Portland Personal Injury Lawyer - Medical Malpractice - Most Popular

Numb Tongue From Wisdom Tooth Removal

Staff Writer — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 15:56:54 GMT

Most people have their wisdom teeth removed -- the 3rd molars. If the teeth are removed wrong a patient can leave the oral surgery or dental office with a permanently numb tongue. The lingual nerve provides sensation, including taste, to the tongue.

If your tongue is still numb the day after your wisdom teeth have been removed, you should report the problem to the dentist or oral surgeon who removed your wisdom teeth and consider getting a second opinion from a facility that evaluates lingual nerve damage (OHSU and UW have the oral surgery departments). Make sure you have this evaluation right away if you are going to consider lingual nerve repair. Many oral surgeons who do the repairs believe there is better success on the repair surgeries with patients they see sooner and that it is ideal to repair the nerves within six months of injury.

Beware, some patients who have an injured lingual nerve are told that it was part of the consent form the patient signed or was a risk of the procedure -- that is irrelevant. The only issue is whether the wisdom tooth removal was performed properly or not.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

New Book Reveals Where Doctors Go Wrong

Staff Writer — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:00:26 GMT

An article in Time magazine discusses a doctor's new book on why doctors make medical mistakes. The research found that 80% of medical mistakes are due to thinking errors on the part of the doctors and 20% are due to technical errors.

The book is "How Doctors Think" and is a good read for anyone trying to get the best possible care and help protect him/herself from medical errors.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

New Trial Denied in Lingual Nerve Injury Verdict

Staff Writer — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:47:55 GMT

In June, Jane Paulson won a $600,000 verdict for injury to our client's lingual nerve from a wisdom tooth extraction. The defense filed a motion for new trial which was heard and rejected yesterday by the court. The defense now plans to appeal the lingual nerve injury verdict.

The lingual nerve is on the tongue side of your teeth and can be permanently damaged if a dentist errs, most often by overpenetrating with the drill, in removing a patient's wisdom teeth. Many patients are led to believe that lingual nerve injury from wisdom tooth extraction is simply a "risk of the procedure" -- our firm disagrees and has successfully tried four lingual nerve injury cases to verdict in Oregon.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Medical Malpractice Suit Declared Mistrial

Christina Cole — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 22:03:22 GMT

A medical malpractice lawsuit brought by Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis has been declared a mistrial after two defendant doctors helped a juror who had collapsed during testimony.

The unidentified gentleman began to moan before he collapsed during testimony by an expert defense witness.

Weis' attorney moved for mistrial after the juror was removed from the courtroom to be taken to the hospital.

Weis -- the former offensive coordinator of the Patriots -- claimed in his lawsuit that the doctors failed to recognize life-threatening complications after gastric bypass surgery in 2002.
The case had been expected to go to the jury later this week.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole

Oregon Jury Returns $1.4 Million Dollar Medical Malpractice Verdict

Staff Writer — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 22:01:09 GMT

A Portland, Oregon jury returned a $1.4 million dollar verdict in a medical malpractice case today against Oregon Health Sciences University.

The medical malpractice case is significant because it is the first verdict in Oregon since the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that individual doctors at OHSU can be sued beyond the tort claims cap of $100,000 non-economic damages and $100,000 economic damages.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Medication Error Lawsuit Settles

Staff Writer — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 12:35:19 GMT

On July 26, 2006, our firm successfully concluded a case which involved both a medication error and medical malpractice. Our client was placed on Coumadin, a blood thinner, due to a rare clotting factor in her blood. Her doctor erred by taking her off the medication and she had a life-altering stroke, permanently disabling her.

On April 29, 2005 Jane Doe sustained a massive stroke to the brain stem. She survived but cannot walk, talk, feed herself or even swallow. She is bedridden and requires 24 hour care. The case was settled for a confidential amount with a combination of lifetime monthly payments and cash.

Many preventable medication errors injury patients every year. Our law firm handles cases involving medical malpractice and medication errors or prescription errors.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Oregon Malpractice Payouts Decline

Christina Cole — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 23:49:07 GMT

For many years, physicians groups in Oregon and nationally have railed about a malpractice crisis said to be the cause of driving up costs and forcing doctors to close shop.

But a study published on Wednesday suggests malpractice damage awards have declined considerably in recent years.

Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen mined the federal government's National Practitioner Data Bank to track malpractice payments made on behalf of doctors from 1990 to 2005. Findings show:

The average payment for a medical malpractice verdict, adjusted for inflation, dropped 8 percent.
The total number of malpractice judgments and settlements declined 15.4 percent.
The number of payments per 100,000 people declined more than 10 percent.

Public Citizen stands by trial lawyers in opposing efforts by medical groups to limit damages and awards. The Washington, D.C. group asserts that lawmakers should focus on reducing medical errors while tightening doctor discipline and oversight.

The Oregon Medical Association, counters that the high cost of malpractice insurance is hampering Oregon's effort to recruit physicians where they are most needed and that doctors continue cutting back on offering high-risk medical care to minimize legal exposure.

Doctors in the health care industry have spent over $5.2 million in 2004 trying to limit medical malpractice awards with ballot measures but voters reject it.

For now, the Oregon Medical Association has given up getting a state cap on damages but the group is promoting several other ways to limit doctor malpractice costs.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole

Epilepsy Drug Linked To Birth Defects

Staff Writer — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 13:15:54 GMT

A new study solidifies beliefs that women of child-bearing age should avoid the epilepsy drug Depacon (valproate). Evidence showed that of 333 women followed, 20 percent of those taking Depacon suffered miscarriages or gave birth to babies with birth defects. Problems with three other drugs ranged from one to 11 percent.

The study examined only women who took the epilepsy drugs from 199-2004, and researchers note that the sample size was small, and there are newer drugs which were not included in the study.

The researchers found that fetal death or serious birth defects occurred in 20 percent of the women who took valproate. Other problem rates were 11 percent for phenytoin, 8 percent for carbamazepine and 1 percent for lamotrigine.
The four drugs are also known by their U.S. brand names Depacon (valproate), Dilantin (phenytoin), Tegretol (carbamazepine) and Carbatrol (carbamazepine), and Lamictal (lamotrigine).

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Paxil and Risk of Birth Defect

Christina Cole — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 18:09:27 GMT

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded that exposure to paroxetine during pregnancy can increase the risk for congenital malformations, in particular, cardiac malformations. Per the FDA's request, the manufacturer has changed paroxetine's pregnancy category from C to D and now added new data and recommendations to the Warning section of paraxetine's prescribing information.

Paroxetine is available as Paxil, Paxil CR, Pexeva and generic paroxetine hydrochloride. The FDA's conclusion in paroxetine prescribing information is based on preliminary analyses of two recent unpublished studies.

â€¢ In a study using Swedish national registry data, women who received paroxetine in early pregnancy had an approximately 2-fold increased risk for having an infant with a cardiac defect compared to the entire national registry population (the risk of a cardiac defect was about 2% in paroxetine-exposed infants vs. 1% among all registry infants).
â€¢ In a separate study using a United States insurance claims database, infants of women who received paroxetine in the first trimester had a 1.5-fold increased risk for cardiac malformations and a 1.8-fold increased risk for congenital malformations overall compared to infants of women who received other antidepressants in the first trimester. The risk of a cardiac defect was about 1.5% in paroxetine-exposed infants vs. 1% among infants exposed to other antidepressants.
â€¢ Most of the cardiac defects observed in these studies were atrial or ventricular septal defects, conditions in which the wall between the right and left sides of the heart is not completely developed. In general, septal defects are one of the most common type of congenital malformations. They range from those that are symptomatic and may require surgery to those that are asymptomatic and may resolve on their own. It is of note that the data in these studies was limited to first trimester exposures only, and there are not currently data to address whether this or any other risk extends to later periods of pregnancy.

The FDA is waiting on final results of recent studies acquiring additional data related to the use of paroxetine in pregnancy in order to better characterize the risk for congenital malformations in association with paroxetine. In the meantime, the FDA is recommending the following suggestions:

Physicians who are caring for women receiving paroxetine should alert them to the potential risk to the fetus if they plan to become pregnant or are currently in their first trimester of pregnancy. Discontinuing paroxetine therapy should be considered for these patients. In individual cases, the benefits of continuing paroxetine may outweigh the potential risk to the fetus. If the decision is made to discontinue paroxetine and switch to another antidepressant or cease antidepressant therapy, paroxetine discontinuation should be undertaken only as directed in the prescribing information. Paroxetine should generally not be initiated in women who are in their first trimester of pregnancy or in women who plan to become pregnant in the near future.

Women that are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant and currently taking proxetine should meet with their doctor to discuss whether they should continue taking it. However, women should not stop using the drug without first discussing it with their doctor.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole

Judge Rules Medical Malpractice Settlement Cannot Be Sealed

Staff Writer — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:04:04 GMT

Many are praising a judge's recent refusal to seal a medical malpractice settlement and are encouraging others to take the same stance. The judge's decision in the case went against the common practice within the legal community of allowing medical malpractice settlements of lawsuits to be filed confidentially.
Defendants often request medical malpractice settlements be confidential and try to make settlement contingent on a confidentiality provision.

Paul Lyon, spokesman for the Committee for Justice for All, stated "in medical cases, the practice puts the public at risk by shielding sub-par physicians from public disclosure of their mistakes."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer