New York Medical Malpractice

In an odd case of “medical malpractice” and harassmentNew York Newsday reports:

Richard Karpf was bullied as a child and kicked out of his apartment by roommates while attending a Mexican medical school.

Dennis White started having panic attacks when he was 6 and suffered from sleep disorders and depression as an adult.

Their lives crossed in 1996 when Karpf became White’s psychiatrist. Six years later, White called police and said Karpf had revealed a plot to kill people and feed their dismembered bodies to sharks.

Yesterday, the two men met again as White’s medical malpractice trial against Karpf opened in State Supreme Court in Mineola.

If you’ve been harassed by a former doctor, psychiatrist, or perhaps a patient, please contact an attorney.

The apparent decrease in sanctions against doctor error and indiscretion is certainly alarming. All Headline News reports:

New York, NY (AHN) - While complaints against physicians keep on rising in the Big Apple, New York state’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct has penalized fewer doctors in 2007, an 11-year record low.

An 18-page report by the New York Public Interest Research Group and the Center for Medical Consumers attributed the dip in disciplinary measures to the OPMC’s high rate of using a nondisciplinary monitoring system. The report’s authors branded the state’s physician disciplinary system as one of America’s most pro-doctor systems.

The article continues:

From 1996 to 2003, prejudicial actions in the form of license revocations, suspensions and practice restrictions went up from 314 to 395 in the state. But in the last five years it has gone down by 20 percent to 316 in 2007.

Its unfortunate that NYC has experienced lax enforcement of medical malpractice regulations. Thankfully, groups like the New York Public Interest Research Group are taking up the slack and raising public awareness about the issue.

Doctors are turning to apologies in cases of mishaps. The New York Times highlights:

At the University of Illinois, for example, of 37 cases where the hospital acknowledged a preventable error and apologized, only one patient filed suit. At the University of Michigan Health System, existing claims and lawsuits dropped from 262 in August 2001 to 83 in August 2007, and legal costs fell by two-thirds.

To encourage greater candor, more than 30 states have enacted laws making apologies for medical errors inadmissible in court. That sounds like a sensible step that should be adopted by other states or become federal law. Such laws could help bring more errors to light. Patients who have been harmed by negligent doctors can still sue for malpractice, using other evidence to make their case.

Admitting errors is only the first step toward reforming the health care system so that far fewer mistakes are made. But reforms can be more effective if doctors are candid about how they went astray. Patients seem far less angry when they receive an honest explanation, an apology and prompt, fair compensation for the harm they have suffered.

In cases of genuine mistakes, perhaps a doctor apology is best.

In the face of the Supreme Court’s Feres doctrine, soldiers can’t sue for malpractice. Rick Mays in the Army Times highlights:

A New York congressman is hunting for cosponsors for a bill that would let service members sue the military for medical malpractice.

The Carmelo Rodriquez Military Medical Accountability Act, introduced by Democratic Rep. Maurice Hinchey, is named for a Marine sergeant who died last year from skin cancer after what Hinchey said was a series of mistakes by military medical personnel.

Rodriquez, who was 29 when he died, had a melanoma on his buttocks that had been misdiagnosed as a birthmark or wart by military doctors in Iraq, Hinchey said, citing medical records his office obtained from the Army when the Marine’s family sought his help.

Rodriquez ended up having three surgeries, plus radiation and chemotherapy treatments, but the care came too late, after the cancer had spread, Hinchey said.

His legislation would reverse a 1950 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, known as the Feres Doctrine, that prohibits lawsuits for medical negligence that harms service members.

Hopefully the Feres decision will be overridden by the Military Medical Accountability Act, so that military medical doctors can be held accountable and our troops can have better military care.

Merck essentially created a scientifcally and ethically questionable study for Vioxx. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Merck has agreed to pay $58 million to settle allegations by a few dozen states that the company used deceptive advertising to promote Vioxx. That’s relatively small potatoes considering Merck has put up $4.85 billion to settle thousands of personal-injury claims over the discontinued painkiller.

But a detail in the states’ deal caught our eye: The company has agreed to “no longer engage in ‘ghostwriting,’ ” says this statement from the Pennsylvania AG.

Wait, didn’t we just hear something about ghostwriting and Vioxx? Oh, right, it was just last month, when this JAMA article said some published Vioxx studies were writted by uncredited ghostwriters hired by the company.

I can’t believe that Merck use dubious and deceitful ghostwriting tactics to promote its product. I’m glad to see that this being resolved legally, rather than being swept under the rug.

A recent post by the Wall Street Journal points out that a study published in Health affairs reports that Massachusetts medical malpractice premiums have actually fallen since 2005:

Given how often we hear complaints about rising malpractice premiums, we couldn’t help but notice a study out today that suggested rates have actually fallen slightly in Massachusetts over the past 15 years or so.

Researchers focused on premiums for policies that covered up to $1 million per claim and $3 million per year. In inflation-adjusted terms, the mean premium in 2005 was $17,810, down from $17,907 in 1990. The figures are based on policies sold by ProMutual, a state-regulated mutual insurer that’s a big player in Massachusetts.

Hopefully this indicates a trend in medical malpractice premiums across the United States, including Florida, California, and Washington DC

Accountability for medical malpractice is critical to patient health. There is a movement in New York to create greater transparency in this key area.New York Newsday reports:

Under Paterson’s proposal, any professional discipline charges would be made public. Right now the public isn’t notified of physician misconduct unless and until the doctor is found guilty. Charges are issued after an investigation is complete, which can take an average of about six months.

The goal is to give the Office of Professional Medical Conduct more power and oversight of physicians, to provide more information to New Yorkers in the case of public health threats, and to prevent problems from happening in the first place.

The article continues:

State law is currently silent about when officials can disclose charges of professional misconduct to the public, but attorneys for the state say a legislative change is necessary before charges against a doctor can be released.

A 2005 investigation by the comptroller’s office found that the OPMC was thorough in its investigation of cases of potential misconduct, but wasn’t proactively rooting it out.

Hopefully, this legislative movement will be successful for public health and a higher degree of accountability.

Lasiks eye surgery is big business in the medical community. The question becomes is it for everyone? Are doctors opting for lasiks when other options should be pursued instead? Lauran Neergaaard, a medical writer points out:

About 7.6 million Americans have undergone some form of laser vision correction, including the $2,000-per-eye Lasik. Lasik is quick and, if no problems occur, painless: Doctors cut a flap in the cornea - the clear covering of the eye- aim a laser underneath it and zap to reshape the cornea for sharper sight.

The vast majority of patients, 95 percent, see better and are happy they had Lasik, said Dr. Kerry Solomon of the Medical University of South Carolina, who led a review of Lasik’s safety for the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

But doctors advise against Lasik for one in four people who seek the surgery. Their pupils may be too large or corneas too thin or they may have some other condition that can increase the risk of a poor outcome.

Solomon estimates that fewer than 1 percent of patients have severe complications that leave poor vision.

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Why is the FDA doing a study of Lasik patient satisfaction and health?
Lauran continues:

Make no mistake: Most Lasik recipients do walk away with crisper vision, some better than 20/20.

But not everyone’s a good candidate, and an unlucky few do suffer life-changing side effects: poor vision, painful dry eyes, glare or problems seeing at night.

How big are the risks? The Food and Drug Administration thinks about 5 percent of patients are dissatisfied with Lasik. How many struggle daily with side effects? How many are just unhappy that they couldn’t completely ditch their glasses? The range of effects on patients’ quality of life is a big unknown.

So with a public hearing Friday, the FDA is beginning a new effort to determine if warnings about Lasik’s risks are appropriate. The agency also is pairing with eye surgeons for a major study expected to enroll hundreds of Lasik patients to better understand who has bad outcomes and exactly what their complaints are.

Its great that the FDA is finally waking up to this issue after a decade of lasik surgery so that the next generation of lasiks patients will be happier, safer, and ultimately healthier.

Medicine use by Americans for chronic conditions is skyrocketing. Linda A. Johnson, business writer for AP points out:

In addition, there is the pharmaceutical industry’s relentless advertising. With those factors unlikely to change, doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow.

“Unless we do things to change the way we’re managing health in this country … things will get worse instead of getting better,” predicted Jones, a heart specialist and dean of the University of Mississippi’s medical school.

Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country. But it was unclear how their prescriptions compare to those of insured people elsewhere. Comparable data were not available for Europe, for instance.

Medco’s data show that last year, 51 percent of American children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, up from 50 percent the previous four years and 47 percent in 2001. Most of the drugs are taken daily, although some are needed less often.

The company examined prescription records from 2001 to 2007 of a representative sample of 2.5 million customers, from newborns to the elderly.

Medication use for chronic problems was seen in all demographic groups:

- Almost two-thirds of women 20 and older.
- One in four children and teenagers.
- 52 percent of adult men.
- Three out of four people 65 or older.

Among seniors, 28 percent of women and nearly 22 percent of men take five or more medicines regularly.

Karen Walker of Paterson, N.J., takes 18 prescription medicines daily for high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic back and shoulder pain, asthma and the painful muscle disorder fibromyalgia.

Only when America steps of the medicine treadmill with the health care and medical liability crisis be alleviated.

If you’ve experienced an injury that related to your medical health it can be very complex and complicated to find out what to do. Findlaw provides some guidance:

Q: Does someone who is not satisfied with the results of his or her surgery have a malpractice case?
A: In general, there are no guarantees of medical results, and unexpected or unsuccessful results do not necessarily mean negligence occurred. To succeed in a medical malpractice case, a plaintiff has to show an injury or damages that resulted from the doctor’s deviation from the standard of care applicable to the procedure.

Q: What should I do if I think I have a medical malpractice claim?
A: You should talk to a lawyer who specializes in such cases, as soon as possible. Tell the attorney exactly what happened, from your first visit to the doctor or other health care provider, through your last contact with him or her. If possible, obtain your medical records and bring them to your first meeting with the attorney. There are time limits governing how long someone may wait to bring a medical malpractice claim, so time is of the essence.

Q: What is “informed consent”?
A: Although the specific definition of informed consent may vary from state to state, it means essentially that a physician (or other medical provider) must tell a patient of all the potential benefits, risks, and alternatives involved in any surgical procedure, medical procedure, or other course of treatment, and must obtain the patient’s written consent to proceed.

Q: Do I have a case against a doctor who prescribed me a drug for treatment, but failed to tell me it was part of an experimental program?
A: Your physician had a duty to tell you that the drug was part of an experimental program, and you had the right to refuse to participate in it. You may have grounds for an action against your doctor based on his/her failure to obtain your “informed consent” relative to this treatment.

Q: If the consent form I signed prior to a procedure is considered valid, can I recover any damages in a malpractice action against my doctor?
A: Yes, you still may be able to recover damages. A consent form does not release from liability a physician who was negligent in performing a medical procedure. If you can establish that your doctor deviated from the applicable standard of care in performing the procedure, and you were injured as a result, you may still recover against him/her. You may also have a claim that the procedure the physician performed went beyond the consent you gave, in which case the doctor might even be liable for battery.

Whether you live in New York, Washington DC, or anywhere and you have more questions about your rights and what its owed you or to determine if you have a valid medical malpractice case, please contact a responsible lawyer.