Missouri Injury Law Blog

An attempt by the Missouri legislature to reinstate the state's cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits took a hit earlier this week in the state Senate. Despite fevered attempts, with some legislators working well into the night, the measure never made it to a full vote on the Senate floor.

The sponsor of the new legislation, Senator Dan Brown, told reporters that he would continue working on getting the measure before a full vote of the Senate body before the end of this year's legislative session. Senator Brown is under the gun given that the legislature only has until May 17th to pass new measures before a mandatory adjournment.

Senator Brown said the negotiations broke down over the precise dollar amount that would be involved. The measure was meant to reimpose a limit on noneconomic damages in med mal cases, which means limiting the amount of money injured patients can collect for pain and suffering. The previous med mal cap was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court last year, much to the chagrin of Republican legislators who believe the cap is crucial to curb what they view as "frivolous lawsuits" (a ridiculous allegation). The state Supreme Court decided that the law, capping damages at $350,000, violated the state's constitutional right to a jury trial given that the caps act as a restriction on a jury's fact-finding role.

The newly proposed measure, HB 112, seeks to do an end run around the Supreme Court by eliminating a common-law right to file lawsuits over health care services. The new right would be statutory instead, and would include a damage cap of $350,000. The measure was approved earlier last month in a 93-62 vote in the House.

Supporters of the measure, including Senator Brown, argue that the legislation is necessary to help reign in malpractice insurance premiums and to ensure that doctors continue to want to practice in the state. Opponents argue that a cap is not only unconstitutional, but is designed to protect wrongdoers at the expense of those who have suffered horrific and possibly irreparable harm. In some cases, larger damage awards are necessary, painful measures that are meant to send a strong message to the perpetrators and others who might be inclined to cut similar corners in the future. By implementing a damage cap doctors and healthcare providers know that there is a ceiling to how much money they can be forced to pay out for pain and suffering.

Medical negligence lawyer Ben Sansone is located in St Louis (Clayton) Missouri and handles medical negligence cases across all of Missouri and Illinois. For a free consultation please call (314) 863-0500 or contact us online.

Source: "Medical Malpractice Cap Bill Stuck In Missouri Senate," by Marshall Griffin, published at KCUR.org.

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New Push To Resurrect Missouri Med Mal Damage Cap. -- 2nd Amendment Off limits! But the 7th Amendment? Well.....

Medical Malpractice Damage Caps Unconstitutional in Negligence Actions BUT NOT Wrongful Death Actions

According to a recent study by doctors at Johns Hopkins University, diagnostic errors are not only the most common but also the most deadly category of medical errors. The study estimated that nearly 160,000 patients die each and every year due to misdiagnosis.

The study, which has been published in the journal BMJ Quality and Safety, examined some 350,000 medical malpractice claims over the past 25 years and discovered that diagnostic mistakes were by far the most damaging and costly mistake a doctor could make. Researchers discovered that diagnostic error accounted for just under 30 percent of the total med mal claims, more than those related to surgical mistakes, medication errors or treatment problems. Faulty diagnosis was also responsible for the largest share of the payments made, 35% of the total medical malpractice payouts. Finally, diagnostic errors resulted in death in just over 40% of the malpractice cases, again, the largest category.

Physicians, worried about possible lawsuits, claim they are forced to practice "defensive medicine" which leads them to dispense more medical tests than are necessary. Well, if a test is not necessary then it is not malpractice to not order it!

Another problem highlighted by the study is the lack of transparency associated with diagnostic errors. While most hospitals reveal figures regarding surgical success, few if any publicize their diagnostic error rates, a figure that could be very useful to consumers.

The authors of the study said that some of the most commonly misdiagnosed errors that were uncovered in the course of their study include pneumonia, congestive heart failure, renal failure, cancer and kidney infections. The study also revealed that doctors routinely misidentify strokes. Experts believe that doctors overlook more than 100,000 strokes annually, a terribly costly oversight in terms of patient health and monetary compensation.

The study also suggested some of the most common reasons for such diagnostic errors, chief among them, a breakdown in communication between doctors and patients during the initial office visit. Another source of concern is when doctors fail to refer patients to specialists who might know more about the specific illness. Other common problems include failures to interpret test rights correctly and a failure on the part of the doctor to follow up with the patient after a diagnosis has been made.

If you or a family member has been the victim of medical malpractice, you are entitled to fair payment for your injury. Call Missouri & Illinois medical malpractice lawyer Ben Sansone for a free meeting to discuss your case at (314) 863-0500.
Source: "Adding Up Diagnosis Errors," by Laura Landro, published at WSJ.com.

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Wrong Site Surgery: Malpracitce from Operating or Cutting on Wrong Body Part

$1,400,000.00 Settlement against Southern Illinois Hospital - Medical Malpractice by Nurses

One of the most devastating types of medical malpractice, and unfortunately a common mistake, is doctors operating on the wrong part of the body or the wrong side. A former state medical commissioner and President of the Joint Commission (the largest healthcare accrediting agency) stated that the wrong site surgery problem is very difficult to deal with and all too common.

"[S]uch errors are growing in part because of increased time pressures. Preventing wrong-site surgery also "turns out to be more complicated to eradicate than anybody thought," he said, because it involves changing the culture of hospitals and getting doctors -- who typically prize their autonomy, resist checklists and underestimate their propensity for error -- to follow standardized procedures and work in teams."

Studies of wrong site surgery errors have revealed, over and over, that on of the largest factors contributing to this preventable error is that surgeon's chose not to do a timeout. They chose not to take this patient safety precaution which exposes the patient to needless harm. A "Time out" is a "procedure just before the surgery begins, there is a "time out" and it is verified to everyone on the surgical team that they have the proper patient and everyone knows the proper surgical procedure and surgical site." See Wrong Site Surgery Malpractice

Medical professionals admit that the reported cases of wrong site surgery is just scratching the surface of the problem. Reported cases are "clearly the tip of the iceberg" said Philip F. Stahel, director of orthopedic surgery. Stahl conducted a study in 2010 of 132 wrong site surgery and wrong patient surgery cases, in 72% of the cases, there was no "time out". The study also indicated that most doctors resist the rules such as time out or sign your site, they don't think they could make such a mistake.

Contrary to the propaganda by anti-civil justice movement (tort "reform" advocates), it is a fact that the majority of patients (67%) victimized by wrong site surgery never seek legal recourse. Furthermore, the average payment for wrong site or wrong person surgery was only about $65,000, and that was only for the 33% of injured patients that pursued legal action. This is a fact reported by the medical associations, but you will never hear about that when the politicians start asking for you to support medical malpractice caps and other reforms.

"The legal system typically offers little recourse: One study found that only a third of wrong-site cases result in a malpractice suit. Stahel's team found that the average payment was less than $81,000 in cases resulting in a lawsuit and $47,000 in those resolved without legal action."

The statistics abortive do not reflect our law firm's success rate, and is a reminder about why is is so important to hire an experienced lawyer specializing in medical negligence. Our average healthcare malpractice settlement is $1.7 Million.

Most patients do not know that medical mistakes, even these simple ones are all too common. They don't know until it happens to them or a loved one. Consider these statements from doctors that are heads of hospitals across the country:

"Health care has far too little accountability for results. ... All the pressures are on the side of production; that's how you get paid," said Hopkins's Pronovost, who adds that increased pressure to turn over operating rooms quickly has trumped patient safety, increasing the chance of error.

In surgery "sometimes people say, 'Well, this isn't quite right, but someone else will address it.' In aviation they don't do that, because the plane will crash and they will all die," he said.

Reducing the number of errors will require tougher reporting rules and increased transparency. Kizer, California's former chief health officer, advocates mandatory reporting of wrong-site errors to a federal agency so cases can be investigated and the results publicly reported.

If you or a family member has been the victim of wrong site or side surgery don't walk away without making a claim, you are entitled to fair payment for your injury. Call Missouri & Illinois medical malpractice lawyer Ben Sansone for a free meeting to discuss your case. (314) 863-0500.

As a result of the unconscionable negligence of the employees and agents of the southern Illinois hospital (named confidential per settlement agreement), a routine knee replacement resulted in a patient's life being permanently altered. One nurse, consciously disregarded and otherwise violated numerous patient safety rules which contributed to this accident then took diligent efforts to cover it up by pre-recording or altering the medical records.

When handling medical malpractice cases, injury lawyers oftentimes see the underbelly of the medical profession, the part most people rarely, if ever, see. The lack of empathy and desensitization of human suffering by some medical providers after working in the profession for many years, some turn from caring healthcare providers to factory line workers where patients are just another product running down the conveyor belt. Fortunately, the vast majority of healthcare providers are good doctors and nurses that provide good care for their patients.

One of the reasons I am very proud to be a trial lawyer is that I strongly believe in the American Civil Jury system for enforcing the safety standards of our community. A jury is the enforcer of our societies safety standards and the enforcement of those standards through civil verdicts and settlements helps keep everyone safer. Money is the great motivator fro medical professionals and administration to remember that their number one priority is the safety of their patients and not to become complacent and allow needless and avoidable injury or death occur.

As co-counsel with Illinois injury lawyers Kurt Harris and Devin Jones of the Harris Jones Law Firm in Du Quoin Illinois, we recently settled a case involving nursing neglect for $1.4 Million dollars. The patient was a known aspiration risk, yet the nurses chose to not follow protocol to reduce or prevent aspiration related injury; therefore, due to their choice not to follow procedure, our client aspirated and suffered brain damage. Even more appalling, during patient transfer between diagnostic study and his hospital room, he was left in a storage area for over an hour and was found by his daughter while in severe respiratory distress.

The nurses were incompetent in that they: (1) did not timely diagnose and respond to risk factors known to Increase the likelihood of patient aspiration; (2) did not have procedure for keeping patients located; (3) did not transfer patient to ICU when required; (4) did not properly diagnose and respond to respiratory distress of patient (aspiration); (5) staff failed to consistently follow their aspiration prevention protocol. In addition there was evidence of medical record alteration and attempts to retroactively go back and alter the records to reflect proper procedure was followed.

Illinois medical malpractice lawyer Ben Sansone is an experienced trial lawyer who routinely handles cases from simple car crashes to complex medical negligence cases. If you would like to discuss a potential case we are available for a free consultation to discuss your case. Call us at (314) 863-0500 or contact us online to arrange a free meeting.

The 7th Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees an individual's right to a trial by a jury of his or her peers, meaning the people in their community. This right is very clear, yet the politicians in Missouri who always pound their chests about not infringing and the 2nd Amendment (which I absolutely agree with); have no problem trashing the 7th amendment to try to protect negligent doctors and hospitals (really insurance companies) at the expense of innocent victims and the taxpayers. That's right, the tax-payers, because when a victim is severely injured, denied compensation because of malpractice caps and tort "reform" laws, the malpractice insurance company makes more money and the victim is often forced to turn to Medicaid, Medicare or other governmental assistance. For a very clear article about this see St Louis Post Dispatch Article:
"Right to trial protects patients from negligent doctors".

Insurance companies in Missouri have gone on the offensive and are now lobbying Missouri legislators to put liability limits for medical malpractice cases in place after the Missouri Supreme Court struck down the previous cap last year. In the coming months and years you will hear, once again, all the debunked myths about doctors fleeing the state, being forced out of practice, etc... See: Tort Reform Myths

A law passed by state legislators in 2005 capped noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits at $350,000. The measure was meant to put limits on growth in medical liability lawsuits. Prior to that, the limits were $579,000 (adjusted for inflation) for non-economic damages against each defendant for each negligent act. The state Supreme Court heard a case last year on the 2005 limits and determined that the cap was unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court voted 4-3 to overturn the cap, citing Missouri's Bill of Rights which says that the then existing right to trial by jury shall remain inviolate. Given that at the time the Bill of Rights was enacted in 1820, citizens of Missouri had a right to seek damages for medical malpractice claims, the Supreme Court decided that limits on the amount of damages that would restrict a jury's fact-finding role would violate the constitutional guarantee.

Doctors have aligned with insurance companies to pressure legislators to reinstate the damages cap. They claim that the limit helped the medical community in the state by removing some of the risks associated with hugely inflated med mal verdicts. The cap helped lower medical malpractice insurance premiums and doctors claim that kept more doctors in business in the state, lower costs to consumers in the process.

The proposal before legislators would act as an end-run around the Supreme Court's decision. Lawmakers would eliminate the common-law right to sue over medical malpractice and instead create a statutory right to bring such lawsuits. By abolishing the common-law right to bring such lawsuits, the previous $350,000 cap could be put in place.

Those opposed to such a cap on damages argue vehemently that negligent doctors should not be protected from their own misconduct. Damage caps do nothing to prevent filing frivolous damage claims and only come into play once a jury has decided that a defendant was negligent and that the injured plaintiff suffered real harm. The caps only serve to protect negligent defendants from having to be totally accountable for the damage they caused. See: "Preventable Medical Errors - Leading Cause of Death in the United States"

The fact is that medical mistakes lead to the preventable deaths of 100,000 people each and every year across the country. This horrifyingly high figure places it as one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Those that are responsible for causing such extreme harm should be held responsible for the actions, not have an arbitrary cap put in place protecting them in ways their unsuspecting patients never were.

Medical negligence lawyer Ben Sansone is located in St Louis (Clayton) Missouri and handles medical negligence cases across all of Missouri and Illinois. For a free consultation please call (314) 863-0500 or contact us online.

Source: "Mo. House panel considers medical liability limits," by The Associated Press, published at KAIT8.com.

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Missouri Supreme Court - Medical Malpractice Damage Caps Unconstitutional in
Negligence Actions BUT NOT Wrongful Death Actions

One of the first things I do with new accident client is tell them to either take down their Facebook page or stop posting it as people will say or post private things on Facebook that can seriously effect a an injury claim. The same can go for doctors apparently now too!

A St. Louis, Missouri OB-GYN is in hot water after posting extremely sensitive personal information about a patient on Facebook. The doctor, Amy T. Dunbar, posted revealing information about her patient, including that the woman had suffered a stillborn birth.

Dr. Dunbar raised the ire of many women after going on Facebook to complain about a patient she said was routinely late for appointments. Dunbar posted a comment to her nearly 500 friends asking whether, given her patient's constant tardiness, she should respond by showing up late to her delivery.

The full message said: "So I have a patient who has chosen to either no-show or be late (sometimes hours) for all of her prenatal visits, ultrasound and NSTs. She is now 3 hours late for her induction. May I show up late to her delivery?" Later in the conversation thread the doctor revealed information concerning the patient's stillborn baby.

The conversation was revealed after someone posted a screenshot of the exchange on a Facebook page created for pregnant women at St. John's Mercy Medical Center, a site known as "Mercy Moms To Be." The hospital, located here in St. Louis, released a statement saying that Dunbar has not been fired and that leadership within the hospital would be discussing the matter with Dr. Dunbar. Hospital administrators say that they agree Dunbar's comments were inappropriate and will be reviewing the full statement to decide whether she violated the patient's privacy. The hospital says it will not reveal how it intends to punish Dunbar, but says it will use this as a teaching moment to educate staff about the inherent problems associated with social media, especially in the context of especially thorny medical privacy issues.

The problem of doctors violating patients' privacy by using social media is a growing one that the medical professional is starting to become aware of. A survey conducted in 2009 that was published in JAMA revealed that 60% of medical school deans said there had been incidents of med students posting unprofessional online conduct. Specifically, violations of patient confidentially were reported in 13% of such incidents.

Last year the American Medical Association released guidelines that were meant to guide doctors through appropriate use of social media. The guidance said physicians should be very careful when interacting with patients online and that doctors should follow the same strict rules regarding professionalism whether conversations are taking place online or offline. Medical ethicists are saying doctors should view posting on social networking sites in the same way they view conversations taking place hospital elevators. In either place it is strictly forbidden to discuss private cases in public.

Hospitals are taking note of the problem given that studies have shown that violating patients' privacy through social media sites can do more than result in an ethics investigation. Instead, such breaches are increasingly leading to firings and lawsuits by patients who had their privacy violated.

Medical negligence lawyer Ben Sansone is located in St Louis (Clayton) Missouri and handles medical negligence cases across all of Missouri and Illinois. For a free consultation please call (314) 863-0500 or contact us online.

Source: "Fury sparked as ob-gyn posts personal patient info on Facebook," by Lee Moran, published at NYDailyNews.com.

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Defective Defibrillator Sparks Fear Among Missouri Heart Patients

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Preventable Medical Errors are one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Medical malpractice lawyers have been sounding this alarm for years and been fighting this safety risk through the civil justice system. The fact that medical errors are so rampant has not been claimed by just injury lawyers, but also by the Institute of Medicine, which is the health division of the National Academy of Sciences. The Institute of Medicine has found that since 1999, "Preventable Medical Errors" are a leading cause of death in America, more people die from "preventable medical errors" than from breast cancer, traffic accidents, and AIDs, all combined. See: Missouri University School of Medicine Article:

"More than a decade ago, an Institute of Medicine study revealed that preventable medical errors were a leading cause of death, accounting for more fatalities than breast cancer, traffic accidents or AIDS in the United States. Today, the problem of medical errors remains and might even have escalated."

One of the most common preventable medical errors are patient falls in hospitals, typically due to inadequate fall risk assessment and fall prevention practices. Additionally, many surgical mistakes and emergency room mistakes and injuries are the result of bad communication and teamwork between the doctors, nurses, and other staff present in the operating room.

As a St Louis medical malpractice attorney, I hear stories almost daily from clients and patients about negligent care in the hospital. Admittedly, some people are just upset about bad bedside manner and not actual negligence, however, many people have been neglected and errors routinely occur. Many times the errors are from the doctors or nurses simply choosing not to pay close enough attention to what they are doing, or rushing through their jobs at the expense of patient safety.

Another typical cause of preventable mistakes, are doctors doing surgeries they have not been adequately trained to do or simply do not have the pedigree to perform. Such as lap-choli malpractice cases, unqualified surgeons get away with substandard surgical techniques for a while, but as soon as a minor complication comes along, such as atypical but known anatomy differences, they end up cutting the wrong duct or artery and cause real harm or even death.

To help curb preventable errors, some medical schools are finally putting a heavy focus on Quality and Safety through actual safety curriculum and classes that address the underlying issues for medical errors and help teach the techniques to prevent these medical errors.

"Our findings from this study and others indicate that every academic health system should have a critical mass of physicians who can perform and teach others about how to improve quality and safety," said Headrick, who leads the Association of American Medical Colleges' Teaching for Quality initiative. "Ultimately, our efforts should focus on ensuring that physicians become proficient in quality improvement to advance on their career paths."

Unfortunately, contrary to many new sources, the vast majority of medical malpractice cases that go to trial are lost because the jurors feel sympathy towards a doctor or make the decision based on political arguments often heard, such as, rising insurance rates, running doctors out of the state, etc .. all of which are untrue. See Medical Malpractice Myth Debunked by Harvard. Healthcare providers are no different than other people, some are good, some are bad, some chose to cut corners, some have days where they don't pay attention and days when they do very well. Just like many people driving cars on the road do not mean to get into accidents or hurt anyone, yet juries hold them responsible because they chose to text while driving, they chose to try to beat the light, or other things that lead to car crashes. The defense of "known complication" does not work because we all know it is a "known complication" of driving that we could be involved in an accident, just because it is a known risk should not let a negligent driver (or healthcare provider) off the hook. The civil justice system and holding healthcare providers accountable for their mistakes will force them to do better and reduce the number of errors, thus improving patient safety for everyone.

A company with the same founders as the specialty pharmacy linked to a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak is recalling all of its products after federal inspectors said it must improve its sterility testing process.

Officials with the FDA have said that a routine inspection turned up inadequate quality assurance related to Ameridose's sterile products. The FDA was quick to say that it has not discovered any infections linked to the recalled products from Ameridose. In a statement, Ameridose declared it issued the recall "out of an abundance of caution."

Ameridose makes several injectable drugs which can be used in anesthesia or to correct acid imbalances in the body during critical care. Ameridose agreed to shut down for inspection in October after contaminated steroids from the New England Compounding Center (NECC) were linked to a growing fungal meningitis outbreak.

The FDA warned that six drugs produced by Ameridose were already on the FDA's list of drugs in short supply. According to the FDA, the Ameridose recall could exacerbate one or more of the shortages of these drugs. Given the shortages, the FDA is working with manufacturers of the six drugs, asking that they ramp up production if they are willing and able to do so.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been reports of 386 fungal meningitis cases throughout the country related to the NECC recall. The CDC also announced that there have been 28 deaths in the following states: Florida (3), Indiana (3), Maryland (1), North Carolina (1), Michigan (7), Tennessee (11) and Virginia (2).

Ameridose and the NECC were founded by brothers-in-law Barry Cadden and Greg Conigliaro. According to Ameridose, it is a separate entity. However, Cadden, who was the lead pharmacist at NECC, has resigned from his role at Ameridose. In a bizarre bit of news, it was recently revealed that despite an internal investigation showing serious contamination problems at the lab, NECC has been sending customers report cards declaring how clean its facilities are.

Those who have suffered injuries at the hand of their doctor should be aware that legal remedies might be available to them. If you or a family member have suffered needless injury or death as a result of hospital or doctor neglect, please contact the experienced Missouri pharmacy malpractice lawyers at Sansone / Lauber by phone (314) 863-0500 or contact an accident attorney online.

Source: "Meningitis-Related Pharmacy Recall Worsens Drug Shortage," by Anna Edney, published at Businessweek.com.

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Where do your drugs come from? Negligent Manufacture or Filling of Prescriptions

Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Reveals Trouble With Compounding Pharmacies

The recent outbreak of fungal meningitis has many people asking questions about the safety of compounding pharmacies and the origins of many of the medicines we put into our systems everyday. Something that many may not realize is just how hard it can be to track down the source of the drugs that you take on a daily basis. If you believe you have been injured by dangerous drugs contact our Missouri pharmacy malpractice lawyers.

So far the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that the fungal meningitis outbreak has made 344 people sick in 18 states and caused 25 deaths. The outbreak was linked to a batch of injectable steroids that have since been recalled by the New England Compounding Center, a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts. The facility has announced that as many as 14,000 patients have been treated with the steroids and may be at risk.

Compounders have recently played an important role in the medical field given the increasing occurrence of drug shortages. The pharmacies have been able to step in and provide some much needed supplies when the big manufacturers are down. Compounders are also useful as cheaper alternatives to the big name brands.

The recent rash of cases has pointed out a gap in the current FDA inspection regime. Though the FDA regularly inspects large pharmaceutical factories, it keeps out of inspecting compounding pharmacies, instead allowing states to handle that.

It's hard to pin down exactly where medications come from. Learning the source of an injectable drug given in a hospital or clinic may be even harder. The fact is that many patients may not even know what a compounded drug is, let alone know where to begin to find out where it came from. Moreover, doctors aren't accustomed to providing answers as few if any patients ever bother to ask.

Even many medical professionals are unaware of where the drugs they prescribe come from. This is because most drugs are purchased in large quantities from a central provider then distributed as necessary. Middlemen act as barriers between doctors and the manufacturers, providing yet another impediment to discovering the origin of drugs. Experts say that doctors may not be able to answer the question unless the specific vial of drugs contains information about the origins of the product.

Another possible source of information for concerned patients is the hospital's procurement office or in-house pharmacy. Both departments are often in charge of ordering drugs and might have more contact with suppliers and other relevant information.

Despite the inconvenience, patients have a right to know where their medications come from and to refuse any compounded medications. Patients can ask to see a medication's FDA-approved drug label if they are curious and want to be sure about the medicine's safety. Something to watch for is that compounded drugs do not have to comply with the labeling requirements for a standard FDA-approved drug. This means that the risks of the drugs are typically not disclosed and instructions for safe use are usually not provided on compounded products.

While patients might not be able to inquire about their medications during an emergency operation, elective procedures, like the steroid injections in this case, allow patients plenty of time to find answers. Given the seriousness of the problem, there's no reason why patients should hesitate in asking for a background on the drugs they take.

Those who have suffered injuries at the hand of their doctor should be aware that legal remedies might be available to them. If you or a family member have suffered needless injury or death as a result of hospital or doctor neglect, please contact the experienced Missouri medical malpractice lawyers at Sansone / Lauber by phone (314) 863-0500 or contact an accident attorney online.

Source: "Patients have few ways to learn source of medications," by Liz Szabo, published at USAToday.com.

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Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Reveals Trouble With Compounding Pharmacies

5 Examples of Medical Malpractice

Those who suffer from chronic pain often turn to steroid shots to help ease their discomfort. Normally, this is treatment is seen as safe and effective. (See Negligent Pain Injections) Sadly, that perception has now changed due to the 105 people sickened across nine states and the eight who have died from fungal meningitis. Now, reports indicate that as many as 13,000 patients may have been exposed to fungal meningitis - a fungus that attacks the brain and central nervous system - from tainted spinal steroid injections. See steroid injection malpractice settlement.

It appears that all of the victims who have been infected were given steroids that had been produced by one Massachusetts pharmacy that issued a recall of the drug and has since closed. This issue touches upon pharmaceutical malpractice and products liability/ dangerous products law The pharmacy that issued the recall is the New England Compounding Center. Given the outcry since the recall was announced some lawmakers have called for bringing certain specialized pharmacies such as the one at the center of this case under greater regulatory scrutiny.

Three lots of potentially contaminated steroid injections were sent by New England Compounding Center to 75 health facilities in 23 states from July to September, according to officials. Despite the wide reach of the facility, oversight falls under the powers of the state, not the FDA. This is because NECC is considered a pharmacy and not a manufacturer.

There are about 3,000 compounding pharmacies nationwide, and drugs made by the facilities represent as much as 3% of the roughly $300 billion in prescription drugs sold in the U.S. each year, according to the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists.

The FDA has pushed to increase its regulatory authority over compounding pharmacies. Thus far it has been prevented by court opinions and a lack of legislative interest. The FDA issued a warning back in 2007 noting that compounded drugs "are not FDA-approved." The warning went on to say that there had been "devastating repercussions" from such drugs, including three patients dying of infections from a drug used to paralyze the heart during surgery and two patients at a veterans hospital who were blinded by a compounded product used in cataract surgery.

Authorities from across the country fear there may be many more infections, as previous instances are reported or new cases develop. The virus has an incubation period of as little as two days or as many as 28 days. Fortunately, this type of meningitis is not contagious like the viral and bacterial types, but it is obviously still dangerous and potentially deadly.

People who received steroid treatments in the last three months are being contacted and made aware of the situation. If you have received this type of treatment recently, please contact your doctor or the facility where the steroid treatment was given to determine whether you might be at risk.

Those who have suffered injuries at the hand of their doctor should be aware that legal remedies might be available to them. If you or a family member have suffered needless injury or death as a result of hospital or doctor neglect, please contact the experienced Missouri medical malpractice lawyers at Sansone / Lauber by phone (314) 863-0500 or contact an accident attorney online.

Source: "As Outbreak Spreads, Calls for Tighter Controls on Specialized Pharmacies," by Timothy Martin, published at WSJ.com.

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Medical Malpractice and the Unnecessary Testing Issue, Recent NY Times Article Questions Necessity of Tests Ordered By Doctors

5 Examples of Medical Malpractice

As a medical malpractice attorney, I am well aware of the tort reform arguments that doctors are forced to perform unnecessary tests because of personal injury lawyers and medical negligence claims. Simply put, if it is medically necessary and the symptoms require further testing then do it, if not, then then don't do it. It is not complicated. A recent opinion piece argues that more tests lead to more injuries. In a recent op-ed in The New York Times, Dr. Sanjay Gupta explored the relationship between the increase in treatments and tests ordered by many doctors and the possibly corresponding rise in the number of medical errors made by doctors. These medical mistakes, many of which can be life threatening to patients, might be able to be avoided if doctors simply stopped ordering unnecessary medical treatments.

Medical errors, often caused by doctor or hospital negligence, are a serious concern all across the country. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported that approximately 98,000 people died each year as a result of medical errors. Gupta discussed figures that are more recent and says that he believes about 200,000 people die each year because of medical mistakes. Gupta says that if those figures are accurate, it makes medical mistakes one of the leading causes of death in the United States.

Gupta points out the fact that as the number of treatments and tests performed increase, the likelihood of physician errors also rises. He says that many people would be surprised to know that doctors routinely request tests or treatments that they know are unnecessary. According to one recent survey of orthopedic surgeons, of all the tests they order to be performed on their patients, 24% are not "medically necessary." Gupta says that the danger of such overuse of things like CT and MRI scans can lead to false positives and unnecessary operations. Along with these unnecessary procedures comes the risk of complications, including infection and bleeding.

To avoid these potentially deadly mistakes, hospitals have tried to implement various policies, such as completing a checklist prior to beginning surgery to avoid surgical errors such as operating on the wrong body part. Despite these efforts, medical errors continue to occur, sometimes leaving patients badly injured. More needs to be done by the medical community to reduce the unnecessary tests which can lead to unnecessary harm to patients.

Those who have suffered injuries at the hand of their doctor should be aware that legal remedies might be available to them. If you or a family member have suffered needless injury or death as a result of hospital or doctor neglect please contact the experienced Missouri medical malpractice lawyers at Sansone / Lauber by phone (314) 863-0500 or contact us online.

Source: "More Treatment, More Mistakes," by Sanjay Gupta, published at NYTimes.com.

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5 Examples of Medical Malpractice

Diagnosis Errors as basis for Medical Negligence Claims

Medical malpractice cases, at least in Missouri and Illinois, are very expensive to pursue. In order to have a good medical negligence case there must be sufficient liabilty and damages. First, liability, there must be negligence by a doctor, hospital, or other healthcare provider (for more info see: St Louis Medical Malpractice lawyer information page). Second, the damages or harm to the patient must justify the expense and cost of pursuing a medical malpractice case. Meaning the patient's injury must be significant enough to make the case economically feasible to pursue. Permanent injury is typically necessary. Below is an article submitted to my website by a guest author discussing some examples of medical malpractice. Additionally, this blog has a Medical Malpractice Category for further information and other articles on this topic.

The results of medical malpractice are at best inconvenient and at worst, tragic. When you trust yourself or a family member to the care of a certified physician or other healthcare personnel, and they in turn, treat you with negligence and carelessness, you need a personal injury attorney to protect your rights.

Medical malpractice can alter a patient's life completely and even cause death. If this happens, there should be some compensation to the person or their family to help cope with this difficult situation. This kind of case is difficult to prove, so there needs to be proof that the medical error caused permanent injury in the patient.

Five examples of medical malpractice are:

1. Negligence when giving an anesthesia - Anesthesia given to a patient who has previously had a problem with that anesthetic. The patient may suffer liver damage or even die. The anesthesiologist has not brought enough oxygen and it runs out before the surgery is finished. Because of this, the patient has cardiac arrest.

2. Negligence when delivering a baby - If there are complications during delivery and a C-section is required, the doctor must not delay. The child could develop Cerebral Palsy as a direct result of the delay. Failing to diagnose a baby with Rh incompatibility-antibodies .

3. Negligence for not diagnosing properly -- When a patient complains of chest pains, if the patient is sent home and subsequently suffers a heart attack that kills or debilitates, it would be considered medical malpractice. If the patient goes to another doctor and receives a correct diagnosis and treatment, the first doctor is still negligent; however, since the patient was properly treated and injury was avoided, there would not be any damages for which to get compensation.

A doctor failing to diagnose abdominal pain as appendicitis, with the result of the patient suffering shock and death .

Misdiagnosing cancer is also a case for medical malpractice. If a person sees a doctor about a lump or other cancer related symptom, the doctor must test for cancer. If the doctor fails to test for cancer and, because of this, it is discovered later by a second doctor that the disease has spread to other parts of the body, the first doctor is liable.

4. Negligence in prescribing medication -- If a patient's prescribed medication is inadequate or even the wrong one and the doctor does not change the medication, the result could be long-term damage or death. Even if the correct medication is prescribed, a healthcare provider may give the wrong drug. If, as a result of this, the patient suffers permanent damage from a reaction to the wrong drug, it is medical malpractice.

5. Negligence for obtaining informed consent - the doctor is responsible to get prior informed consent from patients before they give medical care including surgery, treatments and other procedures. This means the doctor must inform the patient of any possible negative outcomes due to the medical procedure such as paralysis or loss of function. An injury lawyer should be consulted so the patient, or in the case of death, the family can receive compensation from the person or institution responsible.

BIO of Guest Author:

David Benowitz is one of the founding partners of Price Benowitz LLP and selected as one of the Top 100 attorneys of Washington, DC by the National Trial Lawyers association. He has more than 13 years of experience as a Washington, DC attorney and is licensed to practice law as Maryland injury attorney. David Benowitz spent his career fighting for the rights of his clients.

Recently we obtained a very favorable settlement for a Illinois Wrongful death case arising from medical negligence. The case involved the death of an elderly woman from respiratory disease within 24 hours of visiting her doctor and complaining of respiratory symptoms. The medical negligence allegation was misdiagnosis of a specific respiratory disease and failure to properly treat the patient pursuant to the symptoms she presented with.

The amount of the medical malpractice settlement and the parties involved is confidential pursuant to the settlement agreement and to protect the privacy of the victim's family. The case settled a few months before the trial was to begin in October 2012. This case was filed in 2009 and was hard fought for several years to result in an excellent settlement for our clients.

This case not only involved failure to diagnose, but the doctor attempted to cover up the medical negligence by using white out on the original office visit note as well as changing entries int eh medical record as well. We were able to discover this as the defendants must have forgotten that they produced the original unaltered medical records to our client a few weeks after her mothers death and many months before retaining our law firm. We believe the medical record alteration occurred after we contacted the hospital and requested the medical records, at this point they suspected a lawsuit and attempted to hide the negligence in the medical records. Based on the alteration to the medical records, we filed a detailed motion for sanctions against the defense doctor and hospital, this aggressive motion was a significant issue in the settlement negations and made a large difference to the value of the case. See MOTION - Sanctions - Altered Medical Record and White Out.pdf

This settlement was the justice that our clients deserved, they lost their mother due to a doctor being careless and not paying attention to her patient's obvious respiratory symptoms. She either chose not to perform a simple respiratory exam or was not listening as the basic respiratory exam we have all had done during a physical or doctor visit. A properly performed respiratory exam would have detected her severe respiratory symptoms and prompted a competent doctor to provide additional medical treatment rather than simply send the patient home with instructions to take Tylenol.

In this case the doctor made a choice to gloss through a routine respiratory exam, this routine exam is performed to ensure the safety of patients, particularly ones presenting with respiratory symptoms and complaints. The doctor violated patient safety standards and needlessly endangered this patient when she chose not to do a proper respiratory exam.

Favorable results in medical malpractice cases serve as enforcement and reminders to healthcare providers that they must follow patient safety rules and properly care for their patients, as failure to do so needlessly endangers them and even leads to wrongful death. Enforcement of the patient safety rules through civil lawsuits helps ensure the safety of everyone in the community who puts their trust and life in the hands of their healthcare providers.

If you or a family member have suffered needless injury or death as a result of hospital or doctor neglect please contact the experienced Missouri medical malpractice lawyers at Sansone / Lauber by phone (314) 863-0500 or contact us online.

When people feel ill or experience medical symptoms, they count on their doctors to diagnose and treat the problem. Despite extensive schooling and experience, doctors can and do make mistakes when assessing symptoms, considering their underlying cause, diagnosing the condition, and prescribing treatment. In addition, they may fail to treat a symptom that appears insignificant or choose an erroneous treatment that fails.

Unfortunately diagnosis errors frequently occur in medical checkups and treatment. How frequently? The Diagnosing Diagnosis Errors: Lessons from a Multi-institutional Collaborative Project report cited various polls and studies that found the following:

1. 10-30 percent of medical errors are diagnosis errors

2. A review of 53 autopsies revealed an average rate of 23.5 percent of missed major diagnoses

3. One in six people surveyed in a Harris poll had personally experienced a misdiagnosis error

What does the law have to say about medical diagnosis errors? In general, delaying or failing to diagnose a disease is actionable if the delay or failure results in injury or progression of the disease beyond the expected progression should it have been diagnosed earlier or correctly. Proving that a worse prognosis resulted in the misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis is often difficult.

Attorneys on both sides will likely look at what diagnosis a reasonably prudent doctor would consider when presented with the same symptoms. Is the patient's actual diagnosis one that reasonably prudent doctors would consider under the same circumstances and when presented with the same symptoms? From there, they'd need to find out if the doctor considered the patient's actual diagnosis. If the patient's doctor did not consider a diagnosis that reasonably prudent doctors would consider, then a case for medical negligence might be warranted. In addition, if the diagnosis was listed as a possibility but the doctor failed to rule it out with follow up tests, negligence may have occurred.

Another common diagnosis error commonly pursued in medical negligence claims involves failure to treat. This negligent behavior can happen when symptoms are dismissed as being minor, temporary, or not worth treating. While the symptom itself might appear minor, such as a bruise or intermittent abdominal cramps, if the underlying cause is serious and left unaddressed, further harm or injury could result.

What if a doctor correctly diagnoses a patient's condition but uses an unconventional treatment that fails? This too could be cause for a medical negligence claim.

However, even if diagnosis errors occurred, the law does not necessarily hold doctors legally responsible for these errors. The medical malpractice attorney must prove several key points:

• That a doctor-patient relationship existed. In other words, if a person at a cocktail party complains of chest pain to an acquaintance that happens to be a doctor, that doesn't constitute a doctor-patient relationship.

• That the doctor was negligent and failed to skillfully or competently provide treatment. Again, what would a reasonably prudent doctor do under similar circumstances?

• That the negligence caused actual harm or injury to the patient. For example, if a doctor misdiagnoses a condition and the patient immediate gets a second opinion and is successfully treated with no harm or injury as a result of the first doctor's diagnosis error, the negligence claim may be difficult to sustain.

Attorneys prosecuting diagnosis errors in medical negligence claims must prove all of the above in order to prevail. Meanwhile the attorneys defending these claims may counter by proving that the condition itself, not the misdiagnosis, caused the injury or present expert witnesses that support the defendant's diagnosis as reasonable.

These are but a few of the numerous issues surrounding diagnosis errors in medical claims, and laws vary from one state to the next. When true negligence is proven in a court of law, the judgment can serve as a wakeup call to the healthcare industry to remain true to its oath to "do no harm."

Author Bio:

Guest Post was contributed by Daniela Levett on behalf of Pryers-Solicitors.co.uk - a medical negligence lawyers practice. Daniela is a freelance writer with extensive legal background as an attorney. She enjoys writing for various online legal publications.

Who doesn't love a new gadget? Whether it's the latest iPhone or a new laptop, we all love our technology. Sometimes, though, this rush can be to our determent. A good example of the danger of rushing involves the da Vinci Surgical Robot.

According to the manufacturer, Intuitive Surgical, the device makes a surgeon's job much easier, allowing smaller incisions and increased recovery time. The manufacturer says the da Vinci Robot can be used to treat obesity, endometriosis, throat cancer, prostate removal, kidney cancer, coronary artery disease, and gallbladder removal. The robot has four arms: three for surgical instruments and a fourth with an attached camera. It claims to give doctors an increased range of motion and to provide a less invasive way of achieving many traditional surgeries. Sounds great, right? Unfortunately there's more to the story.

While the benefits touted by the manufacture may be true to an extent, there have also been reports of serious injuries related to the use of the robot. Part of the problem appears to be a rush to train surgeons who are being put in control of the powerful machines before they are ready. Patients who have been injured by the robots have begun filing med mal lawsuits and recently requested that a panel of federal district court judges consolidate the litigation before a single federal court.

A few years ago the Wall Street Journal ran a big article on the Robot which mentioned the previously little known problems associated with the device. The article recounted how one patient was so badly injured by the da Vinci that she required four additional surgeries to repair the damage caused from the machine. In other cases, two patients suffered severely lacerated bladders.

Plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits against the manufacturer claim that complications from the procedures include tears and burns to the uterus, intestines, and blood vessels, as well as vaginal cuff dehiscence - a separation of the vaginal incision, after which abdominal or pelvic contents leak out through the opening. A 2009 study noted that vaginal cuff dehiscence with small bowel evisceration after hysterectomy may be occurring more frequently with the advent of similar robotic laparoscopic hysterectomies.

The Robot itself does not appear to be to blame; it's actually the doctors and their lack of training that's the problem. Intuitive Surgical only offers two days of free training for two surgeons at each purchasing hospital. Any more training and the hospitals have to go out of pocket to pay. Such a short time does not come close to meeting the training needed to properly operate such a complicated device. The Reviews in Urology journal said that a surgeon should perform up to 200 cases to be proficient with robotic surgery, far more than can be done in a only two days of training.

Intuitive Surgical says that it is up to the hospitals to create guidelines for training their doctors. Given the increasing number of lawsuits associated with the product, patients can only hope the doctors and the maker of the robot work out a solution that ensures the safety of those preparing to go under the knife.

If you or some you know has become sick or injured because of a doctor failing to provide an appropriate level of care, you need the help of a St. Louis injury attorney skilled in medical malpractice to help protect your rights and recover damages for your injury. Contact med mal attorney Ben Sansone today for a free consultation at (314) 863-0500.

Source: "Use of surgical robots booming despite hefty cost," by Carol Ostrom, published at SeattleTimes.com.

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