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Medical negligence occurs when a patient suffers injury or harm as a result of a doctor’s mistreatment. Whether it was a missed or wrong diagnosis, improper treatment, or failure to treat in general, there are medical negligence laws in effect to protect the patient and provide them with the recourse of prosecuting the offending party.

Although every state has them in place, medical negligence laws vary among them. There are, however, certain things that are universal, regardless of which state the incident occurred within.

Generally, medical negligence law holds that in order to be successful, a patient must prove four things in their case. These four things are as follows:

• Duty of care. It must be proven that the defendant did, in fact, have a responsibility to provide care for the plaintiff. This is usually relatively simple to prove in cases where it is documented with medical records that the plaintiff was a current patient, under the care of the offending physician at the time of the incident.

• Failure of said duty of care. The plaintiff has the burden of proving that the defendant did not act with the proper care in their diagnosis or treatment. Whether it was deliberate or accidental, there must be sufficient evidence to support this claim in order for the plaintiff to be successful.

• Resulting injury or harm. It’s not enough to just show proof that a doctor has failed in their duty of care. Medical negligence law requires that the plaintiff must then be able to prove that they suffered injury or harm as a direct result of the doctor’s negligence. Medical records documenting follow up treatments, and expert witnesses and reports can all be used to support this part of a claim

• Proof of damages. This is perhaps the heart of a malpractice claim, because if there are no damages, or none that can be proven, there is essentially no case. The plaintiff must provide sufficient evidence that they have suffered damages, either financial or emotional, in order to win their claim.

It’s safe to say that these four things must be present in order to move forward with a medical negligence lawsuit, regardless of what state the incident occurred. If any one of them is not present, the law will not support the claim and it will most likely never make it to litigation.

Medical negligence laws are in place to protect patients from the improper treatment by a doctor or medical professional. They vary from state to state, and are complex and confusing. If you feel that you have been a victim of malpractice, speak to an attorney who is experienced medical negligence law right away.

Even though a majority of children living with leukemia and other fatal forms of cancers are typically treated successfully these days, 30 to 40 percent are suffering long-term damage. According to the Hawaii Children’s Cancer Foundation, children who have successful gone through cancer treatments often suffer neurocognitive problems.

Dr. Wendi Hirsch, the child psychologist at the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children has done extensive research with colleagues at the hospital on the subject of leukemia and children. Hirsch says the impact of chemotherapy and radiation on the cognitive abilities of children can be harsher and take longer to get over in comparison to adults. However, she also says that this has only been realized in the past few years and therefore more research could bring about the fast development of stronger treatments.

“Unfortunately, the advance in chemotherapy agents is killing some of the good brain cells as well as those they’re trying to kill,” explains Dr. Hirsch.

Foundation to Help Fund Research

Dr. Hirsch is also working with a foundation that is bringing one of the nation’s most reputable researchers, Dr. Danny Armstrong, together in conjunction with the NFL Charities to help increase awareness of these types of problems.

Dr. Armstrong is the professor of pediatrics and psychology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and directs the Mailman Center for Child Development. He is also currently working with the national Cancer Institute’s Children’s Oncology Group on a study of neurocognitive outcomes in children receiving treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia.

In addition to leading a discussion and hosting a dinner in honor of leukemia research this week, Armstrong will also be meeting with the Hawaii Medical Service Association. They will reportedly been discussing the need for early testing for children and the need for neurocognitive therapy for children who receive chemotherapy.

Medical malpractice happens when a doctor or medical professional fails to provide their patient with appropriate standard of care that another doctor or medical professional would provide in the same situation, causing injury and harm to the patient. People who are victims of medical malpractice have the legal right to sue the doctor in question for damages. But they should know that these types of lawsuits can be complicated, confusing and lengthy. Anyone considering suing a doctor or medical professional for negligence or malpractice should have the services of a medical lawyer on their side.

Medical lawyers specialize in claims and lawsuits involving medical malpractice, doctor’s negligence, hospital and nurse negligence and much more. They are highly trained, and have intricate knowledge of the law with regards to these types of claims. Filing a lawsuit without a medical lawyer can prove detrimental to your case.

There is a lot of research and work involved in malpractice suits, such as obtaining medical records, interviewing and choosing expert witnesses to testify on your behalf, preparing reports, and filing the case with the court. Most of this stuff is a mystery to the average person. Medical lawyers, on the other hand, do this every day, so hiring one to do the legwork for you just make sense.

Medical malpractice suits can take a lot of time, and sometimes drag on for months or even years. Because medical lawyers know the entire process, from start to finish, they are able to handle things much faster than if it were being handled by the patient alone.

The laws governing negligence cases are complicated and confusing. This is probably the most important reason to enlist representation from a medical lawyer. They understand the details of the law, and exactly how to work within them. A good example of this is the statute of limitations that most states impose on medical cases. Not knowing about this statute could easily mean filing a claim too late. Having an attorney will help to ensure that these laws are abided by and the claim is handled in a timely manner.

If the case goes to court, evidence will have to be presented, and testimony given on behalf of the patient. It is extremely difficult for the average person to represent themselves in a court proceeding, because most are unfamiliar with the process. This can lead to disaster, and the case not being successful. Medical lawyers are experts in presenting cases in court, and have a much better chance of winning a claim and getting compensation for the victim.

Most medical lawyers don’t collect any fees or payment until after the case is over, and was successful. This means that it’s absolutely no cost to hire an experienced attorney. Knowing all this, why would anyone choose to go it alone?

Drug giant, Pfizer, has reached an agreement that will ultimately settle most of the lawsuits filed against the company over the side effects of two of it’s drugs, Celebrex and Bextra. It expects that the $894 million dollar agreement will settle more than 90 percent of the claims filed because the drugs are alleged to have caused major side effects to the plaintiffs - heart attacks and strokes.

Pfizer hopes that this will be accomplished by year’s end and also hopes that remaining claimants will be included in the settlement.

General Counsel Amy Schulman told The Associated Press that Pfizer will fight any remaining personal injury suits with court motions or at trial. “I don’t think either side has an interest in protracting this,” Schulman said in an interview.

Out of the total settlement, $745 million will go to settle personal injury cases, $60 million will cover settlements with attorneys general in the 33 states and the District of Columbia, and $89 million will cover consumer fraud class action cases over reimbursement for money spent on the two drugs. Two additional states, Louisiana and Mississippi, still have pending cases regarding Pfizer’s promotion of the drugs.

Schulman has indicated that Pfizer had been negotiating with opposing lawyers for some time. “Litigation can be distracting, and putting these matters behind us helps our shareholders and, most importantly, patients and doctors,” Schulman said.

Pfizer had removed Bextra from the market in 2005 after Merck & Company had removed it’s painkiller, Vioxx, from the market. Merck has begun paying a 4.8 billion dollar settlement that ends about 50,000 lawsuits that claimed Vioxx caused heart attacks, strokes and death.

Celebrex is currently the only Cox-2 inhibitor that the Food and Drug Administration has allowed to stay on the market. These drugs - Bextra, Celebrex and Vioxx - were superior to the usual nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs) like aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen because they inhibited only the body enzymes that produced the inflamation(Cox-2). The NSAID drugs also inhibited the Cox-2 enzyme but, in addition, inhibited the Cox-1 enzyme which is important in keeping the mucous lining of the stomach intact. Without the mucous lining, stomach ulcers and bleeding could occur.

The 9th Annual Chronic Illness and Disability conference will explore issues involving the transition from pediatric to adult-based care. The two day conference, which will be held at Baylor College of Medicine in November, is open to families dealing with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

Parents, teens and young adults can attend the conference to hear leading experts speak about legal, educational and medical issues faced by transitioning disability patients. Topics to be covered include:

• Mental health and family support
• Considerations for young people with developmental disabilities
• Vocational transition services (during and after high school)
• Funding for transition services
• Insurance options and Medicaid appeals
• Political issues and advocacy

To find out more about the conference or to register, visit the Baylor College of Medicine website.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) once again has launched a “pre-emptive” strike against state personal injury suits by inserting a pre-emption provision in a new rule governing seat belt safety, according to consumer and trial lawyer groups.

The rule, known as the “designated seating position” rule, not only revises how it is determined how many seat belts are required in a vehicle, it has language that very specifically would pre-empt  state suits related to seat belt injuries.

Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen and a former administrator of NHTSA, said the agency has issued safety standards with such pre-emption language 20 times in the past three years.

“The fear of lawsuits is one of the greatest incentives automakers have to build stronger and safer vehicles,” she said. “For NHTSA to suggest that automakers should have blanket immunity from consumer liability lawsuits means that more defective vehicles will be manufactured, fewer will be recalled, the public will have less information about injury causation and more families will needlessly lose loved ones on our roads each day.”

The business community sees pre-emption differently saying that pre-emption gives them one set of rules to play by instead of having to deal with the federal regulatory system as well as the tort and jury systems.

Came across an interesting article about pre-emption written in January of 2008 - The Emerging Threat of Regulatory Preemption - written by David C. Vladeck.  In his article he writes about how pre-emption has been used in four  federal agencies:  Food & Drug Administration(FDA), Consumer Product safety Commission(CPSC), Federal Railroad Administration(FRA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.   His conclusion:

While the public watches the Supreme Court wrestle with the preemption questions presented in Reigel v. Medtronic, and perhaps in Wyeth v. Levine, the more troubling action is taking place out of public view. The quiet but insidious erosion of state tort law remedies — and the health and safety benefits that are associated with them — continues unabated. Our health and safety agencies have been subject to a hostile-takeover by an Administration that cares more about constituent-serving outcomes than their statutory mission to protect the public. The winners will be the Administration’s corporate patrons who will be given the immunity from tort liability they never could have gotten from Congress. The loser will be the tens of thousands of Americans injured through no fault of their own but who will no longer have any means of redress.

A recent study conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) analyzed the effects of benzene exposure at Hanford in Washington as well as at other nuclear sites. Researchers reportedly found that nuclear defense site workers who are exposed to low levels of radiation have an increased risk of dying from leukemia later on in life.

The study took a detailed look at the doses of radiation that the average worker at a nuclear site might be exposed over a lifetime of work. According to the NIOSH previous studies have looked at the link between exposure and leukemia and found a relationship between the fatal cancer and high levels of radiation exposure. In the U.S., 71 out of 10,000 men are expected to die from leukemia. For workers exposed to three rem of radiation in their places of work, the risk of dying from leukemia increased to 77 men out of 10,000.

“We emphasize that if workers are exposed to three rem the risk is very low,” explains Mary Schubauer-Berigan, a NIOSH epidemiologist.

Details of Leukemia Research

Researchers looked at workers who are exposed to more than one rem of radiation. These exposed workers chances of dying from leukemia were then compared to workers exposed to less than one rem. The Department of Energy limits supposedly limits radiation exposure to 5 rem per year; however, during practice tests radiation exposure is controlled to less than 0.5 rem per year.

The study looked specifically at five federal sites: Hanford, Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

A medical lawsuit against the Veterans Affairs hospital in Salt Lake City has been settled for nearly $1 million in damages. The lawsuit was filed after the death of William Meyer, who was being treated at the hospital for leukemia when he developed a fatal blood infection.

Meyer was undergoing chemotherapy at the VA in October 2004. Several days after his final treatment, he started experiencing diarrhea and stomach pain. Meyer’s wife, Pamela, called the hospital about his symptoms and was told an over-the-counter gas medication should help.

A Severe Infection: Every Minute Counted
However, gas was not the problem. According to the lawsuit, Meyer had developed a bacterial infection in his colon because of his reduced immunity from the chemotherapy.

When Meyer went to the emergency room, he had to wait 10 hours before receiving antibiotic treatment even though two doctors had ordered it. In fact, the medication was hanging on his gurney but had not been plugged into his IV.

Meyer suffered cardiac arrest and died (with his leukemia in remission) just a few days before his 46th birthday. His wife and daughter will receive compensation for general damages and Meyer’s lost wages.

Students throughout the Hudson Valley in the state of New York, helped raise a reported $5.8 million at the 14^th-annual Pasta for Pennies program. The annual program was put on by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and the amount raised this year to support leukemia research is said to have broken records.

More than 13,100 students in 17 local elementary, middle and high schools did their part to raise $37,094, which will go towards leukemia research. The money raised by these pro-active students will also help provide critical services to cancer patients and the families of those living and suffering from leukemia. During a three-week time period, students filled collection jars with pocket change, with the classroom who was able to raise the most eligible for an Olive Garden pasta party.

“We are so proud of the enthusiasm and support these students passionately bring to the Olive Garden Pasta for Pennies program each year,” Dave Pickens, company president told reporters. “Their generous efforts continue to make a significant impact in their communities and a difference in the lives of families throughout the nation.”

Among the schools involved were:

• Minisink Valley Intermediate School in Middletown with $4,991.75
• Valley Central Middle School in Montgomery with $4,724.29
• Valley Central Middle School in Montgomery with $4,724

Loose Change for a Good Cause

Since its beginning, Olive Garden’s Pasta for Pennies has raised more than $42 million for LLS and has made a huge impact in fighting preleukemia, also known as MDS, and leukemia, both fatal forms of cancer. LLS is headquartered in White Plains, New York, and is considered to be the world’s largest voluntary health organization. The organization is committed to funding research for leukemia and since its development in 1949, has invested more than $600 million for leukemia research specifically.

“The money raised by our students, parents, teachers and school administrators throughOlive Garden’s Pasta for Pennies will help us continue to make advances in the search for cures and provide hope and support to patients and their families,” explains Barbara Gallagher, campaign manager of the LLS Westchester/Hudson Valley Chapter. “We are inspired by the outpouring of compassion and commitment to our mission and thank all student participants and Olive Garden for another great campaign.”

Finding a Cure

Leukemia, along with Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are all fatal forms of cancer that originate within the bone marrow or, in some cases, the lymphatic tissues. The illnesses are considered to all be related due to the fact that they all involve the uncontrolled growth of blood cells. When the erratic production of blood cells interferes with the body’s production of healthy blood cells, health complications arise. Although a cure for leukemia and these other types of cancers has not yet been found, organizations like the LLS, with the help of doctors and researchers, are doing their part to contribute to leukemia research and rid the world of these life-threatening diseases.

If you or someone you know is living with leukemia or a related-illness, please contact us today to speak with one of our trustworthy and experienced attorney’s who will ensure that you and your loved ones are getting the legal support and guidance you deserve.

According to statistics from the CDC, there are 1.6 million residents currently living in nursing homes. With that many people living under the care of others it only stands to reason that mistakes and negligence is occurring on a regular basis. In fact, studies show that approximately 30% of all nursing homes are liable for some form of malpractice. But what constitutes nursing home malpractice? It’s important to know because chances are that at some point you or someone love will be living in such a facility.

Nursing homes are often under staffed, so their employees are subsequently over worked to compensate. Mistakes are easily made when someone has not rested enough or is rushing because they have so much to do. These mistakes can result in injury, or even death of the patients who are left in the care of these employees. Many facilities also fail to properly train orderlies and other workers, which can also lead to abuse, neglect or negligence. It’s often a dangerous, even deadly, combination of these things that lead to cases of nursing home malpractice.

Some general examples of nursing home malpractice include:

• Medication errors
• Pain that goes untreated
• Slip and fall
• Bedsores
• Neglect
• Malnutrition
• Unexplained ailments
• Emotional abuse
• Infections
• Poor hygiene
• Financial abuse

Of course, these are only a few of the many problems that arise when there is a nursing home facility is negligent. So what steps should you take if you suspect that someone you love is a victim of this type of malpractice? They have legal rights, and those rights should be exercised, even if you have to do so on their behalf.

Report any suspected abuse or neglect to your local law enforcement authorities. It’s also a good idea to speak with an attorney, particularly one who specializes in elder care and/or nursing home malpractice. He or she will review your claim, determine if you have a case, and if so, help you gather the evidence needed to file a claim against the negligent parties.

Nursing home negligence is a crime and it’s not to be taken lightly. There are laws in place to protect those vulnerable members of our society who rely on the employees of these facilities for their long term care. Reporting abuse and neglect, and bringing lawsuits against those who are guilty of these crimes is critical in preventing further cases from arising.