Tag: doctor negligence

Mississippi Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

In one of the recent Mississippi medical malpractice lawsuits, a jury awarded $5 million claim to a plaintiff in Coahoma County after finding the defendant guilty of medical negligence. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant was negligent, careless, and reckless in performing his duty, as he discharged her at a time when she should have been moved to Memphis for an MRI to remove her herniated disc. According to the plaintiff, negligence on the part of the doctor caused her extreme pain, and she suffered from quadriplegia three days later. The plaintiff had to be airlifted to Memphis later, and she had to bear all the cost, which caused her immense financial strain.

Health care providers have a moral and legal responsibility to provide requisite standard of care and treatment for improvement of health of their patients. However, if the doctors fail to fulfill their duty of providing utmost care for their patients, causing them physical injury or emotional pain, they can be held liable for physical, economic, non-economic, and punitive damages.

Under Mississippi Code section 11-1-60, Mississippi caps non-economic damages up to $500,000, limiting the amount that a plaintiff can receive after the jury finds the defendant liable for medical negligence. Non-economic damages are meant to compensate the plaintiff for the stress, anxiety, pain and suffering and other negative effects of the negligence, including loss of enjoyment in life, disfigurement, scarring, on the part of the defendant.  There is no such cap on economic damages, which include reimbursement of lost income, lost wages, payment of past medical bills, compensation for the plaintiff’s inability to earn a living due to any injury or suffering from the malpractice, and payment for future medical care. This may also include any other verifiable losses that can be associated with the malpractice in Mississippi.

Statutes of Limitations in Mississippi

In Mississippi, there is a time frame on taking action in a medical malpractice case, which must be filed within two years of the act or alleged omission. This may also include death claims. The Mississippi laws have special provisions for cases that involve foreign objects or fraudulent concealment. The law allows minors or mentally disabled extra time for action depending on their status on the date of the cause of the negligence discovery.

The state of Mississippi follows the doctrine of pure comparative negligence, which means that the plaintiff’s contributory negligence proportionally reduces recovery. However, this does not apply to any such acts where the defendant is blamed for wrongful intent.

Vicarious Liability

In Mississippi, hospitals are not held liable for the negligence on the part of independent contractor doctors. Vicarious liability applies in cases where a medical facility is found to be holding itself as providing the service that the plaintiff seeks, without bothering about the physician’s identity. If a medical facility is held vicariously liable, it is legally entitled to receiving compensation from the negligent doctor.

In Mississippi, expert medical testimony is crucial to proving negligence or malpractice, excluding cases in which even a layman is able to understand the negligence as a matter of practical experience.

The state of Mississippi does not require arbitration agreements for resolving medical malpractice claims. However, it is increasingly becoming a growing trend in the state, with the Mississippi Supreme Court enforcing arbitration agreements with regard to the services provided by health care providers in two cases.

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Arkansas Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

On May 16, 2013, an Arkansas medical malpractice jury found a nursing home in Faulkner County negligent in the treatment and care of a woman resident. The jury returned a unanimous verdict against the nursing home after it found that the nursing home’s staff violated the resident’s rights by not transferring her to a hospital emergency room when she was in extreme abdominal pain. The resident died April 7, 2008. The jury set damages for physical and mental pain and suffering of the resident at $5.2 million.

In another Arkansas medical malpractice lawsuit, the jury, holding Greenbriar Nursing and Rehabilitation Center guilty of failing to provide timely emergency care to a patient, ordered it to pay $5.2 million in June 2013.

These are just a few examples of the increasing number of medical malpractice and negligence cases in Arkansas, where either the hospital facility or the doctor and his staff are found to be negligent in fulfilling their duties toward their patients.

Medical Malpractice Lawsuit: How to Claim Damages

Medical malpractice occurs when a health care provider falls below the governing standard of care, causing physical, emotional loss to the patient. In Arkansas, a plaintiff can claim compensation for physical, economic, and non-economic damages.

• Physical losses include compensation for any injury, disease, disability, or suffering caused due to medical negligence.
• Economic damages include any financial losses borne by the plaintiff due to medical negligence, such as loss of wages and medical expenses.
• Non-economic damages include mental anguish and emotional suffering, which may impact the plaintiff’s family life.
• Punitive damages may be sought to hold the defendant guilty and punish them and prevent any such incidents of medical malpractice.

As a plaintiff, the most common types of compensations you may claim include:

• Punitive damages
• Compensation for disability, physical injury or loss
• Reimbursement of medical expenses
• Compensation for emotional trauma or anguish
• Compensation for loss of employment

The jury takes many factors into consideration to determine the amount of compensation for the plaintiff, including extent of error and injury.

In Arkansas, the injured patient or their relatives can sue a licensed health care provider, including medical facility, doctors, psychotherapists or counselors, for:

• Avoidable delay in the treatment for a diagnosed medical condition
• Failure to provide standard treatment
• Failure to diagnose a medical condition
• Misdiagnosis of a disease or medical condition

In Arkansas, a plaintiff can claim punitive damages for up to $250,000, or three times the actual damages. Awards may be reduced by payments from collateral sources for medical malpractice lawsuits in the state of Arkansas. In the event of death of the plaintiff, unpaid installments can be reduced for future pain and suffering.

In medical malpractice cases, where there is more than one defendant, each defendant is liable to pay damages to the plaintiff in proportion to their own fault, excluding injury from intentional acts. Under Arkansas law, there is a limited time frame to file a claim. The medical malpractice lawsuits must be initiated within 2 years from the date the plaintiff suffered injury.  Arbitration and dispute resolution are encouraged as a viable method of resolving Arkansas medical malpractice lawsuits.

A medical malpractice attorney can help you determine if a certain action amounts to a medical negligence claim.

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Arkansas Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

A birth defect is a form of trauma or injury received by a newborn during the time of birth. Under Arkansas law, birth injuries resulting from negligence on the part of the hospital staff at the time of delivery or labor and that could have been preventable are appropriate cases for filing an Arkansas medical malpractice lawsuit. The law provides for compensation for economic and non-economic loss suffered by the child and their family due to birth injury. A lawsuit cannot reverse the damage done, but it can surely assist in the grieving process. Moreover, medical providers must be held accountable for negligence or failure to perform their duty to ensure refinement of medical safety.

Arkansas Medical Malpractice Lawsuit: Birth Injury Defects

A medical malpractice lawsuit can help you seek damages for the pain and suffering if you or a loved one has been injured as a result of:

• Nursing home abuse
• Misdiagnosis
• Failure to diagnose
• Anesthesia errors
• Surgical errors
• Emergency room errors
• Wrongful prescription
• Vacuum extraction negligence
• Failure to properly monitor mother and/or infant
• Forceps damage
• Oxygen deprivation
• Failure of the medical staff to treat fetal distress
• Improper use of medical equipment
• Performing an unnecessary C-section
• Delay in C-section
• Miscalculation of the size of the fetus
• Trauma during delivery

Inadequate oxygen supply during labor or delivery may cause hypoxia or cerebral palsy. The child may suffer from nerve injuries or permanent disability due to extended traction.

If your child is suffering from a birth injury, it is an extremely distressing and upsetting scenario for you as a parent. Thus if you feel the condition of the child is due to an act of negligence on the part of the hospital or medical staff, it is your right to sue those responsible for your child’s pain and suffering and claim compensation you deserve for medical errors. In order to determine if you have a valid medical malpractice claim, contact a specialist birth injury lawyer in Arkansas, who will try to find out if you have valid grounds to file a claim. Such a medical expert will try to find answers to important questions to establish a connection between the birth defect and negligence or medical malpractice. They will find out if:

• you received proper prenatal care during pregnancy
• there was proper monitoring by the medical staff during labor and delivery
• the child should have been delivered by C-section
• there was delay in carrying out the surgical procedure

A birth defect or injury can lead to a lifetime of increased needs, making your child disabled or dependent on another person. The birth injury may cause other medical problems that can be extremely expensive to treat. Certainly, as parents, this can be an emotionally trying time for you. In such a situation, compensation received from an Arkansas medical malpractice lawsuit settlement can be of great help. It is your right to sue the guilty to recover damages to care for your child’s needs.

Types of Birth Injury

Parents may be entitled for compensation for birth injuries caused to their child by miscalculations, delays, mistakes, errors, or even negligence of the medical staff. Some of the birth injuries include:

• Cerebral palsy
• Skin problems
• Brachial plexus palsy
• Brain damage
• Fractured bones
• Erb’s palsy

Since there are statutes of limitation in Arkansas State, you must file your Arkansas medical malpractice lawsuit claim against the hospital or doctor for negligence or incompetence in performing their duties within a certain time period to retain eligibility.

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Tennessee Medical Practice Lawsuit: Birth Injury Defects

The number of Tennessee medical malpractice cases has grown exponentially over the past few years. Of these, birth defect injuries have registered a remarkable increase. A number of medical malpractice lawsuits have been filed in Tennessee, citing doctor’s failure to closely observe warning signs in prenatal care, shifts in fetal position, misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, surgery mistakes, wrong prescription, and post-operative complications.  Though no amount of compensation can make up for the loss or injury of your child, the guilty doctor should not be let scot free so that no other parent has to meet the same fate as you. The compensation will assist you through the grieving process.

Birth Injury Types

Most Tennessee medical malpractice lawsuits are filed over birth injuries occurring in hospitals, such as traumatic brain injury, Erb’s palsy, hypoxia, cerebral palsy, disfigurement, undiagnosed preeclampsia, and spinal cord injury. Fetal distress, umbilical cord entrapment, delay in ordering cesarean sections, botched vacuum extractions, failure of the medical staff to respond to bleeding, and bruising from forceps can cause severe birth defects. It is the responsibility of the doctor and his medical team to make sure such complications are not ignored, which can even result in death of the child and mother.

If you suspect that your child has suffered a debilitating birth injury or died due to negligence of the hospital staff or medical malpractice, it is your right to sue the hospital or healthcare professional involved in the case for compensation for economic and non-economic losses, including suffering of your child, therapy, medical bills, and rehabilitation, mental and emotional distress, loss of enjoyment, and disfigurement. The victim or their family can file a Tennessee medical malpractice claim under the tort law against a medical facility, a healthcare professional, doctor, nurses, or all those involved in the process of treatment, holding them accountable for acts of omission and commission.

Symptoms of Birth Injury

You can look for the following signs or symptoms in your child to find out if it is a case of medical malpractice:

• Poor muscle control
• Deformity
• Bruising
• Delay in cognitive development
• Paralysis
• Excessive crying and mood swings

Can You File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Birth injury cases are filled with emotion and thus complex in litigating. It is extremely distressing for parents of a newborn baby to see their child suffering from birth defects due to negligence on the part of the medical staff or hospital. If a newborn is a victim of negligence and suffer from birth injuries in Tennessee, this will affect the rest of their life, having life altering consequences on their quality of life. In such a situation, parents of the child can seek damages against the defendants. Tennessee medical malpractice lawyers make sure that a strong case is built against the doctor or hospital or other medical staff present during labor or delivery for negligence or medical practice by way of a birth injury lawsuit.

A medical expert reviews birth records along with the facts related to the birth injury to find out if the medical care at the hospital was below the acceptable level of care in the community. Parents of the child have a legal right to pursue the action in court if the expert establishes certainty of medical facts that medical negligence or malpractice is to be blamed for the birth injury.

If your child has suffered birth injuries during delivery, post-partum, or pregnancy due to negligence on the part of the obstetrician, pediatrician, or delivery room nurse, all those medical professionals allegedly responsible for the present state of the child should be held accountable for their failure to fulfill their duty.

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Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in the United States: An Overview

Medical malpractice and negligence is the sixth leading cause of fatalities in the United States. More than 98,000 preventable deaths and over 200,000 injuries occur every year because of wrong diagnosis, hospital negligence, nosocomial infections, incorrect prescriptions, and unneeded surgeries, according to the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences. Over 15,000 medical malpractice lawsuits are filed each year on an average resulting in millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts and disciplinary actions against over 2,000 doctors and hospitals.

A Johns Hopkins University research report published by the Surgery journal in December 2012 highlighted that settlement of 10,000 medical malpractice lawsuits filed following surgical errors between 1990 and 2010 led to $1.3 billion compensation payment. It found that at least 4,000 US patients sustained serious permanent and temporary injuries every year because of surgery mistakes each year.

What is Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice refers to negligence or lack of attention on the part of a medical professional, clinic, nursing home, or hospital causing deterioration, additional complications, injury, or death of a patient. Actions of health care professionals leading to medical errors, negligence of patient condition, or deviation from accepted norms also make them liable for malpractice. The most common instances of medical malpractice reported include

• Misdiagnosis – missed, delayed, or wrong diagnosis
• Surgical mistakes and injuries
• Anesthesia error
• Prescribing wrong drugs with side effects risks or contrary to conditions
• Nursing home abuse
• Mistakes leading to infections
• Lack of proper inpatient care
• Wrong dose or medication prescription
• Infections during treatment
• Additional surgery caused by surgery or treatment
• Lack of standard care

The Legal System

• The Law

The US tort law allows one to file and pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit involving him or his relatives citing medical liability.  However, there must be clear proof that the patient injured or dead because of a negligent act or omission. To pursue a successful medical malpractice claim, the plaintiff is required to establish that

1. the doctor or hospital had a duty to take care of the patient
2. the standard of treatment and care was lacking
3. negligence or violation of care standard leading to injury
4. compensable injury, which might be physical, financial, or emotional

• The Statute of Limitations

There is a time limit set by the law, and a medical malpractice lawsuit seeking damages must be filed within that. The time span varies from state to state and is governed by the state legal system. In Tennessee, a medical malpractice claim must be initiated before the lapse of one year from the date of injury. There is also a three year statute of repose in Tennessee serving as a bar in all cases, except for an object left within the patient.  This includes cases for minors.

• The Litigation and Trial

Medical malpractice claim involves a civil lawsuit under the tort law. The state statutes specify compensation maximum amount and appropriate court to file the lawsuit. The litigation involves various stages, including pre-suit notice, discovery, expert proof, motion practice, and trial.

Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Compensation

The damages allowed in a medical malpractice lawsuit include

• Compensatory damages for physical and emotional injuries and sufferings
• Reimbursement of medical expenses
• Loss of job, temporary or permanent
• Compensation for disability
• Punitive damages
• Any other compensation that the court deems suitable

Many states have stipulated the number of maximum possible noneconomic medical malpractice claims to be awarded. For example, in California and Texas, one can get $250,000 as the maximum noneconomic medical malpractice compensation plus actual expenses incurred on treatment and injury. In August 2012, a New York court awarded $103 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed following cerebral palsy caused due to injuries received during botched delivery.

It was preceded by two Baltimore City medical malpractice lawsuits leading to $21 million and $55 million in damages and a California jury awarding $74 million to a victim of medical negligence. In August 2012, a Florida court approved $28 million compensation for a boy who suffered from disability because doctors treating him failed to diagnose his meningitis. All these medical malpractice lawsuit verdicts included damages for suffering, future expenses, and punitive action and are subject to noneconomic damage limitations set by state law.  Every case is different.

Medical Malpractice Lawsuit: Grounds for Filing Claim Litigation

On March 11, 2013, a Dauphin County court ordered Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center to pay $250,000 in compensation to an Elizabethtown resident for failing to tackle his post-operative problems. Eric had undergone a gall bladder removal surgery at the hospital six years ago. However, the post-operation treatment course caused him to suffer from severe hernia and he had to undergo additional operations. The verdict came within a week of an Utah jury awarding $1.4 million to the family of a 59-year-old woman, who died following a surgery at a Logan hospital. Her esophagus was damaged during the surgery and she died within a month.

These two are among more than 15,000 to 20,000 medical malpractice lawsuits listed for trial in US courts every year. According to data released by the Institute of Medicine, wrong diagnosis, surgery mistakes, post-surgery infections, erroneous drug dose and prescription, and hospital negligence accounted 98,000 deaths and at least 200,000 serious injuries in the United States every year. More than 15,000 medical malpractice lawsuits are filed in the country each year with an average compensation of $700,000 to $1 million.

Grounds of Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

One is allowed to sue any doctor, health care professional, or hospital for negligent care, sloppy conditions, mistakes, and misdiagnosis that led to injury, infections, complications, worsening patient condition, or death.

The most common medical malpractice claims include one or more instances of the following adverse events:

• Misdiagnosis
• Delayed diagnosis
• Wrong diagnosis
• Wrongful death
• Wrong drug prescription
• Wrong drug dosage
• Surgery mistakes, complications, infections, and injuries
• Surgical mistakes and injuries
• Anesthesia error
• Improper inpatient care
• Treatment-related infection
• Birth injury
• Nursing home abuse
• Hospital conditions contrary to medical standard
• Additional surgery and reoperation