What is a Claim?
A claim is a legal action concerning physical or mental harm suffered by the plaintiff due to the defendant’s negligence. In the case of insurance claims, it is a request made by the insured to the insurance company for coverage and compensation for damage or injury. A claim is sometimes also referred to as a Cause of Action.
Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute defines a claim as, “a set of operative facts creating a right enforceable in court.” Making a claim is how the process of a plaintiff filing a lawsuit and eventually receiving damages from a defendant begins. A claim must be present in order for a lawsuit to go forward. If one is not present in a specific instance, then that lawsuit will be dismissed. Examples of types of claims include claims to insurance companies, personal injury claims in cases of negligence, claims on breaches of contract, property claims, and employment claims such as unpaid wages, wrongful termination, or discrimination. A defendant may make a counterclaim against the claim of a plaintiff.
Claims can sometimes be dismissed even if there is an intent to file a lawsuit. Rulings in cases such as Ashcroft v. IQBAL and Bell Atlantic v. Twombly have determined that claims need to contain important information. They must be plausible on their own and establish a likelihood of liability. This is how claims can lead to fair compensation, resolution of disputes, and protection of rights.
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University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sued After Liver Transplant
Two brothers have filed separate lawsuits against the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) alleging they were not fully informed about the risks of a live-donor liver transplant. Since the surgery, they both have suffered complications, reports USA Today.
In 2007, the 43-year-old brother from the state of Washington donated part of his liver to his 45-year-old brother from California who suffered from liver disease. Each lawsuit claims the medical center and the former chief of transplantation made the live-donor surgery seem safer than it was.
The lawsuits cite results from studies published by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review which showed 66 percent of the 121 liver live-donor transplants at UPMC from 2003 to 2006 resulted in major complications.
UPMC has declined comment.
The medical malpractice attorneys at our firm have extensive experience and a record of success obtaining justice for patients who have been harmed by a medical procedure or medical negligence. […]
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Patients Undergo Risky, Unnecessary Medical Procedure
The Baltimore Sun reports hundreds of heart patients from St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Maryland may have undergone an unnecessary medical procedure. St. Joseph Medical Center calls itself the busiest heart catheterization center in Maryland, and is thought of as one of the primary cardiac care facilities in the area.
At least 369 patients have received letters informing them they may have received expensive and potentially dangerous coronary stents they did not need. At the time of their surgery the patients were told they needed the stent to open an artery which had severe blockage. They have since learned their blockage was only minor.
Dr. Mark Midei is the only doctor implicated in the hospital investigation so far. He allegedly told patients they had up to a 90 percent blockage, when in fact they had only a 10 percent blockage. In other patients, he placed two stents when only one was necessary. […]
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Boy’s Parents Awarded $22.3M In Medical Negligence Suit
The Chicago Sun-Times reports a Cook County jury has awarded the parents of a 10-year-old boy $22.3 million in a medical negligence case that resulted in the loss of the boy’s leg shortly after his birth.
The young boy was born in May 1999 with a congenital heart defect which required a shunt procedure performed at Advocate Christ Medical Center/Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Two weeks after being sent home, the parents returned the infant to the emergency room.
The lawsuit alleged his left leg had to be amputated due to mistakes made in the operating room. The child also suffers from cognitive deficiencies and developmental delays alleged to be caused by the delayed treatment and cardiac catheterization.
The jury found the hospital and staff were negligent in failing to diagnose the infant’s shunt problems in time and subjecting him to an unnecessary catheterization. […]
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AstraZeneca Faces Lawsuits Over Drug Seroquel
Lawsuits claim AstraZeneca downplayed diabetes risks of its second best selling drug Seroquel
AstraZeneca, the U.K.’s second-largest drug maker, faces over 14,000 lawsuits claiming its anti-psychotic drug Seroquel causes diabetes.
A U.S. District Judge said she will recommend sending all the cases back to their home courts for trial. AstraZeneca wanted the judge to send only 60 cases back to their home courts for trial as test cases in order not to needlessly burden other judges across the country.
The lawsuits allege the London-based company downplayed the diabetes risks of Seroquel. AstraZeneca has spent $623 million to date in legal defense costs defending Seroquel, the company’s second largest selling drug after Nexium. The judge also ordered attorneys for both sides to meet with a mediator to seek the possibility for a settlement.
Prescription drugs can have serious side effects. Munley, Munley & […]
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$4.34 Million Awarded To Veteran Paralyzed After Spinal Surgery
A 66-year-old veteran who alleged he was left paralyzed from spinal surgery at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Los Angeles has been awarded $4.34 million by a federal judge, according to Courthouse News Service.
In October 2005, Alvin Johnson had spinal surgery to correct a ruptured disc at the VA medical center, according to the article. Doctors injected Surgifoam, a material which absorbs blood and other fluids, into the space created once the ruptured disc was removed.
According to the complaint, the doctors did not remove all the excess foam and it expanded, pressing against the spinal cord. When the veteran’s daughter was notified two and a half hours later, Mr. Johnson had no feeling from his neck down and was nearly completely paralyzed.
An MRI showing the spinal cord was compressed was ordered by another doctor, but Mr. […]
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