CGWC Orlando Injury Attorney Blog

Orlando, Florida

Florida Today Says Lawsuits Don't Cause Costly Health Care - Wednesday, July 08, 2009

An article in Florida Today recently said that lawsuits should not be blamed for the high cost of health care. Republicans and the American Medical Association are pushing for limits on lawsuits to be a part of any health care reform. After analyzing five years of data, Florida Today concluded that medical malpractice lawsuits did not cause physicians to practice defensive medicine as claimed.

First, Florida Today concluded that soaring health care costs have negated any pay increases for average Americans since the 1990's. Meanwhile, Florida enacted caps on damages as well as attorneys' fees in medical negligence cases, while also making cases more expensive for attorneys to prosecute. In addition, the number of medical malpractice lawsuits have decreased by 8% since 2005 and the statistics are that Florida's malpractice insurers are the most profitable in the nation. Finally, the average doctor's malpractice premiums have decreased by 8% in the past three years.

Florida Today noted that malpractice victims already have to get other doctors to swear that there is a case of malpractice and then wait three months for the malpractice insurance company to decide whether to fight the case or settle, and that there are other restrictions on cases that stack the system against patients. So, Florida Today asks, why make it even harder for patients to sue? It's not bringing down the cost of health care.

Labels:

Florida Medical Malpractice Attorneys Often See Wrongful Deaths In Hospitals - Thursday, July 02, 2009

According to a recent study by Healthgrades, an average of 195,000 deaths in hospitals annually in 2000, 2001 and 2002 in the United States were caused by potentially preventable medical errors. Thirty seven million patient records were reviewed. This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in October 2003. This study supported an earlier study in 1999 by the Institute of Medicine which found that medical errors caused 98,000 deaths each year and should be considered a national epidemic.

If a loved one has died during a hospital admission, the cause of the wrongful death could have been medical malpractice. Florida's medical malpractice laws are complex and navigating the legal system in a medical negligence case calls for an experienced medical malpractice attorney. Call CGWC for a free consultation and learn about your legal rights.

Labels:

Patients Often Never Told of Abnormal Test Results - Thursday, June 25, 2009

According to a study published by the Archives of Internal Medicine, doctors all to often fail to inform patients of abnormal test results. The study found that doctors failed to inform patients of abnormal test results 1 out of 14 times. This included tests such as cancer screenings, cholesterol blood work, Pap smears, mammograms and colorectal cancer screenings. At some doctors' offices, the rate was as high as 26 percent.

What does this mean to you as a patient? It means that you shouldn't assume that your test results are normal when you haven't heard from you physician. If you've had tests but haven't heard from your doctor, be proactive. Follow up with a call and get to the bottom of it. It could mean the difference between life and death.

If you or a loved one has developed complications due to a delayed diagnosis or delayed treatment because a doctor's office failed to inform you of bad test results, you may have legal rights under Florida medical malpractice statutes. Call CGWC for a free consultation.


Labels:

Hospital CEO's Rake In Profits - Monday, May 18, 2009

Despite all the whining about "lawsuit abuse", poor patients unable to pay bills, illegal immigrants clogging up emergency rooms, and insurance companies putting the squeeze on health care businesses, operating a hospital can apparently be a very profitable enterprise. That's especially true in Central Florida. Florida Hospital's CEO made over a million dollars in 2007. The CEO of Florida Hospital's parent company, Adventist Health Systems, made 3.5 million dollars. The CEO of Orlando Health made almost a million dollars. This almost sounds like the horror stories coming from Wall Street. There's something wrong when the CEO of a supposedly non-profit hospital that pays no taxes is making seven figures while the nurses make 15-20 times less. Isn't there?

Labels:

Medical Examinations For Defendants In Lawsuits Meant to Mislead Jurors - Wednesday, April 01, 2009

When you're injured in an accident, you don't expect is to end up in court asking a jury to decide your fate. Especially when you weren't at fault, you expect the other person's insurance company to treat you right and offer you a fair settlement. After all, that's what they're there for, right? You also don't expect to have to go to trial and have a jury of folks who don't know you decide your fate. And the absolute last thing you ever expect to see is a doctor, hired by the insurance company, to come into court and try to mislead that jury into believing that you're not injured or that your injuries are not as bad as you, your family and your friends say. But that is EXACTLY what you will face if you file a lawsuit after being injured in an accident.

These medical examinations by doctors hired by the insurance companies are called "independent" medical examinations by the insurance industry. If your future wasn't so important, calling these examinations "independent" would be laughable. But when you've been hurt, it's no laughing matter when a doctor who has no intention of helping you or treating you is paid thousands of dollars for a few minutes of work, just to come sabotage your case in front of the jury deciding it. All after taking the same oath to tell the truth that you take when testifying in court about what really happened to you. It's disheartening and discouraging to our clients when they watch a member of the medical profession sell their testimony for thousands of dollars, but judges and lawyers become accustomed to it as a part of the game insurance companies play to minimize what they pay to injury victims. Most often, the attorneys at CGWC see the same doctors time and time again, year after year after year, and we know what their report will say before we see it.

If you've been injured in an accident, you may have to file a lawsuit, be examined by one of these doctors, and possibly go to trial. You need an attorney who is experienced in discrediting these hired guns for the insurance industry. The attorneys at CGWC are experienced in showing jurors what these doctors are really about. Contact CGWC for a free consultation.

Labels:

Medical Errors 6th Leading Cause of Death - Friday, January 16, 2009

According to the Institute of Medicine, avoidable medical errors cause as many as 98,000 deaths each year. The economic cost to society is estimated at $ 29 billion. If the Centers for Disease Control listed medical errors as a category, preventable medical mistakes would be the sixth leading cause of death. Mistakes by health care professionals kill more people annually than automobile accidents or guns, yet there are only about 14,000 medical malpractice payments each year. When health care professionals, corporations, and state agencies or regulators fail to protect the public, the civil justice systemis the last resort for injured patients and their families who seek to hold the wrongdoers responsible.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice, call CGWC for a free consultation about your legal rights.

Labels:

Medication Errors Can Be Deadly - Saturday, December 13, 2008

The Institute of Medicine says that medication errors affect more than 1.5 million Americans each year. Sometimes the medication errors are the fault of overworked or incompetent medical professionals or simple poor penmanship, communication and safety practices. At CGWC we have seen many medication errors, including improper dosages of medicines like Vicodin, hydrocodone, oxycontin, and others. Some are tragically fatal, causing the wrongful death of loved ones and untold emotional and financial damage to the family members left behing. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) performed a study covering the five years from 1993 to 1998 and found the most common medication error was the administration of an improper dosage of potentially dangerous medicine.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of a medication error, you do have legal rights and need the help of the experienced medical malpractice attorneys at CGWC to protect your family's rights and receive the insurance benefits you deserve for these all too common medical mistakes.

Labels:

Doctors Behaving Badly - Saturday, December 06, 2008

A recent study suggests that bad behavior by some doctors contributes to medical mistakes, preventable complications and even death. Arrogant, abusive and disruptive behavior by doctors causes injuries and death. According to Dr. Peter B. Angood, the the chief patient safety officer at the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCOAH), this bad behavior is the medical equivalent of "road rage." A survey of hospital health care workers from 2004 to 2007 showed that 67% of them felt there was a link between disruptive behavior and medical mistakes. And 18% of them said they knew of a medical mistake made due to an obnoxious doctor. Another survey by the Institute for Safe Medicine Practices determined that 40% of hospital staff reported being so intimidated by a doctor that they did not share their concerns about medication orders that appeared to them to be incorrect. Consequently, 7% say they contributed to a medication error. Almost every nurse can tell a story about an abusive, arrogant and obnoxious doctor, belittling them, yelling at them, or insulting them in the presence of others.

Don't tolerate a bad bedside manner. Get another doctor. Otherwise, you or a loved one could be injured or die as a result. If you or a loved one has been the victim of a medical mistake or medical malpractice, call CGWC for a free consultation.

Labels:

Victims of Medical Mistakes Need Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney - Friday, November 21, 2008

Medical mistakes can be the result of an inaccurate or incomplete diagnosis, providing the wrong advice or treatment for a correctly diagnosed ailment, surgical error, nursing error or other medical staff mistake, or prescription error, among other medical mishaps. Medical errors are estimated to cause between 44,000 and 98,000 unnecessary and wrongful deaths in the U.S. each year. Medical malpractice causes about 1,000,000 unnecessary injuries annually. Often families don't even know that an error has occurred. Despite constitutional amendment in Florida requiring records of known medical mistakes to be accessible to patients, in practice doctors, nurses and hospitals are ferocious in their protection of one another from the discovery of tragic medical mistakes. Too often, medical professionals try to cover up, rather than "fess up."

If you or a loved one suspects medical malpractice, you need an experienced medical malpractice attorney to navigate the complex statutory scheme and constitutional amendments that are designed largely to protect the medical profession from facing accountability for their mistakes. If you suspect medical negligence, call CGWC for a free consultation.

Labels:

Florida Medical Malpractice Attorneys Announce Medical "Never Events" - Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The National Quality Forum is a nonprofit health care safety agency created to develop and implement a national strategy for health care quality measurement and reporting. The NQF has created a list of so-called "never events", a list of 28 avoidable errors that should never happen. The list included the following events, injuries, conditions or infections:
  1. Surgery on the wrong body part.
  2. Surgery on the wrong patient.
  3. Wrong surgical procedure performed on a patient.
  4. Object left in patient after surgery.
  5. Death of a patient who had been generally healthy during or immediately after surgery for a localized problem.
  6. Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices or biologics.
  7. Patient death or serious disability associated with the misuse or malfunction of a device.
  8. Patient death or serious disability associated with intravascuar air embolism.
  9. Infant discharged to wrong person
  10. Patient death or serious disability associated with patient disappearing for more than four hours.
  11. Patient suicide or attempted suicide resulting in serious disability.
  12. Patient death or serious disability associated with a medication error.
  13. Patient death or serious disability associated with transfusion of blood or blood product of the wrong type.
  14. Maternal death or serious disability associated with labor or delivery in a low-risk pregnancy.
  15. Patient death or serious disability associated with the onset of hypoglycemia, a drop in blood sugar.
  16. Death or serious disability associated with failure to identify and treat hyperbilirubinemia, a blood abnormality, in newborns.
  17. Severe pressure ulcers acquired in the hospital
  18. Patient death or serious disability due to spinal manipulative therapy.
  19. Patient death or serious disability associated with electric shock.
  20. Any incident in which a line designated for oxygen or other gas to be delivered to a patient contains the wrong gas or is contaminated by toxic substances.
  21. Patient death or serious disability associated with a burn in the hospital.
  22. Patient death associated with a fall suffered in the hospital.
  23. Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of restraints or bedrails.
  24. Any instance of care ordered by or provided by someone impersonating a physician, nurse, pharmacist, or other licensed healthcare provider.
  25. Abduction of a patient.
  26. Sexual assault upon a patient.
  27. Death or significant injury of a patient or staff member resulting from a physical assault in the hospital.
  28. Artificial insemination with the wrong donor sperm or donor egg.
These incidents are examples of medical malpractice or medical negligence. According to the National Institute of Medicine at least 44,000 and as many as 98,000 people die each year in hospitals as a result of avoidable medical errors. Even using the lower of those estimates, that means that preventable medical errors in hospitals cause more deaths than car accidents, breast cancer and AIDS.

Recovering compensation for your family if you or a loved one is a victim of medical malpractice is complex and involves a web of statutes and regulations designed to protect doctors, nurses and hospitals from accountability for mistakes. If you or a loved one has been the victim of any of the above examples of medical malpractice or any other medical negligence, call CGWC for a free consultation.

Labels:

Quality of Hospital Care in Florida Below National Norm - Monday, April 14, 2008

Two recent federal reports on hospital care in America conclude that Florida's hospitals fall below national norms. These two recent federal reports used completely different methods of assessments in reaching these conclusions. The Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services both issued reports recently showing that hospitals in Florida lag behind the rest of the nation in quality of care.

Labels:

The Thin White Line - Monday, December 03, 2007

When police officers cover for one another, the "thin blue line" between law enforcement and lawlessness disappears. There is likewise a thin white line in the medical field.

According to a survey led by Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, about half of all doctors admit to keeping quiet about errors by incompetent or unethical colleagues. Almost half of the doctors surveyed admitted they knew of serious medical errors that they did not report, even though they knew medical mistakes should be reported. While 85% of the doctors surveyed agreed that patients or their relatives should be told about significant errors, this clearly does not translate into the daily practice of most physicians. Doctors often don't practice what they preach. The survey also showed that 93% of doctors said they should provide care to patients regardless of ability to pay, but only 69% said they accepted uninsured patients.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine found in 2000 that almost 100,000 people die annually due to medical errors in hospitals alone. If you or a loved one has been injured or killed by medical malpractice, you deserve a trial lawyer who is experienced in handling medical negligence cases. The attorneys at CGWC have a wealth of experience in handling medical negligence cases.

Labels:

Caps On Damages Found Unconstitutional - Friday, November 02, 2007

An Orange County, Florida circuit court judge recently ruled that caps on victims' damages in medical malpractice lawsuits are unconstitutional. Section 766.118, Florida Statutes was enacted in 2003 by the Florida Legislature and provided for a complicated scheme of caps on the amounts of damages awardable by juries in medical malpractice lawsuits. The law meant that the judges in Florida could only enter judgments against negligent hospitals, doctors, and nurses for certain maximum amounts, no matter what the jury found from the evidence. This statutory scheme contains a presumptive cap of $ 500,000 on non-economic damages, such as damages for pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and mental anguish, caused by the negligent health care professionals. The cap can, under certain circumstances, be increased by the judge to one million dollars, but no more, even if the jury awarded twice, three times, or ten times that amount in a verdict based upon the evidence in a particular case.

In 2004, Florida voters passed an amendment to the Florida Constitution, now found at Article I, Section 26 of the Florida Constitution, which mandates that victims of medical malpractice be allowed to recover "all damages" while also giving victims the right to limit the fees their trial attorneys can charge. The Orange County circuit court judge ruled on October 30, 2007 that the 2003 statute violates this new constitutional amendment and is, therefore, invalid and unconstitutional.

The right to trial by jury is what distinguishes the American civil and criminal justice system from all other systems of justice in the world. Our founding fathers thought this right fundamental to freedom and guaranteed this right in the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, enacted in 1791. Thanks to this ruling, juries may now be able to perform their constitutional function and award the actual damages they find to be supported by the evidence, rather than an amount arbitrarily selected by politicians who have heard no evidence at all. Thanks to this court ruling, upholding the Seventh Amendment's mandate that the right to trial by jury shall be preserved, juries in medical malpractice cases can expect their verdicts to be respected.

Labels:

Hospital Infections: The Secret Epidemic - Wednesday, September 12, 2007

More people die each year from infections they acquired during hospital visits than die in automobile accidents and homicides combined. Almost 100,000 people die annually as a result of hospital acquired infections. Such infections are a leading cause of death in America but patients and their families have no way of knowing their hospital's rate of infection in most cases. The public doesn't have this information because hospital infection records are a kept secret in most of the country. Hospital infections not only cost lives. They cost money. According to the CDC hospital acquired infections cost $ 27.5 billion annually, a cost largely borne by the public and tax dollars in the form of added charges to Medicare.

While the Center for Disease Control has known about this epidemic for years, the health care industry has done little to gain control of infection rates and prevent hospital acquired infections. Only when states have passed laws requiring public disclosure of infection rates have hospitals made infection prevention a priority. So far, only nineteen states have made infection records a matter of public record. Consumers Union has embarked upon a campaign to change this. Stop Hospital Infections is a campaign directed at ending hospital secrecy and encouraging infection control and prevention in hospitals. By visiting their website, you can take action to support laws ending hospital secrecy in your state and making hospital infection control records and infection rates a matter of public record. Only if their feet are held to the fire will hospitals make infection prevention a priority. Take action now, and save lives by making hospitals safer. Visit Stop Hospital Infections and support laws that make hospitals safe from dangerous infections.

If you or a loved one has been injured or killed by a hospital acquired infection, your family needs an experienced medical malpractice attorney to navigate the legal hurdles to your emotional and financial recovery. The attorneys at CGWC are experienced trial attorneys who have handled hospital infection cases successfully.

Labels:

"The Right To Trial By Jury Shall Be Preserved" - Sunday, August 26, 2007

The civil justice system in Florida, along with most other states, has been under assault for the last quarter century by those calling for reform due to what big business and insurance industry groups have called "lawsuit abuse", "frivolous lawsuits", "the litigation explosion", and "the tort tax", among other tag lines. Just in the last few years, misguided Florida legislators and citizens have permitted passage of a series of statutes and constitutional amendments that serve only to limit the rights of individuals in Florida to seek remedies in civil courts for serious, real, and legitimate injuries.

Now, there is a complex statutory scheme of caps or limits on the damages that may be awarded to victims of medical negligence. Even if a jury decides that a victim is entitled to millions, the jury's decision MUST be reduced under this unjust law. The jury does not decide, because the legislators have already decided, without hearing any evidence, the maximum amount that a medical negligence victim can receive. Billionaire car rental companies have been given similar protections with limits on the amount that can be awarded to a victim injured by one of the millions of rented vehicles they place on public roads every year for profit.

But what is the true motivation of those who preach at the pulpit of lawsuit reform? Should their intentions be judged by their words or by their actions? Should we consider what special interests they represent in judging whether their beliefs are in good faith?

As governor of Texas, President George W. Bush was an avid "tort reform" supporter, and the Texas civil justice system was left in shreds following his tenure. Yet, when one of his daughters was involved in an automobile accident, he raced to court to sue Enterprise whose rented vehicle had collided with a Bush family car. U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, has repeatedly supported caps on civil damages and other "tort reform" measures. Yet, when his wife was injured by the negligence of her chiropractor, Senator Santorum supported her in her malpractice lawsuit, testifying at trial that she should be compensated for her pain and suffering. Sterling Cornelius, a big nursery businessman in Texas who vocally supported lawsuit reform in Texas, including punitive damage caps, sued Dupont when their Benlate product damaged his company's crop and nursery. He sued for $ 100 million, including over $ 70 million in punitive damages.

Florida State Representative Mark Flanagan, also a supporter of laws limiting the rights of Florida citizens in civil courts and who called Florida "the most litigious society in the world", sued a daycare center and the manufacturer of a jungle gym when his daughter fell from the playset and broke her leg. Former Representative Tom Delay, an outspoken advocate for tort reform law to favor businesses for many years, sued a product manufacture in 1990 for the wrongful death of his father, seeking actual and punitive damages.

Frank Cornelius, an Indiana political lobbyist helped his clients pass a cap on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits and a law eliminating all pain and suffering damages in that state. Ironically, many years later, he was confined to a wheelchair after several medical disasters and sought damages in Indiana's civil justice system. Although his medical expenses and lost earnings were in the millions, his claim was capped to $ 500,000 by the law he helped to enact. He has since said that he "rues that accomplishment."

And, of course, there are the multitudes of million dollar lawsuits that major multinational corporations bring against one another for breach of contract, false advertising, unfair trade practices, and the like. As when the makers of Equal sued the makers of Splenda for false advertising and unfair trade practices, seeking $ 200 million in damages. The case was settled for an undisclosed sum. And when the makers of Mylanta sued the makers of Tums for false advertising. So, it's okay for businesses to sue for unlimited sums of money. Somehow, these companies have never seen fit to spend millions of dollars lobbying legislatures to cap damages on their own civil claims. Only on yours.

There is a reason our founding fathers established our civil justice system so that our fates would be decided by a jury of our peers after hearing the evidence. It is because the people who hear evidence case by case, not legislators, lobbyists or politicians, do justice best. The right to jury trial is the bedrock of our system of government. At CGWC, we continue to fight these unjust laws and to challenge them as unconstitutional infringements on the rights of Florida citizens to a trial by jury and access to civil courts. The "jury is still out" on whether many of these laws will be upheld by Florida appeals courts. It is an uphill battle, once such a law is passed by the legislature, but we are hopeful that these unjust laws will be struck down by our judiciary. We hope the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, enacted in 1791, will be respected in full and that "the right to trial by jury shall be preserved."

Labels:

Pharmacy Errors Cause 7,000 Deaths Annually - Monday, August 20, 2007


According to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy prescription errors cause 7,000 patient deaths annually and 3% of the 5 billion prescriptions filled each year are incorrect. Common prescription mistakes include filling prescriptions with wrong counts, wrong dosages, wrong medicines, and for wrong patient names.

Before taking any medication, patients should carefully review the label, as well as the contents, to see if there are any glaring errors. Certainly, patients can and should rely on their pharmacists to accurately fill their prescriptions, but it doesn't hurt to take that extra step to try to protect yourself in today's world of mega-everthing stores, including pharmacies, pressuring pharmacists to express their work in large volumes. Total prescriptions in America were expected to reach 4 billion in 2004, so today the numbers are probably even higher.

While perhaps it is time for American consumers to demand small family owned personal service in some service professions, like drugstores and eye care, the direction of the U.S. economy's business model seems to be heading full steam in the opposite direction. So, take as many precautions as you can. If you or a family member are injured by a prescription error, call CGWC for legal advice and a free consultation. Recently, a jury in Polk County awarded $ 25.8 million to the family of a lady killed by a prescription error.

Labels:

Traumatic Brain Injury Study Addresses Barriers To Care - Wednesday, August 01, 2007


More than 93,000 Floridians suffer traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year. In the past many victims have encountered difficulty getting the care they need for TBI. The Florida Department of Health, in cooperation with the Brain Injury Association of Florida and the WellFlorida Council, conducted a study to identify the obstacles to care of TBI, including lack of access to specialized services, rehabilitation, therapy, and lack of coordination among services. The Florida Department of Health's Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program is using this study to develop a plan that addresses these barriers to proper care of TBI.

Brain injury can result from all types of accidents, including motor vehicle accidents, motorcycle accidents, injuries from defective products, construction site accidents, and fall accidents. Given the limited public services available for TBI victims, it is important for them and their families to explore the legal liability of others who may be wholly or partly responsible for their injuries and losses.

Labels:

Cleanliness Key To Infection Prevention In Hospitals - Sunday, July 29, 2007


According to the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every 22 patients this year will get an infection while hospitalized and of that 1.7 million infected, 99,000 will die after acquiring infections during otherwise routine hospitalizations. Better infection control is needed in hospitals across America, and many times the solutions for prevention of infections can prove quite simple. It is negligent for medical professionals to neglect to wash their hands and follow simple measures for good hygiene, and it is likewise negligent for hospitals to fail to implement and enforce infection control policies that prevent these infections.

At a Veteran's Affairs hospital in Pittsburgh, the infection rate has been cut by 78% since 2001. The infection rate for one of the most dangerous infections, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), was reduced to only 17 cases this year at the VA Hospital in Pittsburgh. This is down from an average of 60 MRSA infections before the hospital began the study and infection control program currently in place.

The Pittsburgh VA Hospital equips every room with dispensers of foamy hand santizer often discards blood pressure cuffs after use. In addition, each room is assigned its own stethoscope. In addition to saving much misery, and in some cases death, these measures prove to save hospitals money, even considering the added cost of the improved infection control programs. The Pittsburgh VA Hospital experienced net savings of $ 900,000, even after considering the $500,000 it cost to implement the new program and purchase the necessary equipment, kits, gowns, gloves, sanitizer, and additional employees.

The Pittsburgh hospital placed a major emphasis on hand cleansing and sanitizing in its infection control program. Studies show that busy hospital workers fail to follow good hygiene in hand cleansing over half the time. It is up to hospital administration to establish a culture of cleanliness like the hospital in Pittsburgh where the use of hand sanitizer has doubled and nurses now push elevator buttons with their knuckles. Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness for good nurses and hospitals.

Labels:

Before Surgery, Check You Surgeon's Reputation and Record - Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Investigation done during a legal dispute involving a Miami heart surgeon yielded some disturbing results recently. Apparently, Dr. Alex Zahkaria has been suspended from Cedars Medical Center while the hospital investigates 24 of his cases, many of which included patient deaths. In addition, documents reveal that he suffers from memory lapses that have been worsening, and he has been charged with criminal perjury and fraud for allegedly exaggerating his experience as a surgeon. Doctors' personal and professional problems are often well-guarded secrets in the healthcare industry, so to some extent, patients will always be in the dark. But there are some things patients can do to try to protect themselves from the few bad apples that give the medical profession a black eye so often.


For one thing, patients can "google" their physicians on internet search engines, searching for anything negative. Many courts are also now "online" and patients can check court dockets for past or current lawsuits, of any kind, filed against not only physicians, but any individuals or companies. The State of Florida, Department of Health also has websites where patients can check their doctor's profile. The State of Florida, Office of Insurance Regulation allows patients to check a doctor's history of past paid claims. Other websites like Healthgrades also contain comparisons and reports on doctors. Needless to say, some of the best information can be obtained from neighbors, friends, and family members who have had experience with the same type of surgery or treatment.

Check out your doctor, his record of success, and his reputation among his peers and previous patients. Don't assume that just because a doctor or surgeon holds a license to practice law, that he/she is competent, caring, and good at his trade. Sometimes, they are not.

Labels:

Medical Errors Fifth Leading Cause of Death in U.S.A. - Friday, July 06, 2007

According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, medical errors are the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, with up to 98,000 deaths annually resulting from medical errors. MRG's new report, entitled U.S. Markets for Acute Care Clinical Information Systems, such medical errors are caused by miscommunication, errors in transcribing doctors' orders, adverse drug events, and incomplete medical records, as well as overcrowded, understaffed clinical areas with complex workflow patterns and incomplete or inefficient communication between disciplines and clinical areas.
If you believe that you or a loved one has been the victim of a medical error, the experience trial attorneys at CGWC may be able to help. While recent tort reform laws and constitutional amendments have driven many attorneys away from representing victims of medical malpractice, we consider it our obligation to remain available to those injured or killed by the negligence of hospitals, doctors, nurses, or other health care providers where justice demands it.


Labels:

Medical Malpractice Insurers Dupe Doctors And The Public Again - Tuesday, June 12, 2007

For years Florida physicians literally marched in the streets, at the urging of their professional associations, hospitals, health care companies, and their medical malpractice insurers, demanding that patients' rights be curtailed and restricted and that the amount of damages awarded to medical malpractice victims be capped in order to reduce their malpractice insurance premiums. Well, four years ago, with the influence of patient advocates and trial attorneys at an all-time low, and after three special sessions on the issue, they were successful. Yes, the Florida Legislature capped "pain and suffering" awards by juries in medical malpractice cases.
The doctors got what they wanted and expected their insurance rates to decrease. But they didn't. And the doctors are still complaining about price gouging by their insurance companies. So, the rights of patients were impaired and the damages to which they are entitled are capped, even if a jury says they deserve more than the cap amount.
Senator Durell Peaden of Crestview wanted to change that this year. Peaden, a doctor himself, introduced a bill this year that would have prevented malpractice insurers from basing their current rates on data from years before the caps took effect. The bill would have required the insurers to reduce their rates by 25% less than they were on October 1, 2004, the date the "damage caps" became effective.
Peaden's bill went nowhere. So what was the 2004 fight all about? Reducing doctors' insurance, or just taking away patients' rights?

Labels:

Medication Errors More Common After Surgery - Tuesday, March 06, 2007

According to a recent report by U.S. Pharmacopeia, a private group that sets standards for the drug industry, surgery patients face a significant risk of medication errors made by hospital staff. From 1998 to 2005 at over 400 hospitals, a total of over 11,000 errors were reported, including giving the wrong dose, giving the wrong drug, or giving the dose at the wrong time.

When you or a family member are undergoing surgery at a hospital, you should be vigilant to observe and question any suspect medication administration to protect your loved ones from potentially fatal medical errors.

Labels:

Is Medical Malpractice An Epidemic In U.S.? - Thursday, February 01, 2007

According to the wealth of current research by those who make it their business to grade the healthcare industry, approximately 200,000 people die annually in hospitals alone as a result of medical mistakes. This does not even include negligence in medical office settings and elsewhere outside of hospitals. This is almost 5 times the number of people who die in automobile accidents (approximately 43,000). In fact, it's more than those dying in automobile accidents, in workplace accidents, of AIDS, of breast cancer and in the Vietnam War COMBINED.

In fact, the number of deaths from medical negligence, in hospitals alone, is the equivalent of two jumbo jets full of passengers colliding in mid-air each day of the year. The hard economic cost of medical negligence exceeds $ 60 Billion, including lost income, disability, loss of household services, and health care expenses. Not included in this $ 60 Billion is the economic loss to those medical malpractice victims who survive, and the pain and suffering, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life of medical malpractice victims.

But rather than address the obvious deficiencies in the quality of medical services delivered in America, legislatures have chosen to restrict the rights of patients to sue or the money damages they can recover when they find themselves victims of medical negligence. Nothing has been done to determine the cause of this abysmal failure in the delivery of competent and quality health care, and the epidemic has continued, leaving in its wake innocent patients with limited rights of recovering compensation for their losses. Indeed, the idea that denying a patient's right to legal recourse will somehow reduce the incidence of medical negligence lacks logic and common sense.

Recent tort reform legislation in Florida make an attorney's job in obtaining recovery for medical negligence victims legally and economically impractical in many, many meritorious cases while doing nothing to improve the quality of care delivered or to reduce the incidence of medical negligence.

Labels:

Medical Malpractice Crisis Hoax - Saturday, January 20, 2007

According to a report recently released by Public Citizen, the business, insurance, and health care industries have been misleading lawmakers and the public about their "medical malpractice crisis." Public Citizen says a very small group of doctors who make most of the mistakes is responsible for the belief in the U.S. that there is a "medical malpractice crisis."

While the vast majority (82%) of doctors have not had a medical malpractice payment since 1990, only 5.9 % of the physicians in the U.S. were responsible for 57.8 % of the medical malpractice payments between 1991 and 2005.

So, insurance and healthcare industry lobbyists mislead both the public and lawmakers when they claim lawsuit abuse when lobbying legislatures to limit how much injured malpractice victims can be awarded.

A few bad apples have caused the perception that the whole bunch is spoiled. And injured victims have been blamed while insurance companies have reaped record profits for decades.

Labels:

Hospital Infections 8th Leading Cause of Death - Friday, January 12, 2007

Hospital acquired infections are the 8th leading cause of death in the U.S. Approximately 2 million people acquire infections in hospitals each year. One of every 20 people admitted to hospitals get infections, delaying their recovery, requiring lengthy intravenous antibiotic treatment, or worse. About 90,000 of them a year die.

There is virtually no debate about what it takes to prevent infections in hospitals. Patients should be given antibiotics before surgery as a prophylactic measure to prevent infections after operations. Catheters should not be overused for the sake of convenience of the nursing staff. And perhaps most importantly, hospital staff must remember that these bacteria are mostly spread by touch. Caregivers MUST wash their hands before any hands on care that might spread infection. Nurses and doctors should not touch doorknobs, cabinets, curtains, blood pressure cuffs, or other unsanitary surfaces once they have scrubbed or gloved. Unfortunately, research suggests that health care workers fails to wash their hands as recommended more than half the time. Handwashing was identified as a critical method of preventing infection 160 years ago, too often hospital staff are less than diligent in obeying this cardinal rule. Too many staff become complacent and rely on the effectiveness of antibiotics rather than following these gold standard methods of preventing infection.

Labels:

Medical Malpractice Crisis Exaggerated - Saturday, November 18, 2006

Health Affairs, is a bimonthly, peer reviewed journal of health policy and managed care published since 1981 by the non-profit Project HOPE. Health Affairs has become one of the most respected of all health policy journals, with the largest circulation and readership. After studying 30 years of data, Health Affairs published an article in May 2006 which concluded that the medical malpractice "crisis" had been greatly exaggerated.

After studying data from 1970 to 2000, the article concluded:

To paraphrase Mark Twain's comment on reading his obituary in a newspaper, the reported recent demise of medical practice as a result of rising malpractice premiums has been greatly exaggerated. The perception that increased malpractice premiums cause a crisis is at odds with evidence from AMA surveys. These surveys indicate that premiums have consistently been a small percentage of the total practice expense except within anesthesiology, which is a result of its having much lower than average non-premium expenses. When premium increases occurred between 1970 and 1986, and from 1996 to 2000, they only had a small effect on net income.

Remember, this is a study BY the health care industry FOR the health care industry. In short, the sky is not falling and medical malpractice lawsuits and attorneys who bring them for victims of malpractice do not have any significant effect upon health care, income of health care providers, or, for that matter, the premiums charged. Whatever health care crisis exists is in the delivery of competent health care at a cost the average citizen can afford.

Labels:

Tort Reform Laws Lead to Worse Health Care - Thursday, November 16, 2006

According to an article written by Jonathan Klick of the Florida State University College of Law and Thomas Stratmann of George Mason University's Buchanan Center for Political Economy, studies reveal that medical malpractice tort reform laws across the country have proven to lead to worse health care and worse outcomes for patients. While it is unclear what the net public health effect of these tort reform laws will be over time, the new laws do diminish incentive of health care providers to provide the highest level of health care. Increases in infant mortalities in some states suggest that the effect of such tort reform laws has lowered the quality of care provided.

Labels:

Over 1.5 Million Harmed Annually by Medication Errors - Tuesday, October 10, 2006

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report in July finding that medication errors in clinics and hospitals harm at least 1.5 million patients each year. The report further found that, on average, hospital patients are exposed to more than one medication error per day! Preventing Medication Errors, IOM Natl. Acads., July 20, 2006. These statistics do not even inlcude errors where physicians fail to prescribe necessary medicine.
When you find yourself or a loved one hospitalized, you must be vigilant in protecting yourself from these errors. Always ask the nurse what medication is being administered and why.

Labels:

Colling, Gilbert, Wright, and Carter
Practice Areas 1-866-FLA-FIRM
407-712-7300
Home NavLine Our Firm NavLine Attorneys NavLine Verdicts
Settlements NavLine Articles NavLine Legal Blog NavLine Contact

  • * Required Field