The New York Times reported today (Obama Open to Reining in Medical Suits, June 15, 2009) that you were considering reining in medical malpractice lawsuits. Although you have expressed your opinion that you would not consider placing a cap on jury awards, I’d like you to read this letter before you give further thought to this potentially disastrous policy change.
Bicycle Accidents In New York City-An experienced NY Negligence Attorney Explains Learn from an experienced bicycle rider and experienced New York trial lawyer about the perils of getting doored and what your legal rights are. Find out what an attorney looks for when you've been injured as a result of someone's carelessness while bike riding.
Twitter, Facebook & Internet Lead to Mistrials Jurors disregard judge's instructions and do their own internet research leading to mistrial. Learn how jurors who twittered updates caused a mistrial in another case.
California Attorney Achieves $18.4 Million Negligent Supervision Settlement Attorney for the plaintiff, Stanley Jacobs of Jacobs, Jacobs & Eisfelder discusses the case of Roque Renteria, 14, a ninth-grade student who became an instant quadriplegic after being dropped to the ground - head first - during horseplay with a senior at the high school track team's afternoon practice.
The Doctor Will See You Now — Online Not feeling well? Skip the visit to your doctor's office. Instead, log on to your computer to have a face-to-face visit with your primary care doctor.
Doctor liable for lawyer’s fatal cancer A Montgomery County Circuit Court jury has returned a $5.8 million medical-malpractice verdict in the death of a 47-year-old lawyer whose untreated mole turned into a skin cancer that spread to his brain.
Jury awards Cornwall crash victim's family $29.4M Jury awards Cornwall crash victim's family $29.4M
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By Oliver Mackson
Times Herald-Record
August 23, 2008
GOSHEN — A state Supreme Court jury awarded $29.4 million in damages Friday to the family of a New Jersey man who died in the aftermath of a 2002 car crash on the state Thruway in Cornwall.
It appears to be the largest civil damage verdict in Orange County's history, said Steven I. Milligram, the president of the Orange County Bar Association. "I've been practicing here since 1986, and I have not heard of anything that high," said Milligram, who's a partner in a Newburgh law firm.
The crash occurred on Jan. 25, 2002, when a freight container on a northbound flatbed trailer smashed into the bottom of the Pleasant Hill Road overpass. Denise Malkin of Franklin Lakes, N.J., swerved her SUV to avoid the wreckage of the exploding container and was broadsided by another tractor-trailer.
The impact left Malkin's husband, Peter, suffering from serious internal injuries and brain damage that eventually claimed his life.
His daughter, who was 15 at the time, also suffered injuries. The Malkins were on their way to Vermont to go skiing.
During the two-week trial before Justice Joseph Alessandro, the jury heard Malkin described as "a spectacular person and spectacular worker," said Robert Kelner, the lawyer who represented Malkin's family. Malkin worked for CSC Corp., a large business technology company.
The damages are against Sebastian Tremblay of Montreal, who was at the wheel of the tractor-trailer and got a ticket for driving an over-height vehicle, as well as two Canadian companies: Transport Expressway Inc., which owned the truck, and Finloc, a leasing company with insurance on the trailer.
"This case was one of the worst human catastrophes that I have seen in my practice. It came out before the jury as to the horrible impact of this accident on all of the members of Peter Malkin's family, and I really do feel that justice was done," Kelner said after the verdict.
Lawyers for the defendants indicated that they'll ask Alessandro to reduce the size of the award.
Stuff of nightmares: Criminal prosecution for medical malpractice Read a fascinating article, written by a Board Certified Ob/Gyn who describes two cases where doctors were criminally prosecuted for medical malpractice. It is a recommended read for injured victims to learn why their doctor will, most likely, not be prosecuted for acts of medical negligence.
Google the words "New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer" to see which attorney website comes up #1 on the 1st Page of Google Try the following- type into google "Brooklyn Medical Malpractice Lawyer" to see who comes up in the #1 organic search result. Go ahead, try it. Next try the search term "Medical Malpractice Lawyer." If you notice, every result on the page, except one, is a lawyer directory. Gerry's site is the only lawyer site (out of 4.6 Million sites) on the first page for this search term. Incredible. Next, type in "New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer," to see where Gerry's site turns up.
New York’s medical malpractice insurance troubles are self-inflicted: Report shows New York Public Interest Research Group and the Center for Medical Consumers, will release a report showing that New York’s medical malpractice insurance troubles are self-inflicted - caused by the state’s manipulation of insurance rates and its misuse of a rainy day fund.
NY Anesthesiologist Uses Syringes Twice! Hepatitis Found Learn how an anesthesiologist in New York used syringes multiple times without realizing that he was breaching infection control procedures, and without realizing that he gave two patients hepatitis because of this improper technique. Gerry Oginski, an experienced New York medical malpractice & accident lawyer explains.
Medicare refuses to pay for medical errors Medicare recently announced a change in policy where they will now refuse to pay for medical errors which "never" should have happened.
An Open Letter to President Obama From Gerry Oginski, Esq. A New York Medical Malpractice Trial Lawyer June 15, 2009
Dear Mr. President,
The New York Times reported today (Obama Open to Reining in Medical Suits, June 15, 2009) that you were considering reining in medical malpractice lawsuits. Although you have expressed your opinion that you would not consider placing a cap on jury awards, I’d like you to read this letter before you give further thought to this potentially disastrous policy change.
A few years ago I had the privilege of representing a young man, aged 34, who worked as a mortgage broker. One day here in New York he suffered chest pain and went to a local hospital for evaluation. The physicians admitted him to the hospital for a few days to do a cardiac workup. Blood was drawn, a stress test was performed, and a physical examination was done. The patient was given a clean bill of health and told to follow up with a cardiologist after being discharged. Over the next three months this young and energetic young man continued to experience significant chest pain. On each visit to the cardiologist, the doctor performed a physical examination and shrugged off the patient’s complaints of pain as being “stress related.” Shortly after the third visit to the cardiologist, this young man experienced severe crushing pain which radiated down his arm.
Jun 22, 2004 ...New York medical malpractice lawyer Gerald M. Oginski represents residents of Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island and Nassau ... www.oginski-law.com/ - Cached - Similar -
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Have you ever been thrown off your bike after a car side-swiped you? Did you wind up in the emergency room? Broken bones? Need surgery? Did you have head trauma? Was your bike totally destroyed? Do you know someone who went over their handlebars and walked away without breaking a bone in their body?
Evaluating liability- Who’s responsible?
Where were you riding (on the street, on the sidewalk, with traffic, against traffic)?
What was the weather like?
What time of day did your accident happen?
What safety devices did you have on (helmet, reflective clothing, blinking butt lights, headlights)?
Describe the road or intersection where the accident happened (one way, two-way, how many lanes of travel in each direction, was there parking on both sides, was it residential or a commercial area)?
Was there anything blocking your view?
Were there any double-parked cars/buses/ trucks?
How fast were you going at the time of the impact?
How fast was the other driver going at the time of impact?
How did the accident happen?
“What happens if I was riding against traffic? Does that affect my liability?” Yes it does. As a bicycle rider you are still obligated to follow the ‘rules of the road’ and to ride responsibly. You cannot disregard red lights with impunity. You cannot blow through a stop sign knowing there’s no oncoming cars or pedestrians. You are required to follow the same traffic signs as cars. If you are hit while riding against traffic, you will be partially responsible for causing your accident.
Remember, since New York is a “No-Fault” state, that means that the drivers’ insurance company will still be obligated to pay for your medical bills. If you own a car and have car insurance, the two insurance companies will hook up and determine, behind the scenes, who is actually responsible for your accident. Depending on the analysis, one insurance company will reimburse the other for the medical expenses they had to pay out on your behalf.
Evaluating damages- What Injuries Did You Suffer as a Result of This Accident?
Gerry's videos on YouTube have been watched over 76,000 times! Amazingly, this doesn't include all the other video sharing sites where my videos are posted- only YouTube.
Practically every caller who comes to me from my website thanks me for creating educational and informative videos to help explain how lawsuits in New York work. I'm glad I can provide useful information that allows a prospective client to obtain useful information before they ever pick up the phone to call.
Well it finally happened. A lengthy federal criminal trial in Florida resulted in a mistrial after a juror admitted to doing Internet research, despite the judge's instructions not to.
Eight weeks worth of trial were wasted because of one juror's failure to follow the court's instructions. There's a shocker.
John Schwartz, a writer for the New York Times, also noted that an Arkansas court is being asked to overturn a $12.6 million judgment claiming that a juror used twitter to send updates during the civil trial.
Also, in Pennsylvania, defense lawyers in a federal corruption trial requested a mistrial because a juror posted updates in the case both on Twitter and Facebook.
In today's day and age of social networking sites and the ability of people to communicate via iPhone, Blackberry, and text messages, it has never been easier for jurors to do their own independent research about the issues involved in a trial. Not only that, but today's communication devices allow anyone to immediately do a Google search on anyone involved in the trial including the lawyers and the judge.
Pretrial instructions by the trial judge in New York routinely advise potential jurors that they are not do any independent research outside of the court. The reason is simple: we don't want jurors basing their decisions on any outside influences that have not been subject to the scrutiny of the court and the attorneys.
When jurors obtain information outside of the courtroom, the attorneys and the judge no longer have an ability to know what information the juror has obtained and how it could possibly influence them when reaching a decision.
In civil cases in New York, where jurors are never sequestered, no one really ever knows whether jurors talk to friends or family members or do their own research. It's only when someone has observed them investigating on their own can this breach of a juror's duty come to light.
Just last week I posted an informative and educational video about this exact topic. The title? "Twitter and Facebook jury instructions in New York." in the video I posed the question: "Should judges be required to give jurors warnings that they are not to use twitter, Facebook, my space and other social networking sites to blog about the case?" Watch the video to find out the answer.
Interestingly, in the cases discussed in the New York Times article, jurors were warned not to do online research. Despite these explicit warnings jurors disregarded them to investigate on their own.
Ah, what's a Twitterer supposed to do while serving jury duty?
Attorney for the plaintiff, Stanley Jacobs of Jacobs, Jacobs & Eisfelder discusses the case of Roque Renteria, 14, a ninth-grade student who became an instant quadriplegic after being dropped to the ground - head first - during horseplay with a senior at the high school track team's afternoon practice. Jacobs claims cursory supervision on the part of a substitute coach who all but ignored what was happening on the field and also speaks to what role a cellphone's video and the boys themselves may have contributed to the case.
If Roy Schoenberg, the start-up’s co-founder and chief executive, has his way, patients will no longer have to wait a month to see a doctor for an urgent sore throat, wait all day for a doctor to return their call or leave work midday and drive a long distance for a routine appointment. Instead, patients will log on to their computers and find themselves face-to-face with physicians over Webcam...
A.I.G. has agreed to provide malpractice insurance to doctors providing online care, and the cost is low enough that most of the health plans are paying for it instead of charging the doctors, Dr. Schoenberg said.
To read the full article go to: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/the-doctor-will-see-you-now-online/
A Montgomery County Circuit Court jury has returned a $5.8 million medical-malpractice verdict in the death of a 47-year-old lawyer whose untreated mole turned into a skin cancer that spread to his brain.
The award will be reduced to $3.6 million due to Maryland’s cap on non-economic damages in medical-malpractice cases, said plaintiffs’ attorney Patrick Malone. He represents the family and estate of Richard H. Semsker, who died in 2007 and is survived by his wife and two children.
To read the full article go to: http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=9091&type=UTTM
Here's an article on point about lawyers who solicit accident victims after having obtained their personal information from police accident reports. I've been writing about this for years. If you get a letter from a law firm following an accident, does that letter make you want to rush to the phone to call these unknown, faceless lawyers? Let me ask you a better question: If a man knocks at your door, out of the blue, and tells you he was driving around your neighborhood and noticed that your house needs painting, are you going to let him in to paint your house? You know nothing about this person; you didn't call him; you don't know anything about his credentials or his references. Do you let him in? The same exact question for some lawyer who sends you a letter telling you that he (or she) can answer all of your legal questions and solve all of your legal dilemmas, without knowing a single thing about you.
You are best off to send him on his way. If you really need an attorney, you should be the one doing the research and learning how to select an attorney for your possible case. Some lawyers use the argument that injured victims may not know their rights. That may be true. But ask yourselves another question: Why is a law firm sending me letters and promising to send an investigator to my home the same day I call? Are they that desperate to sign me up? Is my case that valuable to them, without them even knowing what injuries I suffered in my car accident? Here's the article. You decide.
Ambulance chasing? Lawyers zero in on metro-east clients
BY BRIAN BRUEGGEMANN
News-Democrat
Injured in a car accident? Need a lawyer?
Don't worry, you no longer have to watch daytime television, waiting for the lawyers' commercials. The lawyers are already looking for you.
Personal-injury attorneys are getting -- or trying to get -- access to crash reports from police departments across the metro-east. The lawyers' investigators scour the reports, looking for names and addresses of people who have been injured or might have a lawsuit on their hands. The chosen people then get letters and brochures in the mail, in which the lawyers tout their ability to win multimillion-dollar settlements.
Two law firms in particular, both with headquarters in Wisconsin, are blanketing metro-east police departments, trying to get their hands on crash reports. Some of the departments are allowing access, while others are resisting on grounds that letting people see the reports could lead to identity theft, or would be too much of a burden for police.
Some police officials flat-out call the practice ambulance-chasing. But the lawyers say they're trying to inform people of their rights and put them on a level playing field with insurance companies.
"Insurance companies can immediately contact people after an accident, and people should have the option to know what their rights are, if they want to talk to a lawyer," said Michael Hupy of the Milwaukee-based Hupy and Abraham law firm. "Many people still think you have to pay a fee to talk to a personal-injury lawyer."
TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE GO TO: http://www.bnd.com/news/crime/story/485257.html
Doctors provide little in the way of empathy, even when their patients seem to ask for it, according to a study in the Sept. 22 Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers looked at real doctor/patient encounters between 137 patients and their oncologists or thoracic surgeons from a Veterans Affairs hospital.
Doctors could respond to concrete concerns, such as that a patient was feeling physical pain, or was having trouble getting an appointment. But they largely ignored patients' emotional concerns -- even when that concern was an outcome of surgery, or how long they had left to live.
Here's a sample of an encounter reported in the study when the patient received the diagnosis:
"Patient: But this is kind of overwhelming, you know...I've had anxiety problems before. I go to the [mental health clinic]...
Doctor: Okay."
To read the full blog post go to: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2008/09/dont-look-to-a.html
Kyle Jim was 11-years-old when he went to Via Christi St. Francis Emergency Room in 1996 with fever, rash and headache.
It turns out Kyle had Rocky Mountain spotted fever he contracted from a tick.
Doctors misdiagnosed Kyle and didn't get him the right medication soon enough.
Because of the misdiagnosis, both of Kyle's legs had to be amputated, plus four fingers on one hand, and his index finger on the other. He also lost his hearing, speech and has brain damage.
His attorney says today's verdict is a big win for Kyle and his family and brings awareness to a treatable disease.
"This is a disease that was cured by American medicine and considered to be a triumph of American medicine. Kyle should not be in this condition and Margie (Kyle's mom) shouldn't have to suffer like she has," says attorney John Sheehy who worked with Patterson, Gott & Burk.
Of the $9 million awarded, more than $5 million was for pain and suffering, but Kyle's attorneys say Kansas law caps that amount at $250,000.
To read the full article go to: http://www.kansascw.com/Global/story.asp?S=8949085
Doctors could respond to concrete concerns, such as that a patient was feeling physical pain, or was having trouble getting an appointment. But they largely ignored patients' emotional concerns -- even when that concern was an outcome of surgery, or how long they had left to live.