Medical Malpractice

• Dirty, Dastardly Deeds of Injury Defense Attorneys (Not Done Dirt Cheap)

  Rick Shapiro | January 05, 2008 9:51 AM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, VA

  There is a famous classic rock song entitled "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" and in my practice as a personal injury lawyer for victims we deal every week with dirty, dastardly deeds (not done dirt cheap) by defense lawyers fighting our personal injury clients' cases. We deal with several large corporations or railroads that find themselves sued for personal injury often. They usually don't...

• Medical Errors Continue Even in the Best Hospitals

  Rick Shapiro | December 26, 2007 11:41 AM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, VA

  Authored By: James C. LewisIt has long been known that medical mistakes that occur in our hospitals resulting in personal injuries frequently go unreported. In a recent investigation by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAHO) this continued problem with medical mistakes was highlighted in a prominent and well know hospital in the northeastern United States with a...

• Timing Plays a Roll in the Quality of Healthcare

  Rick Shapiro | October 04, 2007 9:27 AM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, VA

  Authored by: Richard N. ShapiroSeveral recent studies have indicated that medical mistakes may occur with increased frequency based upon the timing of an individual's contact with the medical community. For instance, the American Journal of Gastroenterology recently completed a study that examined an increase in successful completion of colonoscopies performed in the morning verus the...

• Doctor apologies prevent lawsuits for medical malpractice

  John Cooper | June 21, 2007 10:29 AM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, VA

  New Virginia (VA) law allows doctors and hospitals to apologize to the people they hurt by medical errors and not have it used against them in court. This law was part of a compromise worked out between doctors and lawyers in a recent Legislative Session. Getting this law passed was a smart play by the medical malpractice insurance lobby. Allowing the doctors to do an early apology may...

• Retained surgical sponges: a known medical error

  Jim Lewis | June 19, 2007 9:27 AM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, VA

  Editor Note: My partner, Rick Shapiro, posted a May 2009 update article on surgical sponges/towels and a new technology that embeds a bar code and wand system that tracks sponges to prevent serious...

• Unfortunately, Hospitals Can Be Deadly

  Staff Writer | January 25, 2007 12:10 PM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, VA

  By: James C. Lewis, HSCLA AttorneyIt may come as a surprise but 2 million patients residing in hospitals get hospital-acquired infections every year. Infection stalls recovery, sometimes requiring weeks of intravenous antibiotics or a grueling round of surgeries to remove the infected tissue. Approximately 90,000 Americans who acquire these infections actually die as a result.Nationwide,...

• Should Doctors Working for Hospitals be Immune from Suits if Employed by a Charitable Foundation?

  Rick Shapiro | January 19, 2007 3:20 PM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, VA

  In one of the cases, MacArthur v. UVA Health Services Foundation, the Virginia circuit court judge dismissed in a footnote the contention of the plaintiff's attorney that the salaries of the physicians who work for the foundation are so high that this negates any claim that it is a true charity because the doctors were paid as much as $897,000.00 in salary and benefits in calendar year 2004,...

• Surgeons Can be Held Liable if Nurse Carelessly Leaves a Sponge Inside a Patient's Body

  Rick Shapiro | January 19, 2007 3:04 PM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, VA

  There has been an interesting decision of the California Court of Appeals relating to whether a doctor is liable for a nurse's mistake where the nurse leaves a sponge inside the body of a patient, unbeknownst to the doctor. Lawyers with our firm have had several prior cases involving infection and other complications that result from a sponge left inside a body that becomes infected, causing...

• Lawyers Battle On For The Doctors Who Testify In The Courtroom

  Rick Shapiro | November 18, 2006 9:12 AM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, VA

  I have previously written a blog article about the amazing efforts by some doctors to try to silence and even revoke the medical licenses of doctors who give honest testimony in medical malpractice cases, almost always on the side of the victim or patient. In other words, when a doctor is sued for malpractice, often the doctor sued does not focus on improving their technique, to avoid another...

• Does the Doctor You Trust Not Trust You? (Especially If You Have A Medical Malpractice Claim)

  Rick Shapiro | October 08, 2006 9:28 AM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, VA

  Would you be surprised to learn that the physician that you trust has very strong opinions relating to whether or not you should be able to sue a careless doctor for malpractice? Would you be extremely surprised to learn that the doctor you trust, regularly testifies on behalf of doctors that are sued for malpractice and does not believe that physicians should ever testify in support of a...