Marietta Injury Lawyer Blog

A new study published by the Journal of the American Academy of Physicians Assistants finds that a majority of emergency room doctors do not believe the Physician Assistant's (PA's) are not more likely to commit malpractice. The study questioned 1000 members of the American College of Emergency Physicians in 2004 and then again five years later. 72% of doctors disagreed or strongly disagreed that PA's were more likely to commit malpractice and the number dropped to 68% in 2009. The study also stated that doctors believe increased utilization of PA's in emergency rooms may improve patient communication, decrease wait times, increase patient satisfaction, and therefore decrease malpractice risk.

Doctors in the study said they felt the most important factors in decreasing the risk of malpractice with PA's was increased clinical experience, completion of post-graduate residency programs, and appropriate supervision by physician.

As a Georgia Medical Malpractice Attorney I can only hope this study is accurate as both PA's and nurse practitioners are being used more and more frequently in most areas of health care, and I have seen the horrific consequences that can result from medical malpractice. Over 225,000 people die each year due to medical malpractice, with nearly half of those being in the emergency room, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. In fact, medical malpractice is the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease and cancer.

Continue reading "Are Physician's Assistants More Likely To Commit Medical Malpractice than Doctors?" »

A darker side of international business was recently exposed when the Associated Press obtained a recording of a lawyer, Jorge Hernandez Martin, for Baxter International, a leading U.S. drug manufacturer, offering to pay an opposing expert in a lawsuit if he would leave the country on a key court date to undermine the case. Ironically, Baxter International champions itself as a promoter of global anti-corruption efforts. The lawyer in the recording, Jorge Hernandez Marin, told the expert to buy a ticket to New York with his wife and then call and lie to the judge telling him his son had broken a leg in an accident and that would be why the expert could not accept the assignment.

The expert the lawyer was discussing this plan with was Rafael Aspura Alvarez, an expert witness for the company Translog, a trucking company, which is involved in a 25 million dollar suit with a Baxter in Mexico in which the pharmaceutical company alleges that Translog, because of ongoing financial problems, did not meet the terms of their contract by refusing to pick up and deliver critical supplies to kidney disease patients so were therefore forced to find other shippers. Translog counter this contending the contract gave their company exclusive rights to transport Baxter drugs in Mexico therefore it was violated. During the meeting the lawyer also offers him a trip to Las Vegas if he would rather go there rather than New York, and also tells him that he will double whatever the other side is paying him.

Continue reading "Drug Company Lawyer Caught Bribing Expert Witness in Multi-Million Dollar Litigation" »

Several people throughout the country are claiming that one recent fitness technique used to get in shape is actually hazardous. Sketchers, the makers of "Shape Ups," the shoe which the company claims promotes weight loss, tones muscles, and improves posture without going to the gym are being sued throughout the country. The latest suit by an Illinois woman claims the shoes are a dangerous product because of the shoe's "elevated and unstable, rocker bottom sole." The woman claims that she suffered a torn tendon while sightseeing in Washington D.C. when the shoe suddenly "pronated inward and caused her left ankle to roll sideways resulting in excruciating pain." According to the complaint the injury required surgery to repair.

The same firm representing the Illinois woman has files similar suits in Kentucky and Ohio, and is planning to file in Georgia, Virginia, and Utah. There is also a class action suit pending against Sketchers in the Southern District of California that claims the "Shape Ups" are being fraudulently marketed as having health befits.

Continue reading "Are Sketchers "Shape Ups" a Dangerous Injury Causing Product?" »

Lee County Alabama has come up with a fool proof plan to catch and arrest parents who are delinquent on child support payments: offer them free tickets to the Iron Bowl, the annual game between Auburn University and the University of Alabama. According to the Opeika-Auburn News, the Lee County Sheriff's Office set up a plan called "Operation Iron Snare" where they sent letters out to 140 parents who were delinquent on their child support payments telling them they had won tickets to the Iron Bowl. The letter said that all they had to do was bring photo ID to a specified location to claim the tickets.

The officers went all out decorating the room in balloons with banners on the wall, news cameras, and arresting officer dressed in both Auburn and Alabama gear. Unfortunately when the "winners" were greeted it was with handcuffs rather than tickets.With the plan, coined "Operation Iron Snare," the department was able to catch about a dozen violators who owed an estimated $270,000 in back child support.

Former Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant was once quoted asking of Auburn, "What the hell's a matter with you people? Don't y'all take football seriously down there?" I would venture to say after watching this video that there is no question about the seriousness of football to fans of both Universities in the Yellowhammer State (yes that is Alabama's nickname), especially the gentleman who, as he is being arrested, still questions if he is going to receive his free tickets.