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Medical Malpractice/Doctor Mistakes
- Medical Malpractice Victim Receives $2 Million Jury Verdict in Richmond Circuit Court
- Malpractice Reform Would Save Little Money, Harm Patients Already Injured
- Surgical Mistake Reportedly Led to Rep. Murtha’s Death
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Firm News
- New Hospital Plans to Decrease Number of Beds, Will Quality Improve?
Posted on 3/6/2010 - Use of "safe-surgery checklist" could reduce medical mistakes
Posted on 2/4/2010 - Virginia (VA) Jury Awards $7.5 Million in Failure to Diagnose Breast Cancer Case
Posted on 6/5/2009 - West Virginia Family Files Medical Malpractice Suit For Woman’s High Blood Pressure Death
Posted on 4/17/2009 - Virginia Pilot Demands That Dangerous Doctors Be Disciplined
Posted on 4/1/2009
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Medical Malpractice/Doctor Mistakes
The “Rules” Help Medical Malpractice Lawyers Win Complex Lawsuits
As a Plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer practicing in Virginia (VA)and North Carolina (NC), I am always trying to continue my education in the best ways to win compensation for my clients who are hurt by mistakes made by doctors and hospitals. I recently shared with my law firm a great book to help the attorneys I work with get the maximum results for people injured by medical malpractice. The book is called Rules of the Road: A Plaintiff Lawyer’s Guide to Proving Liability, by top injury lawyers, Rick Freidman and Patrick Malone.The “rules” provide a guide to attorneys who help injured people and those families whose loved ones have been killed by medical mistakes to simplify the cases involving complex surgical procedures so the jury can find for the injured person or wronged family rather than the insurance company.
A typical kind of medical malpractice case is a failure to diagnose case. One of the key rules of medicine is that “a doctor who is diagnosing a patient’s symptoms has a duty to rule out the most dangerous, treatable potential diseases first.” This rule of differential diagnosis is something that the defendant doctor and the insurance defense lawyers must agree with because it is basic medical school training. Then the plaintiff’s lawyer can establish that this rule was violated because the doctor mistakenly sent the patient home from the emergency room without ruling out the most catastrophic medical condition leading to the person’s death.
In some ways this may seem easy, but the point is to simplify and explain to the jury and judge why the doctor did not act reasonably under the circumstances to prevent the insurance lawyer from making this seem so complicated or confusing that the right result doesn’t happen in court. The power of this technique has been confirmed by the best trial lawyers in the U.S. as well as in Virginia (VA).
Medical malpractice cases will never be as simple to prove and win as automobile accident cases. However, the best personal injury lawyers representing families who have suffered as a result of medical or surgical errors are learning ways to increase the chances of forcing the medical malpractice insurance companies to pay for the harm done by their insured.
About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car,truck,railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.
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Our Injury Lawyers Have Been Selected For Many Achievements Outlined Below:
Several Injury Attorneys With Our Firm have been Named As Virginia "Super Lawyers" For Personal Injury Law (Lewis, Shapiro - 2009 Ed.)(Less than 5% of Outstanding Lawyers are Chosen); also selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum (Lewis, Shapiro - 2009); named among the Top 100 Lawyers in Virginia by ATLA (Shapiro - 2009), and our law firm was the first Injury Law Firm in Virginia Invited to Join Primerus, a select group of Highly Ethical, Respected Law Firms .
In October, 2000 our law firm and co-counsel obtained, what was then, the largest record verdict in Virginia's history for an injured person (46 Million Dollar Verdict, with Interest, 60 Million Dollars, Settled confidentially during appeal). Click on any icon for more details.
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Our personal injury lawyers handle personal injury cases throughout the eastern USA, and work closely with lawyers in other states on signficant injury cases.
As to Virginia (VA), this includes: Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Richmond (entire area), Petersburg, Roanoke/Salem, Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, all areas of the Eastern Shore, including Accomack, Onancock, Chincoteauge, Wachapreague, and Cape Charles, Bloxom, Eastville, Exmore, Greenbackville, Machipongo, Mappsville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Onley, Tangier, Temperanceville, Wachapreague, and Wallops Island, Ashland, Big Stone Gap and any other city/ounty.
As to West Virginia (WV) personal injury claims: Bluefield, Beckley, Bridgeport, Charles Town, Charleston, Fairmont, Huntington, Lewisburg, Madison, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Moundsville, Parkersburg, Ripley, Sutton, Weirton, Wheeling, and any other town or county.
Injury Lawyers licensed in VA, WV, NC, SC, KY & Wash., DC.
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Case Results
DISCLAIMER: PLEASE NOTE THAT EVERY CASE IS DIFFERENT, AND THE VERDICTS AND SETTLEMENTS MENTIONED ON THIS WEBSITE, WHILE ACCURATE, DO NOT REPRESENT WHAT WE MAY OBTAIN FOR YOU IN YOUR CASE.
Medical Malpractice/Doctor Mistakes
- Retained Surgical Sponge and Subsequent Complications
- Failed Back Surgery
- Failure to Diagnose/ER Doctor/vascular incident (aortic aneurysim)
- Gastric Bypass (stomach stapling) Surgery complications
- Gallbladder Surgery Error
Awarded: $425,000.00 Settlement
Awarded: The case was settled before the trial for 1.25 million dollars.
Awarded: $700,000.00
Awarded: $550,000.00 settlement during mediation.
Awarded: $425,000
FAQs
Medical Malpractice/Doctor Mistakes
- A family member died in a nursing home, and after talking with members of the staff, it sounds like they died due to nursing home neglect. Should I get a lawyer?
- I have a feeling something is wrong at my family member's nursing home. What should I do if I suspect nursing home abuse or neglect?
- A family member died in a nursing home, and after talking with members of the staff, it sounds like they died due to nursing home neglect. Should I get a lawyer?
What is the Virginia (VA) statute of limitations for personal injury in a medical malpractice case?