Re: Example of out of control US legal system
From: Anna Meenan, MD (annam@uic.edu)
Thu Apr 13 10:01:53 2006
Yes, there are some slimy expert witnesses out there too.
BTW, Pamela, I don't think we've seen you here before. Introduce
yourself.
--
Anna Meenan, MD
At Thu, 13 Apr 2006, Pamela Hollsten wrote:
>
>Overlooked in cases very often is the fact that to get to a jury, there
>must be physician experts involved for both sides. Perhaps the real
>target here is not on the system itself, but on medical experts that
>participate in cases of questionable validity - thereby
>promoting/allowing these cases to go forward? Expert testimony is
>required for all medical malpractice cases to proceed. No expert, no
>case.
>
>Pam Hollsten
>Mailto:pahollsten@earthlink.net
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: ob-gyn-l@obgyn.net [mailto:ob-gyn-l@obgyn.net] On Behalf Of D.
>Ashley Hill
>Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 9:23 PM
>To: Multiple recipients of list OB-GYN-L
>Subject: Example of out of control US legal system
>
>>From Orlando Sentinel online, regarding a nearby suburb of Orlando. I
>do not know the details of this case, but $28,000,000 is a lot of money.
>The college and medical students I teach read these articles, so very
>few want to pursue ob/gyn. How can our society continue to afford to
>shell out such huge awards, particularly for cases like this one?
>
>SANFORD -- An Altamonte Springs woman today won a $28 million jury
>verdict in one of the biggest medical malpractice awards in Seminole
>County history.
>
>Jeanette Davis, 42, a state employee, sued her gynecologist, Dr. Robert
>Bowles, alleging he botched an operation.
>
>Davis, who had given birth to two children, suffered from minor
>incontinence, but after Bowles operated in 2001, she was unable to
>urinate naturally.
>
>Davis testified she must now catheterize herself two times a day, a
>condition that will last the rest of her life.
>A six-member panel deliberated two hours today before returning its
>verdict.
>
>Bowles' attorney, Richard Womble, said the doctor was not negligent. He
>said Bowles was monitoring Davis' progress, but then she stopped coming
>to him for care. Womble said the award was far out of line with the
>damage she suffered. He said he would ask for a new trial and that
>Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson reduce the award.
>
>Ashley
>
>--
>D. Ashley Hill, MD
>Associate Director
>Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
>Florida Hospital Family Practice Residency
> and Loch Haven Ob/Gyn Group
>Orlando, Florida
>
