Valleywide Legal Blog

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 |

An Unusual Medical Malpractice Verdict

Today’s blog post is about an unusual medical malpractice verdict.  The first thing that makes it unusual is that the jury found in favor of the plaintiff.  That just does not happen very often.  Here in Arizona and across the … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Lawsuits, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Case Value, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical mistakes, Orthopedics, plaintiff, Surgical Errors, Verdicts |

Physician Conflicts of Interest

Physicians occupy a special place in our society.  They are respected and honored.  They are often well-compensated for their efforts.  We trust our doctors.  Very few patients ever think that the doctor who is recommending surgery or a particular treatment … Read More

Posted in Doctors, drug companies, Fee for Service, Fraud, health, Health Care Costs, Hip Replacement, Hospitals, joint replacement, Medical Devices, medical ethics, Orthopedics, PODS, Secrecy |

Hip Replacements.

One consequence of our lengthening life spans is that we are wearing out our original equipment.  Our knees and hips were not intended to last 60 or 70 years.  They certainly weren’t intended to support the heavy bodies so many … Read More

Posted in Arizona Medical Board, Blood Clots, blood infections, Board Certification, Doctors, heart attack, Hip Replacement, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Infection, joint replacement, Medical Devices, Medicare, Nurses, Obesity, Orthopedics, Pulmonary Embolism, Sepsis, Surgical Errors |

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 |

Medical Malpractice Down Under

A sad story appeared recently in the national press.  A young cricket player in Australia broke her thumb in a game.  She went to a nationally recognized hospital in her area for treatment.  She was correctly told that this could … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, never events, Nurses, Orthopedics, Surgical Errors |

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 |

Medical Malpractice Hit Parade

Today I am writing about an old malpractice case but one which epitomizes problems that I have often blogged about and which persist today.  In 2003 a spine surgeon on the Big Island of Hawaii operated on a 73 year … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Lawsuits, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Case Value, medical malpractice cases, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, never events, Orthopedics, Secrecy, Surgical Errors, Valuing Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases, Verdicts |

Joint Replacement Becoming More Prevalent

A recent article in my local paper discussed the rising number of joint replacement surgeries in the United States.  Nationally, close to 1.2 million knee and hip surgeries are performed annually.  That number is expected to increase to 3.4 million over the … Read More

Posted in Health Care Costs, joint replacement, Medical Malpractice, Orthopedics | Tagged , , |