"You have cancer".  This is a terrible thing to hear.  Immediately you wonder how bad it is, if you're going to live, and how brutal the treatment is going to be.

Everybody knows someone who has had cancer, or knows somebody who lost a loved one to cancer.  And everybody knows that a cancer diagnosis will change your life.

In analyzing whether you have a good medical malpractice case, we’ll look at three issues:

1. Did the Doctor Make an Inexcusable Mistake?

It is not enough in a medical malpractice case to prove that a doctor made a mistake. Some mistakes are excusable and are not medical malpractice.

For example, during a surgery, a doctor may accidentally cut something he didn’t intend to cut. This is probably medical malpractice, but in some cases may be an excusable mistake, and therefore not medical malpractice.

One of the most consistent goals of so-called “tort reform” is to put an upper limit on the amount that a defendant has to pay for the damage he causes in injury suits.  For example, in Texas, where there are such limits, a doctor can kill a child or a housewife or a grandfather through malpractice and only have to pay a maximum of $250,000 for doing so—no matter how bad the negligence.  That’s it:  the value placed on human life is $250,000.

Many Victims--But Very Few Malpractice Suits.  Why?

Study after study--by the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine, the National Institute of Health, major medical schools and others, has conclude that hundreds of thousands of people die every year in this country because of medical malpractice.  Hundreds of thousands, probably millions, of other people are injured due to medical negligence.   

Many Victims--But Very Few Malpractice Suits.  Why?

Study after study--by the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine, the National Institute of Health, major medical schools and others, has conclude that hundreds of thousands of people die every year in this country because of medical malpractice.  Hundreds of thousands, probably millions, of other people are injured due to medical negligence.   

Wrongful Death Lawsuits

At my firm we handle a variety of Wrongful Death lawsuits.  Because we work on so many medical malpractice cases, most of the Wrongful Death suits we handle are also medical malpractice cases. 

Just yesterday, I had a client call us about a medical malpractice case, but she wanted to know if we also handle Wrongful Death cases.  Since many people have asked this question over the years, I thought now would be a good time to talk about what a Wrongful Death case is.

Common Surgery--Dangerous If Rules Not Followed

One of the most common surgeries performed in America is the removal of a woman’s uterus—an operation called a “hysterectomy”.  Tens of thousands of American women have this operation done every year.  Advances in medical equipment have made this operation much safer and easier on the women patients—when the new equipment is used correctly.