Valleywide Legal Blog

Arizona’s Notice of Claim Statute

Arizona has inherited the ancient common law doctrine of sovereign immunity.  Without its permission, you cannot sue it or any other state.  Like the other states, Arizona has waived its immunity, but it has done so with some limitations.  One … Read More

Posted in Lawsuits, personal injury lawyers, Statute of Limitations, trial |

The Defensive Medicine Scam

One of the complaints doctors often make is that the existence of so many frivolous medical malpractice suits forces them to practice defensive medicine.  By this they mean that the worry of a potential lawsuit makes them order tests or … Read More

Posted in Defensive Medicine, Doctors, Fee for Service, Lawsuits, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, trial |

Where Are All The Malpractice Suits?

Study after study has shown that medical malpractice is a leading cause of deaths and injuries in the United States.  Some estimates place the number of annual deaths attributable to preventable medical errors at over 250,000.  This would make medical … Read More

Posted in arizona certified personal injury lawyers, Doctors, Finding a Medical Malpractice Lawyer, Hospitals, Lawsuits, Malpractice caps, Malpractice costs, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice damages caps, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical malpractice lawyers, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, plaintiff, tort reform, trial, Valuing Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases |

Analysis of a Recent Large Medical Malpractice Verdict

I recently wrote that most large medical malpractice verdicts share some things in common.  Here is a recent Idaho verdict that demonstrates the point. An ischemic stroke is one in which blood flow to the brain is interrupted by a … Read More

Posted in Blood Clots, Doctors, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Lawsuits, Malpractice caps, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Case Value, medical malpractice cases, medical malpractice damages caps, Stroke, trial, Verdicts |

Large Medical Malpractice Verdicts Usually Have Some Things In Common.

You read about them in the papers, if you still read the paper.  More likely you hear about them on line or on your favorite cable news show.  They are the large medical malpractice verdicts.  Depending on the politics of … Read More

Posted in arizona certified medical malpractice lawyers, Doctors, Health Care Costs, Hospitals, Lawsuits, medical errors, medical malpractice cases, medical malpractice lawyers, Nurses, plaintiff, trial, Verdicts |

A Large Verdict Following a Disastrous Birth

An Iowa jury awarded nearly $100 million in damages to the parents of a child catastrophically injured during childbirth and to the child himself.  As is often the case in these verdicts, almost half of the money was to pay … Read More

Posted in Birth Injuries, Cesarean Section, Doctors, Health Care Costs, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Lawsuits, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Case Value, medical malpractice lawsuits, Nurses, trial, Verdicts |

The Medical Malpractice System Is Stacked Against You

If you have been injured by medical malpractice, you have a very difficult road ahead of you.  In the first place, you are going to have to figure out, usually on your own, that you have been the victim of … Read More

Posted in disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, Finding a Medical Malpractice Lawyer, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Lawsuits, Malpractice caps, Malpractice costs, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice cases, medical malpractice claims, medical malpractice damages caps, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical malpractice lawyers, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, plaintiff, Secrecy, trial |

A Large Malpractice Award Was Justified.

Large awards for medical malpractice are not nearly as common as the medical profession and its insurers would have you believe.  Juries are reluctant to hold doctors responsible for injuring patients.  They don’t want to believe that doctors make mistakes … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Informed Consent, Lawsuits, Malpractice caps, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Case Value, medical malpractice cases, medical malpractice damages caps, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Surgical Errors, trial, Verdicts |

“I Made A Mistake Which Injured You.”

This is not a statement a doctor is very likely to make, even though there is an ethical obligation to be honest with patients and to make sure medical records are accurate.  Sadly, the way our system operates, there are … Read More

Posted in Arizona Medical Board, disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, Fraud, Hospitals, Lawsuits, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice cases, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, plaintiff, Secrecy, Surgical Errors, trial |

Medical Ethics and Secrecy. You Cannot Have Both.

Over the many years I have been representing victims of medical malpractice, I have found that almost never will anyone inform the patient that he or she has been the victim of malpractice.  The sole exception is when a foreign … Read More

Posted in disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, Fraud, Hospitals, Malpractice caps, Malpractice costs, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice damages caps, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, never events, Nurses, plaintiff, Secrecy, tort reform, trial |