Toy Recall Article Published in the Daily Record on November 19, 2007

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Insurance Companies Should Not Be Making Medical Decisions

By Mark Schofield, Attorney at Law


“To make health care more affordable and accessible, we must pass medical liability reform now. And in all we do to improve health care in America, we will make sure that health decisions are made by doctors and patients, not by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C”

-President George W. Bush, Acceptance Speech to the Republican National Convention, September 2, 2004.

Proponents of medical malpractice reform, or “tort reform” as it has become commonly known, argue that medical malpractice lawsuits, and “Plaintiff attorneys,” are to blame for the current state of disrepair in the American Health System. These proponents argue that by passing medical liability reform, they will create a system where doctors and patients make health decisions, not bureaucrats in Washington.
Everyone believes that medical decisions are best made by doctors and their patients, however, it isn’t “bureaucrats in Washington” that stand in the way, rather, it’s often the insurance company and their accountants. Consider the story of Natalee Sarkisian.

Ms. Sarkisian, a 17 year old California teenager battling leukemia. She had received a bone marrow transplant from her brother, however, she developed a complication which led to liver failure. Her doctors at the University of California – Los Angeles determined that she needed a liver transplant, and sent a letter to CIGNA Healthcare on December 11. CIGNA Healthcare provided health insurance for Ms. Sarkisian.

CIGNA denied payment for the procedure, terming it too “experimental.”
On Thursday, December 21, 2007, around 150 individuals, including members of Ms. Sarkisian’s family, friends and some nurses who attended to her, protested this decision at CIGNA’s Glendale office. Hours later, in an e-mail statement CIGNA reversed its decision. “CIGNA HealthCare has decided to make an exception in this rare and unusual case and we will provide coverage should she proceed with the requested liver transplant.”

Unfortunately, the decision was not made in time. Ms. Sarkisian passed away at 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 21, 2007.

Medical decisions should be made by doctors and their patients. They should not be overruled by insurance companies more concerned about a bottom line. Our team of medical malpractice lawyers fight for patient rights and hold insurance companies accountable for the decisions that they make.

http://www.nbc10.com/health/14903904/detail.html?dl=mainclick

Medtronic Recall Costing Medtronic Millions

The recall of Medtronic's Sprint Fidelis leads is costing Medtronic millions of dollars already. The obvious and immediate cost to the company is due to the fact that medical professionals and the public will lose confidence in the company and stop using their products. It has been reported that the October 15 recall has already had a negative impact on sales of $130 Million Dollars. When heart patients and cardiologists lose confidence in the Medtronic product, they will look at competing products and/or consider foregoing getting a defibrillator.

There will also likely have to be payouts to the thousands of patients who have the defective leads implanted in their heart. We are representing these claimants in these claims against Medtronic. Although the payouts will not occur in 2007, Medtronic and its shareholders are well aware that these payouts will need to be made in the near future. Furthermore, legal fees and attorney fees are already being incurred by Medtronic. Individual Personal Injury Lawsuits have already been filed in Minneapolis and Puerto Rico. There will likely be class action consumer fraud lawsuits as well. A shareholder lawsuit has been filed against Medtronic for witholding information regarding the defects in the United States District Court for Minneapolis.

It seems that Medtronic may have known that the leads were defective well before the October 15, 2007 recall was announced. If this is true, then its deplorable that Medtronic continued to allow doctors to implant the device into patients. The good news is that the legal process will allow us to get to the bottom of what Medtronic knew and when they knew it. The civil justice system allows for discovery of this information through exchange of documents, interrogatories and depositions. The lawyers at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester will fight to make sure that patients injured as a result of having a defective defibrillator are treated fairly and are adequately compensated for their injuries.

Helping the Uninsured--New Maryland Law is a Step in the Right Direction

The Maryland General Assembly passed a new law that will provide health insurance by expanding Medicaid to about 140,000 Maryland residents who were previously uninsured. This is a huge step in the right direction. It is estimated that about 14% of Maryland residents do not have health insurance. While this new law only provides coverage to a fraction of these people, it is a step in the right direction and it shows that the O'Malley Administration and the Maryland legislature are aware of the problem and are actively taking steps to address it. Of course the bill was opposed by big business groups. This is no surprise. The bill can be seen at: http://mlis.state.md.us/2007s1/bills/sb/sb0006e.pdf

Many of our clients do not have health insurance and this is a true tragedy. These people are unable to get regular checkups (and necessary medications), and when they do get sick or have an injury that requires them to go to the hospital emergency room, they are financially wiped out by the bills. We fight for the uninsured. If people without health insurance are injured as a result of someone else's neglgigence, we pursue legal claims against those repsonsible so as to make sure that our clients can get the care that they need, and pay for the care without becoming financially devastated. We work with many medical providers who agree to provide care to our injured clients with the understanding that they will not get paid until the legal case is resolved.

If you or your family members have been injured in an accident that was not your fault, call us for a free telephone consultation at 301-589-2999.

Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Lead Recall

Medtronic recalled the Sprint Fidelis leads that connect defibrillators to the heart. There are approximately 235,000 patients in the United States who have cardiac heart defibrillators with these recalled leads. Our law firm is representing these individuals in claims against Medtronic. Call us at 888-213-8140 for a free telephone consultation.

Some people with the Sprint Fidelis leads have already had serious complications, and for those individuals, the damages that they have suffered are obvious. Many have had unnecessary shocks and have actually had to have their leads replaced. For other individuals with the fractured Sprint Fidelis leads, their heart defibrillator will not work as it is supposed to, and it will fail to save their life. These people could suffer a heart attack that would not have occurred if the defective leads were not implanted. We believe that even individuals who have not yet had any complications who have the Sprint Fidelis leads have a legal claim against Medtronic as well (they have a defective product that has been recalled attached to their heart, and nobody knows how the defective leads will hold up over time).

The recalled model numbers are: 6930, 6931, 6948 and 6949.

If you or one of your loved ones has a defibrillator call 888-213-8140 for a free telephone consultation.

$5.9 Million Dollar Verdict Upheld On Appeal for Client Suffering from Neurogenic Bowel and Bladder

I am happy to report that one of my medical negligence verdicts was upheld on appeal recently. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed my and my former partner Ken Suggs’s verdict of $5.9 million dollars that we obtained on behalf of a woman and her husband where the health care providers failed to treat a blood clot compressing her spinal cord until it was too late. Mrs. Ford now suffers from an inability to control her bowels and bladder, known as neurogenic bowel and bladder. On the first issue presented, the appellate court stated, “[t]hat Dr. Dennis too may have been negligent in failing to order prompt surgery even without confirmation of the CT scan by an MRI, as the jury found, did not nullify the Hospital’s fault in not timely conducting the test he had ordered.” On the second issue presented relating to the verdict in the amount of almost $1 million dollars for the husband’s loss of consortium claim, the appellate court stated “[t]he injuries to Mrs. Ford were well documented in the testimony, and it would have required little imagination for the jury to evaluate the effect of that condition upon her relations with her husband.”

I cannot be happier for my clients, who are now able to collect on this judgment, plus the interest from the time of the verdict to present. When Ken and I called them to let them know of the appellate decision, it was quite a joyous telephone call. We obtained this verdict in May 2005. The defendant first filed post-trial motions, which the trial court denied. The defendant then noted his appeal, and the trial court’s and jury’s decisions were affirmed. Our clients finally now have some closure of their medical malpractice legal battle, and can try to move on with their lives in the best way they can. The monetary verdict of this jury of their peers can go a long way in assisting Mrs. Ford with round-the-clock caretakers and other care needs that she so desperately requires.

Christian Mester
Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC
(301) 589-2999 extension 125

If you or a loved one have been injured, make sure you are aware of your rights. Contact the lawyers at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC toll free at 1-888-213-8140 for a free initial consultation.

Environmental Toxic Tort in Anne Arundel County, Maryland (Gambrills)

The Washington Post reported that Constellation Energy had dumped pollutants (Cadmium and Thallium) from its Glen Burnie Maryland plant in Anne Arundel County Maryland's Gambrills neighborhood for years causing metals to leach into the groundwater and leaving residents with an unsafe water supply. This is unacceptable and maddening. If this is true, not only does it pose a tremendous health risk to the residents of Gambrills Greenleaf, but it also has a negative impact on property values (who would buy a house knowing that the ground water may be contaminated?). It would be another example of a big corporation putting profitability over safety.

There is no mention of any attorney representing the residents of Gambrills, and I am concerned that because Constellation Enegery is saying all the right things and giving the residents free bottled water, that the residents will not take appropriate, necessary and timely action to preserve their rights. The residents need to unite and hire environmental engineers and other experts to conduct surveys and studies immeidatley. What if the pollutants are found to cause birth defects? What if residents develop cancer because of the pollutants? The law imposes deadlines on bringing legal claims (typically called the statute of limitations) and if the Greenleaf residents do not act promptly, they could lose certain rights.

It is probable that corporate executives, risk management folk, and insurance companies that may have exposure for this disaster met and came up with a public relations strategy that will minimize their exposure and responsibility for this disaster. They may have determined that if we give these residents free bottled water and offer to fix some of their wells, then perhaps the residents will sit on their rights and fail to hire counsel and/or appropriate experts.

The affected Anne Arundel County, Maryland and Fort Meade residents are inconvenienced by having to use bottled water and take shorther showers, but more importantly, they may be exposed to toxic chemicals and other pollutants that may cause cancer, birth defects, kidney disease and possibly other unknown health risks. They deserve to be compensated for any proven injuries, emotional distress, inconvenience, medical monitoring, and the lost values of their real estate.

Legal theories that could be used in a case against those responsible for the pollution of their ground water supply include causes of action for negligence, trespass, nuisance and possibly fraud.

The attorneys at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC fight for the rights of citizens against insurance companies. Call (301) 589-2999 x102 for a free consultation.