Medical Malpractice

The American Cancer Society Sharply Critical of New Mammogram Standards; “Annual Mammograms From Age 40 on Save Lives”

November 18, 2009 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

For nearly two decades, the American Cancer Society has been recommending annual mammograms beginning at 40. However, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a government panel of doctors and scientists, recently issued a controversal report that mammograms are not recommended until age 50 and then only every other year. In response to the government report, the Cancer Society’s chief medical officer, Dr. Otis Brawley stated “This is one screening test I recommend unequivocally, and would recommend to any woman 40 and over,”
Dr. Brawley went on to offer this sharp criticism of the report: “The task force advice is based on its conclusion that screening 1,300 women in their 50s to save one life is worth it, but that screening 1,900 women in their 40s to save a life is not, Brawley wrote. That stance “is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives, just not enough of them,” he added.

As a Georgia Injury Lawyer that deals with insurance companies on a daily basis, I’m concerned about the insurance implications this task force report will have on healthcare. Although research shows annual mammograms beginning at age 40 save lives, I fear health insurance companies will use this recent report to justify refusing payment for mammograms before the age of 50 and then only authorize mammograms every other year. Like prexisting conditions and other insurance created concepts, this will give insurance companies additional opportunities to accept premiums without providing appropriate benefits.

Good Advice for Georgians; How to Avoid Preventable Medical Errors

November 12, 2009 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

With all the reports recently of preventable medical errors, today CNN printed an informative article “How to avoid falling victim to a hospital mistake.” The average person would be shocked by some of the stories I hear on a regular basis as a Georgia Medical Malpractice Lawyer. The Joint Commission, which provides accreditation for hospitals, reports that wrong-site, wrong-side and wrong-patient procedures occur more than 40 times each week in the United States.

The above CNN article arms patients with simple practical knowlege that can help prevent these types of errors. One example is to repeat your name, date of birth, and the procedure you are having to each and every nurse, tech and doctor involved in your care. I would recommend reading this article for anyone undergoing any hospital testing or surgery in the near future.

Georgia Victims of Medical Malpractice Need a Fair Chance at Justice; 98,000 Americans Die From Preventable Medical Errors Each Year.

November 12, 2009 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

Insurance companies are spending millions of dollars each year lobbying State and Federal government to limit medical malpractice victim’s access to the courthouse with various tort reform measures. Insurance companies justify their endless attack on the right to trial by jury with the argument that the majority of medical malpractice claims are frivolous. However, the recent studies published by the non-partisan National Institute of Medicine indicate 44,000 to 98,000 patients die each year as a result of preventable medical errors and as many as 1,000,000 are seriously injured.

Nearly every day as a Marietta Medical Malpractice Lawyer, I hear another heartbreaking story of death or serious injury due to preventable medical errors. A recent report of the AAJ highlights several true stories of medical error victims including that of Blake Fought. Blake was only 19 years old when he was set to be discharged from the hospital following an illness that required a central line IV. His nurse had never been trained to remove the IV and did not follow proper procedures, causing air bubbles to invade his heart and brain. As a result of this preventable error, Blake died in front of the nurses and his parents.

Georgia Medical Malpractice Victims Denied Justice by Arbitrary Caps on Damages

October 31, 2009 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

Georgia victims of medical malpractice, and the insurance companies that provide insurance to doctors and hospitals, are anxiously awaiting the Georgia Supreme Court’s ruling on whether damages caps are unconstitutional. Marietta Daily Journal columnist Joe Kirby recently addressed the issue in his article, No Miracle Cure.

Many Georgia Wrongful Death and Personal Injury Plaintiffs May Not Get Their Day in Court Due to Forced Arbitration.

October 20, 2009 | Benjamin S. Persons, IV

It has become a regular practice in Georgia for nursing homes, assisted living, rehabilitation centers, and long-term care facilities to include forced arbitration contracts in the required admission documents. These mandatory arbitration contracts are forcing Georgia’s elderly citizens to waive their constitutional right to a trial if they become victims of medical malpractice or abuse at the hands of the nursing home. First, these arbitration contracts are typically hidden in a stack of admission documents. Additionally, it is impossible for patients and families to contemplate the magnitude of what they are signing at such a stressful time. Nursing home admissions are often made under emergency situations or when a potential resident or family is faced with inadequate resources to care for a loved one; and when they sign this document they are forever waiving the right to seek civil justice in a court of law with no regard to the severity of the neglect, abuse, or malpractice.

In the nursing home medical malpractice cases we have handled involving forced arbitration agreements, clients tell us they had no idea they had signed such an agreement and certainly did not realized they were waiving the right to pursue a claim for neglect, abuse, or malpractice. The types of cases most affected by this wide spread nursing home practice are typically catastrophic – such as amputations caused by undiagnosed and untreated medical conditions, painful pressure sores that untreated lead to infection, amputation, and death, serious injury and death from malnutrition or dehydration, and physical and sexual abuse. Although Georgia law (See O.C.G.A. § 9-9-62) is supposed to render these offensive arbitration contracts unenforceable, nursing homes have gotten around the law arguing the doctrine of Federal Preemption. Although, thus far, our medical malpractice lawyers have been successful in defeating the mandatory arbitration contracts we have encountered in our cases, these agreements are being enforced by Georgia Courts in some circumstances.