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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Ohio Oral Surgeon Faces Second Lawsuit
The Chronicle-Telegram reports a retired Lorain, Ohio oral surgeon is being sued for an undisclosed amount by a patient who claims she “was injured and was caused to suffer seizures, neurological damage and other severe and debilitating injuries, some of which were permanent in nature,” during treatment in Dec. 2010.
According to the article, a motion attached to the lawsuit seeks a 90-day enlargement of time to file an affidavit of merit, stating “there is strong reason to believe a cause of action exists” against the surgeon and unnamed nurses, dental assistants and/or health care professionals that the suit lists as defendants.
The physician had previously been sued when a 13-year-old patient died after receiving sedation prior to oral surgery in December 2010. The doctor’s insurance company paid $1 million to the family of the deceased girl, and the 81-year-old physician stopped giving intravenous sedation and agreed to retire in September. […]
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Car Accident Round-Up – PA Teen Dies After Being Struck by Car on Way to Bus
13-year-old killed, 17-year-old injured in car accident while trying to catch the school bus
PA Girl Dies After Being Struck by Car
The Erie Times-News reports a 13-year-old girl died and a 17-year-old was injured Tuesday morning after being struck by a car as they crossed Perry Highway to catch a school bus. The 19-year-old driver of a Chevrolet Cavalier traveling north on Perry Highway failed to stop for the school bus that was stopped in the southbound lane with its lights flashing and hit the two students. The 13-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. The condition of the other teen was not released. The police are continuing to investigate the accident.
Four Injured in Florida Accident
Four people were seriously injured in a two-car crash in St. Augustine, FL Monday night. The accident, on Florida 16 at Whisper Ridge Drive in St. […]
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California Family Settles Civil Suit in Vehicular Manslaughter Case
Family receives undisclosed amount of money in vehicular manslaughter case settlement
The Modesto Bee reports the family of a California man who died when he was maliciously struck by a car has been awarded an undisclosed amount of money in a civil lawsuit. The man’s family sought compensation for wrongful death, loss of financial support, and payment for his funeral expenses.
The lawsuit was brought after the criminal case concluded June 14, 2010, with a jury conviction for felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the 2008 attack. The deceased was found near his north Modesto house after he was hit by a car “with enough force to throw him onto the hood of his car, then off the roof,” according to testimony in the criminal case. Apparently, the attack was over loud music.
The defense attorney argued that the man acted in self-defense from a drunk and angry man who approached the other man’s vehicle and began climbing up the hood. […]
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Georgia Daycare Owners to Pay $9.85 Million After Drowning Accident
The parents of a two-year-old boy who died after drowning at a daycare facility in Buford, GA in March 2009 have been awarded $9.85 million by a Gwinnett County jury. The daycare facility was not properly licensed.
According to a WBTV.com story after the incident, the woman watching the children left the room to use the bathroom. The child was left unattended and wandered off, falling into the above-ground swimming pool. There were four children, ranging from 2 to 9 years old, at the facility at the time of the incident.
The couple that ran the facility had their five children placed in protective custody at the time of the accident. The couple was jailed at the time.
About Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys
Munley Law is a Pennsylvania accident and injury law firm that represents car accident victims and their families throughout the state of Pennsylvania and the Northeast, […]
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Florida Families Settle Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Traffic Accident
The families of two teenagers who died in an accident in Stuart, FL in August 2009 have settled in a wrongful death lawsuit with a construction company that owned the front-end loader the teens’ vehicle struck. The amount Sheltra & Son Construction Co will pay was not released in the confidential settlement.
Three teenagers were riding in a Jeep Cherokee traveling on Southeast Cove Road around 2 a.m. when they came upon a road-widening project. A front-end loader was halfway into the eastbound lane of the road without any flagmen or signs to warn drivers to slow for the vehicle.
The Jeep slammed into the equipment killing all three teens. The Florida Highway Patrol found the 18-year-old driver had a blood-alcohol level of 0.251, more than three times the legal limit, at the time of the accident. The other teens were also impaired, according to the police. […]
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