The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance has released the "2006 Tennessee Medical Malpractice Claims Report"" which, in fact, is based on 2005 data. Read the entire report here. Some highlights: * There were 5 – that’s right – 5 – claims were resolved by judgment for the plaintiff in…
The Georgia Supreme Court was confronted with this question: "In what circumstances, if any, is evidence of a nurse’s failure to pass a licensing examination admissible in a medical malpractice action against the employing physician?" Plaintiffs’ son Luke was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis resulting in brain damage and quadriplegia. Plaintiffs claimed…
The Florida Supreme Court has released an important decision on testimony by expert witnesses. Plaintiff’s counsel sought an order prohibiting a defendant’s expert from testifying that he relied on consultations with colleagues or other experts in forming his opinions. The Florida high court said "that such testimony is inadmissible because…
Plaintiff received neck and spinal cord injuries in a motor vehicle accident. He was taken to the local ER; the ER doctor thought he needed to be seen by a neurosurgeon. The on-call neurosurgeon (Ebeling) said he was very tired and would not be coming to the hospital and recommended…
Do you remember Kelley v. Middle Tennessee Emergency Physicians, P.C., 133 S.W.3d 587 (Tenn. 2004), when the defendant tried to claim that he owed no duty to the plaintiff because he was not the plaintiff’s regular doctor? The defendant was called by the emergency room doctor and gave the doctor advice that allegedly…
Here is an unusual case out of California – a unique application of the "reasonable person test" when applying the causation standard in an informed consent case. Wilson was paralyzed from spinal surgery for scoliosis, rendering him a paraplegic. He was wheelchair bound and needed to use his arms and…
Timothy Brown sued the United States alleging that his daughter Melody developed spinal bifida as a result of a military doctor recommending to Deborah Brown (Melody’s mother and a member of the military) than she (Deborah) stop taking prenatal vitamins during a critical period in his development in utero. The vitamins contained folic…
The statute of limitations is tolled when the plaintiff is of unsound mind. Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-1-106. Does the fact that a Durable Power of Attorney (executed before the incompetency) is in existence trump the tolling statute and require the attorney-in-fact to take action within the original statute? The Tennessee…
From a recent press release issued by the Tennessee Dept. of Commerce and Insurance: "Public Chapter 744, effective May 23, 2006, contains several important changes to the Medical Malpractice Reporting Law of Tennessee, (Public Chapter 902, adopted in 2004, and codified at Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-54-101). For the first time, it…
Efforts to improve teamwork and communication have substantially reduced births resulting in traumatic injury . Many of the Seaton hospitals have worked with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to reduce preventable childbirth injuries by " improving communications, standardizing procedures and reducing risky methods that speed deliveries, including forceps use, vacuum deliveries…