Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Lawyers’ Blog

529 Medical Errors Reported in the District of Columbia In One Year

Unless you or a loved one has been a victim of medical negligence, you have probably never given much thought to how often medical negligence occurs.  You probably have never considered how preventable the medical negligence was.  The Washington, D.C.'s Department of Health's annual report sheds light on those issues.

The city's Department of Health reported that for the 12 months between July 2007 and June 2008, there were 529 "adverse events" in District of Columbia hospitals and clinics.  At least 14 of these errors resulted in the death of the patient.

The underlying nature of the adverse errors was alarming.  At least seven people died because they were given the wrong medicine or given the wrong dose of medication.  Another adverse event involved surgery performed on the wrong breast of a woman.  Another involved the death of patient who, while in respiratory distress, was hooked up to a ventilator that was broken.

Sadly, the 529 adverse events are probably an understatement of the number of actual medical errors that occurred during the reported 12-month period.  Only 10 of the District's 15 hospitals participated in the report, and only two of the District's 21 nursing homes reported.

So, the next time you hear about a medical malpractice case that has been filed, don't be so quick to judge it as frivolous. Ask questions about its underlying facts.  You might be surprised just how preventable the medical error was and how needless a patient's death or injury was.

 

 

Is Insurance Company Greed The Reason For Higher Premiums?

Advocates for tort reform consistently claim that lawsuits are the reason that Americans face increasing insurance premiums.  This claim has consistently been refuted by statistics that prove the number of lawsuits filed in the United States have been decreasing over the last 20 years, and that jury verdicts in favor of injured people have not been increasing over the last 20 years.

Now, there is additional proof that lawsuits have nothing to do with the increase in insurance premiums charged by the insurance companies.  J. Robert Hunter in his study entitled "Property/Casualty Insurance in 2008: Overpriced Insurance and Underpaid Claims Result in Unjustified Profits, Padded Reserves and Excessive Capitalization" discovered that insurance companies are paying 20% less in benefits to its own insureds now as compared to 20 years ago.  He also discovered that insurance companies have earned unprecedented profits in each of the last four years, which is remarkable in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the Florida hurricanes.  Mr. Hunter concludes that the property/casualty insurance industry has been highly effective in maximizing profits through rate increases, coverage reductions, inappropriate claims practices and by shifting high risks onto taxpayers.

Of note, Mr. Hunter was a former Texas insurance commissioner charged with ensuring that insurance rates are fair, and that insurance companies are financially stable and able to pay claims as promised.

Anecdotal support for Mr. Hunter's findings can be found in Allstate Insurance Company's long-standing refusal to comply with court orders demanding the production of the "McKinsey documents", which allegedly show how the company profited at policyholder's expense.  In an effort to protect these documents from production, Allstate Insurance has incurred millions of dollars in fines.  Recently, the Florida Insurance Commissioner went so far as to ban Allstate from writing new insurance business because of its refusal to produce documents or testimony to clarify its procedures for paying claims.