Medical Malpractice

• The Myth About Defensive Medicine

  Dan Frith | July 02, 2009 6:49 AM | 1 CommentRoanoke, VA

  The health care system in this country has problems. The one point we can all agree on is that it just costs too darn much. The system’s other flaws, and the reasons why it costs so much, are...

• What are High Risk Medications?

  Dan Frith | March 24, 2008 10:57 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  By now most Americans have read something about the medication errors which almost cost actor Dennis Quaid and his wife the ultimate loss....the death of their twins due to a medication error (heparin overdose) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.Medication errors happen daily - it is part of the "grab and go" culture in busy hospitals. What can be done to reduce this...

• Midwives in Virginia: A Bad Idea

  Dan Frith | February 03, 2009 10:57 AM | 25 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Virginia is seeing an explosion in the number of midwives....and this is a bad trend! I see many complicated deliveries where a fetus becomes entangled in the umbilical cord or caught in the birth...

• Midwives in Virginia: Part Two

  Dan Frith | February 04, 2009 11:45 AM | 17 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Yesterday I wrote a blog on midwives in Virginia...and boy did I raise some eyebrows! I do appreciate my readers' comments and, although I cannot respond to everyone, I do want to follow up on my...

• Malignant Hyperthermia Kills Florida Teen During Surgery

  Dan Frith | March 28, 2008 6:06 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  You have already probably heard the sad story about the Florida teenager who died due to complications from anesthesia during corrective breast augmentation surgery. Stephanie Kuleba, age 18, was having outpatient corrective breast augmentation surgery last week in the offices of Dr. Steven Schuster in Boca Raton when she developed the symptoms of malignant hyperthermia after receiving...

• Malignant Hyperthermia in Florida

  Dan Frith | March 31, 2008 8:34 AM | 8 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  We wrote a short blog a couple of days ago on the tragic death of Stephanie Kuleba, an 18 year old who died from malignant hyperthermia, a known complication of anesthesia, after corrective reconstructive breast surgery in Boca Raton, Florida. The sad story of the unnecessary death of an 18 year old from complications at an outpatient surgery clinic motivated me to write my blog. The purpose...

• Jury awards verdict against doctor in hospital for placing a screwdriver in the patient's back

  Staff Writer | March 30, 2006 2:19 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  A Hawaii jury has awarded damages of nearly $5.6 million in a lawsuit against a surgeon who placed a piece of a screwdriver in the patient's back.Two hours into the surgery the doctor discovered that the titanium rods to be placed in the patient's back were missing and he improvised a new rod by cutting the shaft of a stainless steel medical screwdriver. He did this despite the fact that a...

• What Happens When Damages Exceed the Cap in Medical Malpractice Cases

  Dan Frith | January 28, 2009 9:31 AM | 2 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  I practice law in Virginia...a beautiful state with much to offer...unless you are the victim of a serious medical error which renders you a quadriplegic...or comatose for life...or incapable of...

• Too Many Malpractice Lawsuits or Too Much Malpractice?

  Dan Frith | April 02, 2009 3:15 PM | 4 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  We've listened to George Bush, various national, state, and local medical organizations, and the insurance industry cry long and hard about the need to reform medical malpractice laws in the United...

• Stephanie Kuleba: Autopsy Cofirms Malignant Hyperthermia

  Dan Frith | June 06, 2008 11:33 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  I posted two blog articles (March 28 and 31) on the tragic death of 18 year old Stephanie Kuleba. Ms. Kuleba was more than an hour into asurgery to correct inverted nipples and breast asymmetry when...