The rate of malpractice incidence is increasing for Physicians Assistants (PA’s) and Nurse Practitioners (NP’s). This has been attributed to the major increase in number of PA and APN providers between 1991 and 2007.
More cases are being filed and higher judgments are being awarded in malpractice cases utilizing nurse practitioner and physician assistant expert witnesses. Statistics from the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) show that judgments and/or settlements increased between 2004 and 2008.
Medical errors kill more than 250,000 people in the U.S. yearly, and injure millions. The chaotic nature of emergency rooms leads to a multitude of emergency room (ER) malpractice incidents, including misdiagnosis, surgical errors, delayed diagnosis, failure to diagnose, anesthesia malpractice, and more.
In fact, the Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA) has said that the ER is an area of the hospital that generates the most medical malpractice lawsuits. (more…)
According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 18.5% of all workplace deaths in the United States occur in the construction industry (that’s more than in any other industry). OSHA categorizes the top four causes of death in the construction industry as “the fatal four” because together, they account for 57% of all construction industry deaths. (more…)
Medication errors are one of the leading causes of death and injury in hospitals today. They arise in several situations. Here are the most common forms of error:
Over the past two decades, the number of truck accidents has increased by 20%. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), in 2002, 4,897 individuals died and 130,000 people were injured in crashes that involved a large truck. (more…)
According to the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (RID), a non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives, hospital infections kill more Americans each year than AIDS, breast cancer and auto accidents combined. As stated by The Center for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 100,000 people die of a hospital-acquired infection per year, though experts believe the number is actually higher. (more…)
Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice cases are complex. Clients often have extensive medical histories, and it can be an arduous task to separate and/or correlate previous injuries with current ones. In addition, electronic medical records are quickly becoming the standard which are often repetitive and voluminous. (more…)
After Hurricane Sandy did catastrophic damage up and down the East Coast in 2012, 450,000 private insurance claims were filed in New Jersey alone. Estimates of property damage, business expenses and other losses exceeded $80 billion, with estimated insured losses in the $25 billion range. Questions of causation, business interruption, water damage, reinsurance coverage, and more came to the forefront. Unfortunately, claim denials, underpayments of insurance claims, undervalued damage estimates, lowball insurance settlements, delayed payments or deceptive practices can infringe on legal rights.
Most people dislike going to the dentist, and when that dentist is negligent, it can cause patients to experience significant permanent trauma and pain. The impact of dental malpractice on a patient can seriously influence their appearance as well as their general health. (more…)
The following interview is with a board-certified Internal Medicine doctor who has been involved in the medical-legal arena for the last 15 years. He has been an actively practicing physician for the last 30 years.
