Medical Malpractice

• Bill to Raise Burden of Proof on ER Malpractice Lawsuits Fails in House

  Christina Cole | May 08, 2007 8:02 AM | 0 CommentsTucson, AZ

  The Arizona House rejected Bill SB 1032, a bill that would have made medical malpractice lawsuits against emergency department doctors and staff more difficult to win.The State Senate approved the legislation on a 6-12 vote, in January, and would have required plaintiffs in such type malpractice lawsuits to have "clear and convincing evidence" that the care they received was not up to...

• World Health Organization Reports that Medical Errors Affect One in Ten Patients

  Staff Writer | May 02, 2007 7:30 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  According to the World Health Organization, healthcare errors affect one out of every ten patients worldwide. Based on this alarming trend, the World Health Organization prepared patient safety checklists to help professional healthcare providers avoid simple medical mistakes. By following the "Nine Patient Safety Solutions," the organization hopes to see substantial medical error rate...

• Is a Medical Malpractice Claim "Mature" If There Is No Present Injury?

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 19, 2007 8:57 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  As a rule, every medical malpractice claim must have four elements -- duty, breach, causation and damages -- and, at least as a general rule, you need all of them to have a cognizable claim. Sometimes, however, there can be an issue as to when a claim is "mature," i.e., complete or ripe.Take, for example, a person who has an increased risk of disease because he has been exposed to a defective...

• Certificate of Merit Legislation: Arizona's Unconstitutional Barriers to Justice

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 01, 2007 6:09 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Like a number of other states, the Arizona Legislature recently caved to special-interests and adopted a so-called "certificate of merit" procedure for medical malpractice cases, ARS 12-2303. This procedure sets forth a somewhat complicated series of requirements for people filing medical malpractice claims. As a practical matter, however, the statute discriminates against those injured by a...

• Couple Sues Fertility Clinic for Wrong Sperm

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 23, 2007 8:55 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  A whole new type of medical malpractice is brewing in the fertility field. For example, today a New York court ruled that a couple can proceed with a lawsuit against a fertility clinic for medical malpractice after the wife gave birth to a daughter whose skin they thought was too dark to be their child.This follows a story from two weeks ago, where a couple sued a negligent clinic for lost...

• Mistakes That Give Rise to an Inference of Negligence

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 21, 2007 9:53 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Sometimes mistakes are so obvious that the law permits an inference of negligence. The legal term for this type of situation is res ipsa loquitur and, in Arizona, applies where (1) in the normal course of events, the accident would not have occurred unless defendant was negligent; (2) the accident occurred as a result of an instrumentality that was under defendant's exclusive control; and (3)...

• Surgical Mishaps Prompt Crackdown on Office Surgeries

  Christina Cole | March 09, 2007 11:57 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Several surgical disasters - including the death of a Tucson attorney- has now prompted the state to crackdown on Doctor's performing surgeries in their offices.For the first time, doctors will need to have specific monitoring and emergency equipment, specialized staff training and inform patients of the potential risks of having surgery in an office - if the proposed rules from the Arizona...

• Patient Claims Surgery was Botched

  Christina Cole | January 27, 2007 11:16 PM | 0 CommentsTucson, AZ

  A 66-year-old cancer survivor is now suing Catholic Healthcare West and St. Joseph's Hospital for operating on the wrong set of his vocal cords, alleging medical malpractice. Larry Bimbo's left vocal cords were paralyzed from undergoing radiation therapy many years ago for lung cancer. However, he now claims in court papers the doctors treated his healthy, right vocal cords instead, cutting off...

• Hospital Worker Receives $1 Million

  Christina Cole | January 10, 2007 8:20 PM | 0 CommentsTucson, AZ

  A Montefiore Medical Center worker has received a $1 million settlement from her employer after her ankle was improperly set while in the hospitals emergency room. On September 30, 2000, Josephine Cruz, went to the hospital with a fractured left ankle. According to court papers, Cruz was in extreme pain when she arrived at the ER. Cruz, an accounting representative a the hospital was x-rayed but...

• Tort Refrom Criticism from the Oklahoma Supreme Court

  Staff Writer | December 21, 2006 1:45 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  I recently came across an opinion from the Oklahoma Supreme Court released onto its web site on December 19, 2006 but not yet formally published which presents an interesting analysis of tort reform in the state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Supreme Court in an almost unanimous decision struck down a tort reform initiative requiring an expert affidavit of merit to accompany every new medical...