Stockton Injury Lawyer Blog

In what is being reported as the largest medical malpractice verdict in Wyoming state history, a jury has just awarded a man and his wife $9 million as the result of emergency room negligence. The medical malpractice case arose out of the actions taken by ER physicians and staff after a 51-year-old oil field worker suffered injuries in a truck accident. The man was driving down an icy road when his truck slid off the pavement, rolled over several times and landed upside down. He was immobilized by emergency medical workers who placed him on a backboard and fit him with a neck brace to prevent further damage.

If you have suffered injuries in any type of accident, after you've obtained the medical assistance necessary, it is important to speak with an experienced Stockton personal injury lawyer to protect your rights and determine your next steps. In many circumstances, it may be possible to obtain compensation for your harm.

In this situation, the treatment the accident victim received - or failed to receive - led to further injuries. Once the truck driver arrived at the hospital, the ER physician ordered X-rays and CT scans of the patient's head, spine and facial bones but not of his neck - despite his complaining of neck pain and was released without a cervical collar. Four days later he returned to the hospital with extreme shoulder and neck pain, along with weakness in his arm. Tests revealed he had a broken neck requiring emergency surgery. As the result of the failed diagnosis, the man is in extreme pain, unable to work and primarily confined to home due to his disability. Based on evidence introduced at trial, the jury determined the hospital had been negligent in failing to take neck x-rays.

Continue reading "Record Setting Medical Malpractice Verdict" »

A California Court of Appeals has determined that a Newport Beach doctor must pay damages in a medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit filed against him. The action involved his erroneous reading of a computerized tomography (CT) scan of an 85-year-old woman, Lois Shafer. A jury determined that Dr. Luke Cheung's actions in misinterpreting the scan and failing to diagnose the woman's intracranial bleeding, led to her unnecessary death.

If you believe a loved one has died as the result of the negligent conduct of another, it is important to consult with a Stockton wrongful death attorney. Where you believe a nurse, doctor or other hospital staff made a mistake that harmed - or led to the death - of a loved one, you may be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Not all medical mistakes constitute a medical malpractice action that entitles a family to obtain compensation. Generally, you must be able to show that the doctor's or other health care provider's actions fell below the accepted standard of care and that these actions led to the harm.

Here, Shafer was taken to the Hoag Hospital emergency room. After Dr. Cheung's failure to diagnose the bleeding, an emergency room doctor then discharged Shafer. At trial, a medical expert testified that if Cheung had diagnosed the bleeding, Shafer wouldn't have been discharged, treatment would have begun quickly and the patient would have had a very successful outcome...complete recovery or close to a complete recovery."

Continue reading "California Doctor To Pay Damages In Wrongful Death Lawsuit" »

A Petaluma woman has sued a California nursing home for negligence surrounding the treatment of her mother while in the care of the facility. According to the nursing home negligence complaint filed on behalf of Elizabeth Walter, the 80-year-old woman suffered from malnutrition, infections and dehydration as the result of neglect, negligence and fraud at a Petaluma nursing home as well as by the home health care agency providing her care.

The complaint alleges that the woman suffered a broken hip while Accentcare Home Health of California was providing her in-home care. Walter was subsequently moved to Petaluma Health and Rehabilitation for daily care. While there, she was allegedly denied "appropriate care and treatment that included food, hydration, wound care, monitoring and assessment." When admitted to the hospital a month later, Walter's condition had worsened.

If you believe a loved one has been subjected to nursing home negligence, a Stockton injury lawyer can help. An experienced negligence attorney can work with a family to help ensure a loved one receives the care he or she deserves and fight to obtain compensation for any harm incurred.

Continue reading "Nursing Home Negligence Alleged In Walter v. Petaluma Health and Rehabilitation " »

According to the Los Angeles Times, a Stockton nursing home was fined $100,000 after a resident died. An investigation into Creekside Care Center found that inadequate care led to the death of a woman.

The investigation conducted by the California Department of Public Health found that staff at the nursing home failed to adequately treat an elderly wheel chair bound patient who mysteriously suffered a left thighbone break. The woman subsequently suffered cardio-distress and died in the emergency room.

If you have a loved one in a nursing home, and believe that they are not being treated properly, a Stockton personal injury lawyer may be able to help.

When we place our elders in nursing homes, it is often because they cannot care for themselves. We expect that they will be cared for by the nursing home staff. When staff fails to adequately care for patients - such as treating illness and injuries - or neglects or abuses patients, it is considered a form of medical negligence.

Continue reading "Stockton Nursing Home Fined $100,000 After Patient Death" »

The Los Angeles Times reports that the families of two 20-year-old patients who died last year from prescription drug overdoses have filed separate wrongful death lawsuits against a doctor accused of illegally prescribing painkillers. The medical malpractice lawsuits allege that Dr. Lisa Tseng prescribed powerful and addictive drugs to patients who later died from the medication. Tseng has been linked to ten drug deaths.

Ryan Winter of Aliso Viejo died five days after his last prescription in July 2010 and Riley Russo of Laguna Niguel died in December.

According to the lawsuits, Dr. Tseng prescribed Opana, a powerful narcotic, and Xanax to the patients with little examination or reason. She also failed to obtain a proper medical history or refer the patients to specialists. The lawsuits further allege that Tseng has earned a reputation for her willingness to prescribe narcotics knowing they will be used for recreational purposes.

Under California law - the Drug Dealer Liability Act - families may file a lawsuit against anyone in the chain of improperly obtained drugs. The lawsuit also alleges medical negligence and intentional and negligent misrepresentation.

In addition to the families' lawsuits, Tseng is also being accused of gross negligence by the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. Undercover investigators have determined that Tseng routinely prescribed large amounts of powerful drugs such as Percocet, Opana and codeine without proper examination.

Continue reading "Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against California Doctor For Illegally Prescribing Drugs" »

A recent CNN medical malpractice article raises the critical question, "Harmed in the hospital? Should you sue?"

When you or a loved experience a bad outcome after a visit to the doctor, many individuals are left wondering what to do.

Often, contacting a medical malpractice lawyer is the best step. Consulting with a knowledgeable California personal injury lawyer can help you determine if you have a case and may also help you obtain crucial answers.

Remember - as CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin notes - "Malpractice is not about bad results; it's about bad conduct by medical professionals."

Some questions that you can ask yourself when considering if you should sue include:
• Is your outcome within the known risks?
• Did you recover?
• Do you require ongoing care as the result of an injury incurred at the hospital? Are you worse off than when you first came to the hospital?
• Did you receive the standard of care?

Continue reading "California Medical Malpractice - When Should You File A Lawsuit?" »

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a California judge has agreed to a $63 million settlement between Skilled Health Care Group, Inc. and current and former patients of the facility. Earlier this year, a Humboldt County jury had awarded the plaintiffs $677 million.

The company claimed the enormous verdict would send it into bankruptcy, indefinitely prolonging the time until victims received compensation. As a result, the victims agreed to the settlement, which will provide $50 million to the 32,000 patients who were harmed as the result of nursing home negligence, as well as $12.8 million to comply with state-mandated staffing levels.

Nursing home abuse is a particularly tragic form of abuse. When we place our loved ones in a home, we expect them to be respected and cared for. Too often they are neglected and abused. In order to cut costs and increase profits, many nursing home facilities - such as the one in this case - fail to provide adequate staffing.

Continue reading "California Nursing Home Settlement Approved" »

On Tuesday, a California jury issued its verdict in favor of the victim in a horrible case of medical negligence. In Morad v. Tourah, the physician, Dr. Tourah erroneously performed a routine gallbladder operation on a Medi-Cal recipient. However, after discovering his errors, rather than treating the patient himself, the board certified surgeon drove the patient to USC County Hospital and dropped her off in front of the ER. The jury awarded the patient $395,000.

Sadly, many cases of medical negligence in the Stockton area and throughout California occur in the ER. As reported by the Institute of Medicine, the hospital location with the highest proportion of negligent medical events is the emergency room - with 52.6% of all hospital negligence http://www.centerjd.org.ER_victims.pdf Many times, the emergency rooms are already crowded due in part to the fact that the uninsured often choose the ER as the place to go for general health care. However, when negligence occurs, many are left without real recourse as a result of California's severe caps on damages.

Continue reading "California Medical Malpractice Verdict For Woman Dropped Off At ER" »

As President Obama strives to implement health care reform - "tort reform" has become a hot button issue. "Tort reform" typically refers to caps on non-economic punitive damages in lawsuits where individuals have been injured by gross medical malpractice. Tort reform advocates erroneously blame medical malpractice lawsuits for high insurance premiums, causing doctors to flee states without caps and practice "defensive medicine," further increasing health care costs.

However, as medical malpractice victims living in Marin County and throughout California know, the real cost of tort reform is born by those who been seriously injured or harmed by medical negligence. California currently has one of the nation's most restrictive tort reform laws with its 34 year old "cap" of $250,000 on pain and suffering for injured patients, which essentially prevents victim of severe cases of malpractice from going forward in the courts and receiving just compensation.

Further, studies show that many of the tort reformer's arguments are false and based on inaccurate information. According to a November report issued by the American Association for Justice, lawsuits do not drive up insurance premiums. In fact, studies show that jury awards, settlements and administrative costs add up to less than $10 billion a year - less than 0.3% of what the U.S. spends on health care every year.

The costs of defensive medicine are also greatly exaggerated. Recent studies show estimate that defensive medicine at most accounts for 3% of medical spending - and much of what is identified as defensive medicine is not motivated by liability, but simply the desire of physicians to generate more income.

Finally, little correlation exists between malpractice payouts and malpractice premiums. In fact, researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) noted, "increases in malpractice payments made on behalf of physicians do not seem to be the driving force behind increases in premiums." Declining interest rates and investments in the insurance industry drive the rate increases - not malpractice payouts. One study found that insurers artificially raised doctors' premiums and misled the public about the nature of medical negligence claims in order to justify "tort reform."

Continue reading "California Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Not Responsible For High Insurance Premiums" »