texas tort reform punishes double amputee

Connie Spears had to have both of her legs amputated after doctors ignored her past history of blood clots and sent her home despite her symptoms of severe leg pain.  Despite what to many medical professionals appears to be a clear cut case of medical malpractice, Connie Spears finds no justice in Texas.  Why?  Because of laws passed in 2003:

The huge tort reform package that Texas lawmakers approved in 2003 capped noneconomic damages that a plaintiff could receive for medical malpractice at $250,000 and set a “willful and wanton” negligence standard — interpreted as intentionally harming the patient — for emergency care. It also required plaintiffs to find a practicing or teaching physician in the same specialty as the defendant to serve as an expert witness and to demonstrate evidence of negligence before a trial. Under the strengthened rules, if plaintiffs fail to produce adequate expert reports within 120 days of filing their cases, they are liable for defendants’ legal fees.

Source: Even With Counsel, Texas Amputee Is Hindered by State Tort Laws - NYTimes.com

The creation of a “willful and wanton” standard was supposedly a mechanism to prevent frivolous lawsuits from hurting doctors who made the wrong choice in a time of crisis.  Instead, it protects doctors who do anything short of purposely hurting their patients.

The real reason Texas passed the tort reform that it did had little to do with any lawsuit crisis in the medical profession.  Instead, this law rewarded Republican campaign contributors and financially hurt trial lawyers, which are traditionally a group of Democratic campaign contributors.

Thanks to gerrymandering the Republican majority in Texas is not in danger of disappearing any time soon.  And because of that, neither is the oppressive medical malpractice package it put into place ten years ago.

FDA May require more information from metal-on-metal hip makers

Once again, the FDA arrives late to the party:

Jan 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a proposal calling on companies that make all-metal hip replacements to provide additional information proving they are safe and effective before being allowed to continue selling them.

The move follows years of concern within the medical community over the metal-on-metal implants, which the FDA said on Thursday can cause soft-tissue damage, potentially leading to further surgery to replace the devices.

Source: UPDATE 1-FDA moves to tighten controls on all-metal hip implants | Reuters

Recall of course that trial lawyers have for years been filing lawsuits against the makers of metal-on-metal hips.  DePuy, for example. faces over 2,000 lawsuits from individuals who received DePuy ASR hip implants that may be defective.

Dangerous Drugs Blog Redesigned

I was so happy with the way my Asbestos Lawyer blog turned out that I had the same design team develop a new look for my drugs and medical devices blog, Dangerous Drugs.   Take a look!

Yaz Lawyer Blog Has Been Updated and Redesigned

My Yaz lawyer blog, www.findtherightyazlawyer.com, had gotten a little long in the tooth.  So I updated it and added some fresh content for October 2012 regarding Yaz lawsuits and Yaz settlements.  Here's a taste:

As of October of 2012, Bayer has settled close to 2,000 Yaz lawsuits for close to $500 million dollars. Bayer has set aside hundreds of millions more to settle the roughly 12,000 Yaz lawsuits currently pending.

. . . .

The average Yaz settlement has been about $212,000 to date. Some women receive more, and some women receive less, but that depends upon the extent of the injuries suffered. We are happy to discuss the settlement range with you if you think you may qualify for a Yaz settlement.

Check out the site if you'd like to know more about Yaz lawsuits and settlements.

Yaz Injury Lawsuits Settling - Clots, Deep Vein Thrombosis, Pulmonary Embolism

I'm a a Yaz lawyer who may be able to help women who were injured while taking Yaz.  Bayer is settling cases for women who suffered certain types of injuries while taking Yaz or Yasmin.  I'm particularly interested in speaking to any woman who was hospitalized while she was taking Yaz due to a:

Blood Clot;

Deep Vein Thrombosis;

Pulmonary Embolism.

You can e-mail me directly at justinian@justinian.us, or you can call me toll-free at my Yaz law firm at 888-315-3997.