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The hospital that staffed the “cowboy” surgeon failed in its duty to protect the community from the unsavory practices of this unproctored, non-credentialed member of their medical staff. Given the fact that hospital and medical staff leadership not only were aware of his rogue behavior, but they encouraged and enabled the behavior until the inevitable occurred and a life was lost, the breach of duty and the culpability of the defendant parties is overwhelmingly apparent.
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This case illustrates a hospital’s standard of care and the standards for subsequent expert witness reports that address this standard of care.
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The main issue in this appeal is whether the plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to support a medical malpractice claim. To prevail in a malpractice action, the plaintiff must prove the standard of care, a deviation from that standard of care, and a causal connection between the deviation and the claimed injury.
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Healthcare organizations encourage and sometimes require staff to file safety incident reports after any kind of mishap. But many of those reports include improper accusations of wrongdoing and blaming individuals. This undermines the value of the incident reports.
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Drug diversion is a perennial problem for healthcare organizations. Risk managers should know there is substantial liability risk from the possible effects on patient safety. This problem is not improving, industry sources say — and some things are getting worse.
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Steps taken in the early phase of malpractice litigation can significantly affect the length of the case, with the right moves resulting in a faster, cheaper resolution. On the other hand, missteps and oversights can draw out the case, costing more in legal fees and more on the eventual settlement.
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Once a risk manager realizes the organization may have violated laws or regulations, the best course of action might be to report the violation instead of hoping no one will discover it. Self-disclosure can offer many advantages that result in lesser penalties and other consequences. But it is important to know when to report and how to do it advantageously.
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One of the major takeaways from this case relates to the substantial adverse verdict imposed by the jury here: Nearly $35 million dollars, primarily allocated to the lifetime of anticipated medical expenses. Past and future expenses are a critical component that medical malpractice patients seek to recover. When the patient is an injured child, a lifetime of injuries can cascade into massive damages through projections and estimates of permanent or extensive medical care.
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When dealing with video that might be used in a malpractice or premises liability case, the risk of spoliation arises when the owner of the evidence knows it could be relevant to the case and destroys it anyway. When that happens, the court may order the jury to assume that whatever was on the video was damaging to the party that destroyed it.