed and take steps that might save lives. The month of May boasts various awareness campaigns. This…
It may seem as though you have an obvious, “slam dunk” case when you are affected by a medical mistake, but even if you bring legal action against a doctor, institution or both, you will have to prove your case. And the doctor and/or institution will build their own defense…
A new report released in the journal BMJ concludes two very frightening aspects of medical errors. The first is that there may be many more medical errors that actually occur then we are aware of. And the second is that the number of medical errors that occur in the United…
In our last post, we began looking at the issue of medication errors, particularly the fact that the electronic systems used by physicians in many hospitals allow a significant number of potentially harmful errors to go undetected. As we noted, not every medication error results in harm to a patient.…
Medical malpractice comes in many different forms, but medication errors are a particularly common occurrence in hospital settings. Electronic systems have been developed to help reduce medication errors, and they have been a huge help. The use of computerized physician order entry systems has been highly encouraged by the federal…
Last time, we began discussing the currently volatility in the New York medical malpractice market. As we noted, the situation not only puts physicians at risk, but also patients who attempt to sue physicians covered by insurance providers who become insolvent. We mentioned that the number of medical malpractice claims…
Medical malpractice liability is an important factor for physicians in every area of medical care. The costs associated with malpractice liability can be significant, because the costs of medical negligence are often so great for injured patients. Each state has a slightly different landscape when it comes to malpractice liability.…
There is always some potential for something to go wrong in terms of medical care. In some instances the problem that occurs is very minor and sometimes even goes unnoticed. In other circumstances, the issue could have some very serious consequences, especially if the problem is not identified in its…
We hear about a lot of different types of medical malpractice cases but the stories that are often the hardest to hear about are those involving children. As parents, we will often trust medical professionals in terms of their treatment recommendations when our children are facing serious medical problems. We…