Medical Malpractice

The America College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Urogynecologic Society have issued a joint Committee Opinion stating that there is an "urgent need" for the development of a national registry to track outcomes for all current and future patients who receive vaginal mesh implants. There have been serious concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of these synthetic mesh products that are placed vaginally to treat a condition known as pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Given the horrific side effects thousands of women are experiencing as a result of receiving these transvaginal mesh implants, these groups now recommend that use of these mesh implants should only be reserved for high-risk women "for whom the benefit may justify the risk."

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During a recent 60 Minutes investigative report, GlaxoSmithKline, a major worldwide provider of prescription drugs, was exposed for their cover up in the early 2000s of mixing up drugs at a Puerto Rico plant, and whistleblower Cheryl Eckard was awarded a sum of $96 million of the total amount of $750 million due to the pharmaceutical litigation and financial settlement.

The plant was mixing up drugs, putting different dosage sizes and different medications together in mislabeled bottles, and shipping them all over the world, including the United States. A grandmother of an 8-year-old boy found that the pills of Paxil that her grandson had been taking the entire month were 25mg pills, not the regular 10mg pills he'd been previously taking. The child was very sick from taking the pills, which had been colored pink instead of the regular, yellow-colored pills.

GSK Denies, Denies, and Denies

When Eckard brought this to the attention of quality control, they all but ignored her and told her it wasn't really happening. She wrote up report after report, but her warnings were falling on deaf ears. She even suggested shutting down the plant completely, but to the executives at GSK, that wasn't financially possible, and simply sweeping it under the rug was a better option in their minds. Read the rest »

The California personal injury lawyers at BISNAR | CHASE are extremely concerned about this news report that 10 stroke patients were overexposed to radiation when they got CT scans at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. According to an article in the Glendale News Press, the patients received three to four times the normal dose of radiation during a triple imaging brain exam using a General Electric manufactured CT scan machine.
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The California personal injury attorneys of BISNAR | CHASE recently prevailed in a jury trial against Lynch Ambulance, convincing a Los Angeles jury that a negligent ambulance driver and the company that employed him were liable for serious personal injuries sustained by two passengers –Tracy Mucklevane and Shawna Alonzo. Mucklevane's case had already been settled. Jurors awarded Shawna Alonzo, who was then a respiratory therapist at Children's Hospital of Orange County, $164,000 for her serious injuries.
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The nursing home abuse and negligence attorneys at BISNAR | CHASE have been constantly concerned about the poor oversight of California nursing homes. Earlier this year we noted that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger cut funding significantly for nursing home ombudsman programs across California. These programs consist of volunteers who may go into nursing homes and conduct sudden inspections or follow up on complaints from families of nursing home residents relating to abuse, negligence or fraud.
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The Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) has launched a fresh attack on California's 34-year-old cap on noneconomic damages in California medical malpractice cases urging that a state court of appeal strike down those unjust limits. CAOC is basically challenging the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975 (MICRA), which was enacted in California to provide affordable medical malpractice insurance for physicians. MICRA limits jury awards in medical malpractice cases to $250,000 for pain and suffering and allows awards of $50,000 or more for future medical expenses and wage loss to be paid at regular intervals over the life of an injured plaintiff.

Jurors in medical malpractice cases can award damages to plaintiffs for past and future pain and suffering, physical impairment or disfigurement. These are known as noneconomic damages. The MICRA codified Civil Code section 3333.2 limits noneconomic damages to $250,000.

The most recent MICRA challenge came when attorney Robert S. Peck asked the California District Court of Appeal for the 5th District in Fresno to strike down the $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages. Like Peck and the CAOC, I believe that this cap violates the "inviolate right" to a jury trial and equal protection. It is, without doubt, an unconstitutional infringement by the Legislature on the judiciary. Peck appeared before the three-justice panel on behalf of CAOC and the American Association for Justice (AAJ).

The sad fact of medical malpractice lawsuits is that the people, who bring them, have often suffered catastrophic injuries. These are personal injuries that you cannot put a price on -- let alone a cap. For example, this particular case began when a local telephone company employee underwent surgery for a perianal abscess. The surgeon ended up severing a muscle during surgery causing the patient to suffer from permanent incontinence. A jury awarded him $2.5 million, but a judge reduced it to $250,000, the maximum authorized by MICRA.

There is no question that MICRA denies the common man access to the courts and justice. In almost all medical malpractice cases, the courts are the victims' last resort and only means to get justice. CAOC has formed a new committee to review, coordinate and assist the individual CAOC Member State challenges to MICRA caps. The committee is also actively looking for additional cases that would present good opportunities to challenge the cap. Bisnar | Chase medical malpractice attorneys wholeheartedly supports the CAOC and the AAJ in their efforts to get rid of the medical malpractice caps on noneconomic damages in California. This is not about money, but justice for consumers who have been neglected and wronged.