What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical Malpractice is, “bad, wrong, or injudicious treatment of a patient, professionally and in respect to the particular disease or injury, resulting. in injury, unnecessary suffering, or death to the patient, and proceeding from ignorance, carelessness, want of proper professional skill, disregard of established rules or principles, neglect, or a malicious or criminal intent .” (Black’s Law Dictionary 1111. 4th Ed. Rev. 1968). Like general malpractice, it refers to negligence in a professional setting. However, it is limited to healthcare providers, such as a doctor or hospital.
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider deviates from the applicable standard of care, intentionally or unintentionally, and harms a patient. Cases such as Napier v. Greenzweig show that medical malpractice can be as blatant as ignoring understood rules, or it can be a mistake like a severe surgical error or a misdiagnosis. Medical malpractice is considered to be a serious issue, and healthcare providers found liable for malpractice often pay extensive damages. Occasionally, a doctor may lose their license to practice medicine if malpractice is severe enough or repeated.
Fully understanding cases of medical malpractice often involves some level of medical knowledge. Because of this, it is difficult to prove medical malpractice in court, and expert witnesses are typically needed to testify about a healthcare provider’s negligence.
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Car Accident Round-Up – Three Dead, Four Injured in VA Head-On Collision
Jeep Cherokee crosses center line, causes head-on car accident
VA Accident Kills Three, Injures Four
According to the Roanoke Times, a Jeep Cherokee carrying four people crashed head-on into a Plymouth van carrying three people Saturday afternoon in Bedford, VA leaving three people dead and four injured. The Jeep was heading eastbound on Virginia 24 when it crossed the center line striking the westbound van. The driver and front passenger of the Jeep died; the other two passengers were air lifted to a nearby hospital. The front passenger of the van died; the driver and another passenger were taken to a local hospital.
Fatal Accident in FL on I-95
First Coast News reports an early morning accident on Wednesday closed down northbound lanes on I-95 near US 1 and SR 206 in St. Johns County, Florida. Although details are unclear, apparently a pickup truck flipped several times after crashing into another vehicle. […]
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Pennsylvania Hospital to Pay $2.2 Million in Birth Injury Lawsuit
UPMC Hamot and several of its doctors have settled a lawsuit filed in 2008 against a woman alleging a “botched” delivery resulted in cerebral palsy and other medical problems for her child. The childbirth was in 1998.
The woman went to the hospital in February 1998, after going into labor two months prematurely. The lawsuit claims the medical staff failed to respond appropriately to indications that the fetus was in distress. Neither the hospital nor the doctors admitted any wrongdoing.
The child will not be able to live independently and suffers from cognitive impairment, seizures and motor and language delay.
According to The Erie Times-News, the $2.2 million will be placed in a special-needs trust and paid out over time to cover the costs of the child’s medical care over her lifetime.
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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Car Accident Round-Up – One Dead, Five Injured in Multi-Vehicle Crash in FL
Out-of-control vehicle spins into oncoming lane colliding with two other vehicles in fatal accident
FL Accident Kills One, Leaves Five Critically Injured
A multi-vehicle crash over the weekend in Frostproof, Florida left one person dead and five others critically injured. The Miami Herald reports that a vehicle on U.S. 27 northbound ran off the roadway, overcorrected and spun around sending it into the southbound lanes where it collided with two other vehicles. The driver of the out-of-control vehicle died; her two passengers were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Three occupants of the other vehicles were listed in critical condition. Police were continuing to investigate the accident.
Heart Attack Kills Driver of Rock Band Bus in Iowa
According to the Ames Tribune, the driver of the charter bus for the rock band Widespread Panic apparently suffered a heart attack while driving the bus on Interstate 35 last week south of Ames, […]
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Car Accident Round-Up – Five Die in Fiery Michigan Accident
Both cars catch fire in wrong way car crash killing all five involved
MI Accident Kills Five in Wrong-Way Collision
In a tragic, fiery crash in Detroit, MI early Sunday morning, five people died when a driver traveling the wrong-way on the M-10 crashed head-on into another vehicle. An SUV carrying four people and a passenger car, with just the driver in the car, slammed into each other causing both cars to erupt into flames killing the occupants of both vehicles. Police are unsure of the cause of the accident and do not know which car was traveling the wrong way. The northbound lanes of the highway were shut down for nearly six hours.
Two Die in Multi-Vehicle FL Accident
NorthEscambia.com reports that a Friday morning accident on I-10 near Pensacola, FL took the lives of one adult and a child. […]
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Family of Injured Kentucky Nursing Home Patient to Receive $1 Million Settlement
According to an article in the Lexington-Herald Leader, a Fayette, Kentucky Circuit Court jury awarded the family of a nursing home patient $1 million for negligence resulting from a January 2009 incident. The Alzheimer’s patient, in her late 80s, at Lexington’s Cambridge Place Nursing Home suffered extensive injuries in a fall after she went missing from her room.
The lawsuit alleged the woman suffered broken bones in her face, bleeding in her brain, and a serious cut on her forehead, and various other injuries, after she fell from her Merry Walker, a walker that includes a seat, and was later found severely injured in an equipment storage room.
The case was previously reviewed by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the attorney general’s office. An adult-protection worker found that the woman was a “victim of caretaker neglect and had been exposed to an extreme safety risk.” […]
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