Medical and Legal Malpractice
Medical malpractice is negligence committed by doctors, nurses or other health care providers. Negligence by health care providers is very common in the United States and most victims never know about the negligence or file a lawsuit.
In 2004, Healthgrades, an independent health care ratings company…. [examined] 37 million patient records from all 50 states, representing 45% of all US hospital admissions, found 195,000 hospital deaths from preventable medical errors annually between 2000 and 2002.
In 1990, Harvard University researchers examined more than 30,000 randomly selected records from New York hospitals. They concluded that 1% of patients were negligently injured, while only 4% of those who were injured, sued. The Harvard study debunks the argument that there are too many medical malpractice lawsuits.
In addition, Harvard researchers concluded that jury awards and settlements were fair when they examined files from 1452 malpractice claims. Almost three-quarters of cases had outcomes consistent with their merit. Only 10% of patients received payouts when there was no error. In contrast, 16% of patients received no payout despite the presence of error. “Portraits of a malpractice system that is stricken with frivolous litigation are overblown,” the researchers concluded. The legal system performs “reasonably well” in dismissing such lawsuits and in compensating the injured.
If you have any reason to suspect that you or a loved one was a victim of medical malpractice, you should obtain a copy of the medical records and consult an attorney who is qualified to handle medical malpractice cases. I would be happy to review your potential case with no charge for the initial consultation and case review.
My firm also accepts legal malpractice cases against lawyers. Attorneys are like everyone else and make mistakes for which they should be held responsible. I do not believe that lawyers are above the law and have handled cases where attorney negligence resulted in the dismissal of a valid case. Frequently the negligent attorney does not inform his or her client of the attorney’s negligence. I would be happy to review your potential legal malpractice case if you believe that your attorney was negligent.
Information and Resources:
American Medical Association Resources for Patients
Medline Plus– Information website of the U.S. National Library of Medicince and the National Institutes of Health.
Family Doctor.org- health information for the whole family