Tennessee Injury Lawyer Blog

Apparently, “Do no harm,” means keeping a tight lip on suspected nursing home abuse if you’re among the thousands of U.S. doctors who every year fail to report the abuse found to affect an estimated 2.1 million older Americans. This according to the Providence Journal, Rhode Island's most prestigious newspaper in article reviewing the recent failures in the medical community on reporting elder and nursing home abuse. The article reveals what too many Tennessee nursing home abuse attorneys know firsthand: Doctors are rarely the persons who report elder abuse.

What’s startling, even to an experienced nursing home abuse lawyer like myself, is the percent reported: Only 2% of all cases of suspected nursing home or other elder abuse/neglect is reported by doctors. Some studies find the number even lower, despite it being the law in most states, including Tennessee, to report any suspicion of elder abuse.

As our nation's elderly population grows, such a minute portion of reported abuse is appalling. Not every person in a Tennessee nursing home has a loving family who makes frequent visits. If doctors bound by oath will not protect their patients, who can we hope will?

Despite the graying of America, not all doctors know what signs to look for to detect abuse and neglect in the elderly and fewer physicians still have specialized geriatrics training. Cases of Tennessee doctors turning a blind eye are not unknown to lawyers. Doctors sometimes do so out of loyalty to the abuser (family member, nursing home staff, etc.), sometimes from fear of a legal hassle of having to testify on a suspicion or because the injuries or warning signs are not conclusively from abuse. Although there is no specific nursing home abuse legislation solely for doctors, the adult abuse law in Tennessee is quite clear: Any person, including physicians, must report his or her suspicions.

If you suspect your loved one of suffering nursing home abuse, do not sleep on your suspicions. Too often clients in Tennessee nursing home abuse cases suspect something is wrong but took no action under their loved one suffered serious injury or met an untimely death. Do not wait for doctors, staff, or others to speak up.

To report a suspicion of elder abuse in Nashville contact Tennessee Adult Protective Services at (615) 532-3492 or call 1-888-APS-TENN to report suspicions of elder abuse in other parts of Tennessee.

If you believe your loved one in a Tennessee nursing home has suffered injury from nursing home abuse or neglect, contact our Nashville attorneys to discuss your case with qualified nursing home abuse attorneys.

Many of Nashville's elderly and disabled citizens have much to fear due to rising crime rates at the apartment complexes where they live. There are seven high-rise public housing towers who's incidents of criminal activity have increased substantially in recent days.

The security for those apartments is the responsibility of the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA). Shockingly, MDHA employs only two security guards to protect over 5,000 apartments. This is woefully insufficient and leaves so many of our city's most vulnerable citizens helpless in the face of increasingly dangerous and brazen criminals, all made worse by an inexcusable lack of adequate security at the apartment complexes where they live.

If you have been the victim of a crime and you feel it was the result of inadequate security, please call the dedicated attorneys at The Higgins Firm and let us evaluate your case. The first consultation is always free and we have the training, experience, and resources necessary to protect your rights and to be your advocate in your fight against inadequate apartment security.

The Jackson Sun reported this weekend on the conclusion of a Tennessee medical malpractice trial that awarded a former Henderson County volunteer firefighter $1.5 million in compensation for a Tennessee doctor's post-operation negligence that lead to the amputation of his left leg. The Madison County jury found in favor of Michael Derrick, who lost his leg to amputation to prevent the spread of infection contracted during bypass surgery in the leg.

Dr. George E. Thomas and his employer Madison Clinic Corporation will be responsible for reparations--which is not to say that they will replace the lost limb taken by their negligent and repeated oversights but that their insurance will have to cover the financial compensation for Mr. Derrick's loss of limb.

Dr. Thomas performed the bypass surgery in January 2006. Mr. Derrick saw the doctor eight more times during the next month in follow-ups where he complained of fevers and chills. Dr. Thomas told him it was the flu; a week after the eighth visit, Derrick was told by an emergency room doctor that a bacterial infection had spread throughout his left leg and that Derrick had a choice: He could be minus one leg or lose his life.

Now, two years after the amputation from an infection that should have never been allowed to spread, Mr. Derrick will have some justice, though not his leg. As Derrick said to the Jackson Sun last Friday, “Money is not going to replace my leg. I’m just hoping that I can get the word out (so) that it doesn’t happen to anyone else."

Thousands of Tennesseans put their health and trust in medical professionals every day. When this trust is betrayed by medical incompetence, those injured have the right to sue under Tennessee malpractice law. Just as no limit exists for the horrors--including birth injuries, brain injuries, paralysis, organ failure, aneurysms, blindness, organ failure, infection, amputation, coma, and death--a Tennessee patient might suffer from malpractice, Tennessee law placed no limit to damages the injured may be awarded. These medical injuries can be caused by incorrect diagnosis, delayed treatment, incorrect procedures performed, correct procedures performed incorrectly, or performing procedures without a patient’s consent.

If medical malpractice or negligence has tragically left you or your loved one injured, incapacitated, or worse, give the personal injury attorneys at HHP's Nashville law offices a call at 615.353.0930 or toll free at 800.705.2121 to speak with a Tennessee malpractice attorney. Or fill out our Tennessee malpractice lawyer form.

Muchos hispanos vienen a los estados unidos a trabajar y a buscar una mejor vida y a aprovecharse de las oportunidades que se encuentran aqui. Muchos de ellos de dedican a la construccion o a trabajar en una fabrica.

De vez en cuando, se pasara un accidente en el trajabo que deja al trabajador en un estado de incapacidad. En el estado de tennessee, un trabajador que se accidenten en el trabajo tiene el derecho do recibir beneficios mientras no pueden trabajar a causa del accidente.

Ademas, es sumamente important a recordar que aunque el trabajador este en los estados unidos sin papeles, el aun puede recibir beneficios de incapacidad sin temor de la inmigracion.

Si Ud se ha accidentado en el trabajo, llame a (423) 424-6698. Los abogados del pueblo tienen la experiencia debida para representarle y asegurar qu sus derechos son protegidos. Nosotros estamos listos a representarle y luchar para Ud. Ofrecemos ayuda en su idioma sin necesidad de interprete.

Llamenos ahora a los abogados del pueblos a (423) 424-6698.

FDA officials and manufacturer Boston Scientific are recalling three types of Boston Scientific's carotid artery stents and delivery systems

NexStent Monorail,

NexStent Carotid Stent, and

Monorail Delivery System

for unnecessary and potentially lethal dangers posed to heart surgery patients. This recall applies to all stent and delivery system products distributed to hospitals from June 19, 2007, through May 5, 2008 (approximately 2,700 defective medical devices) .

A coronary stent is a slender device placed in a coronary artery to treat coronary heart disease; specifically, these stents prop open arteries. Coronary stents are used in a procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), more commonly known as oronary angioplasty or just plain old angioplasty. NexStent is specifically used for clogged arteries in the neck that carry blood from the heart to the brain.

The problem with Boston Scientific’s defective (and now thankfully FDA recalled) defective carotid artery stents was that the tip had a great likelihood of coming off during angioplasty, which can cause a punctured artery, stroke, even more invasive emergency surgery to retrieve the stent tip, and other dangers.

FDA officials have stated there is no danger of broken stent tips for those who already have a stent in place; this defective medical device danger exists during the initial application of Boston Scientific carotid artery stents. The tip of the stent deliver system for these three recalled products detaches while it is run through the midsection up to the patient's neck.

Patients with upcoming heart surgeries involving a carotid artery stent procedure should consult with their heart surgeon to make sure that none of these recalled, defective Boston Scientific stents will be used.

I encourage any Tennessee resident injured by any of these defective medical devices to give HHP’s Nashville law offices a call or complete our dangerous medical device injury response form. There are time limits to successful defective device lawsuits and settlements in Tennessee; the more quickly you act, the greater your chance for fair compensation for your medical injury caused by Boston Scientific's defective and dangerous artery stents.

Sixty-five different potentially dangerous generic drugs manufactured by Actavis Totowa, LLC, one of the world’s largest generic drug manufacturers, were recalled from market last week. Regulators found that the company’s Little Falls, NJ plant didn't meet safe manufacturing standards for pills. Suppliers (pharmacists and hospitals) of the generic drugs have been asked to return all pharmaceuticals subject to Actavis’ recall.

These drugs include:

Actavis Tablets :

Continue reading "Pill Manufacturing Oversight Recalls Actavis Generic Drugs" »