Medical Malpractice

• Preventing Accidents in the MRI Suite

  Dan Frith | February 27, 2008 6:00 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Most Americans have had an x-ray taken, some have even had enhanced x-rays called CT scans and even Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies. An MRI is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of organs and structures inside the body. For an MRI test, the area of the body being studied is placed inside a special machine that contains a strong magnet....

• Actor John Ritter's Malpractice Case Heads to Court

  Dan Frith | February 19, 2008 6:06 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Remember John Ritter...old "Jack Tripper" from the sitcom Three's Company? Well, he died of a tear in the aorta, known as an aortic dissection, on Sept. 11, 2003, at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California. His widow filed a medical malpractice claim against his doctors and the case is now under way. The lawyer for John Ritter's family told the jury he would show the...

• Arbitration Is Bad For Victims of Medical Negligence

  Dan Frith | February 17, 2008 12:47 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  There is a time and place for the arbitration of claims for medical negligence. That time and place arrives after the dispute (read malpractice) occurs and both sides have voluntarily decided to resolve their dispute not through the civil justice system but through arbitration. Unfortunately for the victims of medical negligence, more and more health care providers are requiring patients to...

• Pharmacy Mistakes Kill

  Dan Frith | February 13, 2008 6:13 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  My law firm is getting ready to try a case against a local pharmacy which filled and dispensed a doctor's prescription for medication to which our client was allergic. You may ask, "Why did the client take a medication to which she knew she was allergic"? The answer is that she was given the generic form of the drug - the pills did not look the same and the generic name was no where close to...

• Informed Consent: What Does It Mean?

  Dan Frith | February 10, 2008 12:30 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Anyone who has been a patient and submitted to a surgery or other medical procedure typically signs what is called an "informed consent" document. Have you signed one? Did you read it? Do you understand it? Do you know the legal effect of signing the document? The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has acknowledged that many informed consent documents fail to tell the patient...

• Your elected officials - taking away your rights!

  Lauren Ellerman | February 05, 2008 2:05 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  I wish this were a joke - but right now, as I type, your elected officials may be drafting laws that limit your rights in nursing home and medical malpractice cases.In Tennessee, a law is being considered that would forbid nursing home residents from filing suit for negligence - In Virginia, there is a Bill in the House that would allow doctor defendants to offer settlement amount, and if the...

• Actor John Ritter's Death Spurs Lawsuit

  Dan Frith | February 04, 2008 10:48 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Comic actor John Ritter's widow says a wrongful death lawsuit going to trial Monday is more about seeking accountability and educating the public about the condition that killed him than the $67 million in damages she is seeking from two doctors.On Sept. 11, 2003, his daughter's fifth birthday, Ritter experienced severe nausea and vomiting and went to went to nearby St. Joseph's Medical Center...

• Bonuses to Doctors Who Provide Good Care

  Dan Frith | February 04, 2008 6:51 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  My blog posts are filled with stories and commentaries of the short comings of the healthcare industry in America. Well, here is an idea I fully support...let's pay the good doctors more money than the bad doctors!Large employers like General Electric, International Business Machines, Corp., and Verizon Communications have launched an initiative to pay doctors hefty bonuses for providing good...

• Healthsouth and Doctors Settle Claims

  Dan Frith | February 02, 2008 6:40 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Healthsouth Corp. and two Alabama doctors have settled a civil lawsuit brought by the Justice Department. The doctors and Healthsouth jointly agreed to pay $15 million to settle claims by the government of a kickback scheme. Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Larry Lemak are paying $700,000 of the settlement and Healthsouth is paying the remainder. The settlement involved claims made by Healthsouth to...

• Ex-Cowboys RB Ron Springs Sues Doctors

  Dan Frith | January 25, 2008 1:04 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Former Dallas Cowboy running back, Ron Springs, had a tiny cyst on his left forearm. Not a big medical problem when you remember he received a new kidney about 7 months ago in a much publicized kidney transplant from friend and fellow former Cowboy Everson Walls. However, the treatment of this small cyst was about to change Ron Springs' life, and the lives of his family, forever. Mr. Springs...