A new study has been released about medical malpractice claims. Dr. Anupam B. Jena served as the lead researcher of the study which appears in American Medical Association’s issue of Archives in Internal Medicine. The data for the study is made up of cases that were prosecuted between 2002 and 2005, but only those that involved some cost to the defense, meaning the case has gone past the Complaint stage of the lawsuit process. The final results of the study show that while medical malpractice claims usually go on to the litigation process, they seldom make it all the way to trial. The study also found that of those who do go to trial they are more often than not resolved in favor of the physician. [Read more…]
North Mississippi Personal Injury Law Update: Circuit Judge Rules Caps on Non-economic Damages Unconstitutional
A recent ruling by a Mississippi circuit court could upend law regarding personal injury damage caps. The mother of a young boy who died due to smoke inhalation in an apartment that was lacking in basic fire protection might be able to collect $6 million from the apartment building’s owners. The decision runs counter to the lawsuit damage caps that are in place in the Mississippi and, as such, will surely receive significant judicial scrutiny from higher courts.
In his recent ruling, Coahoma County Circuit Judge Charles Webster said that Mississippi’s cap on noneconomic damages violates that state’s constitution. Since 2004 the state has limited the amount of non-economic damages a plaintiff could recover to $1 million. [Read more…]
A doctor, a lawyer and a Mississippi murder-for-hire
Police in Greenwood, Mississippi are now saying that a man arrested earlier this week was involved in a separate murder-for-hire scheme that was unrelated to a plot that police say ended in a deadly shooting at a Greenwood lawyer’s office.
Greenwood Police Chief Henry Purnell tells The Greenwood Commonwealth that Cordarious Robinson, 22, has nothing to do with the shootout that occurred Saturday night at the downtown Greenwood law office of Lee Abraham. “These are unrelated charges that we have charged him with. He had nothing to do with the Saturday night shooting.” [Read more…]
Mississippi patients need to watch out for doctors not washing their hands
People hear it all the time. Whether it’s from your mom or a message on a poster in the restroom: Wash your hands after using the bathroom and before eating. Use soap and hot water. And make sure you wash your hands long enough to do the trick.
You might think that doctors would also know when to wash their hands. Wrong. A recent study discussed in Time Magazine shows that medical students may not know as much about hand washing as you’d think. [Read more…]
Questions Raised Over Safety Of Da Vinci Surgical Robots
Some people have hailed the recent development of robotic surgical systems, particularly da Vinci, and credited the development with revolutionizing some operations. Though some surgeons tout the supposed benefits of robotic surgery, such as improved healing times, the FDA has begun turning a skeptical eye towards the devices and has announced that it will launch an investigation into a recent uptick in reported problems with robotic surgical systems.
The explosion in the use of robotic surgery systems is undeniable. Numbers show that nearly 400,000 procedures were performed by robots in 2012. This represents an enormous increase from the 114,000 procedures performed by robots in 2008. [Read more…]