Latest Legal News | Norfolk Legal Examiner

Growth in Health Coverage Under Obamacare Yields Benefits for Accident Victims

Many accident victims must pay out of pocket for medical care while waiting for compensation from the person or company that harmed them. This fact is rarely discussed, but it can represent a real hardship for individuals and families. The alternative to spending one’s own…

By Richard Shapiro

/ 2 Nov 2015

Watch Out for the Deadly Duodenoscope Superbug

Olympus, the manufacturer of the endoscope involved in two superbug deaths at UCLA, never had FDA approval to sell the device. The device is used in patients with gastrointestinal complaints. The FDA was unaware, until 2013, that Olympus started selling its TJF-Q180V duodenoscope (or ERCP…

By Richard Shapiro

/ 12 Oct 2015

Misdiagnoses Take an Unsupportable Toll on Patients and Their Families

Working from the understanding that a diagnostic error is “the failure to (a) establish an accurate and timely explanation of the patient’s health problem(s) or (b) communicate that explanation to the patient,” a committee established by the Institute of Medicine recently reported that misdiagnoses

By Legal Examiner Staffer

/ 1 Oct 2015

Railroad Track Accidents – Understanding Your Legal Rights

Time and again, we read about someone on, or near, railroad tracks getting hit and killed by a train. The moment an awful incident occurs on a railroad track, understand that the railroad company owning those tracks goes into liability-protection mode. That means a team…

By Randy Appleton

/ 15 Sep 2015

Railroad Accidents Up, Despite Industry Claims

The tragic derailment of an Amtrak train makes five train accidents so far this year. The Association of American Railroads has boasted that 2014 was “the safest year on record for the railroad industry.” But that claim is under scrutiny and doesn’t hold up. The New…

By Richard Shapiro

/ 1 Sep 2015

Painkiller Addicts in West Virginia Can Sue Negligent Doctors and Pharmacists

Patients who believe their doctors and pharmacists acted negligently in allowing them to become and remain addicted to powerful prescription painkillers and psychoactive have won an important case before the West Virginia Supreme Court. The ruling in Tug Valley Pharmacy et al. v. All Plaintiffs appl

By Legal Examiner Staffer

/ 28 Aug 2015

Medical Malpractice: Virginia Surgical Team Mocks Patient and Creates False Diagnosis

A Virginia (VA) man who was about to be put under anesthesia for a colonoscopy procedure decided to turn on his cellphone’s audio recorder before the procedure so it would capture the doctor’s post-operation instructions. As soon as he pressed play on his way home,…

By Richard Shapiro

/ 24 Jun 2015

Want to Reduce Medical Malpractice Claims? Reduce Preventable Mistakes

The best way to reduce medical malpractice claims is not by denying a victim’s access to the civil justice system or by capping malpractice damages. Those misguided policies place the burden on the backs of the harmed patients and do not actually result in less…

By Richard Shapiro

/ 22 May 2015

FDA Requires New Warnings, Tighter Prescribing for Low-T Treatments

Extensive advertising for testosterone replacement therapy that promises sufferers of the recently minted condition of “low-T” benefits such as weight loss, increased muscle mass, higher sexual drive, increased sexual performance and sharper mental concentration has prompted growing numbers of men t

By Legal Examiner Staffer

/ 7 Mar 2015

Concierge Medical Services Company Found Liable for Overpromising on Benefits

MDVIP, which contracts with doctors across the United States to provide concierge medical services has been ordered to pay the estate of a deceased woman $8.5 million. Jurors hearing a civil case in West Palm Beach, Florida (FL), held the company liable for fraud and…

By Legal Examiner Staffer

/ 19 Feb 2015

Little-Known Complication of Brain Injury Leads to Uncontrollable Crying and Laughing

Awareness of long-term concussion complications has grown exponentially over the past five years. The discovery of the Alzheimer’s disease-like degenerative neurological condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, among NFL players who sustained multiple concussions during their car

By Legal Examiner Staffer

/ 11 Feb 2015

Misdiagnosis and Failure to Treat Led to Wrongful Death at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center

Can a broken finger prove fatal for a college sophomore? Sadly, yes, especially when the usually minor injury gets mistreated and an underlying chronic health condition remains unaddressed by doctors, nurses and pharmacists. Such errors, misdiagnoses and possible medical negligence appear to have le

By Legal Examiner Staffer

/ 28 Jan 2015