Medical Malpractice | 16 Blog Posts

A New Jersey jury made a big statement to healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson, returning a verdict for $3.35 million in compensatory and $7.8 million in punitive damages for plaintiff Linda Gross who allegedly serious harm as a result of a J&J vaginal mesh product. New Jersey is generally viewed as a difficult state in which to receive punitive damages, making this momentous award all the more important. Many see this case as representative of the serious harm suffered by thousands of people who had the problematic vaginal mesh installed.

Gross, a hospice nurse from South Dak
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Researchers have determined hospitalized children with chronic medical conditions are more likely to be affected by medical errors than hospitalized children without a preexisting chronic condition, The Clinical Advisor reports. According to background data included in the new study conducted by Namrata Ahuja, MD, and colleagues, up to 43 percent of U.S. children suffer from at least one chronic medical condition. However, national studies have yet to be conducted t
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The Massachusetts pharmacy at the center of the meningitis outbreak has been plagued by numerous issues dating back to 2006, according to USNews.com’s HealthDay reporters. Public records obtained by the Associated Press cite evidence of inadequate contamination control and no established procedure for using equipment, among other issues, at the New England Compounding Center.

As of Oct. 22^nd, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) rep
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A medical malpractice ruling has ordered a former Fayetteville, NC, doctor to pay over $6 million in damages, the Fayetteville Observer reports. A lawsuit was filed on behalf of Geraldine Nicholson, who died in 2006 after surgical complications, against Dr. Arleen Kaye Thom, the general surgeon who operated on Nicholson before her death. Thom was found to have left an 18-by-18-inch sponge in Nicholson’s abdomen while removing cancerous tissue from her rectum and colon.

 A court ruled the
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Fifty-two-year-old Morris Garner is being charged in the death of 37-year-old Atlanta resident Karima Gordon, according to IndependentMail.com. Lee McDivitt, an investigator with the Mississippi, attorney general’s office, said Monday that an illegal cosmetic procedure was the cause of death for a Georgia woman when the silcone-like substance injected into her buttocks caused a blood clot. Garner, who has undergone gender-changing procedures and lives under the name Tracey Lynn Garner, remains in jail without bond.

Garner has been charged with depraved-heart murder, more commo
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A federal judge ruled last week that Dr. Mehmood Patel would be allowed to remain free while pursuing further legal challenges of his 2009 health care fraud conviction. Patel was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of 51 counts of health care fraud.

Patel’s most recent appeal was denied by the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals last week; however, Patel lucked out when U.S. Circuit Judge Leslie Southwick ruled that he could remain free while he pursued other legal action, according to The Advertiser.

Patel wa
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A recent New York Times article suggests that the unlikely financial success of HCA over the last six years of economic turmoil may be attributed to a culture of prioritizing profits over patients. According to the article, HCA’s gains have grown steadily since 2006, the year three private equity firms, including Bain Capital, acquired the hospital chain and turned it into a for-profit business. By 2012, the value of the firms’ holdin
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A Florida state trooper has pleaded guilty to federal charges for his alleged participation in a drug smuggling ring that spanned the east coast. Twenty-nine year old Justin Kolves was charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute for aiding a group that smuggled massive quantities of oxycodone from Florida to Connecticut. According to the Washington Post, twenty individuals were charged, including a
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The family of a deceased Florida man is suing the hospital that they claim killed their dad, husband, and brother. Richard Smith, 79, was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at the North Shore Medical Center in Miami after experiencing shortness of breath. Smith was on dialysis, as he had serious kidney problems. The day after being admitted, Smith experienced an upset stomach and was prescribed an antacid. Instead of the antacid, the nurse accidentally administered the drug pancuronium, a paralytic, according to reports. Smith went into cardiac arrest and although he was able to be r
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Given the tough crackdown on Florida’s “pill mills,” it appears that Georgia may be becoming the new epicenter for patients to come and get copious amounts of controlled substances. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Atlanta division, the DeKalb District Attorney, Georgia's Drugs and Narcotics Agency, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) have recently teamed up with local law enforcement to lead raids on “pill mill” pain clinics and pharmacies in seven Georgia counties. Multiple people have been arrested in each raid, including doctors, pha
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The number of U.S. doctors facing criminal charges is on the rise as white collar crime laws are put into the books and as drug control laws are more strictly enforced, according to Reuters. There have been recent famous instances of this, including the ongoing charges against Michael Jackson’s lawyer for medical negligence (and possibly involuntary manslaughter) and the eventual acquittal of Anna Nicole Smith’s doctor against charges that he violated the controlled substances law. Many lawsuits invoke the language in the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, which stipulates that a m
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Many people have the false impression that if they sign a waiver before a medical procedure they will be left without legal recourse if anything goes wrong. Fortunately for medical malpractice victims, this is not always the case. Especially if a healthcare provider exhibits gross negligence, a medical malpractice lawsuit may still be a viable option for injured patients who signed waivers.

A doctor must give a patient all the information necessary to make an informed decision about his or her own health
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Designed to alleviate pain during an operation, anesthesia, when administered improperly, can result in serious harm to the patient. Although anesthesia is widely used to put patients in an unconscious or semi-conscious state to improve comfort during an operation, errors made by anesthesiologists and other professionals can have serious consequences, including death. Negligence by anesthesiologists is a serious form of medical malpractice because it can lead to lasting and debilitating complications for the patient.

To prevent anesthesia errors, anesthesiologists must take a carefu
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Georgia physicians must disclose whether they have medical malpractice insurance, according to a new malpractice law signed by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. Doctors will now have to inform the Georgia Composite Medical Board whether they are insured, and this information will be publicly available on their website. Additionally, doctors will be required to divulge whether they are covered by
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I am Joe Taraska a trial attorney with Morgan and Morgan. Over the last 38 years of practice one of the most frequent questions I hear is "how do I select an attorney". In that this person will be the one to stand by you and your family during a time of great need the choice must be carefully made. So how do you do it?

First, consider the type of case you will be pursuing. Many are complex and require the skill of an attorney who specializes in that area of the law. For example if you are looking into a medical error you want a lawyer who primarily handles that type of lit
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I'm Joseph Taraska an attorney in the medical malpractice department at Morgan and Morgan.

I will be regularly posting this blog to help you understand your rights if you or a family member believe you have been injured by a medical error.

The first thing you must known is that there is a time limit for you to file a claim. If you miss the time even by one day you will be forever barred from bringing a claim. So how much time do you have? This depends on when you first suspected that malpractice occurred causing you or your family an injury. That is the day the time period b
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