In the last several years, there has been a huge increase in the number of surgeries performed with robotic devices, usually manufactured by one company that has aggressively marketed them to doctors and hospitals.
Medical malpractice attorneys know that it is often very difficult to determine what went wrong in a surgical procedure. Unless someone witnessed exactly what happened and is willing to testify about it, or unless the outcome was so bad it is presumed to be the result of negligence (a res ipsa loquitur claim, such as leaving a surgical instrument in the patient), the reasons for a bad outcome are often never known to the patient or his/her attorney.
The parents of a young child have filed a lawsuit against Swedish Medical Center, alleging that an employee doctor left a guidewire inside their boy after a routine procedure involving inserting a catheter in his leg to give him fluids and medication.
A recent article in a medical publication outlined the outrageous case of a Texas neurosurgeon who killed and maimed patients for several years while other doctors begged the Texas medical disciplinary body to take action to lift his license.
USA Today published an article on August 20, 2013, that described the failure of the nation’s state medical disciplinary systems to police doctors who repeatedly cause patient harm through negligence and error.
CMG’s Gene Moen has been selected as “Lawyer of the Year” in the Medical Malpractice – Plaintiffs practice area in the Seattle metropolitan areas by The Best Lawyers in America 2014. Only one attorney in each practice area is selected for this honor from peer-review assessments. Gene is also listed as a Best Lawyer in the Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs category.
Gene Moen and Paul Chemnick were once again named to the 2013 Super Lawyers list as among the top attorneys in Washington State. No more than 5 percent of the state’s attorneys are selected by Super Lawyers.
One thing that is constant in medical malpractice cases of all kinds is the need for expert testimony. Experts are required by the court rules when there is an issue that ordinary jurors do not have the experience or knowledge to judge.
