Sex-reassignment surgery of infant in state’s care violated due process, adoptive parents allege

The adoptive parents of a baby born with both male and female genitalia claim the state of South Carolina violated their child’s constitutional rights by subjecting the child to sex-reassignment surgery. The child, identified as “M.C.,” was 16 months old when surgeons removed the toddler’s male genitals before the adoption,…

May 15, 2013 12:39 PM CDT

Lawyer who turned down $8M settlement wins $130M in retrial

A New York lawyer says he feels vindicated after winning $130 million for a medical malpractice client in a third trial of the case. Lawyer Thomas Moore had turned down an $8 million settlement before the first trial in 2009 and then lost the case, the New York Post reports.…

Apr 18, 2013 2:14 PM CDT

71 percent of young people surveyed would favor an individual over an insurance company at trial

Apr 1, 2013 8:50 AM CDT

SCOTUS rebuffs North Carolina ‘semantics’ in its quest for one-third of girl’s med-mal settlement

North Carolina can’t obtain one-third of a girl’s medical malpractice settlement under a law that doesn’t take into account whether the money is attributable to medical care, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. The North Carolina statute is pre-empted by federal Medicaid law that bars liens on portions of a…

Mar 20, 2013 3:07 PM CDT

Victim’s widow sues psychiatrist re Batman movie theater massacre

Corrected: The widow of a man massacred last year, with nearly a dozen others, in a July 20 shooting rampage at a Colorado movie theater showing the new Batman movie has sued the former treating psychiatrist of the suspected gunman, James Holmes. Dr. Lynne Fenton acted negligently by failing to…

Jan 15, 2013 10:01 PM CST

Supreme Court Considers State’s Quest for One-Third of Girl’s Med-Mal Settlement

The medical care of 12-year-old Emily Armstrong is at the center of a pre-emption case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices heard oral arguments in the case on Tuesday, according to McClatchy Newspapers and SCOTUSblog, which previewed the case. Armstrong, of Taylorsville, N.C., was injured at birth, allegedly as a…

Jan 9, 2013 2:26 PM CST

Wrongful Death Suit Filed in Car Crash Cites Nebraska Fetal Protection Law

A wrongful death suit filed on behalf of a Maryland family killed in a Nebraska car crash also seeks damages for the death of a fetus. The case may be the first civil suit based on Nebraska’s 2003 law expanding legal protections to fetuses at any stage of development, the…

Nov 5, 2012 2:31 PM CST

Patient Beware: Biomedical Engineer Launches Service to Help with Foreign Med-Mal Cases in US

Oct 1, 2012 9:00 AM CDT

Many Troubled New York Hospitals Are Trimming or Eliminating Malpractice Insurance

Several hospitals in New York City are eliminating or trimming malpractice insurance, and at least two of them have no further reserves to pay claims. Some hospitals in other cities, particularly jurisdictions known for large malpractice awards, are also going uninsured, the New York Times reports. Malpractice lawyers suing uninsured…

Jul 16, 2012 12:58 PM CDT

A Delayed Heart Test and a Death in Three-Way Encounter Result in $3M Med-Mal Award

A Georgia jury is holding a physician and his medical group accountable for the death of a 31-year-old man who suffered heart failure while engaging in a threesome with his friend and a woman who wasn’t his wife. Jurors in Gwinnett County on Tuesday awarded $3 million to the estate…

May 31, 2012 12:25 PM CDT

Woman Sues Dentist, Claims He Dropped Tool, She Swallowed and It Had to Be Surgically Removed

A Kentucky woman sued a Lexington dentist on Thursday, contending that she reflexively swallowed a small implant screwdriver he dropped in her mouth during a routine treatment and it had to be surgically removed from her digestive tract. Lena David, 71, is seeking unspecified damages in the Fayette County Circuit…

Apr 27, 2012 6:30 PM CDT

ABA Sends Letter to House Objecting to ‘Troubling Tort Reform Language’ in Medical Bill

The ABA has sent a letter to the members of the U.S. House of Representatives objecting to “troubling tort reform language” in a bill regulating medical malpractice suits. The House debated the bill on Wednesday and will likely pass the legislation this afternoon after considering amendments, according to The Hill’s…

Mar 22, 2012 4:51 PM CDT

Med-Mal Plaintiff Granted New Trial Based on Defense Counsel’s ‘Inflammatory’ Comments

A defense lawyer in a medical malpractice trial who complained the plaintiff was “working the system” has lost an appeal that targeted the counsel’s comments. A New York appeals court granted a new trial to the plaintiff, citing the lawyer’s “inflammatory and improper summation comments” and an “inappropriate cross-examination,” the…

Mar 5, 2012 12:00 PM CST

Utah Supreme Court Allows Kids’ Suit Claiming Prescription Meds Caused Dad to Murder Their Mom

The Utah Supreme Court has ruled that physicians have a duty to their patients’ family members in a case brought on behalf of the children of a confessed murderer. The ruling “could have a widespread effect on the number of malpractice lawsuits filed against health care providers,” the Salt Lake…

Feb 29, 2012 6:00 PM CST

Lawyer Argues $1M Is Standard for Malpractice Causing Stillbirth

What amount of money compensates a pregnant woman who delivers a stillborn child because of medical malpractice? In February, A New York appeals court upheld a $1 million award for pain and suffering to Lucia Ferreira, who lost her baby during labor at home. She had previously complained of abdominal…

Aug 24, 2011 3:27 PM CDT