Valleywide Legal Blog

An Unethical Outrage.

How would you like to be kept alive in a permanent vegetative state for a year just so your hospital can continue to make money?  That is what happened to at least one patient at a hospital in New Jersey … Read More

Posted in disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, Fee for Service, Fraud, Health Care Costs, Hospitals, Informed Consent, Medical Costs, medical ethics, Medicare, never events, Secrecy |

Physician Conflicts of Interest

One of the very first of the ethical rules promulgated by the American Medical Association requires doctors to place the welfare of the patient ahead of the doctor’s own self-interest or obligations to others.  As life grows ever more complicated, … Read More

Posted in Doctors, drug companies, Health Care Costs, Hospitals, Informed Consent, Medical Devices, medical ethics, medical research, PODS, Secrecy |

You Are Being Operated On, Do You Know Where Your Surgeon Is?

A recent story about a Syracuse, New York orthopedic surgeon casts light on a practice that will likely come as a shock to most patients.  The surgeon is accused of botching a hip replacement in which his patient allegedly suffered … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, Fraud, Hip Replacement, Informed Consent, joint replacement, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice cases, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Orthopedics, Surgical Errors, Verdicts |

Another Large Malpractice Verdict – Part II

Last week I wrote about what was the largest medical malpractice verdict in Maryland history.  A young girl, now almost 5, was born prematurely with profound brain injuries as the result of a delay in delivery.  Her attorneys argued that … Read More

Posted in Birth Injuries, Cesarean Section, Doctors, Hospitals, Informed Consent, Lawsuits, Malpractice caps, Malpractice costs, Medical Costs, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice claims, medical malpractice damages caps, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, plaintiff, trial, Verdicts |

Another Large Malpractice Verdict

Recently a Baltimore jury awarded just over $229 million in a case involving a birth injury.  If that is all you know, you can fill in a lot of the other blanks automatically.  You will know that, as in the … Read More

Posted in Birth Injuries, Cesarean Section, Doctors, Health Care Costs, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Informed Consent, Lawsuits, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, trial, Verdicts |

A Most Unusual Lawsuit.

There are a number of medical mistakes that involve mistaken identity.  There are wrong site surgeries in which the surgeon operates on the wrong side of the body or the wrong body part.  There are wrong dose mistakes in which … Read More

Posted in disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Informed Consent, Lawsuits, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, never events, plaintiff |

Medical Malpractice and Off-Label Use.

Off-label use is the use of a medication or a medical device for a purpose other than the purpose the Food and Drug Administration has approved for it.  Doctors sometimes prescribe a medication originally developed to treat one medical condition … Read More

Posted in Doctors, drug companies, Informed Consent, Lawsuits, Medical Devices, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice cases, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, medical research, Medication Errors, Orthopedics, plaintiff, Secrecy |

Power Morcellators Revisited

I have written in the past about power morcellators and the harm they have caused patients.  I have links here, here and here.  Despite their risks, power morcellators continue to be used by surgeons for minimally invasive gynecological surgery.  In … Read More

Posted in Cancer, Doctors, hysterectomy, Informed Consent, Medical Devices, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical research, Power Morcellators |

A Cautionary Tale.

Most patients trust their doctors.  They do more research into the restaurant for tonight’s meal than they do into the qualifications of the surgeon who is going to perform surgery on them.  This level of trust without any investigation can … Read More

Posted in Arizona Medical Board, Doctors, Fee for Service, Fraud, Informed Consent, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Surgical Errors |

It’s The Money, Stupid.

I recently wrote about the loopholes in the FDA’s medical device approval process and how very few medical devices are subjected to rigorous scrutiny before being approved for use in patients.  Here is another example of the price we pay, … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, heart attack, Heart Attacks, Hospitals, Informed Consent, Medical Costs, Medical Devices, medical ethics, Medicare, placebo |