Medical Malpractice

Birth rights: Reproductive justice is a growing practice area

With women’s rights issues sparking a national dialogue, a niche practice area has emerged that is gaining momentum: reproductive justice. The practice area is broad, encompassing issues including forced sterilization and unwanted medical intervention during childbirth.

Jan 1, 2019 2:55 AM CST

New suit is filed against dancing cosmetic surgeon, this time for alleged privacy violation

An Atlanta-area dermatologist who posted videos of herself singing and dancing during cosmetic surgery has settled four malpractice suits, including one by a woman who suffered permanent brain damage following surgery. Susan Witt, a lawyer representing the the injured woman and two other former patients, told CNN that she has…

Jun 5, 2018 1:55 PM CDT

Medical device plaintiff sues her law firm, saying it coaxed her into unnecessary surgery

An Arkansas woman who contends she was scared into surgery to remove vaginal mesh to bolster her position in litigation has filed a lawsuit against her former law firm and the litigation funding company that financed the operation. Allegations in the suit by Jerri Plummer highlight how plaintiffs in suits…

Apr 16, 2018 11:25 AM CDT

Punk rock drummer-turned-doctor performs CPR on potential juror in his med-mal trial

A California judge declared a mistrial in a medical malpractice case last week after the doctor defendant—and former drummer for The Offsrping—performed CPR on a potential juror. Gynecological oncologist James Lilja, was the a drummer for the punk rock band before leaving in the late 1980s, report the San Francisco…

Apr 2, 2018 12:51 PM CDT

Estate recovers nothing for mistaken brain surgery because lawyers used estopped negligence claim

The case of a woman who died after undergoing mistaken brain surgery involves apparent errors by her doctors and her lawyers, according to a Michigan Supreme Court justice who agreed with a decision to overturn the $20 million award.

Feb 20, 2018 7:30 AM CST

Tort suits in state courts are ‘down sharply’ as contract claims grow

The conventional wisdom that state courts are awash in tort lawsuits is wrong.

Tort lawsuits are “down sharply,” raising concerns among some judges that Americans no longer see the courts as a way to achieve justice in garden-variety civil cases, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports.

Jul 26, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Lawyer is reprimanded over penis amputation suit

A lawyer in Irondale, Alabama, has been reprimanded in connection with his 2014 lawsuit contending that his client’s penis was partly amputated when he went to the hospital for a routine circumcision. A disciplinary notice says the lawyer, John Patrick Graves, filed the medical malpractice lawsuit against three doctors without…

Jul 10, 2017 11:34 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: Two end-of-term decisions close the courthouse doors to those who have been injured

Amid the flurry of end-of-term decisions, two are very troubling. Although the cases arose in different contexts, they both have the same effect: closing the courthouse doors to those who have suffered serious injuries.

Jul 6, 2017 8:30 AM CDT

ABA opposes federal bill that would impose caps in med-mal cases

The ABA on Monday sent a letter to House lawmakers urging a no vote on a bill that imposes a federal cap of $250,000 on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases. The letter (PDF) says Congress should not substitute its judgment for that of the states, which are “the repositories…

Jun 13, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Dental malpractice firms apply expertise to oral claims

When an elderly man dies after a dentist drops a tool down his throat or a 17-year-old passes away under sedation during wisdom teeth extraction, attorneys like Mark Glassman, Stanley Lane and Edwin Zinman take the case. They’re among a handful of dental malpractice attorneys scattered across the country.

Jun 1, 2017 1:20 AM CDT

You can’t always rely on physician testimony in malpractice cases, says doc who admits he lied

You can’t always trust testimony by doctors on behalf of colleagues being sued for malpractice, according to retired South Dakota physician Lars Aanning. Aanning knows from experience: He says he lied on behalf of a medical-clinic colleague in a malpractice trial about 15 years ago. Aanning wrote a “belated confession”…

Sep 28, 2016 7:50 AM CDT

Suits seek to block Arkansas referendum that would cap attorney fees and damages in medical cases

Two lawsuits filed this week seek to block an Arkansas ballot referendum that would cap noneconomic damages and attorney fees in medical injury cases with a state constitutional amendment. On Monday, two Arkansas residents filed a lawsuit claiming the referendum should be tossed from the ballot because its title is…

Sep 2, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Settlement in suit over Joan Rivers’ death; daughter to seek law regulating outpatient clinic safety

A “substantial” settlement in an undisclosed amount has been reached in a lawsuit over the death of Joan Rivers, who died as a result of a medical procedure at an outpatient surgery center in New York City in 2014 However, Melissa Rivers, the 81-year-old comedian’s daughter, and her lawyers say…

May 13, 2016 1:45 PM CDT

ABA opposes federal medical-malpractice bill that caps pain-and-suffering damages

The ABA has sent a letter to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee that opposes a medical-liability bill with caps on noneconomic damages. The ABA letter (PDF) to House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte says states have had the authority to determine medical liability law for 200 years, and…

Mar 23, 2016 11:11 AM CDT

Family of teen hospitalized in medical diagnosis conflict files malpractice and civil rights suit

The family of a Connecticut teen put in the custody of the state of Massachusetts for more than a year and hospitalized against their wishes has filed a medical malpractice and civil rights suit against Boston Children’s Hospital and four physicians. Weeks before Justina Pelletier was misdiagnosed at Children’s with…

Feb 25, 2016 4:00 PM CST