Dallas Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Hospital Sued For Inflated Medical Bills Durring Stay - Dallas, Texas

 

The case of a man who was stuck with a $14,419 bill that he calls inflated and unreasonable after three days of care in a Charlotte hospital is going to be heard by the North Carolina Supreme Court.

The case, scheduled to be heard by the state's high court on Monday, is upsetting officials at the state's major medical centers.

Robert Talford argues that there should be a trial to determine whether the cost of medications was reasonable. He says the hospital, which he declined to identify, charged 24 times more for the medication than what a local pharmacy would charge.

"The cost was not reasonable since the difference in the charges for the medications was 24 times, 15 times and 11 times higher," Talford said in court documents. "The reasonable man could find these charges unreasonable."

The bill from Talford's 2007 hospital stay doesn't include another $5,556 for his room, he said.

The North Carolina Hospital Association and big hospital groups based in Durham, Asheville, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Raleigh want the Supreme Court to rule against Talford and make it easy for them to collect overdue bills in court without a trial.

"While all patients receiving care are generally liable for payment for services they receive, the practical reality — especially in the current economy — is that hospitals do not receive payment from a significant number of their patients, many of whom have no means to pay," the hospitals said in arguments submitted to the court. "So it is imperative that hospitals are able to collect money from patients able to pay for their medical care without unreasonable barriers to hinder such efforts."

Talford, 68, of Charlotte, declined comment Saturday. A lawyer for more than 30 years, Talford is representing himself. His license to practice law was suspended in 2009 after the North Carolina State Bar determined he charged an excessive fee when he tried to collect one-third of a former worker's compensation client's settlement money after the client had dropped Talford as his lawyer.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, which does business as Carolinas HealthCare System, appealed the case to the Supreme Court after a divided Court of Appeals panel determined the hospital shouldn't get a court order forcing collection without a trial. Carolinas Health Care System operates nearly three dozen health care facilities in the region, including its flagship hospital, Carolinas Medical Center.

For more information go to www.injurylawyerdallastexas.com or call 214-855-0034.

Patient Who Died In MRI Machine Wins At Medical Malpractice Trial - Dallas, Texas

A jury awarded $6.2 million to the estate of a man who died while in a hospital's MRI machine. In December 2002, Cory Fine, 41, returned to Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics Inc. with breathing difficulties after undergoing gastric bypass surgery five days earlier. While undergoing an MRI, Fine died. Plaintiff's counsel argued that Fine died of a cardiac arrhythmia caused by low oxygen levels. He contended that having Fine lay down flat caused his organs to shift and resulted in dangerously lowered levels of oxygen. The hospital claimed that the MRI was done according to standard procedure and that it had Fine's oral consent. Defense counsel argued that Fine's death was caused by a rare reaction to the contrast dye used for the MRI.

For more information about medical malpractice, go to www.injurylawyerdallastexas.com or call 214-855-0034 or jonathan@theleblanclawfirm.com

 

Patient With Colon Perforated During Surgery Wins At Medical Malpractice Trial - Dallas, Texas

 

A jury awarded $1.55 million to a woman who underwent a colostomy as a result of a colon perforation that was attributed to gynecological surgery. The matter dates to February 2006, when Yolanda Ramirez underwent hysteroscopic surgery that involved the removal of polyps. Ramirez claimed that the surgeon, Lillian Berdichevsky, mishandled a cauterizing instrument and accidentally perforated her uterus and colon. The colon's perforation allowed the escape of fecal matter, leading to peritonitis that necessitated surgery and the temporary creation of a colostomy. Ramirez sued Berdichevsky, who contended that the colon perforation was something that occurred on its own, after the surgery, and absent negligence. The jury found otherwise.

For more information about medical malpractice in Texas, go to www.injurylawyerdallastexas.com or call 214-855-0034 or jonathan@theleblanclawfirm.com

Texas Fails To Punish Doctors Who Have Committed Malpractice

 

 

As reported by the Stateman:

A new report says Texas is among the states that does not pursue many of the doctors who have been punished by hospitals, including ones the hospitals have barred.

The Texas Medical Board was among 33 nationally that did not discipline a high percentage of doctors who either lost their hospital privileges or were restricted in their hospital practices, according to the report by Public Citizen’s Health Research Group.

“This is a serious failing on the part of state medical boards,” Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of research group and overseer of the study, (at right) said in an interview Tuesday. Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader.

Hospitals report sanctions against doctors to the federal government’s National Practitioner Data Bank, which the health research group reviewed over a 20-year period, from 1990 to 2009.

Its study found that state boards did not discipline 55 percent of the 10,672 physicians who had been listed in the national data bank, including 3,218 doctors who permanently lost their hospital practice privileges.

In Texas, 60.4 percent of 725 doctors during the two decades escaped medical board action, according to the group’s state-by-state breakdown.

One unnamed Texas doctor who did not receive discipline by the state board had 22 medical malpractice payments totaling $2.6 million between 1996 and 2008 that included claims that he operated on the wrong part of the body and damaged three patients permanently, the report said.

Texas Medical Board spokeswoman Leigh Hopper said that under board rules, hospitals are required to tell the board when they discipline a doctor whose continued practice is a threat to the public welfare but that not all of them do. Further, the national data bank does not notify the board of hospital disciplinary reports, and the board would have to look up individual doctors by name to see if any were taken.

That would not be practical with 49,397 in-state doctors, Hopper said.

Wolfe said that for a nominal fee, medical boards can pay the data bank to be notified of hospital actions against physicians in their state.

“We are shocked that more medical boards don’t take advantage of this,” he said.

For $3.25 per doctor per year, the national data bank would provide boards of notice of any actions against the doctor within 24 hours, data bank spokesman David Bowman said. For Texas, that cost would be about $160,540 a year.

That amount is equal to the salaries of four investigators at the agency, which has an $11 million annual budget, Hopper said. It is not a nominal amount, she said.

For more information about medical malpractice in Texas, go to www.injurylawyerdallastexas.com or call 214-855-0034.

Hospital Hit With Big Verdict For Medical Malpractice Resulting In Brain Injury - Dallas, Texas

 

A judge awarded $1.6 million to a patient who sustained a brain injury allegedly from excessive amounts of morphine following surgery at a Veterans Affairs hospital. In 2007, Susan Atkisson received the painkiller during follow-up reconstructive surgery at Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Her husband claimed additional excessive amounts of morphine were given for pain following the surgery until his wife was found suffering from prolonged respiratory depression, causing hypoxemia and a permanent brain injury. Plaintiff's counsel argued that the hospital failed to monitor the patient and the morphine amounts given.

For more information about medical malpractice in Texas, go to www.injurylawyerdallastexas.com or call 214-855-0034. 

Hospital To Pay For Patient's Surgical Jaw Injury Resulting From Medical Negligence - Dallas, Texas

A woman who claimed that she suffers permanent dysfunction of her jaw as a result of a surgical injury will recover $1.5 million from the hospital in which the procedure was performed. The matter stems from an April 2004 procedure in which Caridad Cuevas underwent removal of a stone from a salivary gland. Cuevas claimed that, soon thereafter, she developed clicking and popping of her jaw. She contended that eating has become painful and that she must wear a jaw guard whenever she is not eating. Cuevas sued the hospital, alleging that her injury was a result of an anesthesiologist who was overly forceful during the intubation process. The hospital blamed the surgeon, who was not a hospital employee, but the jury faulted the anesthesiologist.

For more information on medical malpractice in Texas, go to www.injurylawyerdallastexas.com

Delayed Surgery Resulting in Paraplegia After Car Accident Leads to Plaintiff's Verdict - Dallas, Texas

 

A jury awarded $16.4 million to a man who claimed that delayed surgery following a motor vehicle accident resulted in paraplegia. In 2003, Trent Hughes, then 42, crashed an off-road vehicle. He was airlifted to Desert Regional Medical Center and Dr. Christopher Pham, a trauma neurosurgeon, decompressed his spinal cord. Hughes claimed that Pham negligently delayed treatment, allowing numbness in his feet to spread to his thighs and then he developed a lumbar burst fracture. By the time he was in surgery, the spinal cord damage was irreversible, he claimed. The defense noted that paramedic records and witness accounts established that Hughes lost his motor function and sensation in the crash.

 

For more information on medical malpractice in Dallas, Texas go to www.injurylawyerdallastexas.com or call 214-855-0034.

Dallas Doctor Liable For Undiagnosed Medical Condition That Lead To Death

 

A jury awarded $3.5 million to the family of a man who died from an undiagnosed heart condition. In 2006, Darrick Stephens, 32, died of heart failure. An autopsy revealed a pheochromocytoma, an adrenaline-producing tumor, which stressed his heart and caused his death. On two occasions less than five months before his death, Stephens went to Dr. Neeta Bavikati at Dallas Cardiology Associates with complaints of headaches, heart palpitations, shortness of breath and chest pains. Stephens' family claimed Bavikati failed to order tests for the deadly heart condition and failed to tell Stephens to have the tests done. The family claimed that the tests would have uncovered the condition and allowed treatment to prevent his death. Bavikati argued that she advised Stephens to be tested for the condition, but that he failed to do so.

 

For more information regarding medical malpractice in Dallas Texas go to www.injurylawyerdallastexas.com or call 214-855-0034. 

Patient Awarded 2M For Undiagnosed Medical Condition Leading to Infection - Dallas, Texas

A jury awarded nearly $2 million to a man who claimed that an undiagnosed infection led to pulmonary and renal failure and a stroke. The matter dates to July 2005, when the suit's plaintiff, Richard D'Alessandro, sought treatment of a prosthetic knee. D'Alessandro claimed that his doctor, Dennis Fabian, suspected that the knee was infected but did not perform tests or change an antibiotic regimen that was ineffective. D'Alessandro contended that the infection spread, leading to replacement of his prosthesis, Clostridium difficile colitis, and pulmonary and renal failure. He ultimately suffered a stroke. Fabian contended that the infection was properly diagnosed and treated, but the jury found otherwise. It awarded damages of $1,937,000.

For more information about medical malpractice call 214-855-0034 or go to www.injurylawyerdallastexas.com

 

Texas Doctor Failed To Test For Deadly Heart Condition Resulting In Wrongful Death

 

A jury awarded $3.5 million to the family of a man who died from an undiagnosed heart condition. In 2006, Darrick Stephens, 32, a married father of two young boys, died of heart failure. An autopy revealed a pheochromocytoma, an adrenaline-producing tumor, which stressed his heart and caused his death. On two occasions in the months before his death, Stephens went to Dr. Neeta Bavikati at Dallas Cardiology Associates with complaints of headaches, heart palpitations, shortness of breath and chest pains. Stephens' family claimed Bavikati failed to order tests for the deadly heart condition and failed to tell Stephens to have the tests done. They sued Bavikati and the clinic for $1.6 million, alleging the tests would have uncovered the condition and allowed treatment in time to prevent Stephens' death. Bavikati argued that she advised Stephens to be tested for the condition, but that he failed to do so.