Attorney advice needed

self | 7/26/05 | Mfreddy

[mfreddy]

In February '04 my wife gave birth to a son who suffered a massive brain injury 12 hours after birth. After much counseling and consideration we have decided to consult with a leading med/mal attorney who has been consulting with experts regarding the merits of a possible case against a number of providers that were involved prior to as well as after delivery.

My question is regarding fees. I believe there are general standards regarding fees and I'd like to know what is appropriate and reasonable. Is this something that can be negotiated? The attorney reviewing this matter is a leader and well recognized in the med/mal world and I don't want to offend him. I feel I need to obtain advice in this matter before meeting with him later this week. My wife and I have not entered into any agreements to date and want to be prepared as we approach this subject. His research so far has been extensive and he has agreed to provide this service without charge due to the possible merits of our case.

Thanks to all that can help.

[FreeReign]

Number one cause of malpractice suits in the US? like to know? It is one doctor disparaging the work of another. Look it up.

A lawyer can't win a malpractice suit without a doctor, can they.

[Iwo Jima]

I am a medical malpractice attorney. I have had several clients or potential clients come to me and said that they had gotten a "second opinion" from another doctor who said that the first doctor was negligent. All the second doctors were subsequent treating physicians with no connection to the first doctor. Each time I consulted with the second doctor, they basically confirmed that they had said what they were said to have said but refused to "get involved."

One doctor even demanded about $700 IIRC to talk to me. I traveled to another city to meet with him for 15 minutes. He made me sit out in his waiting room with his patients for close to an hour. He explained the errors the first doctor had made. But when I asked if he would testify, he said no and that if I forced him to he would deny everything he had said.

I turned away all of these clients. Any potential case would have been ruined by the second doctors who would have testified that they had told me there was no case but we sued anyway.

There is no such thing as a "neutral" or "independent" doctor. They simply will not go against the medical profession unless they are the rare few who have decided that they will testify against doctors when they see negligence.

Years ago, before I did malpractice work, we were the victims of negligence in the delivery of our first child. I filed a complaint with the hospital and went to see the administrator and DON. I really just wanted to see some changes made. It was a truly disgusting experience. They could not admit even the smallest error.

At the time I was against lawsuits. Now I know that I should have sued them. They probably continued their negligent ways and may have caused some other parents and child serious harm.

The "independent" process that you are advocating simply does not exists. If our Freeper friend tried it, they would just use the opportunity to get information AND ALLEGED ADMISSIONS from him in order to damage his case and help the doctor.

[salbam]

Look, you are all to be congratulated. You are winning. you are going to get the type of health care you want. Bad result = call the malpractice attorney. No need off proof of negligence - let the attorney dig that up. But just know, when you can't find an OB to deliver your baby, can't find a neurosurgeon to treat your bleeding berry aneurysm in your brain, can't find an orthopod to come to the ER to treat your femur fracture, can't find a general surgeon to remove your ruptured spleen, well, you can always call your malpractice attorney for help. Doctors are not dumb anymore - they are removing their liability by avoiding high risk practice specialties and states. The result is limited access to care. Don't believe me? It is happening alreasdy. When you win your $5 million dollar verdict and that doctor is forced to quit practice and loses his house, how many OB/Gyns do you think are going to rush into town to start up practice? How many delivering babies now in that town will quit?

[Kryptonite]

Well, to put it as nice as I can . . . to the extent that you were trying to convince mfreddy not to engage any legal advice, my guess is that your comments here have had the opposite effect.

The three doctors in my family would agree.

[Polybius]

Sometmes things happen and it isn't anybodies fault.

What causes intraventricular hemorrhage?................... It is not clear why IVH occurs. Bleeding can occur because blood vessels in a premature baby's brain are very fragile and immature and easily rupture. Babies with respiratory problems such as hyaline membrane disease, or other complications of prematurity, are more likely to have IVH. The smaller and more premature the baby, the more likely IVH will occur. Nearly all IVH occurs within the first three days of life.

[garandgal]

I spent months being misinforned, and lied to, by the surgeon, and the hospital.

And don't you just love when they refuse to respond to direct questions with the "how dare you even ask" attitude?

We were at one of the best hospitals in the world...but when they screw up, WATCH OUT...the doors slam shut; you can see it happening. The patient's well-being immediately becomes secondary. They bring most of their problems upon themselves; as proven by a recent study showing that patients are less likely to sue when they receive an apology for an error.

We went to another great hospital, got a wonderful and honest Doctor...and some answers.

[Kryptonite]

A medical perspective directly on point. It's about time. Thank you.

[salbam]

thats great - it does not effect me. But it odes effect my wife. As I mentioned awhile back, my wife is an OB/gyn who is about to quit delivering babies. she does 70% medicaid (money losing) deliveries. Liability exposure is too great, malpracitce insurance is $75,000 a year for OB. god forbid she had a bad outcome through no fault of her own, even a consevative bastion like free republic would have her patient running to the malpractice atty office to slice her to bits if they could. you would have to be nuts to practice in that atmosphere. Who will deliver those babies now? (most practices in town wont take medicaid for deliveries or won't do deliveries period). Who knows? Would you?

[bd476]

salbam wrote: "no mention of one - only a mystery whisper to "look into this". Not enough to hang an MD to dry out with in my opinion..."

The real mystery is at what point did you leap to the conclusion and outcome of a hypothetical legal proceeding? How did you arrive at "Not enough to hang an MD to dry out with..."

Mfreddy was asking for advice about retaining an attorney to formally investigate causes of his son's medical condition. Mfreddy did not imply nor did he say anything, nor can it be reasonably assumed that he intends to hang a physician out to dry.

Legal discovery can uncover much more than informal off the cuff opinions. The application of legal discovery is very technical in nature and time consuming.

Those whose medical performance might come into question already have attorneys in place so why shouldn't Mfreddy avail himself of the resources of competent counsel?

salbam wrote: "What happened to presumtion (sic) of innocence?"

Your Honor, I rest my case.

[salbam]

The malpractice atty will probably tell you that.....

[salbam]

Our malpractice sytem is broke. Nobody interested in answers - only $$. Once the discovery process is invoked, the MD is hosed. Increased malpractice rates or losing insurance altogether one strike and out now for many major insurers, time away from practice, lost revenue, and an an attorney interested in gotcha. They want to win and win bad. They are not interested in the truth. To get answers, a malpractice attorney is the wrong place to go.

[Iwo Jima]

What state are you in? If you have had "tort reform," you are going to have to pay a lot more for your lawyer (give a larger % of the recovery).

Expect 45% CFA for a big name lawyer who has a good track record. Expenses for a case like this should be huge. I would estimate $150,000 minimum. That sort of makes a case worthless in a state with $250,000 cap.

The attorney is usually expected to pay the expenses and, no, you don't have to pay him back if the suit is not successful. But it will come off the top of any recovery which limits what you're not going to be able to settle the case for.

Let me know if you have any specific questions that I might be able to answer.

I am very sorry to hear what happened to your son and your family. I hope that you get answers, which unfortunately can only be gotten through a lawsuit.

Good luck.

[salbam]

Our malpractice sytem is broke. Nobody interested in answers - only $$. Once the discovery process is invoked, the MD is hosed. Increased malpractice rates or losing insurance altogether one strike and out now for many major insurers, time away from practice, lost revenue, and an an attorney interested in gotcha. They want to win and win bad. They are not interested in the truth. Our system is all about money and not about justice and the truth.

[Aliska]

Why didn't you ask the doctors, when this happened, what happened and what caused it?

You don't ask doctors or hospital personnel what happened and why it happened. You get an outside opinion from someone (or more), preferably on the other side of the state/further away.

I almost lost my sister several years ago when her ob-gyn nicked her intestine during a hysterectomy. If my brother-in-law hadn't taken his sister's husband who is a surgeon to the hospital while she was in critical condition, having languished and worsening day by day (leakage from her lower intestine into her lower body), to exert some pressure and get some cat scans done, they might very well have let her die. In her desperate condition and with double pneumonia, she had to undergo surgery to repair the intestine. She made a slow recovery. If she hadn't been in the habit of walking 4 miles a day, she might not have been strong enough to make it through. And she had two prayer warriors, just two, myself and my granddaughter.

Her own doctor and the hospital may have come through for her before it was too late, but if you don't have a loving advocate who will fight for you, your chances are not as good. There are some things we can never know. I thank God and credit my brother-in-law and his sister's husband for saving my sister's life.

I'm sorry, but you have to know what you are dealing with sometimes when doctors may be at fault but you don't know, but have to act.

Deep in my heart, I always hoped they didn't sue the doctor or the hospital, even though they were clearly at fault. My sister and her husband are very well off financially and have been blessed abundantly, and that is enough. She made a complete recovery and leads a full life. I've never had the heart to ask her because it's really none of my business. Part of me is curious, and part of me doesn't want to know.

That is just another perspective. My son got hit by a car when he was a toddler, and I was aware he could develop complications in the future, but I never wanted to sue anybody because I was so darn thankful God spared his life, and I believed he had better chances for recovery if we didn't sue. My husband just went along with me, maybe because he felt guilty for not watching him better. There was insurance coverage, but we didn't have a whole lot of money, and none to spare. He did have headaches for a short period a few years later which may or may not have been related, I prayed a lot, we had tests run, he got better without any medical intervention, and has gone on and been blessed abundantly financially in his life.

I am not suggesting that the person who started this thread should follow my line of thinking. They have suffered horribly, emotionally and financially, and their and their son's suffering may only be beginning. Sometimes faith pulls us through and sometimes there are silver linings to the deepest, darkest clouds. Faith can move mountains.

Life is such a precious gift, even if it isn't perfect.

[salbam]

IJ - Its all about money for you my friend. Cases without much money are "worthless" - your words. -doctors take on cases all the time they know they will spend a long time on and never see a dime (and may still be sued for to boot). Whose got the patients interest at heart?

[Kryptonite]

I think that your wife's interests would be best served through utilization of medical literature on the subject, rather than sarcastic comments about FR.

[Kryptonite]

From your keyboard to mfreddy's ears.

[salbam]

Medical literature are what subject? Open you eyes and look at what is happening to OB/GYN in this country - 40% of OB's now traing are foreign grads - the highest by far in any specialty. Shortages in many states. Nobody want to put their livelihood in the hands of the lottery mentality malpractice system in this country, esp. in high risk specialities like OB. If you like the big suits - defend those. If you like a lot of well trained OB's (My wife trained in a top ten university hosp) defend that. But you are not going to have both......In our town 30% of OB/Gyn's have stopped deleivering babies in the last 3 years with more planning on following suit. The hospital is trying to recruit new grads with zero success thus far...

[Iwo Jima]

Now that's quite an admission. Attorneys are damned if they do and damned if they don't with you people. Either we filed suit without going through your "independent process" in which case we're scum or if we do and the results are as I described so that the prospects of a recovery are nil, we are only in it for the money if we DON'T file suit. And we're still scum.

Why would any attorney take a case that he has to put over $100,000 in to if these is no realistic chance that negligence can be proven? Why would you put any client through that?

Doctors have to be some of the most arrogant and self-centered people around. And illogical. If you can't see the difference between treating a sick person without expectation of payment and filing a lawsuit without expectation of recovery, then no explanation will satisfy you.

I do a lot of pro bono work but filing hopeless lawsuits is not one of them. I used to do a lot more pro bono work than I do now, due to "tort reform."

[Kryptonite]

Intraventricular hemorrhage is the medical subject. Looks to me that if I was in mfreddy's position, if the medical literature shows that his child's misfortune was probably nobody's fault, then I'd be less likely to pursue litigation.