- Steve Klearman | April 30, 2006 9:53 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeEver wonder when you as a parent become liable for an accidents or intentional injuries caused by your child?Nevada law addresses this in two statutes:First, NRS 41.470 provides: 1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 424.085, any act of willful misconduct of a minor which results in any injury or death to another person or injury to the private property of another or to public property is...
- Steve Klearman | April 30, 2006 9:36 AM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsJuries sit for days or weeks to determine verdicts. Juries are a fundamental concept in our American system. Why do some continue to question the wisdom of juries? Only a juror who sat through a case understands the evidence in that case.Florida attorney Bob Carroll cites to the following verdicts in his blog of this date. Do these look like frivilous lawsuits?A jury in New York awarded the...
- Steve Klearman | April 29, 2006 7:12 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeThanks to Michael Kaplen's braininjury blog for these observations regarding Tom Baker's insightful book on how the insurance industry continues to contribute to a reduction in the quality of health care in America:In a new book entitled, The Medical Malpractice Myth,Tom Baker, Connecticut Mutual Professor of Law and director of the Insurance Center at the University of Connecticut, uses...
- Steve Klearman | April 29, 2006 7:06 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeThe following is an editorial published on April 20, 2006 in USA Today: "Whose side are they on? The thought of a surgeon taking a scalpel to the wrong limb, organ or patient sends chills down the spine of anyone who has been in a hospital.Eighty-four cases of what's known in the business as "wrong-site surgery" were reported in the USA last year. But that's just the "tip of the iceberg,"...
- Steve Klearman | April 28, 2006 3:21 PM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsAs I indicated a blog or two ago, cases that are appealed from arbitration or fail in mediation may proceed into Nevada's Short Trial Program. Here's an overview of that program:-A presiding judge is appointed and hears all motions. -The parties exchange document and witness lists and meet for a pretrial conference to chart out the course of the case.-The case is calendared and set for trial...
- Steve Klearman | April 28, 2006 9:59 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeI sat with a client this morning who reminded me once again of a simple concept that's almost always overlooked by doctors: the concept of accepting responsibility. How many malpractice cases would be averted if a doctor simply accepted responsibility and apologized?Doctors might answer that no cases would be averted. They might say that our legal system has created an atmosphere in which...
- Steve Klearman | April 27, 2006 3:35 PM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsThe Nevada judicial system has continued to refine its attempt to route smaller cases (generally those with a value of under $40,000) away from district court jury trials and through a series of alternative dispute resolution programs.In Washoe County, Nevada, there are two basic choices in cases of this nature.First, parties can proceed through arbitration. In this form of alternative dispute...
- Steve Klearman | April 20, 2006 3:25 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeUSA Today reports that 'wrong site' surgeries are on the rise."Despite years of patient-safety efforts, an increasing number of health care facilities have reported mistakenly removing the wrong limbs or organs, slicing into the wrong side of bodies and performing surgery on the wrong patients. 'It's getting worse,' says Dennis O'Leary, who heads the non-profit Joint Commission on Accreditation...
- Steve Klearman | April 20, 2006 8:13 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeI sat in a settlement conference the other day with a district court judge. My clients are three young girls who lost their father after he was prematurely discharged from the hospital with a dangerous cardiac condition and died shortly thereafter. The defendant cardiologist, concerned with his reputation and honor, was upset that he had been sued. The implication was that lawyers (me, in...
- Steve Klearman | April 05, 2006 4:43 PM |
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Automobile AccidentsPunitive damages are meant to punish intentional or exceptionally stupid (my term, not the legislature's) conduct.Punitive damages are available in Nevada auto accident cases under certain limited circumstances. NRS 42.010 provides as follows:42.010. Exemplary and punitive damages: Injury caused by operation of vehicle after consumption of alcohol or controlled substance 1. In an action for the...
- Steve Klearman | April 03, 2006 12:00 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeI've long had the idea that it's best not to go to the hospital at night or on weekends. It's clear that in Nevada, like many states, hospital staffing levels differ between day and night, weekend and weekday. If you are seriously ill, I strongly urge you to have a friend or relative stay with you overnight during your hospitalization. While this may be extremely burdensome, or simply...
- Steve Klearman | April 03, 2006 11:45 AM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsThis set of observations come from the Greedy Trial Lawyer blog at http://www.greedytriallawyer.com. I reproduce this here in an attempt to occasionally touch upon the unsavory relationship between our pharmaceutical companies and our politicians:In the closing days of the 2005 legislative year, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and the White House fail to obtain the needed support for a...