Medical Malpractice

• Florida's Board Of Medicine Not Doing Its Job

  Bob Carroll | August 05, 2006 4:37 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  The Florida Board of Medicine is accused of inattention, delay, laxity and endangering patients in its monitoring of Florida physicians. The editorial from the Palm Beach Post uses the case of a Boynton Beach plastic surgeon to illustrate the Board's ineptness. Making Florida safe for medical malpracticeFlorida needs a better system of monitoring the state's 50,000 doctors, because the state...

• Florida Agency Imposes No Fine For Hospital's Lethal Overdose

  Bob Carroll | August 04, 2006 7:06 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  No fine has been imposed upon a Florida hospital for the drug administration screw-up that took the life of a pregnant patient.Does this surprise me? No. I am surprised the agency even found fault in the obviously lethal mistake. Hospital Won't Be Fined in DeathA state agency has decided not to fine the hospital where a young pregnant woman died after being given too much of a drug commonly...

• County Jail Ignores Inmate Seizures

  Bob Carroll | August 03, 2006 6:06 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  In Florida and throughout the U.S., jails have a legal obligation to provide reasonable and necessary medical care to inmates. Having someone in custody means the jail is in charge of that person and responsible for his wellbeing during the period of confinement. Sometimes jailers forget about this or ignore physical complaints. Sometimes there are horrible consequences.Family of inmate in...

• The "Snake-Oil Salesman" Surgeon Who Bankrupted The Hospital

  Bob Carroll | August 03, 2006 5:55 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  One of many lawsuits against Dr. John King alleges that King "operated on fractures that did not exist, used medical devices in surgical procedures for uses that were never approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, performed spinal and cervical surgeries when no operations were necessary, entered into schemes to illegally receive kickbacks, amputated limbs when no amputations were...

• Child-Related Malpractice Payments Studied

  Bob Carroll | August 01, 2006 10:53 PM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  The medical journal, PEDIATRICS, is featuring an article entitled What Pediatricians Should Know About Child-Related Malpractice Payments in the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine child-related National Practitioner Data Bank data.[During] the period from February 1, 2004, through December 31, 2005, a total of 30195 malpractice payments were made on behalf of practitioners...

• "Despicable" Lie In Medical Malpractice Case

  Bob Carroll | August 01, 2006 9:23 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  When the issue was whether the patient was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and needed special care, the testimony on the defense was that he was not. Then the issue changed. When the issue became the patient's life expectancy (the foundation for damage calculations) the testimony on the defense was that he was suffering from Alzheimer's. Why the change in the testimony? Alzheimer's...

• Spinal Surgery Not For The Untrained

  Bob Carroll | July 28, 2006 8:03 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Some surgeries are more complicated than others. Putting rods into a patient's back definitely requires training and experience. Apparently, Dr. Jacques didn't think it was such a big deal. An $11 Million medical malpractice verdict is the result.Medical Malpractice July 27, 2006 - 11:00PM He went to a local hospital for surgery and left with irreversible damage. Now a jury has awarded the...

• Language Barriers To Good Medical Care

  Bob Carroll | July 23, 2006 8:17 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  America prides itself on being a melting pot where people from other countries can eventually become good citizens and productive members of our society. While on the path to citizenship, however, maybe they should avoid hospital emergency rooms. Language barriers plague hospitalsMany hospital patients who have a limited ability to speak English and who need a translator don't get one, which...

• No Immunity For Trying To Discipline Medical Expert Witnesses

  Bob Carroll | July 14, 2006 7:40 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  An appeals court in Tallahassee has ruled that the Florida Medical Association and three Florida doctors are not immune from liability in connection with efforts to discipline a doctor who testified as a plaintiff expert in a malpractice case. Law.com has more of the details:Doctors Who Testify as Experts for Med-Mal Plaintiffs Can Sue if Peers Discipline ThemOn Tuesday, a 1st District Court of...

• Less Travel, More Patient Time Ahead For Florida Doctors

  Bob Carroll | July 13, 2006 5:57 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Your doctor may be traveling less and spending more time with you. BayNews 9 tells us why.A new law may force doctors to close up shop at some locations.Until now, there were no restrictions on the number of satellite offices a doctor could supervise. But the law, signed by Governor Bush last week, not only specifies the number of doctor's offices, but the type of procedures performed in them...