What is Malpractice?
Malpractice is, “Any professional misconduct, unreasonable lack of skill or fidelity in professional or fiduciary duties, evil practice, or illegal or immoral conduct.” (Black’s Law Dictionary 1111. 4th Ed. Rev. 1968). It refers to negligence or misconduct by a professional that eventually leads to a client or patient being injured or damaged.
Malpractice is commonly referenced in the medical sense. However, malpractice exists in other professions such as accounting and law. Medical malpractice may involve a doctor giving the wrong diagnosis or botching a surgery, resulting in direct harm. Legal malpractice could involve a lawyer mishandling a case due to incompetence or neglect, resulting in their client losing out on financial gains or wrongfully spending time in prison.
Malpractice cases are usually resolved with legal proceedings where the plaintiff seeks monetary compensation from the accused professional. They depend on the proof that the plaintiff was not only harmed, but that the malpractice by the professional was the direct cause. This process is meant to hold professionals accountable for their actions, and protect innocent individuals from the consequences of negligence and misconduct. In cases where professionals are found to commit malpractice, such as Gregory v. McInnis et al, they are often restricted from practicing in that specific field again.
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PA Drivers to Observe Distracted Driving Awareness Month
Pennsylvania just enacted its anti-texting law in March. Now, Pennsylvania drivers will get additional incentive to adhere to the law – April has been designated National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
“The traffic safety community has a simple message for drivers: One Text or Call could Wreck it All,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in his blog announcing National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
According to the National Safety Council (NSC), almost 25 percent of car crashes involve cell phone use. In addition, approximately 1.3 million auto accidents each year can be attributed to cell phone usage while driving. The NSC also points out that distractions now join alcohol and speeding as leading factors in all automobile accidents. In a press release announcing the distracted driving campaign, the NSC asks all drivers to pledge: “I will not use my cell phone while driving in any way.”
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that while cell phones are the primary cause of distracted driving, […]
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PA Woman Campaigns Against Texting While Driving
Even though Pennsylvania just enacted its anti-texting law, Jacy Good won’t stop spreading the word that texting and driving is a deadly combination. The Pennsylvania woman knows firsthand the devastation a distracted driver can cause. She is using her personal tragedy to urge Americans to put down their phones when driving.
Jacy and her parents were driving home after Jacy’s graduation ceremony at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA in May 2008, when an 18-year-old driver who was talking on his cellphone ran a red light, according to an article in the Reading Eagle. A tractor trailer had to swerve to avoid the teen, but then slammed head-on into Good’s car. Jacy’s parents both died instantly. Jacy ended up in the hospital with just a 10 percent chance of surviving. Jacy did survive, and she wants to make sure no one else suffers the way she has. […]
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Pennsylvania Makes it Illegal to Text While Driving
You better think twice before texting when behind the wheel in Pennsylvania or you will be ticketed. It is now a primary offense for texting while driving, thanks to the new anti-texting law that took effect on March 8.
The provisions of the law, according to a press release by the Pennsylvania State Police, are as follows:
- It is a primary offense to use an Interactive Wireless Communication Device (IWCD) to send, read or write a text-based message.
- Violators will be fined $50 for convictions.
- This law supersedes and preempts any local ordinances restricting the use of interactive wireless devices by drivers.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving is to blame for 3,092 fatalities in 2010. In Pennsylvania, there were nearly 14,000 automobile accidents where distracted driving played a role, […]
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Pennsylvania Graduated License Program Aimed at Saving Teen Lives
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports automobile accidents are the number one cause of death for teens. Last month we urged teenagers in Pennsylvania to focus on driving carefully and following the laws when taking to the local highways to help prevent other teens from becoming a statistic. Last Thursday, the USA Today, also hoping to get the message out that teen drivers are at risk on America’s highways, published a special report entitled “Making Teen Driving Safer.”
Although the USA Today points out that nationwide deaths for 16- and 17-year-old drivers declined between 2007 and 2010, the special report hones in on the fact that every day, an average of 11 teenagers die in car crashes in the United States. The teen driving section is, in part, sponsored by Allstate Insurance that is sponsoring the “Save11” campaign to encourage Congress to pass the STANDUP Act. […]
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SOUND Devices Act Closes Product Liability Loophole
Scranton, PA, February 23, 2012 – Pennsylvania product liability lawyer Caroline Munley today called for passage of a bill that would enable the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reject medical devices that are modeled after devices already known to be flawed.
“The SOUND Devices Act closes a loophole that allows medical device manufacturers to basically skirt the FDA approval process,” said Munley, a partner in the regional law firm of Munley, Munley & Cartwright, whose Pennsylvania product liability attorneys represent consumers and patients who are harmed by defective products, including flawed medical devices.
“A process that avoids scrutiny is wrong and should be unnecessary,” Munley said. “Every new medical device submitted for approval for the American marketplace should be able to stand on its own merits.”
The Safety Of Untested and New Devices Act of 2012 (SOUND Devices Act) eliminates a loophole in the Food and Drug Administration’s device-approval process known as section 510(k), […]
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