Archive for December, 2009

We hear all the time the complaint that lawyers are "destroying" the economy or chasing doctors out of town or increasing the cost of medicine. I see very few blog posts, news articles or critiques of the common practice of the insurance industry in frivolously denying claims on the hope that the plaintiff or... »

It is tragic when a patient goes to the hospital for one problem then sustains an injury from an accident that happens while in the hospital. Falls in hospitals are more common than you can imagine. Here is a case from the Supreme Court of Virginia where a patient fell and the hospital was... »

As amazing as it sounds, doctors sometimes forget to do a part of an operation. You can imagine how this happens, especially if they’ve got surgeries backed up, one after another, at the local hospital. Is that malpractice? Can you recover damages. Here is an interesting case decided by the Supreme Court of Virginia... »

It’s horrifying to imagine that a resident of a nursing home can be victimized. The question sometimes arises whether such a case is governed by Virginia’s medical malpractice act. After all, is this “medical malpractice” at all? In a 2006 case against Woodbine Nursing home (Alexandria, Virginia) the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled that... »

Dr. William E. Hurwitz, of 2004 Federal drug-trafficking trial fame, was the defendant in a recent civil suit out of Prince William County. Dr. Hurwitz agreed to pay the Estate of Mary Nyea the sum of $225,000. Nye was a patient of Hurwitz before his incarceration in 2003. Nye was being treated for pain... »

According to published reports, Charlottesville attorney Lee Livingston has settled a case against an othopedic surgeon who did back surgery, but operated at the wrong level. This, of course, necessitated a brand new surgery. The case reportedly settled for $350,000. Its amazing that in 2009, doctors are still operating on the wrong part of the... »