Medical Malpractice Newsletters

Dialysis Malpractice

When a patient is afflicted with a serious kidney disease, he or she often undergoes dialysis. During this procedure, the dialysis machine acts as an artificial kidney, and the procedure carries with it the inherent possibility of danger to the patient. Therefore, it is both a life-saving and a life-threatening procedure. It is frequently performed at private, for-profit dialysis centers. Some studies indicate that dialysis patients who have the procedure performed at a private, for-profit center face a statistically significant higher risk of death than those treated at a non-profit center.

Emergency Room Malpractice

When an emergency happens, we depend upon the emergency room staff for proper care. No matter what the symptoms, we expect the treating physicians and nurses to be able to accurately diagnose and take care of our complaint. However, studies indicate that over half of the deaths from medical malpractice related injuries in a single year result from emergency room errors.

Gynecology Malpractice in Prescribing Oral Contraceptives

Oral contraceptives, or birth control pills, operate by altering the hormonal structure of the body. For this reason, they have more side effects than other forms of contraception. Therefore, the decision to use birth control pills should only be made after the physician takes a careful history, does a thorough examination, and discusses all possible risks with the patient. Due to the nature of oral contraceptives and the possibly of adverse effects, informed consent is crucial.

Liability of Charitable Hospitals

In the past, the courts of many states concluded that private charitable hospitals were not liable for the tortious conduct of their doctors and nurses. The principal reasons given in defense of this blanket immunity included:

Res Ipsa Loquitur

In an ordinary medical malpractice case, the fact that a patient sustained an injury does not in and by itself create a presumption that the physician was negligent. In order to succeed, the patient has to prove, among other things, that it was the physician's treatment of the patient that caused the injury.