Medical Malpractice

• Assignments vs. Liens In the Personal Injury Context

  Geoff Trachtenberg | December 09, 2007 8:41 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  A large number of people, attorneys included, don't know the difference between "assignments" and "liens."Why does it matter, you ask? For a number of reasons that will be more obvious when the difference is understood.An assignment is the easier of the two to understand since, as the name implies, it is an transfer of all or some rights or property to a third-party. Although an assignor...

• Failure to Plead Sufficient Facts - The New Legal Malpractice?

  Geoff Trachtenberg | October 21, 2007 3:48 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  There's a new case out this week from Division Two, Cullen v. Koty-Leavitt Insurance, which deals with the reasonable expectations doctrine in the UIM setting. The case is not particularly fascinating from a substantive perspective, but it raises questions about potential legal malpractice exposure.In sum, Cullen filed a UIM claim based upon the fact that his family was given the right to...

• Walgreens Pharmacy Held Accountable for Prescription Error

  Staff Writer | October 16, 2007 6:33 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  A Coconino County jury awarded one of the largest wrongful death verdicts to the family of a high school coach who died after taking a lethal combination of medications which should never have been dispensed together. The jury found that Walgreens pharmacy should have warned the patient and his physician about the lethal and toxic effects that the pain medications Tramadol and Methadone have...

• Experts Not Allowed to Testify to the Percentage of Fault

  Geoff Trachtenberg | September 06, 2007 4:41 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Division One just handed down Webb v. Omni Block, Inc., a clearly written opinion which decisively eliminates an expert's ability to testify as to the "percentage of fault" for any party or non-party.In Webb, defendant, Omni Block, hired an expert who testified as to the specific percentage of fault (or lack thereof) for various parties and non-parties. Judge Jones allowed this testimony and...

• Three Trial Courts Hold Medical Malpractice Statute Unconstitutional

  Geoff Trachtenberg | August 31, 2007 8:54 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  In last few years, many states adopted protectionist legislation in favor of the medical industry. The legislation essentially puts up various barriers to bringing medical malpractice cases by, among other things, attempting to impose expensive and burdensome constraints on the way these types of cases are litigated.The medical lobbyists, of course, claim that the legislation is necessary to...

• Bell Atlantic v. Twombly: The Day "Notice Pleading" Died (Sort Of)

  Geoff Trachtenberg | August 29, 2007 2:20 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  On May 21, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. ___ (2007), announcing the "retirement" of the long-standing standard for dismissal of complaints articulated in Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957) - i.e., the standard that complaints should not be dismissed "unless it appears beyond a doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his...

• How Would Tort Reform Affect the Quality of Emergency Healthcare?

  Staff Writer | June 14, 2007 7:00 AM | 2 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  In 1975, the California State Legislature passed the California Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) which placed a cap on damages for medical malpractice claims. According to this Act, an injured plaintiff cannot recover non-economic losses in excess of $250,000. This tort reform statute has been in effect in California for thirty-two years. Because this California law has been in...

• Child Cancer Patients and Medication Errors

  Staff Writer | May 27, 2007 9:00 AM | 1 CommentPhoenix, AZ

  As if struggling with and battling cancer is not enough, according to a researcher at Johns Hopkins Children Center, children often must also face the additional battle of having to overcome problems relating to medication errors. Children with cancer often get the wrong dose of chemotherapy or are given the drug at the wrong time, and many require treatment because of the errors, U.S....

• The Medical Malpractice Myth: Legal Analysis Finds That Patients Fare Poorly in Court

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 12, 2007 9:23 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  As any medical malpractice attorney worth their salt will tell you, there is absolutely no epidemic of plaintiffs' medical malpractice verdicts. As these attorneys know, very,very few medical malpractice cases are worth pursuing and fewer still result in a monetary award or settlement. Indeed, it is somewhat laughable that so-called tort reformers advance medical malpractice caps of $250,000...

• Tax Liability Arising Due to Confidentiality Clauses in Settlement Agreements

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 10, 2007 9:40 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Did you know that a confidentiality clause can have tax consequences? This was the subject of a United States Tax Court opinion in Amos v. IRS (2003), the case where Dennis Rodman kicked a courtside TV cameraman in the groin.The Court held that, if a portion of a settlement is attributable to a confidentiality agreement, that portion is taxable. It is not clear what the long-term effects are...