Philip Morris Pays $9.7 Million to Woman Who Got Cancer After Decades of Smoking
A court in Woburn, Massachusetts issued a verdict ordering the tobacco company Philip Morris to pay $9,685,414.00 to a patient whose cancer and other health problems are the result of decades of smoking cigarettes marketed by the company. The company owns many of the most popular cigarette brands sold in the United States, including Marlboro, […]
Family Files Medical Malpractice Lawsuit After Retired Truck Driver Dies From Accidental Overdose of Prescribed Pain Medication
The family of a 68-year-old man who died from an accidental overdose of opioid painkillers and benzodiazepines has filed a lawsuit against the world-renowned hospital that treated him and two of its physicians. The family alleges that the doctors failed to modify the patient’s prescriptions even though it was obvious that he was suffering […]
Nebraska Family Receives $3.3 Million Settlement After Court Rules That Physicians’ Errors Led to Fatal Complications
A court in Nebraska awarded $3.365 million in damages to a plaintiff whose wife went into cardiac arrest several days after undergoing gastric bypass surgery and died several months later. The victim had seven children under the age of 18 at the time of her death. The patient underwent gastric bypass surgery in December […]
Iowa Man Receives $12.5 Million Settlement After Invasive Surgery to Remove Non-Existent Cancer
A court in Iowa has awarded $12.5 million to a plaintiff who underwent invasive surgery to treat prostate cancer after the defendant, a pathologist, mixed up the cancer-free man’s records with those of another patient who actually had prostate cancer. The problem began in early 2017, when the plaintiff, a retired factory worker in […]
Michigan Court Awards $20 Million to Family of Woman Who Died After Unnecessary Brain Surgery, but Lawyer’s Actions During Appeal Process Prevent Family From Collecting Damages
A trial court in Michigan awarded $20 million in damages to the family of a woman who died after she underwent an invasive brain surgery she did not need; hospital staff confused her records with those of a patient suffering from an intracranial hemorrhage. It was an enormous award for an unambiguous error on the […]
Court Rules in Favor of Cardiologist Accused of Placing Unnecessary Cardiac Defibrillator
A court has issued a ruling in favor of the defendant in a medical malpractice case in which the plaintiff sought three million dollars in damages. The cardiology practice to which the doctor belonged and the hospital where the surgery took place were also named as defendants. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant caused him […]
Fresno Jury Rules Against Heart Surgeon Who Left Operating Room During Surgery
A jury in Fresno, California reached a verdict of 11-1, deciding that a patient’s permanent coma was the result of negligence on the part of a heart surgeon who left the operating room during a surgery to replace the patient’s aortic heart valve. The amount of damages was not specified; the jury must deliberate further […]
How the Daubert Standard Affects Medical Malpractice Cases
Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals was a 1993 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that established the Daubert Standard, a rule of evidence determining whether the testimony of expert witnesses is admissible in a civil or criminal court case. In two other cases in the 1990s, General Electric Co. v. Joiner in 1997 and Kumho […]
Illinois Court Rules in Favor of Neurosurgeon Sued for Failure to Diagnose Cauda Equina Syndrome
A court in Illinois has returned a verdict in favor of the defendants in a medical malpractice lawsuit, namely a neurosurgeon who treated the plaintiff for a back injury and the hospital where the plaintiff received treatment. The plaintiff had also named his primary care physician in the original complaint, but the case against the […]
Family Receives Settlement After Child Suffers Complication From Group B Streptococcus Infection During Birth
A hospital in Georgia has agreed to pay a settlement to a family whose child suffers from disabilities resulting from exposure to Group B Streptococcus bacteria during birth. It has admitted negligence on the part of a physician who treated the mother in the emergency room and on the part of the obstetrician who saw […]