Florida Jury Awards $168 Million in Malpractice Suit

Charles Broward with the Florida Times Union reports that a Florida jury has awarded $168 million to a Clay County deputy who filed a lawsuit against Memorial Hospital Jacksonville over a botched gastric bypass surgery in 2007. The suit alleges that complications arose during the surgery which were not treated in a timely fashion, causing the deputy to suffer severe brain injuries due to "cardiac arrest and septic shock." The deputy still suffers lingering effects from the surgery, including inability to "walk, feed, clean and bathe himself." Charles Broward , Florida Times Union 01/23/2012 Read Article: Florida Times Union

Medial Malpractice: Doctor Operated on Wrong Leg

It was a patient’s worst nightmare.

In a sense, it added insult to injury.

Here’s the injury: An Oklahoma man has sued a surgeon of operating on the wrong knee. The patient even “marked” the correct knee with a “black marker.” Yet, the surgeon operated on the unmarked knee!

Now the insult: The suit claims that staff at the Bailey Medical Center in Tulsa tried to get him to consent to surgery to correct the error while he was still under the effects of anesthesia!

As a consequence, the patient may have to undergo a knee replacement surgery to correct damage caused by the botched surgery.

Next time you here “frivolous lawsuit” ask, which leg was marked, and which leg was cut off?

See: Matt Barnard, Tulsa World 08/14/2009 Read Article: Tulsa World($)

Wait until you read this: Dentist with History of Complaints Sued Over Breast Surgery

As the fraud of the fabled and unsubstantiated "frivolous medical malpractice lawsuit" continues to wreak havoc on unsuspecting patients, more and more the public is exposed to the reality of how incompetent the American medical profession can be. Aside from unconscionable hospital charges and outrageous surgical fees, the tragedy of medical malpractice all too often proves that justice is a fickle thing. Here is a case in point.

Thomas Laney, a dentist and oral surgeon, had 10 lawsuits filed against him, one of which resulted in the death of a patient. Unable to continue practicing as a dentist and oral surgeon, Laney turned himself into a plastic surgeon. Now Laney, the dentist turned plastic surgeon, faces a lawsuit over a botched breast reduction surgery, where a teenage patient was left deformed with extensive scars. The family’s lawyer contends that the consent forms were invalid because the parents and patient were not "fully informed" about the Laney’s lack of training. Vanessa Ho, Seattle Post-Intelligencer 11/09/2008 Read Article: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Doctor Settles Class Action Over Unnecessary Care

Adequate medical care is already too expensive for the average working guy and his family. For the most part, working folks can't afford decent medical care. It's unfair when doctors make the health care burden harder by performing "unnecessary medical procedures."

Here's one doctor that didn't get away with it!

Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Co., the medical malpractice insurer for La. cardiologist Mehmood Patel, has agreed to pay more than $3 million to settle claims against Patel, who performed unnecessary cardiac procedures on his patients.

Under the setlement, Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Co. will pay $ 2.75 million to settle plaintiff claims and $250,000 for claims against Acadiana Cardiology LLC. and Acadiana Cardiovascular Center LLC. Dr. Patel also faces federal criminal charges involving 93 counts of health care fraud.

Shay Randle, The Advertiser 08/28/2008 Read Article: The Advertiser

Medical Omerta: Healthcare Study Proves The Conspiracy Of Silence Among Doctors Is Real

The tacit "communal" unspoken consensus is that "certain things" are NEVER discussed. Heck, we learned that as kids; no one wanted to "snitch" on a friend. The mafia called it “omerta,” the categorical prohibition of cooperation, even when one has been a victim. The "cover-up" exists in all walks of life except medicine, right?

"I swear by ...all the gods and goddesses," the Hippocratic Oath declares,"that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant....Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves." For decades doctors assured us that their profession was different. Doctors denied the existence of a conspiracy of silence to "cover-up" medical errors.

But, a study conducted by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital reveals that doctors don’t practice what they preach when it comes to reporting mistakes or potentially negligent behavior among their colleagues.

The MGH study found that nearly half of the doctors who participated had failed to report incompetence, impairment or medical error by another doctor despite saying that such errors should be reported.

Alexandra Perloff-Giles, Harvard Crimson 12/06/2007 Read Article: Harvard Crimson

HMO, Kaiser Permanente, Doctor Accused of Negligence

A doctor accused of gross negligence in the deaths of at least 2 children he helped deliver remains on the job with the nation’s largest HMO.

Beginning in 2002, “doctors and nurses repeatedly” complained to officials at Kaiser Permanente that Hamid Safari posed potential risks to patients under his care.

How did Kaiser over the years respond? This year, Kaiser finally restricted Safari’s duties.

It’s reported that California regulators are seeking to revoke or suspend Safari’s license and have fined Kaiser $3 million for its handling of physician errors throughout the state.

Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, LA Times 10/16/2007Read Article: LA Times

Appeals court restores UCI liver transplant patient's medical negligence lawsuit

A lawsuit against a University of California hospital was reinstated after an appeals court ruled that the plaintiff's argument "demonstrated good cause to restore the case." The palintiff accepted and then later refused a $50,000 settlement for her lawsuit, opting instead to restore her case. The Associated Press, San Diego Union Tribune 04/17/2007 Read Article: San Diego Union Tribune