Medical Malpractice

• Nevada Supreme Court Seeks Statistics on Medical Malpractice Backlog

  Steve Klearman | March 09, 2006 2:08 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  A district court judge mentioned to me yesterday that our Supreme Court was asking for statistics on how quickly medical malpractice cases were taking to get to trial.Here are a few personal observations.First, the Vegas backlog is not the Reno backlog. There is not a court-caused backlog in Reno (or in Northern Nevada) of which I am aware.We do have a related problem, though, and that has to...

• Confessions of a Doctor

  Steve Klearman | January 27, 2006 10:17 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  I spend a fair portion of my life in doctor depositions. Most depositions in an attorney's world take place in law firm conference rooms where we can spread out our papers and our notebooks and look a deponent in the eye from across the table.Doctor's depositions are different, though. Unless a doctor is a defendant in a malpractice action, most doctor depositions take place at the doctor's...

• The Role of Treating Doctors in Injury Cases

  Steve Klearman | January 26, 2006 11:59 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  This will be the first in a series of thoughts about the role that doctors play in injury cases. Doctors can be treating doctors, or expert witnesses, or either but not both, or both. This is a subject of some complexity that I will delve into more in the future; for now, though, let's talk about treating doctors.I was recently in a deposition in a case in which my partially disabled client...

• Statute of Limitations in Nevada Medical Malpractice Cases

  Steve Klearman | January 18, 2006 5:31 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Nevada's 2004 ballot initiative, concieved and created by the U.S. medical malpractice insurance lobby, and naively passed by Nevada's voters (who thought that they were voting to "keep doctors from moving out of Nevada"),contains a new one-year statute of limitations that severely curtails the rights of Nevada's medical malpractice victims.Nevada statute 41A.097 provides: 1. Except as...

• Expert Affidavits Required in Nevada Medical Malpractice Actions

  Steve Klearman | January 18, 2006 4:52 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Although medical malpractice is really a form of negligence, it must be proven through the use of expert witnesses. Doctors are usually needed to evaluate cases and to testify against other doctors. Similarly, nurses are frequently required to testify against other nurses. Defense lawyers hire their own experts in an effort to defeat the plaintiff's case. In medical malpractice trials, the jury...

• Fair Attorney's Fees in Medical Malpractice Actions

  Steve Klearman | December 01, 2005 3:24 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Many victims of medical malpractice who see an attorney may wonder whether a proposed fee agreement is fair.Across the country, standard attorney's fee contingencies in medical malpractice cases range from 33% to 40% of gross or net recovery, and higher contingency fees are not uncommon. Plaintiff's attorneys have long reasoned that medical malpractice cases are especially expensive and...

• U.S. Leads Way In Medical Errors

  Steve Klearman | November 23, 2005 5:15 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Reuters recently reported a startling statistic based upon a study by the Commonwealth Fund reported in the medical journal, Health Affairs: the United States leads Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Germany in medical errors.Patients in the United States reported higher rates of medical errors and more disorganized doctor visits and out-of-pocket costs than people any of these...

• Yale Will Appeal Medical Malpractice Verdict

  Staff Writer | November 15, 2005 11:59 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Yale University's School of Medicine will appeal a $5.2 million verdict awarded a woman claiming she received an unecessary total hysterectomy at Yale-New Haven hospital. Michelle DiLieto was diagnosed with uteran cancer in 1995. The surgery left DiLieto in such pain from nerve damage that she couldn't walk for months. The Yale Daily News provides a complete overview of the medical...