Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

Though common in litigation, confidential settlements can be controversial. While confidentiality agreements had help expedite settlement, there are concerns that secret settlements can work against public safety by covering up health and safety hazards. As with much in life, the hardest choices are not between good and bad, but between good and good, and between…

In the national debate over health care there has been much discussion of the fact that many people go to hospital emergency departments for medical care that is not necessarily due to a true emergency involving a serious personal injury  or immediately life threatening illness. There are many reasons for that, some good and some…

Atlanta area news coverage this spring has been dominated by the story of a young woman graduate student who suffered a gash on her leg in an accident on a homemade zip line during a rafting trip on the Tallapoosa River. She was taken to the emergency department of the local hospital in a suburban…

The tort reform legislation that passed the Georgia legislature in 2005 involved an unfortunate clash between the medical and legal professions. Then just a rank and file attorney handling catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases in metro Atlanta, and a back row member of the State Bar Board of Governors, I had no real leverage…

The tort reform legislation in Georgia continues to erode in the face of constitutional challenges. The latest chip in the armor is a ruling from Judge Anthony Alaimo, a legendary federal district judge in Brunswick. featured in The Sicilian Judge: Anthony Alaimo, an American Hero. The son of Sicilian immigrants, he was a bomber pilot…

Once again, we often hear from folks after their time has run out. Here’s a question I got last week from a lady who waited way too long. Q.  When I had my first child in 1994, the MD performed an episiotomy which caused severe nerve damage (sliced through tissue from vagina to rectum). I…

The $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases, which was enacted by the Georgia legislature in 2005 as part of an omnibus tort reform bill  known as SB3, faces another constitutional challenge this week. Yesterday, Fulton County State Court Judge Diane Bessen held the cap unconstitutional in the case of Nestlehutt v. Atlanta…

As an Atlanta trial lawyer, I have often seen instances of severe neglect in nursing homes. Last week I wrote on this blog about the ratings of Georgia’s 358 nursing homes, 115 of which rated “much below average.”  A few days ago, a DeKalb County jury returned a $1.25 million verdict for the family of…

We have lawyers in my firm who regularly handle nursing home malpractice and abuse cases all over Georgia. One of them called my attention to the new government web site that included ratings of nursing homes. The 17 Georgia nursing homes rated “much above average” include:  But out of 358 nursing homes in Georgia, 115 rate…

Georgia is one of the states that has adopted a hard cap ($350,000 here) on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.  Noneconomic damages include pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, etc. However, a catastrophic medical malpractice case with substantial economic loss may still result in a large recovery.  The death of a high income…