In Virginia Beach, Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month is an important time. I have had the unfortunate privilege of representing two families who each lost a husband and father as a result of melanoma that went undiagnosed by their doctors. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and…
A medical malpractice lawsuit filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which allows people to sue the federal government for medical malpractice committed at federally funded clinics, was recently decided in favor of the family of a 6-year-old boy who suffered brain damage at birth. As a result of…
Doctors and other healthcare professionals in Virginia and around the country were recently notified of a new program launched by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration aimed at reducing the likelihood of preventable harm from medication use. The “Safe Use Initiative” was started because “too many people suffer unnecessary injuries…
Physicians in Virginia and around the country often misdiagnose or fail to diagnose several common women’s health issues, according to a recent health report. Health experts say that many women walk out of doctors’ offices feeling that their symptoms were ignored or have not been taken seriously. They are often…
A recently released VA Inspector General report found ongoing problems at a Veterans Affairs hospital where nine patients died in surgery in six months – a mortality level more than four times the expected rate. As a result, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki pledged to send five top-ranking officials to investigate…
Two workers at a nursing home in Galax, Virginia, have been dismissed due to allegations of abuse of residents. The workers are being investigated by the police and criminal charges are expected. There are many nursing homes throughout the Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and the overall Tidewater area that…
A Virginia nursing home and rehabilitation center is the focus of an investigation by the Galax County Police Department, according to a local news agency. Two nursing home employees have been dismissed from employment at the nursing home under investigation. Nursing home abuse and neglect was also recently brought to…
In Hampton Roads, it is not unusual to see patrons walking in and out of the many tanning salons along the Virginia Beach oceanfront, as well as salons in Chesapeake, Norfolk, and Newport News. As good as one may look and feel with a suntan, the risks of developing melanoma,…
Virginia Beach parents, whose baby died suddenly after birth in April, 2005, are trying to reform the Virginia Board of Medicine procedures for public complaints. Their infant died as a result of dangerously low amniotic fluid (oligohydramnios). The mother, who was at high risk because of her age, had undergone…
Victims of medical negligence related to medication errors won a major victory last week. The United States Supreme Court upheld a $6.7 million jury award to a musician who had lost her arm due to a mishandled injection of Phenergan, an anti-nausea medication. The Court rejected the defense argument that…