Can a Doctor be Held Liable for a Patient’s Opioid Abuse? A $17.6 Million Verdict Says “Yes”
A St. Louis jury awarded $17.6 million in damages to a couple who had filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against a doctor for overprescribing opioid pain medication. The plaintiff, Brian Koon, was awarded $1.4 million and Michelle Koon, his estranged wife, was awarded $1.2 million. The remaining $15 million was awarded as punitive damages against…
Read MorePreventable Medical Errors Made in the Emergency Department
By their nature, emergency rooms are chaotic places. Medical staff receive patients from all walks of life with a range of injuries from cuts and lacerations to heart attack or stroke. Even in an environment of chaos and confusion, doctors call upon their years of study and training, and their skill acquired over their years…
Read MoreWashington, D.C. Lawmakers Are at Odds Over a Bill That Could End Contributory Negligence
There is a new bill in front of legislators that could put an end to the contributory negligence law as it applies to bicyclists and pedestrians. The bill has stalled for the moment, according to an article in GreaterGreaterWashington.com, but it is one we should all be behind in the end. Contributory negligence has been…
Read MoreMedical Malpractice Verdict of $5 Million for Death from an Improperly Placed Feeding Tube
On May 18, 2016, a jury in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, awarded $5 million to the family of a man who died at Abington Memorial Hospital in 2008 from having had a feeding tube misplaced in his lung. Marvin Summerford, who was 88-years-old, died a horrifying death in 2008 as his left lung slowly filled with…
Read MoreThe Consequences of Traumatic Birth Syndrome
Ideally, the birth process is easy and uneventful. Every few seconds, somewhere on earth a baby is born, and most of those journeys from the mother’s womb into the world will be largely uneventful. In a small percentage of cases, birth injury occurs that creates trauma –physical and emotional, for both infant and mother. Traumatic…
Read MorePatient Sues Her Doctor for Removing the Wrong Rib and Trying to Cover it Up
When a doctor makes a big mistake during surgery, do you think that they should apologize for the error? One doctor at Yale New Haven Hospital allegedly made a big surgical error, but not only did they not apologize, they lied and tried to cover up the mistake. Deborah Crave, a 60-year-old patient had surgery…
Read MoreMedical Mistakes in the Emergency Room Related to Electronic Health Records
By its nature, the emergency room is a chaotic, frenetic place. Because of the speed at which emergency medical care is delivered, accuracy is important. You might think that electronic health records (EHRs) would be a helpful addition to the fast-paced environment, but it seems that EHRs are actually contributing to the medical errors that…
Read MoreGreat Leaders Like Matthew A. Nace Are Made at Nace Law Group
At Nace Law Group, we value education. It is what has allowed our attorneys to rise to leadership positions in both local community organizations and within the legal community as well. That is why we are proud to announce that attorney Matthew A. Nace has been accepted into the American Association for Justice’s Leadership Academy,…
Read MoreChristopher T. Nace Elected President Elect of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.
Nace Law Group is proud to announce that partner Christopher T. Nace has recently been elected President Elect of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. He has served in the role of Vice President of the TLA-DC since 2015. We are thrilled to see his leadership continue into the next year as he…
Read MoreNew York Hospital Agrees to a $2.2 Million Penalty for Filming Patients without Authorization
Imagine how traumatizing it might be to watching a TV show filmed in an emergency room, only to realize that the footage you are watching is of your husband’s death from the year before? This actually happened to Anita Chanko in 2012. The hospital that allowed the film crew from the ABC network program “NY…
Read MoreGree Ordered to Pay $15.45 million Civil Penalty for Failure to Report Defective Dehumidifiers
In what is so far the highest penalty for a single offense that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has ever imposed, Gree Electric Appliances Inc. has agreed to pay a $15.45 civil penalty to the government. The CPSC has charged Gree with the following: Knowingly failing to report a defect and the reasonable risk…
Read MoreLaundry Detergent Pods Poisoning Cases Involving Young Children on the Rise
You may remember hearing about the tragic cases of small children getting poisoned when they mistook their mom’s laundry detergent pods for candy. Laundry pods are small, brightly colored packets of clear plastic and filled with highly concentrated laundry soap and fabric softener. Children are biting into them because they think it looks like an…
Read MoreTainted Scopes Cause Deadly Superbug Infections
A duodenoscope is a flexible tube that doctors thread through the mouth, throat and stomach and into the beginning of the small intestine, which is the duodenum. In a procedure called, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), doctors use the duodenoscope to get a look at the digestive system of the patient and it allows them to…
Read MoreTesla Model X SUVs Recalled for Seat Back Defects
Tesla Motors Inc. has announced a voluntary recall of 2,700 of its Model X sport utility vehicles because of a faulty locking hinge mechanism in the third-row seats which could cause the seats to fall forward in a crash. This is the first recall for the Model X, and effects only those vehicles build before…
Read MoreTexas Family Wins $124.5 Million Verdict in Audi Seat Back Failure Case
An 11-year-old boy who suffered brain damage in a rear-end collision was awarded a $124.5 million verdict in a products liability lawsuit against Volkswagen AG’s Audi unit. Jesse Rivera Jr’s head was injured as he sat in the back seat of his father’s 2005 Audi, which had come to a stop behind a school bus…
Read MoreChildren Are Still Getting Caught and Strangled in Window Blinds—What Can Be Done?
You have likely heard news stories of young children getting strangled by window blinds cords over the past few decades. You would think that such a dangerous hazard with a product used inside the home would have been completely eliminated by now, but it still continues to occur with alarming frequency. The U.S. Consumer Product…
Read MoreJury Awards $502 Million Verdict in J&J Defective Hip Implant Lawsuit
In March 2016 a federal jury in Dallas awarded $502 million to five plaintiffs who claimed that they suffered severe injuries from defective hip implants manufactured by DePuy Orthopedics, which is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. According to a story in The Dallas Morning News, after 37 days of testimony and five days of…
Read MorePills Causing Panic: Heartburn Drugs Tied to Higher Risk of Kidney Disease
An estimated 15 million Americans use proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which are sold by prescription and over-the-counter under a variety of brand names, including Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid. The PPIs lower the acid in your body and help fight off heartburn or acid reflux disease. A study was published on Jan 11 2016 in JAMA…
Read MoreWhat Caused the Spike in Pedestrian Deaths in 2015?
According to new data released by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, there is a projected 10 percent spike in pedestrian fatalities in the 2015 traffic crash data. This is anticipated to be the largest annual increase ever in these numbers, which is causing great alarm for the safety agencies that track these numbers. In the…
Read MoreNew Study Links Traumatic Brain Injury and Increased Risk of Suicide
Whether you suffer a traumatic brain injury from playing sports, a violent attack or a car crash, a concussion can have a devastating impact on those who survive them. A new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows that head injuries cause more damage than previously thought and carry far more significant long-term…
Read MoreMedical Malpractice Lawsuit Filed over Serious Back Injury from a Botched Lumbar Puncture
When you are suffering from severe symptoms and you need emergency care, who do you trust more than your doctor at your local hospital to fix you up and send you on your way? In most cases, that is what happens. Unfortunately, an Illinois woman had a less than satisfying outcome after visiting Centegra Hospital-McHenry…
Read MoreMotor Vehicle Accidents Caused by Failure to Yield Right of Way
Yielding the right of way to other drivers is one of the hallmarks of responsible driving behavior. Anyone who has been driving for any length of time has seen that driver who just pulls out into the intersection or speeds up when entering the Beltway, causing other cars to slam on their brakes to avoid…
Read MoreMedStar’s Medical Meltdown
MedStar Health is continuing to recover after a malicious rasomware virus attack on Monday, March 28, 2016, stormed their servers, leaving many patients unable to receive treatment and medication. Many patients received a message indicating that their appointments needed to be rescheduled due to the facility’s inability to access records online or check their emails. A MedStar official stated that the incident had…
Read MoreTort Reform is a Myth, and Congress is Lying to You
As a society, we forget that we have certain rights especially if it’s not pertinent to our particular life at a particular time. We feel as if, “Well, I’m not affected, so why worry about it?” But this country has held that whoever you are, you may sue a person who injures you and eventually…
Read MoreBarry J. Nace Achieves Distinction Five Decades in the Making
Nace Law Group is proud to announce that Founder and Senior Partner Barry J. Nace has achieved something very rare. Mr. Nace has been representing victims of medical malpractice and hospital malpractice for more than 40 years. He has been representing plaintiffs in malpractice cases since 1972, when he won his first case: a $20,000 award…
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