Monday, January 10, 2011

What Falls Under The Category Of Medical Negligence?

By David Halbert
Medical negligence is a legal term. It is a professional negligence, which occurs due to carelessness or incompetency of a health care provider. Health care providers can be doctors, nurses, therapists or anyone who is a professional in this field. There have been many incidents in which patients and their families had to suffer due to medical negligence.

In terms of law, medical negligence is an important aspect. Medical negligence is also termed as medical malpractice. People who have been victims of medical malpractice can hold the health provider accountable for his actions by suing the individual or the hospital, in order to get compensation for the damage done. Although the damage may be irreversible, it is reassuring for the patients to get compensation out of it and to bring the matter to justice.

Medical negligence can be of many types. The first main category is misdiagnosis. In this case, the doctor fails to properly diagnose the patient's condition and so prescribes the wrong medication or procedures to treat it. This can then have negative effects on the health of the patient and cause his condition to further deteriorate. It can also occur due to a prescription error in which the doctor mistakenly gives wrong prescription, which has a bad effect on the patient.

Surgical error is also another category of medical negligence. Sometimes, due to a number of factors, there can be unnecessary complications in surgery which can put the patient at risk. In some cases, insufficient safety measures or improper calculations can lead to surgical complications. In other cases, the doctor takes on too much risk and puts the patient's life in danger. In some instances, mere carelessness is to blame.

Delivery room errors are also a major part of medical overlook. Improper delivery measures can put the mother and the baby both at risk. Many times, due to complications in delivery, there are irreversible damages to the baby's health, and this is devastating for the parents. In worst cases, medical negligence can be fatal for the baby or the mother. Especially in complicated deliveries, the hospital can sometimes be understaffed or ill-equipped to handle the situation, and this can be detrimental for both the baby and the mother.

Medical negligence cases are taken up by lawyers who are specialists in this area of law. It is important to understand that it is a sensitive area of law, and medical negligence cases are usually difficult to win. This is because it is not easy to prove that a patient was put at risk due to medical malpractice, or if it was something unpreventable.

Sometimes, doctors try their best but still the patient gets worse; this does not make them liable under the law. Therefore, if you think that you have a case of medical negligence, make sure that you have enough proof, or it can be a very lengthy process. However, if you really do feel like you are a victim, find a good lawyer and take the matter to the court as soon as possible.http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Falls-Under-The-Category-Of-Medical-Negligence?&id=5564498
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Sunday, January 9, 2011

How Much Does an Asbestos Lawyer Cost?

By Alla Tumanyan
Asbestos exposure can be the cause of serious illnesses such as mesothelioma and asbestosis. These diseases are caused by the occupational exposure to the toxic mineral. People who work in factories and mines are likely to develop these illnesses. The directors of the factories or manufacturers are responsible for the loss and suffering the person suffers when he develops mesothelioma. They know about the cancerous effects of the mineral and very often they don't even warn their workers about it. In general special clothing and equipment should be used by people who are in direct contact with the mineral. But sometimes these rules are not preserved. Thus, people become the victims of asbestos exposure. These people have the right to get compensation for their loss and suffering. They hire asbestos lawyers who take asbestosis legal actions and fight for their client's rights.

But how much does an asbestos lawyer cost? It is worth mentioning that the costs vary from one lawyer to another. This is conditioned by different factors. First of all the experience plays a great role. The more experienced the lawyer is the higher the costs of his services are. It is natural, that if the lawyer has won many cases the cost for his services will be higher. Another factor is the reputation. Reputation is important in any aspect and here it also plays an important role.
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Much-Does-an-Asbestos-Lawyer-Cost?&id=5522692
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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Medical Order Negligence

By James Witherspoon
Medical malpractice is an unfortunate reality in the health care industry. Malpractice refers to any negligent or careless errors that medical personnel commit while they oversee a patient. Many patients have become very concerned and worried that medical negligence has played a part in their illness or injury. If you feel that a doctor, nurse, surgeon, or other medical professional was negligent in their duties when treating you, you shouldn't have to pay and suffer for their mistakes. It is the job of these medical professionals to diagnose and treat you with skill and competence.

Potential medical carelessness or negligence

While you are undergoing treatment, doctors will often list their orders for other staff to adhere to. They could compile a very complex list of foods you can or cannot eat, medications you should take, and therapy you need to have. Because doctors' orders can become so complicated, errors and mistakes are possible. By not properly following a doctor's instructions, the following mistakes could occur:

Serving the wrong foodIncluding an ingredient in food that you shouldn't eat, Causing infection due to negligence, Failing to check vital signs and equipment, Failing to provide a patient with a timely treatment or procedure,

The proper care of patients is what nurses and medical staff are trained to do. You deserve to have the best in professional care and treatment and when this does not happen, you deserve to be compensated. By holding negligent medical professionals accountable for their actions, you can help make sure that these mistakes are not repeated in the future.http://ezinearticles.com/?Medical-Order-Negligence&id=5560675
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Friday, January 7, 2011

Suing on Grounds of Pharmacy Negligence

By James Blatt
Does the pharmacist have a duty to care? Can a patient sue a pharmacy for being negligent? The answer to the first question is a yes. However, only a competent lawyer can weigh the facts at hand and give an accurate answer to the second question. Get in touch with a legal professional if pharmacy negligence is the cause of your injury.

Florida accepts pharmacy as a profession, so any negligence on the part of the pharmacist may be interpreted as malpractice. Which incidents classify in this category? Numerous errors may fall within this category - providing over dosage or under dosage, providing wrong medication, providing wrong instructions, and so on.

Every pharmacy has a duty to care towards the patients. Therefore, it is their responsibility to take care while filling out the prescription about the right medication, instructions and dosage. It is also a case of negligence if the pharmacist fails to understand the effects of consuming different medications at the same time.

It is, however, necessary to understand that not every error is necessarily a ground for filing a lawsuit. Consider the circumstances before you go ahead and sue a pharmacy. Discuss the details with your lawyer. Only when you are sure that it was a negligent action, you can file for damage recovery.

Keep in mind, the lawsuit is for damage recovery, therefore, damage is a preceding clause in the dispute. For example, the pharmacist in Orange County gives you the wrong dosage but this does not cause any serious harm to you. In such a situation, you do not have a strong enough ground to file a case.

Many think that in such a case, the Florida statute of limitations is four years. However, this is incorrect. Any personal injury case has a statute of four years but the cases involving pharmacy negligence has a statute of two years. Therefore, if you think your pharmacist's negligence was the cause of your injuries, talk to a lawyer now.

It is necessary to consult an Orange County Florida lawyer, with knowledge and experience in handling such cases, immediately. Without competent legal assistance, it is difficult to establish the occurrence of pharmacy negligence. Moreover, only a lawyer is capable of assessing the damage, with the help of other experts.http://ezinearticles.com/?Suing-on-Grounds-of-Pharmacy-Negligence&type=sv&id=5517092
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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Claiming Asbestos Compensation

By Tommy Kas
There are a lot of thing you need to know if you want to get asbestos compensation. This is intended for people who are working with this type of mineral. But before we should know how to claim your asbestos compensation, let's first look at what is asbestos.

Asbestos is a type of naturally occurring mineral that is exploited for their attractive physical properties. Their common physical characteristics are long and thin fibrous crystals.

Now when you inhale asbestos fibers it can cause numerous and serious illnesses. Some of these illnesses are:
• Malignant lung cancer
• Mesothelioma
• Asbestosis

Even though asbestos is a very dangerous mineral to work with, there are many manufacturers who would still use this as its popularity is increasing day by day. Ever since the 19th century, manufacturers of cigarettes as well as those who work with roads are working with this kind of material. Long exposure to this material can induce the serious illnesses stated above.

If you have been exposed to this kind of mineral for over long periods of time, do not worry as you can claim an asbestos compensation. This compensation is not easy to claim as it can be quite difficult as to which company you should blame for your current condition. What you need is expert advice so one of the wisest decisions you should take is to talk to an asbestos compensation solicitor.

There are those asbestos compensation solicitors that would provide you with a free initial consultation to find out whether or not you need a compensation, which would be the right compensation for you, or if you would need to take legal action with a certain company.

Getting the services of these solicitors are easy to find as there are a lot of listings over on the internet. With this kind of solicitor, you are entitled to having his or her full service in order to get you back on your feet at the peak of health.

These solicitors understand that every human life is very important. That is why if you have asbestos related diseases you should immediately seek the help of these solicitors. Not having one at your side can spell immense disaster for your current health condition. Furthermore, they are experts in their field as to assure that they can win for you your compensation. Once they have won you your compensation, imagine how your life will change once you get your health back.

Working with asbestos is not an easy job at all since you are more likely to contract these diseases without the proper gear. But if you do, not to worry as there would always be an asbestos compensation waiting for you.
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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Beware of Insurance Company Changing Reason for Disability Approval

By Gregory Dell
Mental health limitations are common to disability insurance policies. The typical policy will limit disability coverage to 24 months, and then terminate disability coverage. But what happens if a disability insurance company approves a claim based on a physical condition? Can the company come back later and terminate disability coverage at 24 months for a mental health condition? This is a question answered by a case that was heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

The woman involved in this case had been a participant in a group disability insurance policy offered by her employer. She had been one of the company's programmer managers for 14 years. The job was sedentary, which meant she sat most of the time, but occasional walking, bending, stooping and reaching were also part of the job.
When she began to suffer severe chronic joint and muscle pain, she left work and applied for disability insurance benefits. The basis of her claim was a combination of migraine headaches and chronic pain. The medical records that she submitted with her application included two attending physician statements. Her internist supported her claim of chronic pain, while her physiatrist supported her claim of arthralgias.

The disability insurance company approved her application for long-term disability based upon her chronic pain. It used the "own occupation" definition included in the policy. But after she began sending physician statements from her psychiatrist, the disability insurance company concluded that she was now disabled from her position as a programmer manager because she had a mental issue.

As the two year mark was approaching, the disability insurance provider began reviewing the woman's file. Because no additional information had come into the record to demonstrate that she still suffered from chronic pain, the disability insurance company notified her that they were terminating her long-term disability benefits based upon the mental illness limitation. She was also informed that she would not qualify under the "any occupation" phase which was also set to begin at the two-year mark, because the insurer had determined that she was capable of working in her own occupation.

Appeal of Disability Termination

The woman appealed this decision, which resulted in her file being sent to review by a board-certified rheumatologist. The rheumatologist found that the medical records did support the fact that she met the 1990 criteria established by the American College of rheumatology for diagnosing fibromyalgia. Yet, he went on to question whether or not her symptoms were legitimate because they were not supported by MRI results.

Her file was also sent to a psychiatrist/neurologist. This physician questioned the appropriateness of the woman's treatment program, and questioned whether or not she actually had fibromyalgia at all. He found that her primary impairing condition was depression and anxiety.

These two reviews were sent to the woman's long-term disability attorney. He then made sure that the correct documents that supported her appeal were collected and delivered to the insurance company. He made sure that the woman prepared an affidavit regarding her physical and mental condition outlining the impact of these two factors on her daily activities. He also secured the medical records from her active treating physician which supported her continuing diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Additional medical records from four other physicians were also included. These records supported the woman's chronic pain disorder.

Based upon the opinions of the physicians who reviewed the woman's file, the disability insurance company chose to uphold its termination of benefits. The woman had no further administrative appeals available, so her disability attorney filed an instant action on her behalf.

Court Review of Disability Termination

The Court's first responsibility was to determine which standard of review it should use to evaluate the disability insurance companies decision. Because the disability insurance plan was not vested with discretion, the Court was able to use standard known as de novo. This would allow the Court to sit as though it was the plan administrator looking at the information provided by the claimant.

What did the Court find when it looked at the administrative record? The Court found that the woman had been approved for disability on the grounds of her physical limitations. Even though she had been sending physician statements from her psychiatrist after she was approved for disability benefits, when she appealed the decision to terminate her benefits, she had proved medical records that proved she was still disabled from fibromyalgia.
Yet the disability insurance plan had ignored this supporting information. A previous ruling, Cothran v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., had established that in cases where a claimant suffers from a combination of physical and mental/nervous conditions, a disability insurance company cannot apply the mental illness limitation.

If the woman's disability had originally been based upon a mental illness, and she had waited until after the two years had expired to suddenly claimed that she had a physical ailment, the cases of Tumbleston v. A.O. Smith Corp. and Lynd v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co. would have argued against her situation. But there was no question, based upon the medical record that her disability had begun with fibromyalgia and the fibromyalgia continued to be a serious limiting factor on her activities and ability to work.

The disability insurance company did not have the right to change the basis upon which it determined her disability, when the medical records demonstrated that she still had the condition for which they had approved her for benefits. The Court found that this woman had been wrongfully denied an extension of her long-term disability benefits into the "any occupation" phase of the disability benefit plan.
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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Defending Your Nursing License

By James Witherspoon
All nurses are required to be licensed by their state licensing board in order to legally practice nursing within the state. Prospective nurses must undergo a rigorous background investigation in order to become licensed and must meet certain standards throughout their licensure in order to keep the privilege of practicing nursing. If at any point a licensed nurse is believed to have violated the standard of care or other license regulations, he or she may face a licensing board review and disciplinary action.

Nursing Grounds for Discipline

Nursing board license standards can vary from state to state. Some of the common grounds for discipline that may lead to a nursing board investigation include:

Chemical dependencyCriminal arrests or convictions, Fraud, Medical malpractice, Practicing while a license is pending, Professional misconduct, Standard of care violations,

Defending Your Case

If you are entering into a nursing board investigation because you have been suspected of violating the standards or regulations set forth by your licensing board, consider consulting with an experienced nursing license defense lawyer as soon as possible. Just as you would never trust your medical treatment to someone without a medical background, don't trust your license defense to anyone without a strong legal background.

A good license defense attorney can help to clarify the circumstances of your case and will work diligently to protect your legal rights and interests. He or she will handle all communications with your licensing board and will work to pursue the best possible resolution for your case. You may be eligible to negotiate a case dismissal, reduced disciplinary action, rehabilitation, or other alternatives to losing your license.
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