Many medical patients in New York may relate to those in other states who have suffered injury, illness and/or economic loss due to substandard medical care. As part of a recent federal whistle-blower lawsuit, two patients agreed to settle their cases. Representatives for the defendants continue to deny medical malpractice allegations.
There is always a certain amount of risk involved in a medical procedure. Every patient may reasonably assume, however, that doctors, surgeons, nurses and other medical staff members will have their best interests at heart and carry out their duties according to the utmost level of accepted ethics and safety standards. In recent years, there have been many complaints that some doctors are fattening their personal cash piles by ordering and performing unnecessary surgeries.
Two patients who underwent back surgeries at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center were part of the federal lawsuit against neurosurgeons in that hospital system. Both cases were settled just before going to trial. One of the patients had claimed his medical history did not warrant the several back surgeries that a UPMC neurosurgeon performed on him.
The federal lawsuit alleges improper financial inducements for doctors. The two doctors who settled their cases were among 13 others listed in the whistle-blower lawsuit. In a separate claim, the neurosurgeon of a woman who suffered severe injury during spinal surgery said he is repulsed by insinuations that he would act unethically in order to make more money. Regardless, medical malpractice cases are often complex, requiring skilled and experienced representation to achieve positive outcomes. Anyone in New York in need of such assistance may contact a personal injury attorney.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Two medical malpractice suits connected to pay issue settled“, Kris B. Mamula, Jan. 17, 2017
