Misdiagnosis of bronchopneumonia:

An elderly patient was suffering from flu like symptoms, her doctor noted trouble breathing, cough, fatigue, and most importantly, difficulty breathing. Doctor did not perform any diagnostics told the patient to take Tylenol and push fluids and then sent her home.

Tragically the patient died within 24 hours of bronchopnueumonia. Doctor was negligent as she failed to even do a simple chest x-ray which would have revealed fluid in the lungs and required the patient to be admitted to the hospital.

Misdiagnosis of abdominal aortic aneurysm and other heart conditions:

Becoming more common, at least in my experience, is the misdiagnosis of serious heart conditions as heart burn or indigestion. In most cases a chest CT would rule out life threatening conditions or find them so appropriate treatment can be administered. I currently have several heart disease misdiagnosis cases under investigation.

Limitations of Awards:

Recently, a jury awarded the family of a deceased 45 year old steel worker $4.45 million dollars as they found the doctor was negligent for failure to diagnose a heart condition which would have been found on a chest CT and was consistent with the symptoms the patient was complaining of. (Medical malpractice verdict article)

Now these awards are based on medical expenses, lost support and lost wages, and pain and suffering of the victim and the family. Often these awards are touted by insurance companies as excessive, however, in this case the verdict was absolutely not excessive, but what you will never hear from the insurance and medical lobby, is that these awards are drastically limited by statutory damage caps. For example, the above case the $4.45 million was reduced to $1.25 million as medical malpractice damages are capped by law.

Many clients come to me with legitimate cases of medical malpractice, however, if the malpractice ended up in less than $100,000 - $300,000 or so of medical bills then the case is economically unfeasible to pursue as the cost of pursuit will far outweigh any recovery. Prime example, clear medical malpractice resulting in the death of an elderly person with no dependants, and the death was quick and did not result in a lot of additional medical bills. Liability may be clear, but the case is often not worth pursuing, unless the negligence is egregious, because of the the caps of $350,000 in Missouri. That's right, if your parent or grandparent die because of medical malpractice and they have no dependants (as elderly people often do not) and they do not rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills related to the malpractice, then their life is worth $350,000 in Missouri, a disturbing thought.

ARTICLE / STUDY (.pdf format) - Medical Malpractice Caps Have not Resulted in Reduction of Medical Malpractice Premiums Despite Major Reduced Payouts by Medical Malpractice Insurers.

The above study shows the flaws of the medical malpractice lawsuit myth that lawsuits are raising insurance premiums driving doctors out of the business and raising your health care costs.

Conclusion of the study: "There is no doubt that the implementation of non-economic damage caps has resulted in lower claim payouts for insurers. For caps to be considered successful, however, the lower payouts would need to translate into lower med mal premiums for medical professionals. Unfortunately, that has not been the case due to the continuing presence of other, far more significant factors driving premium rates higher."

Recently, the Missouri Bicycle Federation released its first annual report card regarding biking in Missouri. The report card gave Missouri a D. One of the primary reasons is that in Missouri bikers and pedestrians make up 5% of traffic yet are the victims of 15% of the Missouri roadway injuries and crashes and 7.5% of the roadway deaths in Missouri.

Another reason for the low grade, Missouri has done nothing to change the law for bicyclists in 2007. In a previous Missouri Bike Accident post I discussed some of the minor changes that have been made in years past to benefit bikers. However there are still major changes that must be done to Missouri bicycle and pedestrian law.

See previous blog posts:

Right Hook - Primary Cause of Missouri Bike Accidents and Injuries

Common cause of bike accidents - St Louis bike accident lawyer

St Louis personal injury bike accident lawyer gets injury jury verdict against motorist that failed to yield

Bike Law Resource

MO Bike Federation - Missouri Bike Accidents and Safety Report

Scary fact is that there is about an 80% chance of serious personal injury whenever a motorcyclist is involved in a car crash. When the motorcycle crash involves another vehicle the likelihood of severe injury or death is 29 times higher for the motorcyclists than the driver of a car or truck. Being a personal injury lawyer handling motorcycle injury cases in St Louis Missouri and across Missouri and Illinois, I can attest that in my experience this is true. A very small percentage of Missouri motorcycle injury cases I have reviewed as a personal injury lawyer are the result of motorcycle operator error. In fact, only one motorcycle injury case I have seen was likely motorcycle operator error.

As a Missouri motorcycle injury lawyer and an Illinois motorcycle injury lawyer I can tell you that most accidents and injuries occur at intersections. Most common type of motorcycle injury case that I handle involves a motorcyclist driving through an intersection and a vehicle approaching the opposite direction makes a left turn on green and fails to yield to the cyclist.

I recommend to all bikers to flash their headlights as they approach an intersection, this will increase the chances that a negligent driver will see you.

9 times out of 10 a collision between a car or truck and a motorcycle is the result of the car or truck drivers carelessness. If you are a motorcyclist that end up in an accident with a car (I have personally been in 2 motorcycle accidents) contact me to discuss your case, I have a unique understanding as a Missouri and Illinois personal injury lawyer, and motorcyclist, and an injury lawyer motorcyclist that has been injured as a result of careless drivers.

Remember the motorcycle is a vehicle with all of the rights and privileges of any other motor vehicle on the roadway. Always allow a motorcyclist the full lane width—never try to share a lane;

Always make a visual check for motorcycles by checking mirrors and blind spots before entering or leaving a lane of traffic and at intersections;

Always signal your intentions before changing lanes or merging with traffic;

Don’t be fooled by a flashing turn signal on a motorcycle – motorcycle signals are often not self-canceling and riders sometimes forget to turn them off. Wait to be sure the motorcycle is going to turn before you proceed;

Remember that road conditions which are minor annoyances to passenger vehicles pose major hazards to motorcyclists;

Allow more following distance, three or four seconds, when following a motorcycle, so the motorcyclist has enough time to maneuver or stop in an emergency. And don’t tailgate. In dry conditions, motorcycles can stop more quickly than cars.

There was ample evidence that the trucking company did not properly screen the truck drivers and that the at fault truck driver had several problems that were either negligently missed or intentionally overlooked. Problems that would have kept the truck driver off the road.

From the perspective of a St Louis Missouri injury lawyer and a lawyer that handles St Louis Missouri truck accident personal injury cases, it was smart to resolve this case for $18 million, despite the potential for a massive punitive damages verdict. Families need closure, and despite the sensational punitive damages awards that Missouri lawmaker will often use as examples for tort reform, rarely are the punitive damage awards seen by the families as the appeal process drags on and prevents the closure of a tragic chapter in their lives. Additionally, Missouri law required that 50% of the punitive damage award goes to the state.

More importantly, settlement means no appeals, no more expenses, no risk of reversal. Anytime their is a multi million dollar judgment an appeal will follow, extending the case for years. Settlement means closure and money now.

Settlements are more important than Judgments in many wrongful death cases. In June 2007 we settled a case for $4.5 million regarding a St Louis Missouri gastric bypass medical malpractice wrongful death case. A similar case went to trial against the same doctor and the verdict was $7.5 million; however, the family never saw that $7.5 million; they settled for less than $2 million. The personal injury lawyer that got that St Louis death case verdict did excellent work, however, at the end of the day, his clients never saw the money from the large St Louis wrongful death verdict.

Truck Accident Wrongful Death Case

Co-counsel with me was St Louis injury lawyer Robert Pedroli of Pedroli and Gauthier, we worked side by side on this case from the beginning. Often personal injury lawyers will bring in co-counsel after approval by the client based on the size, complexity, and time commitment required on these multi million dollar medical malpractice and wrongful death injury cases.

Recently, a client asked me what is the difference between a personal injury judgment and a settlement and which is better? Clearly, a settlement is an agreement between the parties often prior to a trial or judgment to resolve the case. A judgment is entered by the court after a bench trial or as in injury case more often a jury verdict. However, the more important distinction is that a personal injury settlement is usually paid out immediately in a lump sum or as part of a structured settlement. A Judgment may be subject to significant reduction to bring it within the Missouri statutory damage caps or because the judge rules it was excessive, a judgment is often appealed by the losing party, especially if it is a large judgment, which usually stays collection during the pendency of the appeal and may even result in overturning the judgment and thus no collection, and, most importantly, a judgment must be collected as it is not always voluntarily paid by the defendant. The judgment may exceed the defendant's insurance limits, it may exceed their assets, or they may even declare bankruptcy. Therefore, a large settlement is worth more than a large judgment.

In July 2005, Jay Angoff, a former Missouri insurance commissioner, found that the payout on Missouri medical malpractice claims between 2000 and 2005 was practically the same each year. However, during those same 5 years the U.S. medical malpractice insurance companies increased doctors' medical malpractice insurance premiums by 120.2% percent over the same period.

One specific example is Medical Assurance, a Missouri medical malpractice insurer. In 2004 Med Assurance increased its rates by 89% (collecting an extra $151 Million in premiums); during that same year its payouts for claims and lawsuits fell by 1/3. Med Assurance only paid out 10 cents for every dollar collected.

Click here for examples of several other medical malpractice insurers that raise their rates significantly while their payouts remain the same or even fall.

What are the consequences of tort reform? Records profits for insurance companies and denial of justice for injured victims. For example, in Missouri the tort laws were so distorted in 2005 that now legitimate cases are economically infeasible and most top Missouri medical malpractice lawyers will not pursue the cases. What was touted in 2005 by the politicians and chamber of commerce as win for doctors was really a big win for insurance companies; they have seen record profits while doctors' insurance premiums are still rising and vicitms are denied justice.