Most Montana residents place great trust in their doctors, and for good reason. When we are seriously injured or facing a life-threatening illness, the skill of our physicians is often the only thing standing between us and a premature demise. When doctors make mistakes in these cases, the results can be devastating. Sadly, sometimes great harm is done by doctor…Read More
Physicians in Montana and anywhere else will probably agree that making a correct diagnosis is an essential step in the treatment of any illness. Doctors are trained to take a history from the patient, conduct a physical examination, and review any necessary lab reports in order to determine what is causing a patient’s symptoms. Without knowing what is wrong it…Read More
Some Montana readers may have undergone surgery to remove a cataract on their eye, or they may have a relative who has had the procedure. Cataract surgery is considered a routine procedure and has a reputation for being safe. Yet six patients who had the surgery on an outpatient basis at a Florida clinic are claiming it resulted in partial…Read More
The prospect of undergoing major surgery causes some anxiety for most people. While most physicians perform surgeries with great care, things sometimes go wrong. And when something does go wrong, the results can be life altering. A Montana woman had this unfortunate experience recently, and it led to a medical malpractice lawsuit against her doctor. The woman had been experiencing…Read More
Errors by physicians can have tragic consequences. The relatives of a Billings man who died the day after he was discharged from the hospital know this all too well. The man died of a drug overdose allegedly caused by an opiate patch and other medications prescribed for him following surgery. The relatives estimate their damages total more than $14 million.…Read More
Montana parents often rely on physicians for advice on what medications to give their children. But in a heartbreaking story out of Washington State, a mother who followed a physician’s advice in giving an over-the-counter cold medication saw her four-year-old child go into cardiac arrest and suffer a devastating brain injury. The little girl, now eight years old, cannot walk,…Read More
For years now, some insurance companies have been lobbying for what they call tort reform — restrictive laws designed to make it harder for injured victims to recover compensation in a civil lawsuit. The field in which they have been most successful in erecting hurdles to recovery is probably that of medical malpractice. In state after state, legislatures have enacted…Read More
Our society has great respect for physicians, and for good reason. But even the best doctors can make mistakes, and a failure to diagnose the correct ailment can have devastating consequences. A recent medical malpractice verdict in Colorado illustrates this point, and may be of interest to our readers in Montana. The case involved a 36-year-old man who went to…Read More
As patients, we place our trust completely in the hands of our doctors. When that trust is violated by medical negligence caused by fatigue, the result can be devastating and irreparable. According to a study recently published in the Archives of Surgery, fatigue may be a significant cause of surgical errors in Montana and across the country. The study is…Read More