Types of Medical Malpractices

Malpractice is an act or continuing profession which does not meet the standard of professional competence and results in provable damage to the clients. This may occur due to negligence, ignorance or wrong-doing. In medical treatment the damage caused may be visible and thus medical malpractice can be prosecuted.

In medical malpractices four common types can be enlisted: errors in cosmetic surgery, prescription drug mistakes, birth injuries, surgical errors, and diagnostic errors.

Cosmetic surgery

 Today there are millions who undergo plastic surgery to enhance their beauty or to correct the shape or size of an organ. Though this is a very prevalent surgery it did not yet find a place in health care insurance. Thus many a time this has no sympathy to plaintiffs even though there is a certain kind of damage done.

Prescription drug error

Prescription errors occur due to the negligence on the part of the doctor, the nurse or health care staff who administers the drug, pharmacists who fill prescriptions, and not the least, drug companies and manufacturers.

The mistakes may be any one or more than one of the following ones. Prescribing or administering wrong drug, prescribing or administering wrong dosage, foresee harmful drug interaction, manufacturing and distributing defective or unsafe medications, etc., are all illegible prescription that led to wrong drug administration. As all the people related to the drug are responsible for the harm caused by the drug, every one of them can be held for mistake done.

Obstetric malpractices

During a child birth, if care is substandard, and the baby/or mother gets harmed, a legal claim can be adopted. Some of the common types of birth injuries stem from cerebral palsy, brain damage, fractures or even death. The medical procedures may be inadequately planned or right kind of skill not shown in handling the new born or even inability to react to an emergency such as a C section delivery.

Surgical or Diagnosis errors

In surgery cases, the doctor may accidentally cause damage to a nerve, blood vessel, internal organ or any other body part that results in severe injury and medical condition. Though this may not show up immediately, it can be a reason for medical claim, if proved.

Diagnosis can be misleading or in some cases delayed. In either case, the patient can file a medical claim if it is proved that this was the cause of damage done to the health of the patient.

Benefits of Hiring a Car Accidents Attorney

A countless number of people file auto accident claims every year only to find that their insurance company will not award fair compensation. There are many insurance company “hidden” policies that are designed to minimize the amount awarded to car accident victims while increasing profits for the insurance company. A car accidents attorney can help you to get fair compensation for medical bills, wage loss, property damage, and any other expense that was the result of your accident. You deserve to be fairly compensated, and with the help of a car accidents attorney, you can be sure to optimize the amount you are compensated for.

Car accident law varies depending on the situation and in what state the accident took place. Unless you have spent years studying personal injury law, it won’t be possible to familiarize yourself with all aspects of law in time to achieve fair compensation. A car accidents attorney will make certain that your insurance company does not take advantage of you. Your car accidents attorney has the educational experience and hands-on experience necessary to properly represent your case and to navigate the process no matter what arises. 

The value of your case will be instantly boosted when you hire a car accidents attorney. With the experience needed to negotiate fair compensation for you, you will not have to worry about your insurance company misrepresenting you. With the help of a reputable lawyer, your case will not be neglected or settled unfairly.

Hiring a car accidents attorney will also allow you to focus on moving on with your life. After an accident, most people have enough to deal with without having to fight their insurance company or worrying about the legalities of their case. A car accidents attorney will lift the burden from your shoulders while working diligently to achieve fair compensation for all of your losses associated with the accident.

What does the Law say about Observing a Pedestrian in a Crosswalk?

If you live in a city, which most of us do, you understand the headache of the daily traffic routine. Most people appreciate the basic rules of the road, but not all people truly recognize that they have a duty to pedestrians as well as other vehicles. Drivers have a duty to take proper precautions towards pedestrians crossing the road in crosswalks and, in some instances, parts of the roads that do not have crosswalks available.  Pedestrians have the right to travel safely across roadways just as much as drivers.    West's F. S. A. § 316.185; § 316.130.

                                         
WHO IS TO BLAME WHEN A PEDESTRIAN INJURY OCCURS?

The answer to this question is not as cut and dry as one may think. Like most legal issues, it depends on the circumstances. In general, the driver and the person crossing the road both have a duty to be equally cautious when entering heavily trafficked areas. West's F.S.A. § 316.185. You also have a duty to alter your actions according to any possible unsafe conditions to yourself and other people on the road: this means pedestrians too.  If one party fails to take proper precautions, or does not take due care to avoid an accident, that person could be liable for any injury that takes place.  FL ST § 316.075

WHAT ARE THE INTERSECTION RULES?

If you pull up to a stoplight, the law requires you to come to a complete stop before the crosswalk. This includes those right turns on red lights. Some people just check the traffic and make that right turn as long as no cars are coming their way. Not so fast! There could be people on your right hand side with a signal to cross the road.

Drivers must also come to a complete stop before the crosswalk, and allow any people to cross the intersection when the persons have a signal to cross. Clearly, if a person is already in the crosswalk when you come upon the traffic signal, you must yield to the pedestrian.

Furthermore, if crosswalks are present, pedestrian must use the crosswalks and crosswalk signals to cross traffic. FL ST § 316.130

WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE CROSSING OUTSIDE OF A CROSSWALK?

People crossing a road at a section of the road without a crosswalk are not allowed to quickly enter the road without warning. Additionally, pedestrians entering the roadway at areas not marked as crosswalk zones must yield to all vehicles. You also may be breaking the law depending on your local jay-walking statute.

With all that being said, drivers cannot simply ignore people entering the road at areas of the road where crosswalks are not present.  Anyone on the road has a duty to take proper care to pedestrians entering the traffic.  A driver needs to be cautious of any people entering traffic at all times, and they must take proper precautions to avoid injury pedestrians. If someone does not take due care while operating a vehicle and a pedestrian is injured, the driver could still be liable even if the person was crossing the road at area not marked with a crosswalk.  FL ST § 316.130; FL ST § 316.185

HOW COMMON ARE PEDESTRIAN RELATED INJURIES?

The elderly and children are most likely the victims in pedestrian accidents. Moreover, pedestrians are far less likely to be injured at a crosswalk location rather than a location where no crosswalk is present. Statistically-speaking, using a crosswalk is the safest mode for crossing a street. The following statistics are courtesy of the NHTSA and the CDC:

• Nearly 4,200 pedestrians a year are killed in traffic accidents.
• Senior citizens accounted for nearly 20% of pedestrian deaths.
• Children under the age of 15 years old made up nearly 23% of all pedestrian traffic injuries.
• Males are more likely to be killed in pedestrian accidents.
• Roads without the availability of crosswalks accounted for 42% of all pedestrian deaths.
• Florida, Texas, and California have the highest percentages of pedestrian fatalities.
• More pedestrian are killed in accidents on January 1^st than any other day of the year.
• The deadliest cities for pedestrians are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, and Houston.

CONTACT TAMPA BAY AREA PERSONAL INJURY AND CIVIL TRIAL FIRM DOLMAN LAW GROUP

Sometimes it is not really all clear who is blameworthy when pedestrians are injured. Drivers and pedestrians both have a duty to take proper precautions so that they do not put others in dangers way. Furthermore, just because you were the one who injured someone else does not necessarily mean you are liable for the injury and vice versa.

Due to the fact that liability is sometimes unclear, it is imperative you contact an experienced personal injury attorney. If you, or someone you know, have been injured in a pedestrian-related accident, you should consult with a law firm with experience handling accident, personal injury claims.  Contacting an experienced personal injury attorney will increase the likelihood that you, the victim, collect the maximum award for your injuries, pain and suffering, or future loss of income.

Dolman Law Group
800 North Belcher Road
Clearwater, FL 33765 

727-451-6900

Car-pedestrian crashes have West Hollywood weighing safety vs. speed

Keith Cohn has seen so many pedestrians nearly run over trying to cross the streets of West Hollywood that he's starting to get gun-shy.

He's had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit while walking his dog and once had to pull an injured jogger out of the street after the man was hit by a driver who didn't notice him in the crosswalk.
                                    
Cohn even gave up his ritual of sipping coffee outside the Starbucks at Santa Monica Boulevard and Westmount Drive because "all you hear is screeching of tires, people cussing each other out and people hitting cars that almost hit them."

He finally took to videotaping drivers running stop signs near his home on Kings Road and handed over the footage to city and sheriff's officials to show how bad the problem had become.

"I've seen too many close deaths," Cohn said. "As a resident of West Hollywood, I am scared to walk my street."

Now West Hollywood residents are urging city officials to make their crosswalks safer for pedestrians. Their efforts were heightened last month after a 62-year-old man was killed by a car while trying to cross Santa Monica Boulevard. Dozens of people later staged a demonstration in the nearby crosswalks, holding signs that read: "Unsafe."

City officials are now considering several options for improving crosswalk safety, including removing some crosswalks and installing signals on those that remain.

Since the beginning of 2011, there have been 84 vehicle and pedestrian collisions in West Hollywood crosswalks, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's West Hollywood Station.

Of those, 47 were on Santa Monica Boulevard, which has presented a conundrum for city officials.

The street's 2.8-mile stretch that runs through West Hollywood carries a heavy flow of traffic, typically more than 45,000 vehicles daily, according to city officials. That's forced the City Council to weigh options for both speeding up rush-hour traffic and slowing it down for pedestrians.

Distracted driving seems to be at its worst when cars are moving slowly because that's when people start looking at their cellphones, resident Steve Martin said during a joint meeting of the city's public safety and transportation commissions this week.

"Nobody's paying attention, and during heavy traffic it's even worse because people are late, and they're bored and they're frustrated," Martin said.

Martin, a former councilman, said officials need to carefully weigh whether adding signals to all of the crosswalks will actually make them safer or just create more congestion. Santa Monica Boulevard has numerous mid-block crosswalks between intersections — many of which have no lights or signals.

"When you create gridlock on Santa Monica, you may be calming traffic, but you're not calming drivers.... When drivers are frustrated, they act out," Martin said.

Some residents said drivers trying to avoid the gridlocked stretch turn onto side streets, speeding and running stop signs as they go.

Most collisions between vehicles and pedestrians in the city happen during the evening rush hour, according to the sheriff's department. That's also when the setting sun can blind westbound drivers.

Sheriff's deputies will be increasing operations targeting drivers who fail to yield for pedestrians, and aiming to reduce distracted driving and jaywalking, said Lt. David Smith of the West Hollywood station.

During one operation last week, deputies gave 81 citations for failure to yield for a pedestrian in a crosswalk, Smith said. In most collisions in recent years, the vehicle has been at fault, but both drivers and pedestrians have become increasingly distracted by cellphones, he said.

Three pedestrians have been killed in West Hollywood crosswalks since 2011; the vehicle was determined to be at fault in all of those incidents, Smith said.

The city is developing plans to add more signals to crosswalks on Santa Monica between San Vicente and La Cienega boulevards.

Among options being considered is the elimination of some crosswalks and the installation of signals on those that remain. Another option includes keeping all the crosswalks and adding signals at each one — which could create more delays for drivers, officials said.

The city's senior transportation planner, Bob Cheung, said several short-term measures also are being considered, including reducing travel lanes on Santa Monica Boulevard during weekend evenings and adding crossing guards at key intersections.

Source:  http://www.latimes.com/local/westside/la-me-weho-pedestrians-20140920-story.html