Attorney Blog

Failure to Diagnose Aneurysm

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

What is an aneurysm? It’s a balloon-like bubble that appears on the side of a blood vessel. The wall of the blood vessel becomes weakened. If it gets too weak, the blood vessel will rupture and you can bleed to death rapidly.

There are different types of aneurysms: Abdominal aortic aneurysm; cerebral aneurysm and many others. An aneurysm is often diagnosed by angiogram, where a dye is injected and is visible on x-ray, CAT scan or MRI. Many aneurysms do not require intervention. Only where it may be life-threatening or is already leaking does immediate treatment become necessary.

A leaking abdominal aortic aneurysm is often mistaken for cardiac symptoms. Such a mistake has deadly consequences. Likewise, a blood vessel in the brain that leaks often has devastating results.

The failure to recognize a dissecting or rupturing aneurysm can prove fatal. The key is understanding what the standard of care was at the time. In New York, a physician must confirm that there was a deviation from the standard of care, and that departure from good care caused injury, in order to start a medical malpractice lawsuit here in New York.

Failure to Diagnose Aneurysm

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

"Please Take Over My Trial...NOW"

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

I received a call late tonight from a woman who was in the middle of a medical malpractice trial here in New York. She asked whether I would be interested in taking over her case since she was unhappy with her legal representation.

I told her that it would be impossible since the trial judge would not suspend her trial just to get a new attorney. Nor would the judge give her a 'do-over' because she didn't like the way the testimony was going in to the jury. The middle of a trial is not the time to realize that you don't like your attorney.

I told her there was nothing I could do to help her, and that any questions or concerns she has, should be directed to her current trial attorney. She didn't seem very happy with my response. In addition, I told her that even if she would be able to discharge her lawyer and another one came in to take his place, the first lawyer would have a significant lien against the attorney's fee for all of the work he did up to that point.

That means that the second lawyer would have very little incentive to take on a case with such baggage.

The bottom line?

Get to know your attorney before ever getting to trial.

A Defense Attorney's Agenda

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

You have brought a lawsuit seeking compensation for the injuries you suffered at the hands of a doctor or hospital. Your goal, is to win your case and to obtain "Justice" for the injury you suffered. Your attorney is known as a "plaintiff's attorney." His entire goal is to obtain compensation for your injuries. His success is directly linked to yours. Should he win your case or settle your case favorably, he stands to receive a portion of whatever is recovered, after his expenses.

Not many people outside of New York recognize that the lawyer's fee in medical malpractice cases in New York only starts at 30% and decreases by 5% as we go up in the amount we recover for you. To put it simply: 30% is the maximum fee allowed in New York. As we go up incrementally, the attorney's fee goes down by 5%. This is known as a "sliding scale."

What does this have to do with a defense attorney's agenda? Everything.

A defense attorney's job is to defend the doctor or hospital as best he can. A defense lawyer gets paid by the doctor's insurance company. He gets paid an hourly fee for the work he performs. It is an unspoken fact that defense attorneys prefer to handle a case as long as possible before having to resolve it or go to trial. Why? The longer they handle a particular case, the more they are able to bill for the work they perform. There is no incentive for a defense attorney to resolve a case sooner rather than later.

Having said that, there are some excellent medical malpractice defense lawyers in New York who recognize troublesome cases at the beginning of a lawsuit. Those experienced trial lawyers will sometimes attempt to resolve a case in the early stages to save the insurance company money by having to pay extensive legal fees, a protracted trial and appeal.

Good defense attorneys who recognize they cannot defend a case will recommend to their insurance carrier that they should make an effort to resolve a case sooner rather than later. An early settlement can often save an insurance company a great deal of money by discounting the ultimate amount of compensation a victim receives years before the case goes to trial.

An experienced plaintiff's attorney recognizes the benefits of early settlement because it means that his client will receive a guaranteed amount of money years earlier, without the need to spend many thousands of dollars. Of course, along with that early settlement proposal, both sides recognize that they expect some type of discount for the benefit of settling early.

The defense attorney's only incentive to settle a case early and save the insurance company money is the knowledge that doing so may put him in good standing with the insurance company. An attorney who saves an insurance company money is likely to benefit from additional cases that the insurance company sends to them as a "reward" for saving money.

Conclusion:

When you wonder why your case is not settling early, keep in mind a defense attorney's hidden agenda and recognize that you may have to go to trial in order to prove your case. Your attorney should recognize this and be prepared to go the distance in every case.