Valleywide Legal Blog

Hospital Secrecy Hurts Us All

Hospitals are complex business and healthcare organizations.  In large hospitals in metropolitan areas, there are teams of healthcare providers working around the clock and communicating with each other through the patient’s medical chart.  The wonder is not that errors in … Read More

Posted in disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, electronic medical records, Fee for Service, Health Care Costs, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Lawsuits, medical charts, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, never events, Nurses, Secrecy |

The Statute of Limitations Can Kill Your Malpractice Case

Every state has a statute of limitations for civil claims.  The statute, which may actually be a series of statutes, sets deadlines by which a claim must be filed or the right to sue is lost.  There are usually different … Read More

Posted in disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, Hospitals, Lawsuits, medical charts, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice cases, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical malpractice lawyers, medical mistakes, plaintiff, retained surgical instruments, Statute of Limitations |

You And Your New Doctor – A Few Thoughts

I was going to title this post “How to Choose a New Doctor” but that doesn’t happen very much any more.  Long gone are the days when a person chose a doctor and received most of his or her health … Read More

Posted in Doctors, electronic medical records, Fee for Service, Health Insurers, medical charts, medical ethics, Misdiagnosis |

Acute Compartment Syndrome

Unrecognized or improperly treated acute compartment syndrome can cause serious injury, including limb loss and even death.  As a result, it is the underlying medical condition in many medical malpractice lawsuits. Our bodies have a number of muscle compartments, which … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Lawsuits, medical charts, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice lawyers, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Orthopedics |

Social Media And Plastic Surgery – A Dangerous Mix

Today’s story is about a plastic surgeon who courted social media and had a large following.  She called herself Dr. Roxy and even live-streamed some procedures and answered viewer’s questions during the surgeries.  She has been sued at least 11 … Read More

Posted in blood infections, Doctors, Fraud, Infection, Lawsuits, medical charts, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, never events, Plastic Surgery, Surgical Errors |

Doctors Need Help, Cue the Robots

One of the most fertile fields for malpractice is the humble diagnosis.  Errors in diagnosis lead doctors down the wrong path and result in either no treatment for a serious condition or a delay in treatment.  The best available evidence … Read More

Posted in Doctors, electronic medical records, General Health, health, medical charts, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, Medication Errors, Misdiagnosis, science news |

Electronic Medical Records Are A Problem.

One thing you can say about Electronic Medical Records:  They are a mixed blessing.  In my practice, I read a lot of medical records.  In the old days, they were all written by hand and I had to struggle with … Read More

Posted in Doctors, electronic medical records, Health Care Costs, Hospitals, medical charts, Medical Costs, medical mistakes, Nurses |

Medical Malpractice and Quadriplegia.

Over the years, I have handled a number of cases in which the patient successfully underwent surgery only to become paralyzed in the hours and days after leaving the operating room.  In each of these cases, the patient should not … Read More

Posted in Blood Clots, Doctors, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Lawsuits, medical charts, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice cases, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, medical negligence lawyers, Nurses, Surgical Errors |

You’re Not Listening To Me.

Medical diagnosis and its evil twin, misdiagnosis, are profoundly influenced by the physician’s ability to effectively listen to the patient.  There are great diagnosticians and some doctors who are not so great diagnosticians.  The great ones almost always say the … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, medical charts, medical errors, medical ethics, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Misdiagnosis |

The Private Autopsy.

Sadly, I see a lot of death cases.  Prospective clients come to me with questions about the death of a loved one.  Why did she die?  What happened to her?  Most often they want to know if her death was … Read More

Posted in Autopsy, disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, electronic medical records, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Lawsuits, medical charts, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice claims, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Nurses, plaintiff, Secrecy |