Archive for the ‘ Defective Medical Device ’ Category

Comments Off
17
Feb

Eastern District Court Declines Discretionary Jurisdiction Over Insurance Coverage Question When Underlying Tort Action Is Expected to Raise the Same Issue.

Below is a link to the opinion from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In Scottsdale Ins. Co. v. Broaddus, et al., 08-3241 (E.D. Pa. J. Diamond February 11, 2009), the court declined to exercise jurisdiction for an insurance coverage question when an action in negligence was already before a Pennsylvania state court in Philadelphia.

The federal court highlights the important distinction between a declaratory judgment action [allowing discretion] and parallel federal and state actions, which would allow abstention. In a declaratory judgment action concerning an insurance coverage question, discretion remains with the court. When the court retains discretion, it considers whether the question before the court is a settled area of state law for which an outcome is predictable, and finds the use of an ambulance in question when a patient is dropped when being brought out of her home is not a settled area of Pennsylvania law. Further the settlement of the declaratory judgment action would be seemingly duplicative of the negligence action. Facts in question in the underlying tort action were also necessary for deciding whether coverage applies.

Even when the coverage issues are not raised in the state negligence action, the court may use its discretion not to take jurisdiction over the matter. The court invokes its need to use “a general policy of restraint,” when it expects the question of the coverage to be raised as a declaratory judgment action in state court or as part of the garnishment process after the negligence action is resolved.

http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/09D0152P.pdf

D. Joseph Chapman
Attorney at Law

Bookmark and Share
Comments Off
9
Feb

SURGICAL ERRORS AND MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION ERRORS ARE TOP REASONS PATIENTS NEED TO TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR OWN CARE.

Below is a link to an article, written by a medical doctor, which explains how dangerous it is to go to the hospital. In the February 8, 2009, article, the doctor highlights surgical errors and medication administration errors as areas of concern.

“Surgical Errors

The Risk: About 1300 times a year, surgeons operate on the wrong person or remove the wrong limb or organ. Also, doctors leave surgical instruments inside the body once in every 5000 surgeries. This is the stuff of headlines, but such incidents are rare, considering that more than 20 million surgeries occur every year. Far more common preventable problems are stitches coming loose, blood clots forming during or after surgery, and infections. These can lead to very serious outcomes.”

“Medication Errors

The Risk: Giving the wrong drug, administering the wrong dose, mixing drugs that interact badly, or giving a medication to which a patient is allergic—all can be deadly. Unfortunately, such mistakes are not rare. Adverse drug events cause one out of five injuries or deaths to hospital patients in the U.S.”

Pennsylvania injury lawyers at Schmidt Kramer PC have successfully prosecuted such obvious medical malpractice cases in the Harrisburg area. The attorneys at Schmidt Kramer PC have also benefitted their medical malpractice clients with very good results in more difficult medical negligence cases.

Click on the link below for the full article.
 
Attorney at Law
Bookmark and Share
0
23
Dec

FDA warns public about dangers from diet pills with inadequate labeling.

 The CBS Evening News (12/22, story 10, 0:25, Smith) reported, “There is a new warning tonight for Americans looking to take a short cut to weight loss. The FDA has listed more than 25 weight loss products to avoid because they contain ingredients that are not labeled and could cause serious health problems. Many of these products claim to be natural or contain herbal ingredients.”

On its web site CBS News (12/23) adds, “The FDA warning comes after an analysis found that the ‘undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients’ in some of the products contained a controlled substance, a drug not approved for marketing in the United States and a suspected cancer-causing agent.”

 

In an article published on the web sites of over 125 media outlets the AP (12/23, Alonso-Zaldiver) reports, “They may promise an easy fix to weight problems, but the Food and Drug Administration on Monday said the concoctions contain unlisted ingredients, including high doses of a powerful anti-obesity drug, as well as a suspected carcinogen.” FDA enforcement lawyer Michael Levy said, “When consumers are buying these products online, we’re telling them that if it sounds too good to be true, it is likely to be too good to be true.”

 

Bloomberg News (12/23, Blum) reports, “The FDA is seeking to have the diet pills pulled from the market and may take additional steps, such as seizing them or pursuing criminal charges, according to the statement.” FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research director Janet Woodcock said, “These tainted weight loss products pose a great risk to public health because they contain undeclared ingredients and, in some cases, contain prescription drugs in amounts that greatly exceed their maximum recommended dosages. … Consumers have no way of knowing that these products contain powerful drugs that could cause serious health consequences.”

Bookmark and Share
0
23
Dec

The Price of Beauty

 

Reconstructive breast surgery may have “hidden choices.”

The New York Times (12/23, A1, Singer) reports, “For many cancer patients undergoing mastectomies, reconstructive breast surgery can seem like a first step to reclaiming their bodies.” However, “even as promising new operations are gaining traction at academic medical centers, plastic surgeons often fail to tell patients about them. One reason is that not all surgeons have trained to perform the latest procedures. Another reason is money: some complex surgeries are less profitable for doctors and hospitals, so they have less of an incentive to offer them, doctors say.” Diana Zuckerman, the president of the National Research Center for Women and Families, a nonprofit group in Washington said, “It is clear that many reconstruction patients are not being given the full picture of their options.”

Bookmark and Share
0
17
Dec

Trial Court Reversed In Asbestos Case Because It Does Not Allow Four Peremptory Challenges

 

Below is the link to the Pennsylvania Superior Court decision on December 16, 2008 in Bednar v. Dana Corporation where the court holds that it is reversible error for the trial court, in a Pennsylvania case filed in Philadelphia involving wrongful death after being exposed to asbestos, to not grant the Plaintiff’s request under Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 221 for four peremptory challenges in a jury trial. The trial court only allowed three and the Superior Court finds this was error. It also notes in its opinion that the denial or impairment of the right to four peremptory challenges is reversible error without needing to show any prejudice. Also, even if prejudice is required the court finds that prejudice arose from the denial of the procedural right to four peremptory challenges.
 

http://www.pacourts.us/OpPosting/Superior/out/a26033_08.pdf

Scott B. Cooper

 

 

717-232-6300

 

 

Bookmark and Share