In the past, we’ve blogged about the legal issues caused by Florida’s so-called “Free Kill Law.”  This was the example that we posed: “Imagine that your only child, an unmarried, childless daughter aged 26, has died due to medical malpractice. Or turn that around and imagine that you, a widow or widower, have died due to medical malpractice, leaving behind only your 26-year-old daughter. Did you know that due to a current Florida law, neither...

Urgent care is now a key part of the U.S. healthcare landscape, and it comes in many forms. It can be part of a retail operation, such as an urgent care facility housed inside of a national pharmacy like CVS or Walgreens. Or it can be a stand-alone facility owned privately by a single doctor or a consortium of doctors. Some hospitals also have urgent care facilities, either inside the hospital or as separate brick-and-mortar...

Most of us have been through this scenario at some point in our lives: we’re in a meeting where it’s important to focus and pay attention to what’s being told to us. This could be, for example, a meeting with our boss, our banker, or our child’s teacher. And out of the blue, we’re given some unexpected information that’s hard to process and wrap our heads around. It’s no different when you’re meeting with your...

A delayed diagnosis involves a situation where a patient seeks medical assistance for symptoms that they are experiencing, but the medical condition that is causing those symptoms is not diagnosed within a reasonable amount of time.  Sadly, in some cases, a delayed diagnosis relating to cancer is the result of negligence by a medical professional. When there is this type of delay, by the time a patient learns about the actual diagnosis, there is a...

If you or a loved one have decided to pursue a medical malpractice case, you might be surprised to learn that while you are bringing a legal complaint against the medical provider – doctor, nurse, hospital, urgent care facility, etc. – you and your legal team will also be dealing with the medical provider’s insurance company. Let’s assume that you have a strong basis to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit. Perhaps you were a victim...

It is estimated that every year, thousands of people are injured in the United States due to surgical errors. A surgical error is defined as an unintentional, preventable injury that is not considered a known acceptable risk of surgery and could have been avoided by following the standard of care. Surgical errors can cause significant harm, including death, and result in overwhelming financial burdens on harmed patients. Surgical errors can include (but are not limited...

Medical malpractice is not an uncommon event. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University conducted a comprehensive eight-year study of medical errors in the U.S. and found that, on average, more than 250,000 people die in the U.S. because of medical mistakes each year. This makes medical malpractice the second leading cause of death in the United States, behind cancer and before chronic respiratory disease. The most common medical malpractice claims include misdiagnosis, birth injuries, medication errors,...

Avoiding misdiagnosis is a moral, professional, and public health imperative, according to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine. However, estimates vary significantly regarding the full scope of harms related to medical misdiagnosis scenarios. The Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence estimates that: 12 million Americans are affected each year by misdiagnosis situations, and perhaps one-third are harmed as a result. Misdiagnosis errors may account for 40,000 to 80,000 preventable deaths annually in U.S....