Recently in Medical Malpractice Category

My cousin Judith Storey works for the Patient Advocacy Foundation, a non-profit in Hampton, Virginia.  I find what she does fascinating and thought it might be a useful resource for our clients and friends in Virginia.  The group administers the Virginia Cares Uninsured Program and they assist patients struggling to pay their medical bills who have chronic and severe illnesses.  The goal of the group is to ensure access to care.   In the past 12 months the group has helped well over a thousand new patients relieving them of about $3.4 million in health care costs and prescription medication costs through write offs, reductions and grants.   The group will make phone calls and persistently advocate on behalf of its clients to try to be sure that the patients are not overcharged, and when appropriate, they seek charity write offs on behalf of their patients.   It typically takes about 45 days and over a dozen phone calls to accomplish this in each particular case.  Many of those who the group helps have health insurance, but due to serious illness are overwhelmed by co-pays and deductibles.  Many of those assisted have been affected by layoffs and closures like what occurred at the International Paper Mill outside Franklin, VA.

 

If you or someone you know who lives in Virginia can use the assistance of this group and/or for more information, visit their website at http://www.pafcares.org/  My cousin Judith Storey has recently been named the Headquarters Assistant Director and I am very proud of the work that she does.

 

Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester is a law firm that represents those injured and disabled.   If you have suffered an injury due to medical malpractice, a car accident, or workman's compensation, call us at 888-213-8140 or visit our website at www.gfmjustice.com.   We also represent individulas in their claim for disability benefits such as long term disability denials, short term disability, and social security disability claims.

My one-year term as President of the Maryland Association for Justice ended last night at our Annual Presidents Dinner in Baltimore, MD.  The event was held at the Hilton which overlooks Camden Yards.   Robert Zarbin is now the President of MAJ. Mr. Zarbin is going to be an incredible leader, and he he has done a fantastic job as Legislative Chairman this year.  

I am proud of our accomplishments this year.   Our legislative team had an amazing year and we passed 3 new laws that will help our clients who are injured in Maryland car accidents.   One of the new laws increases the minimum limits of liability insurance from $20,000.00/$40,000.00 to $30,000.00/$60,000.00.  This is the first time these minimal limits have been increased since 1972.  I am also very proud of the strides Maryland Association for Justice made in the area of Membership.  We gained over 210 new members in the last year.   MAJ has an incredible staff (our Executive Director David Walls is top notch), an energized Board of Governors, and an engaged membership.  

  Last night was a great event.  There were many notables there including Governor O'Malley, Maryland Senate President Mike Miller, the Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, Judge Harrell from the Court of Appeals and many other Judges, State Delegates, U.S. Rep. Frank Kratovil from the Eastern Shore, MD  and several State Senators including Senator Garragiola from Montgomery County and Delegate Joe Vallario (Chair of House Judiciary Committee).   One of the highlights for me was hearing U.S. Congressman Bruce Braley speak about the civil justice system.  Bruce Braley is a trial lawyer from Iowa who was elected to U.S. Congress a couple of years ago.   He is at the forefront of holding big corporations like BP (British Petroleum), Toyota, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce accountable and honest in their presentations to Congress.  Last night several videos were played of Congressman Braley cross examining witnesses in committee hearings in order to get the truth out to the American People.  We are lucky to have a trial lawyer like him there.   

Baltimore trial lawyer Henry Dugan, George Tolley and Bruce Babij won the trial lawyer of the year award.  Henry Dugan gave a very moving a philosphical speech about the importance of the civil justice system, and in particular, the subpoena.   He won the award for the Mcquitty case in which his firm obtained a $13 Million dollar verdict in a case that had been rejected by 4 other law firms before coming to his firm.   The casewent to the Maryland Court of Appeals, and it made new law in Maryland regarding informed consent and essentially held that a patient must receive information about the risks and treatment options before undergoing medical treatment.  As a result of this case, medical doctors in Maryland are now being trained to give more information to patients about treatment options than they were previously.     

As I leave office, I feel very lucky to have had the privilege of serving as the MAJ President.   Our Association does amazing things for the community and for our injured clients.  As I am now getting involved in representing businesses and individuals harmed by the BP Oil Spill, and seeing what they are going through as a result of the gross negligence of BP, Transocean and Haliburton, I feel stronger than ever that open access to the civil justice system is absoultely necessary in a demoractic and capitalistic society.    

The lawyers at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC are  investigating potential lawsuits relating to individuals who received a heart stent at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Towson, Maryland.  Many of the patients who received heart stents at St. Joseph's Hospital may not have actually needed them.  Starting in December, 2009 a number of patients received letters about their cardiac catheterization procedures in which they received heart stents.  The biggest concern is over surgeries performed by Dr. Mark Midei.  The letters sent to patients reportedly indicate that post surgical clinical review procedures revealed that the results of the cath tests were in fact different than indicated on the original heart catheterization report.   Some of these patients may have received unnecessary stents in their heart valves, and thus have been subjected to substantial health risks.  The doctor who is believed to have performed the unnecessary procedures is Dr. Mark Midei.  He was a prominent heart surgeon who has recently stopped practicing medicine and has lost his privileges at St. Joseph's hospital.  What transpired is that some patients were told that they had blockage of 80-95% when in fact they only had a very small amount of blockage--even as low as 10%.  Medical Guidelines reveal that in order for a stent procedure to be necessary, there should be blockage of at least 70%.    Once a stent procedure is performed on a cardiac patient, patients face long term risks including the risk of blood clots in the stent (which can cause a heart attack), and/or other life threatening injuries.  To reduce the risk of clotting in stent patients, many are prescribed a blood thinner such as Plavix (expensive--and has its own risks/side effects).    Our legal team believes that anyone who had an unnecessary cardiac stent procedure performed at St. Josephs has potential legal claims against Dr. Midei, St. Josephs, and possibly others.  Claims would include medical negligence, battery, violation of Maryland's Consumer Protection Act, and possibly even fraud.   Whereas punitive damages are not available in most negligence cases in Maryland, because the cases involving unnecessary stent procedures at St. Josephs involved intentional conduct and was possibly even deceptive and deceiptful, it is quite possible that punitive damages will be available as well.  In December 2005 a Baltimore Jury returned a $5 Million dollar verdict against Dr. Mark G. Midei and Midatlantic Cardivascular Association.  The jury found that the doctor improperly steered a patient to a surgeon employed by the practice rather than to his own surgeon who belonged to a rival group.   After the verdict, it is reported that Dr. Midei said "I've done close to 30,000 procedures on patients and have never been sued until now."  If you or someone you love had a cardiac stent procedure performed at St. Josephs Hospital and/or done by Dr. Midei, call us at 301-589-2999 so that we can evaluate your claim.  

It has been known for years that over 98,000 Americans are needlessly dying every year at the hands of health care providers.  Over 98,000!  And yet, these ghastly figures continue even though they could be prevented.  Dead by Mistake is a website with patient sagas and other information that demonstrates some of the numerous preventable medical errors.  This website was created by journalists from across the country and provides important and moving information for you - they chronicle 2,000,000 - that's Two MILLION - preventable deaths over the past 10 years due to medical errors.  Take charge of your medical care.  Get the information you should know so that medical malpractice / medical negligence hopefully does not happen to you or anyone you love.  The insurance industry and health care industry refuse to accept responsibility and care for people the way you should be treated.  The only way measures will be taken to decrease or prevent these errors is by holding the health care providers and the system accountable in a court of law.  That is what our system of justice allows.  That is what trial lawyers like those at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester do.  If your mother died from cancer because the radiologist misread her mammogram, calling it normal when it was not, contact a lawyer to hold them accountable.  If your daughter was born with neurological problems and has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy because the obstetrician or midwife ignored the warning signs on the fetal heart rate monitor and did not deliver her at a time to prevent the brain damage, contact a lawyer to hold them accountable.  If you have been injured by medical negligence, let us protect your rights.  For more information about whether you or a loved one has been injured by a preventable medical error, call our Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawyers at: 301-589-2999 x125 (we are located in downtown Silver Spring very close to the Metro Station) or visit our website at www.gfmlawllc.com.

Tuesday's Washington Post contained an article about Michelle Hereford, whose husband died from sepsis (where an infection spreads throughout the body) while being treated at the hospital. Ms. Hereford claims that the hospital ignored the signs and symptoms and was unresponsive to her concerns over how her husband was doing.  By the time the hospital acted, it was too late to save him and Mr. Hereford died.  Ms. Hereford says that she is speaking out because she hopes it will bring about some change, however small. "When mistakes happen in hospitals, it's not because they don't have bells and whistles and technology," she said. "It's because nurses become robots and they don't listen."  Ms. Hereford should be applauded for her courage and her willingness to help others so that this does not happen again.
While it is a tragedy what happened to Ms. Hereford and her husband (and their young children), unfortunately, medical negligence, also known as medical malpractice, is all too common.  And it has nothing to do with doctors and nurses not being decent human beings or making simple mistakes or worrying about rising insurance premiums for doctors:  health care providers must adhere to the standard of care and when they do not (whether they call it a mistake or something else) and their actions or inactions injure someone, they are negligent.  And the rising insurance premiums and doctors fleeing states are myths propagated by the insurance industry to justify its continued greed.
When you or a loved one are injured due to medical negligence, then you need to call an experienced Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawyer to advise you of your rights.  Health care providers need to be held accountable when their negligence causes injury.  Here at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, we have experienced medical malpractice lawyers (including a registered nurse-attorney) ready to fight for you.  For more information about medical malpractice/negligence, call us at 301-589-2999 x125 (we are located in downtown Silver Spring very close to the Metro Station) or visit our website at www.gfmlawllc.com.