Pleasant Law Blog (Insurance Claims, Medical Misakes, and Nursing Home Claims)

Medical Malpractice Myth - Tom Baker's Book

Myth of medical malpractice debunked by Tom Baker, law professor at UCONN. Pertains to all kinds of medical negligence, including surgery mistakes, failure to diagnose cancer, labor and delivery and birth injury, and other kind of legal claims against medical providers

Medical Malpractice Insurers Faked Lawsuit Crisis

Medical Malpractice insurance companies falsely generated a "medical malpractice lawsuit crisis" in order to help secure legislative protections to protect those profits, according to a report on businessinsurance.com. Medical malpractice insurance companies provide insurance to cover medical negligence claims made in cases where doctors, surgeons, hospitals, nurses, and other healthcare providers are accused with harming patients through negligence, recklessness, carelessness, etc. Hopefully this report will make its way to the general public in a widespead sort of way. People need to understand the cynicism in the insurance industry. People seem so quick to give up their rights in favor of the giant insurance companies and other huge corporations. Think twice. Victims of medical mistakes need to have the right to fair compensation for their injuries. Clearly, the insurance industry cares only about its bottom line; and will -- if this report is accurate -- go to all measures (including dishonesty) to preserve their huge goldmine of profits.

Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform: AAJ Primer

The American Association for Justice released a Medical Negligence Primer recently, an appropriate response to the propaganda being shoveled out by the insurance and health corporate lobbies. The publication does a good job debunking the myths that medical malpractice lawsuits are out of control, along with other issues commonly twisted by those who seek special protection. Recently, I heard AAJ's immediate past president point out that what this medical malpractice lawsuit reform movement really seeks to do is set doctors and other healthcare providers apart from the rest of us. I have never heard lawyers suggest that they should be allowed to have special immunities from lawsuits in the event that they commit malpractice. What about engineers, architects and contractors? This is just one of the issues, but I thought the point was well made. People who have been hurt or killed by the negligence (meaning lack of appropriate due care, essentially) of health care providers (doctors, nurses, hospitals, etc.) whould have redress in our court system. The Seventh Amendment to our constutition provides the right to a trial by jury for all citizens; and we are seeing an erosion of this right.

Would Tort or Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Reform Lower Health Care Costs?

A recent NY Times article on medical malpractice lawsuit reform sets out some interesting points about why limiting the rights of victims of medical negligence is not an answer to the heatlhcare cost crisis. In a nutshell, medical malpractice lawsuit costs are only a tiny sliver of the total costs of our healthcare system in this country. This whole debate is so politicized, and many are looking past the reality that there are legitimate medical malpractice cases, and there are people who have been hurt by doctors, hospitals, nurses, and nursing homes who need help. Help with future medical care, for example. There are vicitms who have been harmed by a physician's failure to diagnose a serious disease, where simple tests and follow-ups were not scheduled/ordered. There are wrong-site surgeries, botched surgeries by doctors who are careless and in a hurry because of the presures placed on them because of the money pressures of the modern insurance-driven medical practice. There are hospitals failing to provide even the most basic labor and delivery crisis management training for residents, so that they are prepared when the rare, but inevitable, crisis arises. In any event, the article is worth reading.

Health Care Reform and Medical Liability Reform: The President Needs Doctor Support...What's the Outcome?

The Law Offices of Thomas Waitt Pleasant, PLLC (Medical Errors, Medical Mistakes and Medical Malpractice in North Carolina). A large metropolitan online newspaper reports in a recent article on the President's push for healthcare reform. An interesting point the article makes is that the President will need the support of the heatlhcare industry (doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers) in order to get health care and medical costs down so that the plan to provide insurance coverage to all Americans can work. This means that the medical industry may have more leverage over the content and effect of any health care reform package, since their cooperation is necessary for the passage of such reform. This article focuses pretty heavily on the issue from the side of the medical profession, and includes more opinions and information from the American Medical Association. Only a small "blip" is included from the perspective of trial lawyers, who represent the victims of medical negligence. Doctors say they have to practice "defensive medicine" due to the threat of medical malpractice lawsuits; but in my opinion, either you need the test or you don't. If the standard of care requires the medical test, then the medical test should get done. If the standard of care does not require it, then there is no negligence and no concern over a medical malpractice suit. Lawyers who represent the victims of medical mistakes and errors in North Carolina already have rigorous pre-suit requirements for having doctors review the care involved, so that before a medical lawsuit is filed, that doctor has already determined that the standard of care was not met. This is clearly a highly political issue, and not easily decipherable by the general public. It will be interesting to see what the President does with this. So far, North Carolina has avoided any significant medical negligence or other tort reform such as caps on pain and suffering damages. Regardless, if you have been the victim of a surgery error, failure to diagnose type error, serious infection (MRSA, etc.) caused by the negligence of health care providers, you may wish to consult with an attorney in order to determine whether you have the grounds for taking legal action. Read more at my Medical Malpractice page on my website. My office generally provides free consultations and evaluations for North Carolina medical malpractice claims. The Law Offices of Thomas Waitt Pleasant, PLLC. Toll Free 888.435.7156.

Where Have All The Doctor's Gone? Medical Malpractice Concerns Are Not The Culprit

This is an interesting Slate article dealing with the causes of doctors and physicians migrating. The tort reform mantra is that doctors leave certain states because of medical negligence lawsuit abuse and the effect of medical malpractice cases on their malpractice liability insurance premiums. There is another possibility, though: doctors are retirning. The demographics of doctors from the baby-boom generation are coming home to roost, apparently.

More on the Medical Malpractice Myth: Lawsuits Are Not the Problem -- Preventable Medical Negligence Is

By Thomas Waitt Pleasant, North Carolina Injury, Wrongful Death and Insurance Attorney. I recently read an interesting article in in the Canadian Medical Association Journal online, which discussed the "medical malpractice myth" in America. The article talks about a study from several years ago by the Institute of Medicine of the Academy of Sciences. This landmark study, concluded that 98,000 people die each year due to medical errors. This is more than all automobile/car accidents and workplace accidents in the United States combined. Other sources estimate the number of deaths from medical mistakes at about double that amount (See Healthgrades.com). The Medical Association Journal article also points out the myth that frivilous lawsuits are commonplace against doctors, hospitals, nursees and other healthcare providers. The number of lawsuits against hospitals, doctors and other medical care providers has not only remained flat for a long period of time (15 years), but in many cases has decreased (based on population and economic growth). If you want to know what's costing taxpayers money and clogging the court systems, look to corporate america -- our corporate bohemoths clash in our nation's courts much more frequently than do victims of medical malpractice and their alleged wrongdoers. And, these business disputes are often extremely legally complex problems, requiring judicial resources far exceeding those required to dispose of the average medical or nursing home injury or wrongful death case. This is all very eye opening, and igt appears we have an epidemic of medical mistakes and errors in this country. People should beware as politicians and business groups call for the kind of medical malpractice or "tort" reform here in North Carolina. The jury trial is the critical leveling field for the victims and families of wrongful death and injury, and Americans are too quick to listen to the calls for limiting this right, calls that come from business interests that are not truly aligned with the good of the whole in mind. Thomas Waitt Pleasant, North Carolina Medical Negligence, Nursing Home, and Insurance Lawyer, Toll Free 888.435.7156. Office locations in Raleigh, Wilmington and Fayetteville.

Medical Malpractice Article: "Not Worth the Pain and Suffering" - a Surprise from the Business Community?

A recent Forbes article about medical malpractice lawsuits caught me by surprise. The article is at http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2008/0915/034.html and makes a compelling argument against “tort reform.” Specifically, “reform” that limits the amount of money plaintiffs in medical malpractice claims (including, arguably, nursing home abuse and negligence claims). Although North Carolina has not been affected by caps on “non-economic” damages, the threat looms. Coming from a business magazine like Forbes should be encouraging to those who care about the realities involved in cases of medical negligence/mistakes against hospitals, doctors, and other healthcare providers. The reality is that there are many cases where legal action for injury or wrongful death resulting from negligent healthcare is more than justified; and necessary in order to help encourage real “reform” (reform in industries where injuries and death are too commonplace due to negligence, carelessness and indifference). There are many great hospitals, doctors and other healthcare providers out there. But there are some who are incompetent and dangerous. The government has neither the will nor the resources to combat/police the bad and dangerous ones; and civil litigation has been, and will likely continue to be, one of the most effective ways to fight the problems that underlie many medical malpractice lawsuits. Often in these cases, the medical mistake at issue was entirely preventable; but because of “forces” in the industry (money/insurance pressures, e.g.) no solution was ever seriously considered, and certainly not implemented.

For more information on nursing home injury, abuse, neglect and wrongful death, visit http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2008/0915/034.html.  More information about medical mistakes, negligence, and errors, see http://www.pleasantlaw.com/practice_areas/medical-negligence-mistakes-and-malpractice.cfm.

If you have a possible claim against a nursing home, doctor, nurse, hospital or other healthcare provider for a medical mistake, error or medical malpractice – anywhere in North Carolina – contact my office for a free consultation.  We can arrange to meet you anywhere in North Carolina, including our Raleigh, Fayetteville and Wilmington locations. I can help you determine whether your claim is valid and worth pursuing.