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Statistics show few medical malpractice victims compensated

A Canadian Medical Association article compiles statistics from several studies regarding medical malpractice and the compensation of its victims. Studies show the following:

In 2004, Healthgrades, an independent health care ratings company…. [examined] 37 million patient records from all 50 states, representing 45% of all US hospital admissions, found 195,000 hospital deaths from preventable medical errors annually between 2000 and 2002, (www.healthgrades.com).

In 1990, Harvard researchers examined more than 30,000 randomly selected records from New York hospitals. They concluded that 1% of patients were negligently injured, while only 4% of those who were injured, sued.

Harvard researchers [concluded that jury awards and settlments were fair] when they examined files from 1452 malpractice claims (NEJM 2006;354[19]:2024-33). Almost three-quarters had outcomes consistent with their merit. Only 10% of patients received payouts in the absence of error, while 16% received no payout despite the presence of error. “Portraits of a malpractice system that is stricken with frivolous litigation are overblown,” the researchers concluded. The system performs “reasonably well” in dismissing such lawsuits and in compensating the injured.

The article also cited studies that show that jury awards are keeping up with the costs of medical care and are not out of line.

Attorneys who represent medical malpractice victims will not be surprised by these statistics. Experienced med-mal attorneys decline to accept the vast majority of cases that they review. Of the cases accepted, the negligence appears clear with substantial damages. But even with stringent screening, med-mal cases are difficult to win with juries looking for reasons to find for the physician or hospital.

There is also a “circle the wagons” mentality among physicians in Mississippi. This results in open hostility by physicians to plaintiffs and their attorneys, even from doctors who are not defendants in the case. In addition, Mississippi physicians almost never admit that another physician was negligent or that negligence caused the victim’s injuries. This stacks the deck in favor of medical defendants in Mississippi.

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Conservative supreme court justices do not always side with big business

There is a good Bloomberg analysis of the recent pro-consumer decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court. Among the key points:

The Wyeth case illustrated one of the challenges companies face in some Supreme Court cases: persuading members of the court’s conservative wing to limit the powers of state courts and legislatures.

Clarence Thomas, a justice who typically joins the court’s conservatives on social issues, sided with the pro-consumer majority in the Wyeth case. Thomas wrote that the high court shouldn’t block state product-liability lawsuits simply because they interfere with federal objectives.

Similarly, Thomas and Justice Antonin Scalia, another conservative on social issues, have said the Constitution doesn’t put any limits on damage awards.

The entire article is available at the above link.

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Court allows Adams Homes to intervene into Wachovia-Colson interpleader case

United States Magistrate Judge John Roper entered an Order yesterday allowing Adams Homes to intervene into the Stephen Colson / Wachovia Bank interpleader action. The motion was unopposed and the order was a standard order prepared by Adams’ counsel. Adams will now be able to make its claim for over $600,000 of the $1.5 million deposited into the Court by Wachovia.

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U.S. Supreme Court upholds $80 million punitive damages verdict

The Supreme Court issued a one sentence order today dismissing the appeal of an $80 million punitive damages verdict in a tobacco case against Philip Morris. There are stories on the decision here and here. The plaintiff’s actual damages were $800,000.

Business interests hoped that the Court would use the case to set a firm limit on punitive damages. The Court did not, however, apparently accepting the Oregon Supreme Court’s finding that Philip Morris’ conduct was “extraordinarily reprehensible.”

The practical effect of the ruling is that it will weaken defense arguments that punitive damages are limited to a single digit ratio compared to the plaintiff’s actual damages. Here, the actual-punitive ratio was about 100 to 1. This makes it hard for a defendant in a case with a modest actual damages award to argue that its punitive exposure is capped no matter how bad its conduct was. I like the flexibility that the decision leaves courts to evaluate punitive damages awards.

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U.S. Supreme Court upholds $80 million punitive damages verdict

The Supreme Court issued a one sentence order today dismissing the appeal of an $80 million punitive damages verdict in a tobacco case against Philip Morris. There are stories on the decision here and here. The plaintiff’s actual damages were $800,000.

Business interests hoped that the Court would use the case to set a firm limit on punitive damages. The Court did not, however, apparently accepting the Oregon Supreme Court’s finding that Philip Morris’ conduct was “extraordinarily reprehensible.”

The practical effect of the ruling is that it will weaken defense arguments that punitive damages are limited to a single digit ratio compared to the plaintiff’s actual damages. Here, the actual-punitive ratio was about 100 to 1. This makes it hard for a defendant in a case with a modest actual damages award to argue that its punitive exposure is capped no matter how bad its conduct was. I like the flexibility that the decision leaves courts to evaluate punitive damages awards.

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Defective drywall suit filed in Southern District

The Sun-Herald has a story today on a lawsuit filed in federal district court in Gulfport alleging defects in drywall installed in homes. Steve Mullins of Ocean Springs filed the case on behalf of Christopher Whitfield of Picayune. The case is a class action and the class is defined as all persons who own a home in the State of Mississippi which was built using Defendants’ drywall. Here is a copy of the Complaint, which I obtained from Steve Mullins.

The case appears to be based on similar cases filed in Florida.

The lawsuit charges that many homes in Mississippi also contain the drywall and it names “Knauf Gips, Knauf Tianjin and Taishan, and possibly other unknown Chinese manufacturers” as defendants.

In class-action lawsuits the company has been accused with others of selling a faulty product that has allegedly affected tens of thousands of homeowners, predominantly in Florida. Some have complained of respiratory problems, electronic devices inexplicably breaking down and a strong odor like rotting eggs in their homes, indicative of the release of sulfur. The sulfur smell is usually present, along with black deposits in bare copper wires, black deposits on the HVAC copper, changes to finishes on mirrors, pitting of chrome and other objects and light switches that pop or have visible discharges.

Living in a home with a constant sulfur smell would be horrible. This could turn into a big piece of litigation depending on the number of homes in Mississippi with the drywall and whether the Chinese manufacturer actively defends the case.

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Plaintiff lawyers not blamed for Natchez doctor shortage

There is a shortage of doctors in Natchez and plaintiff lawyers are not getting blamed for it. The Sunday Natchez Democrat contained a story about the physician shortage in Natchez, which also exists in other areas of Mississippi.

The city has only one general surgeon, one urologist and no neurologists.

Natchez Regional’s Vice-President of Medical Affairs Dr. Kenneth Stubbs said many new doctors are less attracted to private practice and want to be part of a large hospital group.

They are looking for guarantees in areas like time spent on-call, salary and patient load.

“And we can’t make a lot of those guarantees,” Stubbs said. “It’s not as easy as saying ‘we need doctors’, we need the right doctors.”

And in Stubbs’ 27-year practice here in Natchez, he has seen doctors come and go.

Stubbs said when he started practice in the early 1980s there were more than 80 doctors practicing in the area, now there are approximately 40.

It’s difficult to fault doctors for liking the model of a big practice group in a city like Jackson. With a large practice group, there are more doctors to share overhead and being on-call nights and weekends. But its a shame that a neat city like Natchez, which has as much charm as Oxford without the gridlock, has trouble attracting physicians.

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Adams Homes claims $623,898.21 in Colson-Wachovia interpleader action

On Monday Adams Homes filed a motion to intervene into the Wachovia v. Colson interpleader action. Here is Adams’ proposed answer and counterclaim that it will file if the court grants the motion to intervene. Adams claims Colson’s companies owe Adams $623,898.21 in unpaid proceeds, earnest money deposits, withheld closing items, and unpaid interest. Adams is represented by Les Smith of Page, Mannino in Biloxi. Smith is a product of the famed University of Mississippi School of Law class of 1993, which included standouts such as former MSU safety Bo ‘Recap’ Russell, and Michael Morton.

Lawyers Title Insurance Corp. previously sued Colson and his companies for $10 million. The Adams claim brings the total known filed claims against Colson to $10.6 million, with Wachovia putting up only $1.5 million to satisfy those claims. It sure sounds like there is some money that is missing.

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Wachovia Bank interpleads $1.5 million in Coast lawyer scandal

There is more litigation involving Coast lawyer and businessman Stephen Colson. I previously wrote about the financial scandal involving Colson. On Friday there was a federal court removal of an interpleader action involving Colson that was originally filed in Harrison County Circuit Court. The interpleader Complaint alleges that in February, Wachovia Bank froze over fifty bank accounts belonging to Colson or related entities and deposited the funds–over $1.5 million–into the Court.

The Defendants in the case include Colson, Colson’s businesses, Fidelity National Financial, Fidelity National Title Group, Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation and John Does 1-50. The Doe Defendants will allow Wachovia to add other parties who claim an interest in the funds. It would not be surprising to see parties with claims against Colson or his businesses intervene into the lawsuit.

The interpleader Complaint identifies all the bank accounts and their balances. The action states that in late 2008, many of the accounts were suffering overdrafts that Colson promised to rectify, but didn’t. The Complaint states that Wachovia investigated and discovered “unusual” transfers between the accounts in order to cover overdrafts. An interpleader action requires Colson and others with a claim to the funds to fight over the money in Court. The case has been assigned to federal district court judge Sul Ozerden.

The interpleader action is an ominous development for Colson. First, his companies’ bank accounts were emptied and frozen, presumably shutting down operations. Second, Wachovia is required by law to report certain suspicious activities to the government. There is background information on suspicious activity reports (SAR) here, here, and here. Banks get in big trouble for not reporting suspicious activities. There is little doubt that Wachovia alerted the government about this unusual activity and that an investigation is underway. The investigation could lead to criminal charges against Colson. Finally, getting out of line with a client’s money is a cardinal sin for lawyers. If Colson was improperly moving client funds from trust accounts to personal or business accounts, then the Mississippi Bar will impose severe penalties even if Colson escapes criminal prosecution.

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Wachovia Bank interpleads $1.5 million in Coast lawyer scandal

There is more litigation involving Coast lawyer and businessman Stephen Colson. I previously wrote about the financial scandal involving Colson. On Friday there was a federal court removal of an interpleader action involving Colson that was originally filed in Harrison County Circuit Court. The interpleader Complaint alleges that in February, Wachovia Bank froze over fifty bank accounts belonging to Colson or related entities and deposited the funds–over $1.5 million–into the Court.

The Defendants in the case include Colson, Colson’s businesses, Fidelity National Financial, Fidelity National Title Group, Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation and John Does 1-50. The Doe Defendants will allow Wachovia to add other parties who claim an interest in the funds. It would not be surprising to see parties with claims against Colson or his businesses intervene into the lawsuit.

The interpleader Complaint identifies all the bank accounts and their balances. The action states that in late 2008, many of the accounts were suffering overdrafts that Colson promised to rectify, but didn’t. The Complaint states that Wachovia investigated and discovered “unusual” transfers between the accounts in order to cover overdrafts. An interpleader action requires Colson and others with a claim to the funds to fight over the money in Court. The case has been assigned to federal district court judge Sul Ozerden.

The interpleader action is an ominous development for Colson. First, his companies’ bank accounts were emptied and frozen, presumably shutting down operations. Second, Wachovia is required by law to report certain suspicious activities to the government. There is background information on suspicious activity reports (SAR) here, here, and here. Banks get in big trouble for not reporting suspicious activities. There is little doubt that Wachovia alerted the government about this unusual activity and that an investigation is underway. The investigation could lead to criminal charges against Colson. Finally, getting out of line with a client’s money is a cardinal sin for lawyers. If Colson was improperly moving client funds from trust accounts to personal or business accounts, then the Mississippi Bar will impose severe penalties even if Colson escapes criminal prosecution.

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