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Medical Malpractice

Contact Lewis & Tompkins if you or a loved one has suffered injury or illness as a result of poor and incompetent medical care. Our attorneys can help patients involved in the following areas of medicine:

Cardiology * Critical Care * Dermatology/ Plastic Surgery * Diabetes & Endocrinology * Family Medicine/ Primary Care * Gastroenterology * General Surgery * Hematology-Oncology * HIV/AIDS * Infectious Diseases * Internal Medicine * Nephrology * Neurology & Neurosurgery * OB/GYN & Women's Health * Oncology * Opthalmology * Orthopaedics * Pathology & Lab Medicine * Pediatrics * Psychiatry & Mental Health * Public Health & Prevention * Pulmonary Medicine * Radiology * Rheumatology * Transplantation * Urology

Medical Malpractice in the News

With 'help' from the state, PA med mal insurer won't raise premiums in 2006

Pennsylvania’s largest medical malpractice insurance provider will not be increasing insurance premiums to medical professionals for the first time in six years. PMLSIC will also be writing new premiums after three years of restrictions. Analysts speculate that one of the reasons is that Pennsylvania is footing the bill for the premiums of high risk medical specialists such as neurosurgeons and obstetricians.

Oops… Wrong Kidney?

On August 22nd, 2005, a man underwent surgery in Sleepy Hollow, New York to have a cancerous kidney removed from his body. Surgeons at the hospital did remove a kidney – but not the one with cancer. The hospital, Phelps Medical Center, announced the kidney surgery botch four days later, promising to “make sure that it never happens again.”

As horrific as this surgical mistake was, Phelps Medical Center has been fairly forthcoming in admitting that there was negligence on the hospital’s part, and that the patient and his family will be well provided for financially. But just to make sure, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the story here at the Lewis & Tompkins Medical Malpractice News page.

Bookmark this page and return often to find news stories about recent Medical Malpractice cases in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland and elsewhere around the country, gathered from independent online news media throughout the U.S.

Virginia, Maryland & DC: Protecting Patients’ Rights When Medical Malpractice Occurs

For medical malpractice claims in Virginia, Maryland and DC, the law firm of Lewis & Tompkins offers patients injured through medical negligence or sub-standards of medical care more than four decades of proven legal representation. State and federal laws have become very unforgiving to medical malpractice victims during the past decade, limiting a patient’s legal rights to compensation when medical malpractice occurs.

In many states (including Maryland and Virginia), caps have been placed on verdicts for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium, wrongful death and other consequences of medical malpractice. The caps are in effect no matter how egregious the act of medical negligence may have been. This gives insurance companies a much greater incentive to push cases of medical malpractice deep into legal proceedings, where (they hope) the claim will in time dismantle itself.

To thwart this all-too-common outcome, medical malpractice victims need attorneys who can examine the case quickly and expertly; ask you and all parties concerned the right questions; and, if necessary, take your case into mediation and trial with the confidence and long-term professional commitment each medical malpractice case requires.

Lewis & Tompkins has built an enduring reputation in Washington, Virginia and Maryland courts for taking on and defeating unfair and deceitful practices in the insurance industry. Our legal services are often the critical difference in medical malpractice claims for our clients. With skilled and experienced trial lawyers, an established network of respected experts and high-end technology that helps us tell our client’s side of the story, Lewis & Tompkins is a recognized leader in helping injured medical malpractice victims get what they deserve.

Most medical malpractice suits are filed on one or more of the following grounds: delay of treatment, misdiagnosis, incorrect procedure, and failure to gain consent. If you’ve been involved in a medical malpractice case, contact our offices today to discuss your case.

Medical Malpractice Insurance: the Enemy from Within

Hospitals have a lot to lose if a patient makes a medical malpractice claim. Already hammered by crippling malpractice insurance premiums and a tight-fisted healthcare claims review process that often declines or reduces legitimate claims for healthcare, hospitals know that if someone makes a medical malpractice claim and the claim enters into the legal process, for the hospital it will mean still higher cost to keep the doors open and treat patients with the dignity and care they expect and deserve.

In addition to costing America’s healthcare system billions of dollars, this dangerous spiral creates an atmosphere of deep mistrust and suspicion over the doctor-patient relationship, a relationship in which honesty, openness and trust is often the difference between life and death.

But don’t expect the insurance industry to voluntarily alter the current arrangement any time soon. They are making far too much money now to change course. Since 2002, the stock market has stayed about even. Inflation has begun to creep in on two major economic indicators: gas and housing. But insurance profits, especially in the area of medical malpractice insurance, have shot up by 106 per cent.

While stoking the feud between hospitals and lawyers through fearful anecdotes and fuzzy math, insurance companies have diligently built a cash cow with margins that even the mafia would envy, earning some insurance companies up to 80 to 90 cents for every malpractice insurance dollar they collect. Read more about the practices of the top 15 malpractice insurance companies at the Center for Justice & Democracy. (WARNING: Healthcare professional reading the preceding link may experience feelings of anger, betrayal and outrage.)

Library for Medical Malpractice:

Medical Errors That Should Never Happen
Description: While some medical errors can be remedied quite quickly with no lasting side effects, there are some medical errors that should never happen.
Hospitals and HMO's are Charging for Medical Errors
Description: It seems absurd that a hired professional would charge you for a mistake. But that is exactly what some doctors are doing.
The Fallacy of "Between You and Your Doctor"
Description: In the recent debates over whether or not health care should be reformed, no one ever seems to mention that the practices of insurance companies are a big part of the problem.
Blood Thinner Overdose Nearly Kills Quaid Twins
Description: Dennis Quaid can count himself lucky to still have his children. A prescription error caused by bad packaging almost killed his newborn twins.
Looking Good on TV Doesn't Make You a Good Doctor
Description: Dr. Jan Adams was a celebrity doctor with a busy schedule of TV appearances and tv star patients. What he didnt have was a good record.
Doctors Shouldn't Sleep On The Job
Description: No one can reasonably expect someone to perform a task responsibly after they have been awake for 30 hours. Yet doctors are expected to do just that.
New Report Shows Medical Malpractice Insurers Price Gouging and Driving up Costs [PDF]
Description: Former Missouri Insurance Commissioner Jay Angoff just released a report ("No Basis for High Insurance Rates"). It is attached, and I encourage you to peruse it. Mr. Angoff's study makes clear what its title suggests - there is no basis for high insurance rates. The study puts the lie to the claim that there is a "medical malpractice crisis" and reveals an insurance crisis, where insurance companies are gouging doctors, padding their profits, and driving up the cost of medicine.

Here are some of the study's salient findings:

Projected and actual payouts have declined. The losses of the leading medical malpractice insurers have dropped nearly 50% over the last three years, even as the industry has publicly claimed losses are increasing.

While payouts are decreasing, surplus is soaring. The 2006 surplus is 43% greater than in 2003, drastically exceeding the surplus levels mandated to ensure a carrier's stability.

Insurers are paying out only 39 cents for each dollar of premium they receive.

Even mutual insurers, whose sole duty is to their owners/policyholders, are gouging doctors. Only three of the 15 leading insurers issued dividends to doctors in 2006.

The study is thorough and informative.
Professor Phillip Peters, Article on Medical Malpractice Suits [PDF]
Description: This article researches medical malpractice verdicts from juries. This article shows just how much of a myth the "litigation crisis" really is. The data show clearly that plaintiffs face an enormous task to overcome jury disposition towards doctors and hostility to those making claims for medical negligence.
The Medical Malpractice "Crisis" Revisited
Description: Are malpractice lawsuits hurting the medical establishment? According to the Department of Justice, the answer is no.
Your Rights are Threatened by Limits on Medical Malpractice Recoveries
Description: This page discusses medical malpractice and the current political trend to limit the rights of victims of medical mistakes.

Web Resources for Medical Malpractice:

Medline Plus
Description: This is a good general medicine link for researching issues of treatment and malpractice.
National Institutes of Health

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