Medical Malpractice

• 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...

• 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...

• 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...

• 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...

• 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...

• 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...

• 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...

• 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...

• Medication Errors Cause Patient Harm

  Staff Writer | July 21, 2006 11:38 AM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  Yesterday the Institute of Medicine issued a press-release concerning its report on medication errors. According to the Institute of Medicine, Medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people every year, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. The extra medical costs of treating drug-related injuries occurring...