Defensive medicine is the term used to describe the practice of doctors ordering unnecessary tests and procedures, because they are scared of being sued for malpractice.  To date, the argument supporting defensive medicine hasn’t been too convincing.  However, that doesn’t seem to stop researchers from trying to drum up figures showing it exists.

One of the most recent studies, which was published in Health Affairs, reported that the yearly cost associated with medical liability hovers around $55.6 billion.  According to researchers, a large percentage of this amount ($45.6 billion) is linked to defensive medicine.

Researchers from Harvard University and the University of Melbourne conducted the study.  The Wall Street Journal reported that the study authors admitted, “defensive medicine is the hardest piece of the liability costs puzzle to calculate.”  Michelle Mello, one of the authors, stated that a portion of the analysis was “based on synthesis of the best available previous” research.

The American Association for Justice (AAJ) believes that limiting the rights of injured patients will do little to lower healthcare costs.  The organization feels that the focus should be on decreasing the amount of deaths each year that result from avoidable medical errors.

For more information regarding medical negligence, be sure to order Virginia medical malpractice attorney Ben Glass’s controversial book, Why Most Medical Malpractice Victims Never Recover a Dime.

Don’t make the mistake of believing that this Virginia medical malpractice lawsuit is isolated – there are many more like it where the victims are robbed by the med mal cap, including the cases of Hector Alvarez and Rita Talbert.

Medical malpractice plaintiffs end up becoming victims twice.  They are first victimized by the negligence of their medical providers, but then they become victims again when their compensation is limited.

Liability caps are impacting the people who are hurt by medical malpractice and their family members. It is so frustrating to hear about cases where a jury decided, based on the evidence and arguments presented, what amount should be awarded, only to have the amount often cut in half.

You can read more about Virginia medical malpractice lawsuits in Ben Glass’s book, Why Most Medical Malpractice Victims Never Recover a Dime.

A recent federal study revealed some shocking practices in these medical centers.  According to this study, researchers found that in some centers, the medical staff failed to wash hands, wear gloves and clean blood glucose meters.  These findings, which were reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, implied that these poor infection controls could be occurring in the nation’s more than 5,000 outpatient centers.

This study followed the outbreak of hepatitis C that took place in Las Vegas. It was believed that this outbreak was the result of unsafe injection practices at two clinics, which have since been shut down.

During the study, inspectors visited 68 centers in Maryland, North Carolina and Oklahoma.  While at the facility, inspectors followed at least one patient through an entire stay.  Even though the inspectors’ visits were not announced ahead of time, the medical staff was informed once they arrived.

Researchers discovered that 67 percent of the centers studied had at least one lapse in infection control and 57 percent were cited for deficiencies.

“These people knew they were under observation, had the opportunity to be on their best behavior and yet these lapses were still identified, some of which potentially are very dangerous and have been warned against explicitly,” commented Dr. Philip Barie of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.

If you believe you have been harmed by medical malpractice in Virginia, be sure to order a free copy of Fairfax medical malpractice attorney Ben Glass’s book, Why Most Medical Malpractice Victims Never Recover a Dime.

When cancer is detected during the early stages, it can typically be treated effectively, giving the patient a good prognosis.  That is what makes misdiagnosed cancer cases so devastating.  By the time the cancer is identified, the options are often limited, not to mention painful.

The rate of survival is generally higher when cancer is caught early, as the treatments tend to be more successful.  Once the cancer has progressed, the treatments are harsher and may include such things as radiation and chemotherapy.

You could have a Virginia medical malpractice claim if your cancer was diagnosed late.  A Virginia medical malpractice attorney will determine if you have a strong claim by gathering all of the pertinent medical records regarding your care and by conducting an interview with you.

If it appears that you have a provable case, your medical malpractice lawyer will consult and retain experts in the appropriate specialty.  These medical experts are crucial to your case, as they will testify if they believe that the medical care you received was substandard, which led to your injury.

There are other factors that go into medical malpractice lawsuits. For more information, order a copy of the book, Why Most Medical Malpractice Victims Never Recover a Dime.

What makes matters even worse in a medical negligence case is that the jurors are often misled by the insurance industry. The insurance industry spends millions funding “research” to suggest that there is a prevalent problem with medical malpractice lawsuits.  This research supposedly shows that excessive verdicts are causing malpractice insurance carriers to increase their premiums, which in turn is pushing doctors out of the medical field.

When jurors hear this type of message from the insurance industry, they often award lower verdicts than they would have ten years ago.  That means that many victims of medical negligence receive less from the jury than what is needed to cover their medical expenses.

You can read more about these lawsuits and why so many malpractice victims don’t recover compensation in Virginia medical malpractice attorney Ben Glass’s book, Why Most Medical Malpractice Victims Never Recover a Dime.

The plaintiff, Shannon E. Taylor, was awarded $3 million in a Virginia medical malpractice lawsuit. The plaintiff’s attorneys, Barbara S. Williams, Cory R. Ford and Roger T. Creager, should be congratulated for the success with this case.

Dr. Katherine Averill and Winchester Womancare were found liable for Ms. Taylor’s injuries that were sustained during a hysterectomy in July 2007.  The surgery was performed at Winchester Medical Center.  According to the complaint that was filed, Dr. Averill “negligently, grossly negligently and recklessly breached her duty of care to the Plaintiff Taylor” during and after Ms. Taylor’s procedure.

Dr. Averill was accused of using material from the anterior rectal wall instead of peritoneal tissue, to repair the vaginal cuff after Ms. Taylor’s uterus was removed.  As a result, the plaintiff suffered lacerations and other injuries.

The lawsuit also states that before completing the procedure, Dr. Averill didn’t sufficiently determine suture placement.  Supposedly, she also didn’t take appropriate steps to “follow up with, treat and timely remedy Taylor’s condition, status and injuries.”
Fairfax lawyers, Richard L. Nagle and Tracie M. Dorfman, are representing the defendants.  According to Mr. Nagle, they will likely file a motion to set aside the jury’s verdict or reduce the jury award, so that it falls within the statutory limit.

Unfortunately, this lawsuit is another example of a malpractice victim who will be robbed because of Virginia’s statutory cap on medical malpractice damages.  Despite the fact that the jury decided on a number that they believed would be fair for the victim, the law will prohibit her from seeing that full amount.

Malpractice insurance companies have standard defenses they often use, which include the following:

• The injury could not have been prevented, as it was a result of the initial condition.
• The injury was due to the patient not following the doctor’s advice.
• The risk of the particular injury was an accepted one.
• Someone else caused the injury.
• A previous illness or condition led to the injury.

To have a successful claim, you are going to have to prove that there is a clear connection between the defendant’s misconduct and the injury you have sustained.

For more information regarding medical negligence claims, read Virginia medical malpractice attorney Ben Glass’s book, Why Most Medical Malpractice Victims Will Never Recover a Dime.  This book discusses the factors involved in medical malpractice cases and answers many of the commonly asked questions.

If you have been harmed by medical malpractice in Virginia, then you need to familiarize yourself with contributory negligence.  Virginia is one of only a few states in the country that still uses this centuries-old law.  Contributory negligence can be defined as “a doctrine of common law that if a person was injured in part due to his/her own negligence (his/her negligence “contributed” to the accident), the injured party would not be entitled to collect any damages (money) from another party who supposedly caused the accident.”  This definition basically means that if you were careless in any way, which contributed to your injury, you probably won’t be able to recover damages.

Under contributory negligence, your doctor could be 99 percent responsible for your injury and you might only be 1 percent responsible, but you still won’t be able to recover a dime.  This doctrine hardly seems fair, but it is the law.

For more information regarding Virginia medical malpractice lawsuits and why these cases are so difficult to win, order a copy of Ben Glass’s book, Why Most Medical Malpractice Victims Never Recover a Dime.

Now his attorneys have filed an answer to the Complaint. They admit that the medical records accurately reflect what we said they did in the complaint, but, again, they say “the doctor didn’t do anything wrong.”

Here’s my question: is this frivolous or just “good defending”?

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