A Modern Day Epidemic: Prescription Opioid Abuse

November 8, 2016 by Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C.

A Modern Day Epidemic: Prescription Opioid Abuse

A crisis of opioid drug abuse is sweeping the country and a potential culprit is now being identified. A recent study conducted by the Center for Public Integrity and the Associated Press has determined that the opposition of large pharmaceutical corporations to regulation on prescriptions may be a driving factor in the abuse of opioid painkillers, such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, codeine, and similar drugs.

rx-opioid-abuse

Beyond blocking restrictions, “Big Pharma” is charged with excessive and unnecessary promotion of addictive drugs. Just last year, more than 220 million prescriptions for opioids were given throughout America, more than any other country.

Research has shown a devastating trend: opioid addictions start with legal prescriptions and then users get hooked beyond reprieve. Heavier versions of the drug become sought after and the death toll rises. In fact, within the epidemic of American drug overdoses, opioids are responsible for about half of all deaths.

In tackling the issue of opioid abuse, prevention is the best place to start. If you are considering using opioids for any reason, it’s important that you have your safety in mind. Here are tips for opioid safety:

Get the right type and amount of drug by thoroughly discussing health information with your doctor before taking a prescription.
Contact your doctor to report any side-effects or complications.
Read directions for your prescription carefully.
Get rid of old medications and make sure your prescriptions are current.

Unfortunately, the political power of pharmaceutical corporations combined with mistakes made by medical professionals leaves many at risk of suffering opioid addictions. If you or a loved one has been adversely affected by opiate painkillers, you may be able to collect damages for personal injury or medical malpractice. Contact the Milwaukee personal injury lawyers of Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. for a free consultation.

Medical Errors Now a Third Leading Cause of Death

June 14, 2016 by Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C.

Medical Errors Are Now a Leading Cause of Death

We look to doctors to improve our health conditions, not make them worse. Shocking but true, a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine suggests that routine medical errors are third on the list of leading causes of death in the United States, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.

Medical errors are not legally required to be reported in the event of death, but these mistakes are frequent and can be fatal. In the United States, such mistakes have resulted in 251,000 deaths each year; that’s a whopping 9.5% percent of total deaths. According to the study, medical errors likely cause more deaths than automobile accidents, stroke, respiratory disease, or Alzheimer’s.
While medical errors could happen for a number of reasons, the most common include:

Injuries from immobility or falling
Childbirth complications
Infections from IVs or catheters
Drug complications
Surgical site infections
Miscommunication
Inadequately-trained or distracted medical professionals

If medical errors result in this many deaths, the severe injuries they cause are significantly more prevalent. Unfortunately, many of these errors go unreported and those responsible are rarely held accountable. For the sake of all of us who rely on medical professionals, this is an issue that studies such as the Johns Hopkins one seek to address.

If you think you that you or a loved one has experienced the ill effects of a medical error, you may be able to mount a successful case. Contact the Milwaukee personal injury lawyers of Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. for a free consultation.

Medical Malpractice Fund Reaches $406 Million Surplus

May 30, 2016 by Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C.

Medical Malpractice Fund Reaches $406 Million Surplus

According to a state audit performed in February, a $1.2 billion state-run fund that pays large medical practice awards has a surplus of $783 million. Startlingly, this figure is $406 million more than recommended which illustrates just how difficult it has become for injured patients to win medical malpractice cases against doctors.

The Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund was created in 1975 by legislative enactment with a goal of providing excess medical malpractice coverage to health providers in the state, as well as compensating injured patients. Doctors and other health providers are required to pay into the fund. The fund covers malpractice awards of more than $1 million.

After the fund’s value grew considerably in recent years, regulators reduced doctor’s annual fees in an effort to bring the surplus to a target range. Despite the reduction in fees, the fund’s surplus continued to climb.

Unnecessarily High Surplus

The fund is backed by the Wisconsin Medical Society who claims that a large surplus is required to fund unexpected cases. But many attorneys are pushing back, arguing that the surplus is unnecessarily high and indicative of problematic regulations favoring health providers over patients.

For example, in Wisconsin, patients cannot sue if their adult children die from a medical error and vice versa. Further, in wrongful death cases, damages are capped at $500,000 for a child and $350,000 for an adult. Damages for UW-doctors are also capped at $250,000.

According to attorneys, these prohibitions are found in few, if any other, states and likely contribute to Wisconsin’s unenviable position of 49th out of 50 states in malpractice payments per capita from 2004 to 2014.

If you are a victim of medical malpractice and face the daunting task of attempting to recoup damages from the state fund, contact us today for a free consultation. Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. – an experienced attorneys eager to help those injured through no fault of their own recover the damages to which they’re entitled.

Study Finds 1% of Physicians Account for 32% of Paid Medical Malpractice Claims

April 12, 2016 by Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C.

Study Finds 1% of Physicians Account for 32% of Paid Medical Malpractice Claims

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a small number of doctors account for a disproportionately large number of the medical malpractice claims that result in payout for victims.

The study, using data from the National Practitioner Data Bank, analyzed claims paid against roughly 54,000 physicians from 2005 through 2014, and found that the risk of recurrence increased with the number of previous paid claims and that it varied according to specialty. This would seem to imply that a small population of physicians in specific specialties account for either the largest number of potential claims and/or the most egregious cases of medical malpractice, since they so often result in payment for victims of malpractice.

It should be noted that although the study was restricted to data gathered from 2005 through 2014, there is little reason to believe that these numbers do not reflect similar trends on an annual basis. In fact, there are approximately 15,000 to 19,000 medical malpractice lawsuits filed every year in the United States, presumably with a third of those that are paid tied to this same pool of doctors.

Significantly related, a fascinating medical malpractice watchdog report published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2014 found that although the number of malpractice claims in Wisconsin has dropped over a similar timeframe (2003 to 2013), the number of issues (including reports of medical errors) reported as adverse action reports to the federal database has actually increased substantially, from 38 in 2003 to 105 in 2013. And, due to state laws and court verdicts that tilt the law in the favor of physicians over victims, it can be hard for those affected by professional negligence of this sort to find reputable medical malpractice lawyers, even as the number of adverse issues rise.

Has Your Doctor Been Involved in a Malpractice Lawsuit?

Although it may be small comfort for those already affected by medical negligence, one way that patients can help protect themselves from becoming victims of medical malpractice is to adequately screen physicians before seeking medical care. Few people know that the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services maintains a disciplinary actions database that allows the public to search for doctors by name and profession.

If you believe you may be the victim of malpractice, contact Milwaukee personal injury lawyers Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. We have a proven track record of successfully litigating malpractice lawsuits with substantial judgements. Click here to see some of our most successful malpractice cases.