Med Mal Plaintiffs (Still) Have Privacy Rights

It isn’t often that Florida appellate courts elevate the privacy rights of plaintiffs over the discovery needs of hospitals and doctors in a medical malpractice case. So this will be a great help. “We understand the burden that in-camera inspections put on busy trial judges,” the panel said. “Nevertheless, that burden may be necessary to […]

Who’s In Charge?

In every investigation involving medical malpractice issues, in addition to the medical research and deep dive into the medical records, I endeavor to find out everything I can about the background of the health care providers involved at every level in my client’s care and treatment. For this very reason: Lee’s family successfully argued that […]

This Privilege Ruling Reminds Me Of Our Charles v. Baptist Hospital Case

Hospitals try to conceal every report of adverse incidents, even when they know better. I litigated this issue here in Florida successfully. Here is the link to that story: Charles v. Baptist – A Landmark Decision. In this Pennsylvania case, things were a little more clear. Central to the appeal is text of the MCARE Act […]

A major victory for Maya’s family, their lawyers, and patients everywhere. I cannot overstate how impressive this work is under difficult circumstances.

A Florida jury tacked on $50 million in punitive damages to a roughly $211 million award to the family of Maya Kowalski, the child at the center of the Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya,” against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital for mistreating Maya to the point that her mother took her own life. Read […]

I Was Afraid This Would Happen

An overlooked aspect of personal injury claims is the stress associated with the litigation, including opening up discovery to the other side and awkward encounters with treaters who are somewhere on the spectrum between skeptical or suspicious and hostile. Especially in serious cases, where the victim constantly in the care of medical professionals. As I […]

Do Qualified Protective Orders Maintain the Privacy of PHI Related to the Claim?

I advise my clients that the pursuit of a medical malpractice claim involves waiving the privacy and confidentiality of the medical issues related to the claim. I think that is customary advice in the legal community. Trying to parse out what may remain confidential, whether you have a “qualified protective order” or not, is an […]

Peer Review Privilege is Boken: we’re going to keep chipping away state by state

#QualityFraud A Pennsylvania appellate court’s recent ruling makes clear that a hospital’s internal documents are generally considered fair game for discovery in medical malpractice suits and the onus is on health care providers to prove otherwise, experts said. Read more at: https://www.law360.com/personal-injury-medical-malpractice/articles/1723936?nl_pk=029cff45-637f-44e3-babf-75563f8e0bfd&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=personal-injury-medical-malpractice&utm_content=2023-09-21&read_main=1&nlsidx=0&nlaidx=0?copied=1

Univ. Of Wash. Hospital Sued Over Allegedly Lost Tumor

I’m curious because the news report doesn’t mention it – wasn’t there a repeat biopsy once they realized the first specimen was lost? “Defendant UW lost the surgically removed tumor prior to conducting the requisite pathological review and left plaintiff without a clear diagnostic or care plan,” according to the complaint seeking medical negligence damages. […]

The Line Between Relevance and Privacy for Plaintiffs Can Be Thin (but still exists in some places)

An Illinois court ruled that a defendant doctor’s legal team could not have access to the plaintiff’s mental health records because they were not relevant to the claims. “From the limited record, Dr. Rao practices at a clinic that specialized in lung issues. Plaintiff was there presumably seeking treatment for lung issues. Nowhere in the […]

Hospitals have begun to use the technology to help reduce medical errors and improve patient safety.

Black boxes on airplanes record detailed information about flights. Now, a technology that goes by the same name and captures just about everything that goes on in an operating room during a surgery is making its way into hospitals. Here is the link: Hospital ‘Black Boxes’ Put Surgical Practices Under the Microscope: Hospitals have begun […]