A New Jersey appellate court recently upheld the decision that an emergency room doctor offered an inaccurate diagnosis of a boy whose mother had kicked him in the throat. The court maintained that the doctor behaved in a negligent manner, failing to alert the appropriate specialists who might have otherwise treated the boy's injuries. The doctor's medical negligence was said to have contributed to the boy's death.
November 2011 Archives
Doctor's diagnosis contributed to 14-year-old's death
Failure to diagnose leads to leg amputation for 6-year-old
Failure to diagnose and medical negligence can be devastating forms of medical malpractice in New Jersey and New York. Sometimes the failure to perform a test generally accepted as the proper procedure in the medical community can lead to significant and life-threatening injuries, and even death. Readers of this blog may be interested in a recent medical malpractice lawsuit filed in Maryland on Nov. 3. The lawsuit names Baltimore Washington Medical Center (BWMC) and a staff doctor there as defendants, and the case underscores the grave problems that can quickly develop from poor treatment decisions.
Product distributors liable for withholding drugs from hospitals?
In New Jersey and New York, products liability cases generally involve claims of negligence for breaching a duty of care that results in the injury of another. Medication manufactured negligently could result in claims by patients who suffered personal injury upon taking the drug. But what about product distributors and retailers who intentionally create drug shortages solely for profit reasons? Can those distributors be sued for negligence if a patient does not receive necessary medication due to the shortage and suffers injury as a result? The ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is currently probing this type of price-gouging and has requested detailed information from one "gray marketer" supplier that has already run afoul of the law.
