This article in yesterday’s The Washington Post reported that 96% of physicians thought that they should report an impaired or incompetent colleague – but 45% said that they did not always do so. In addition, "46 percent said they had failed to report at least one serious medical error that…
The Georgia Supreme Court has refused to strike down that state’s statute of repose in medical malpractice cases when challenged on equal protection grounds. Georgia has a five-year statue of repose in medical malpractice cases (Tennessee has a three-year statute of repose). The case is Nichols v. Gross, S07A1027 (…
The Court of Appeals for the Western Section has said that a plaintiff in a wrongful death case has made out a claim of negligent entrustment of a vehicle against the parents of a drunk driver. Here are some essential facts viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff: "Like the…
The Tennessee Court of Appeals has held that the savings statute trumps the products liability statute of repose. In Maino v. The Southern Company, Inc., d/b/a The Southern Company, et al., W2007-00225-COA-R9-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. NOv. 19, 2007) the Western Section of the Court of Appeals held that a products…
Should a court ever determine, as a matter of law, that a plaintiff is fifty percent or more at fault? Should it ever do so when there is some evidence of fault of the defendant? Those questions will be explored by the Tennessee Supreme Court in the coming months. The…
Updates to A Handbook for Tennessee Tort Lawyers – 2008 have been posted on the book’s website. The updates are available in the "free updates" section of the site. To utilize this service, simply scroll down to the relevant chapter and section and click on it to see if there are…
Read this heart-warming article by a doctor from Memphis as published in the November 12, 2007 Commercial Appeal. Thanks to Lang Wiseman from Memphis for alerting me to the article.
An Illinois trial judge has declared that caps on certain medical malpractice cases imposed by the Illinois Legislature violate the rights of medical malpractice victims. Read more here.
An article in the Archives of Internal Medicine looked at closed malpractice claims to see what caused the errors made by medical trainees. A summary of the findings: "Among 240 cases, errors in judgment (173 of 240 [72%]), teamwork breakdowns (167 of 240 [70%]), and lack of technical competence (139…
In Tennessee, the Supreme Court has an advisory commission that recommends changes in the rules of civil procedure, evidence and appellate procedure. Proposed changes are circulated for public comment and then the court sends them to the legislature for approval. The legislature can only vote the rule changes up or…