Medical Malpractice Data bank is Removed from the Public

by Emily Mapp Brannon ebrannon@hsinjurylaw.com

Emily is a Virginia injury attorney who handles car accidents, medical malpractice, FELA, wrongful death, etc.

9/19/2011
Emily Mapp Brannon
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Medical Malpractice Data Bank Closed to the Public

For more than a quarter of a century a data bank used by insurers, medical boards and hospitals to find out if a doctors have been disciplined or had medical malpractice awards against them has been accessible to the public. But now, a government agency has removed the public use file from the National Practitioner Data Bank that was created in 1986, the New York Times reported.

On September 15, 2011, three journalism organizations protested a decision by the Health Resources and Services Administration to remove the database of doctor discipline and malpractice actions from the Web. As experienced Virginia (VA) medical malpractice attorneys, my colleagues and I are also concerned about this development.

A major medical treatment is one of the most serious and potentially life-changing events anyone can face. Surely, patients have a right to know if they are going to be operated on by a doctor who has botched a procedure in the past, to allow them to make an informed decision.

Attorneys with our firm have represented clients in some harrowing cases where operations have gone wrong. In 2003, for example, we represented a 61-year-old woman in a case at Newport News (VA) Circuit Court. The woman underwent lower back disc surgery. The doctor failed to properly control the surgical instruments and allowed one of them to cut three vessels in the plaintiff's abdomen, causing her considerable internal bleeding. A repair of the damaged vessels by a surgeon was attempted but was not successful. The patient ultimately lost both her legs. The case was settled before trial for $1.25 million.

In another case our 60-year-old client suffered a botched gallbladder removal. The doctor mistakenly cut the client's common bile duct resulting in bile leaking into the client's abdomen. Our client was awarded $425,000 by an insurance company after mediation.

Our experienced Virginia medical malpractice lawyers believe it is only proper that cases like these are available to the public and the medis for review on a database and are concerned by any attempts to restrict the flow of information to the public.

Category: Medical Malpractice/Doctor Mistakes

Labels: accident Attorney botched Brannon database doctor injury journalism malpractice medical mistake outcry personal public removed surgery VA Virginia

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have extensive experience handling medical malpractice and doctor mistake cases. Please take a few moments to review our medical malpractice case results. We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Suffolk, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by the carelessness of a doctor, surgeon, nurse or pharmacist.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been recognized as among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Also, Rick and Jim have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers are chosen for this professional honor.

Members of our VA personal injury law firm have also been selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our VA medical malpractice firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.

We offer free special reports on the Top 10 Tips from a Medical Malpractice Insider and the top five surgical errors you must know about.

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultation, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can return your call.

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