When was the first medical malpractice suit

In the s, courts began publishing standards of medical malpractice awards for the first time. This caused an incredible fast growth of money being awarded. States soon passed reform laws to cap amounts of certain kinds of damages.

A decade later, a dramatic malpractice case would spark more reforms. In , year-old Libby Zion was admitted to a New York hospital and treated by two residents. She became more and more sick as the night went on and eventually died from her condition. Her father, a prominent writer, sued claiming the residents were overworked and negligent.

He won, and the case spurred the passing of laws in New York that would lay the groundwork for national reforms. McMahon filed a malpractice suit with the hospital and the orthopedic surgeon for a failure to properly diagnose his neck fracture. Additionally, he claimed that the two operations he underwent were botched, causing him great pain and discomfort for months.

Cedars-Sinai settled with McMahon for an undisclosed amount. Interestingly, McMahon also filed a premises liability suit with the owners of the home, alleging that his fall could have been prevented if the homeowners had adequate safety measures in place to prevent such a fall from happening.

Bill Paxton. On February 14, , actor Bill Paxton underwent heart surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm, replacing an aortic valve in the process. The family of Paxton believes this stroke may have been partly onset by the unconventional approach by Dr.

Ali Khoynezhad, the surgeon who performed the operation on Paxton. Nearly a year later, the family of Paxton filed a wrongful death suit against the doctor and Cedars-Sinai Hospital. The suit is still ongoing, and the hospital and surgeon deny any wrongdoing throughout the situation, claiming that Paxton was aware of the risks involved in the surgery. Elvis Presley. The King of Rock and Roll died suddenly at age 42 on August 16, , citing heart disease as the cause of death.

George Nichopoulos. Many claimed that he negligently prescribed drugs to Presley and without discretion. In , Nichopoulos was charged with prescribing drugs to Presley in an indiscriminate and negligent manner, but a jury found him innocent of charges. Nichopoulos would come under scrutiny for the next decade, as accusations of over-prescribing drugs continued through his career. In , the medical board suspended his license for three months, and in , his medical license was revoked when the Board of Medical Examiners found him guilty of gross malpractice and misconduct with 13 separate patients.

Dennis Quaid. When they were two weeks old, they developed staph infections and were taken to Cedars-Sinai, where they were given required treatment with Heparin, a blood thinning medication.

The wrong dosage was unfortunately given to the twins — a dose meant for adults, not infants, more than times the dosage. They were each given two doses eight hours apart. As a result, the babies were left vulnerable to extreme bleeding — and the Quaids were not properly notified of any issues when they called that night.

It was only when they showed up at the hospital the next morning, they were told the children were in critical condition. They spent 11 days in the NICU, fortunately making a full recovery. The Quaids did eventually file a lawsuit against Baxter Healthcare Corp. Baxter failed to recall the product previously after three other infants previously died due to similar dosage errors.

The lawsuit was eventually dismissed, but the Quaids may refile the lawsuit. Geraldo Rivera. In , reporter and media personality Geraldo Rivera went into the Hospital for Special Surgery for an operation on his back, and claims that his surgery was botched — leading to a crippled right foot. Rivera filed a medical malpractice suit against the hospital, alleging that they were the direct cause of the injury.

According to the lawsuit, Rivera can no longer jog or play tennis, and has trouble playing with his daughter. The suit is still ongoing, with the hospital hoping to dismiss the lawsuit. John Ritter. Comedic actor John Ritter tragically passed away in when he suffered an aortic dissection, a tear in the inner layer of the aorta.

Parker Lyon, , Vol. Harris GW. Pennsylvania State Reports. Phila: Kay, , Vol. Eliason EL. A saga of fracture therapy. Guidi G Vidus. Chirugia e graeco in latinum conversa. Paris, Petrus Galterius , On Fractures. History of the treatment of compound fractures.

Minn Med ; 54 10 — De Moulin D. The treatment of compound fractures in the eighteenth century. Netherlands J Surg ; — Lister J. On a new method of treating compound fracture, abscess, etc. Lancet 1: —, —, —, —; 2: 95— Deformities After Fractures. Phila: T. Collins, , pp. Pott P. Remarks on the necessity In Chirurgical Works London: C. Hawes, , Vol. Kirkland T. Thoughts on amputation , being a supplement to the letters on compound fractures and a comment on Dr.

Johann Ulrich Bilguer's book on this operation. London, , p. Rutkow IM. An Illustrated History. Louis: Mosby, , p.

Desault PJ. Gross SD. Phila: J. Grigg, Cooper AP. London: Longman, The Lectures of Sir Astley Phila. Hart, , p. New Hampshire J Med. Prosecutions for mal-practice. Report on deformities after fractures.

Collins, ; Hamilton FH. A Practical Treatise on Fractures and Dislocations. Am J Med Sci. Review of Frank Hamilton's works. Spiegel AD. New York Medical College. An early center of excellence in American medical education. J Comm Hlth ; 18 5 — Mary Edwards Walker, M. A man sued the surgeon who operated on his wife and caused her to die, despite having made promises to the two that he would operate skillfully and safely.

This breach of contract case resulted in a plaintiff verdict and an award of 40 pounds. Asking a lay juror to determine negligence in a field as nuanced and complex as medicine proved to be problematic. This issue was alleviated by formalizing the requirement of expert witnesses to assist the lay juror. Prominent physicians Nathan Smith and R. Griffith of Yale and the University of Pennsylvania respectively held the belief that medical malpractice lawsuits were beneficial and necessary, serving as a tool of accountability in a profession that was poorly regulated.

The American Medical Association AMA was founded in with the goal of promoting standardization of the profession, as well as elevating the standing of physicians in society. At the time, the vast majority of suits stemmed from orthopedic malpractice and deformations that resulted from botched amputations. As physicians sought to raise their own standards, higher patient expectations ensued.

With the arrival of liability insurance for physicians, medical malpractice suits shot up in the States in the late 19th century. Prior to his presidency, Abraham Lincoln was a distinguished medical malpractice attorney, taking on cases for physicians and patients alike.

Lincoln represented two defendant physicians who treated a man when a chimney fell on him. The patient survived and was left with a crooked right leg when the splints were removed.

The man recruited six attorneys, 15 physician witnesses and 21 other witnesses in his suit against the two physicians. Harking to the modern statute of limitations and the importance of fresh and compelling evidence, Lincoln believed the best defense was the passage of time and so he obtained many postponements.

The trial resulted in a hung jury. A steady uptick in medical malpractice cases can be attributed, in part at least, to the decline of religious fatalism. It was a pervasive belief that misfortune and injury were acts of God, meant to be construed as punishment for moral and religious transgressions.

As philosophers and scientists alike began to promulgate the idea that willful human action was the true determinant of fortune and misfortune, a fringe effect was the rise of medical malpractice litigation, a century or so later. This was a brick in the foundation of medical malpractice litigation. Bolam laid the groundwork for an informal three-pronged test employed in the UK and the US alike. The frequency of suits saw an enormous uptick. This caused medical professionals to lobby for federal intervention in the realm of medical tort litigation.

Legislators attempt to take an evenhanded approach that would excessively favor neither plaintiff nor defendant. As every state is afforded the right to legislate medical malpractice laws independently without federal oversight, the approach differs from state to state.