The TLA-DC’s Annual Gala Was Truly An Affair to Remember
On May 13, 2017, the Trial Lawyers Association of Washington, DC hosted its 62nd Annual Awards Dinner, themed An Affair to Remember at the historic Howard Theater. This year’s gala was put together by Nace Law Group’s own Christopher T. Nace, who was elevated to the position of President of the TLA-DC at the event. Chris…
Read MoreCan Prescribing Doctors be Liable for Medication Addictions?
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that prescription drug abuse is a larger problem than ever before, with the rate of opioid pain medication overdose deaths tripling between 1990 and 2010. Opioids are the most addictive types of pain medications, affecting the brain in a manner similar to heroin or cocaine. Pain medication addiction…
Read MorePatients are Dying from Sepsis While Doctors Wait for a Study
The Virginian Pilot recently reported about Dr. Paul Marik, a physician at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, who is successfully treating sepsis patients with a surprisingly simple concoction. While treating a patient with severe sepsis, the chief of pulmonary and critical care at Virginia Eastern Medical School decided to order IV infusions of a combination of…
Read MoreWhat to Do When You Suspect Your Child Has Been Abused in School
Traditionally, the term “abuse” in the school setting has been associated with sexual misconduct, but abuse actually comes in all different forms. Child abuse can be categorized in the following groups: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and child neglect. Child Help is an organization that has put out studies demonstrating that 28.3% of adults…
Read MoreAre My Breast Implants Making Me Sick?
The fatal condition is not breast cancer, but a rare malignancy that develops in the immune system called anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. This non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a cancer that attacks the cells of the immune system and that can develop in various areas of the body. In cases linked to breast cancer, the disease develops within…
Read MoreChristopher T. Nace and Matthew A. Nace Selected as 2017 Washington, DC Super Lawyers
Super Lawyers is a nationally-recognized rating service which recognizes “outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.” Only 5% of attorneys in each state and Washington, DC, will be selected for inclusion. Rising Stars selects only 2.5% of attorneys who are either 40 years…
Read More“Dr. Death” Gets Life Sentence for Intentionally Harming a Patient
The botched surgery for which Duntsch was convicted was a spinal fusion surgery on the 74-year-old patient, which took place in 2012. Duntsch was found directly responsible for intentionally harming the patient, who is now confined to a wheelchair because she is unable to walk, and has chronic pain from the procedure. He was said…
Read MoreInjuries and Mortality from Anesthesia Errors
According to a Columbia University Anesthesia Errors Study, which analyzed anesthesia-related mortality in the U.S., about 46% of the deaths could be attributed to an overdose of anesthetic, 42.5% to adverse effects of anesthetics, 3.6% to complications of anesthesia during pregnancy, labor and postpartum and the final 7.3% to other complications. The highest anesthesia-related death…
Read MoreWorkplace Wellness Programs and Employee Privacy: Do I Have to Share My Medical Records with My Boss?
What if you lived in a world where your boss could require you to undergo genetic testing–tests that reveal deeply personal information about you and your health–and then require you to share the results of those tests with them or face steep fines? Does this all sound like a creepy, Orwellian nightmare to you? Well,…
Read MoreOptometry Malpractice: How Much is Your Sight Worth?
When you think of how precious your eyesight is, you might become livid to think that an eye doctor’s negligent treatment caused you to lose it. You trust your doctor to have the training and expertise to treat you when you have an illness or an injury, and you trust him/her to refer you to…
Read MoreMedical Malpractice and the Risks of Unnecessary Surgery
What is more hazardous to the average American than boarding a commercial airplane, space craft or nuclear submarine? If you guess being admitted to a U.S. hospital, then you are correct. Despite countless global patient safety initiatives, mandatory safety protocols and even surgical checklists, patients continue to be exposed to harm from doctors because of…
Read MoreThe NFL Concussion Settlement is Now Open for Registration for Injured Former Players
In December of 2016, the National Football League (NFL) came to an agreement with retired players who are suffering from debilitating brain ailments caused by serious blows and multiple less-severe blows to the head during their football careers. The settlement, which might be worth as much as $1 billion and will cover almost every former…
Read MoreMaternal Mortality Rate on the Rise in the U.S.
In a country like the United States, that prides itself on a sophisticated health care system, maternal mortality rates in the U.S. are rising while the numbers are declining in almost everywhere else in the world. A study conducted by the Institute of World Health Metrics and Evaluation reports that there were 28 pregnancy complication…
Read MoreDo Female Doctors Provide Better Care than Their Male Counterparts?
Does the gender of your doctor make a difference in health care outcomes? A new study by Harvard researchers, published at the end of last year in JAMA Internal Medicine, proposes that female doctors see better results than male doctors. The study revealed that patients in the care of female doctors were less likely to…
Read MoreAlabama Jury Awards $10M to Family for Failure to Diagnose Meningitis
There are few things to make a parent feel more helpless than when your child is deathly ill. You take them to see a doctor and you trust that with the doctor’s decade of training and years of experience helping patients they will know what to do, and do what is best to care for…
Read MoreContaminated Medical Scopes Cause Potentially Deadly Infections
Duodenoscopes are small, tube-shaped medical devices used in a procedure called an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) to diagnose health problems in the digestive tract. Due to a problem with cleaning these scopes, they can become infected with bacteria after being used on one patient which can then be transferred to the next patient. The U.S.…
Read MoreDefective Heater-Cooler Device Has Caused Infections and Deaths in Patients
When a patient undergoes certain types of cardiothoracic surgery, they are often connected to a heater-cooler device that warms or cool patients during the procedure. These devices contain temperature-controlled water tanks that send heated or cooled water to warming or cooling blankets through a closed circuit (the water does not come into contact with the…
Read MoreBotched Tonsillectomy Causes Brain Damage, and the Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Resulted in $12.7 Million Verdict
You might think that a tonsillectomy is a routine surgery that gets performed thousands of times each year without incident, and you would be correct. However, a Pennsylvania woman suffered brain damage after her breathing tube was removed too quickly after a routine tonsillectomy. A Montgomery County jury awarded her $12.7 million in compensatory damages…
Read MoreMedical Malpractice for Failure to Treat a Medical Condition
Doctors and other medical professionals are highly trained and go through years of study and practice in order to be able to treat patients. You know that doctors are not infallible, but you trust in their expertise in being able to diagnose what is wrong and offer appropriate treatment when you are ill. If you…
Read MoreAnother Abilify Lawsuit Linked to Compulsive Gambling Losses
On November 1, 2016, a California woman named Chrystal Austin filed a lawsuit against Bristol Meyers-Squibb after having suffered excessive financial losses linked to a compulsive gambling problem caused by the drug Abilify. Ms. Austin claims that the drug maker failed to warn consumers about the impulse control side-effects before it caused her significant financial…
Read MoreApps Are to Blame for the Largest Spike in Traffic Fatalities in Decades
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that after almost fifty years of steady decline, the number of highway fatalities increased by the largest annual percentage last year. The numbers so far for 2016 look to be even worse. The NHTSA reports that in the first six months of 2016, the rate of…
Read MoreToddler’s Death from a Fatal E. Coli Infection Could Have Been Prevented
E. coli is a dangerous infection that can lead to more serious illnesses and even death. There are ways to diagnose it and treat it, but time is a key factor. In a recent heartbreaking story out of Georgia, a toddler named Grayson Dunham died within a week after showing symptoms of a deadly E.…
Read MoreWhat to Consider Before Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Just because your doctor or any other medical professional made a mistake about your care, it does not amount to medical malpractice. As a plaintiff (the person who brings the claim) you need to establish a few things before you can even file a medical malpractice lawsuit. If you are unsure whether or not you…
Read MoreSon Files a Wrongful Death Prilosec Lawsuit on Behalf of Deceased Dad
Prilosec is an over-the-counter treatment for frequent heartburn. In November 2016, a man filed a wrongful death lawsuit against AstraZeneca, who manufactures Prilosec, claiming that the pharmaceutical giant failed to warn consumers about the risks of developing acute interstitial nephritis (AIN). Mr. Rodriguez’s wrongful death lawsuit (Rodriguez v. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP et al) was filed…
Read MoreCould the Person Who Sends a Text Message to a Driver Be Held Liable in an Auto Accident?
Pennsylvania has passed a new law that could add five years in jail for a driver who causes a crash because they were texting behind the wheel. Those are stiff penalties for distracted driving and it calls into question the responsibility that the person sending the text message has in distracting someone who they know…
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