Author: davidlhood

Categories
Wrongful Death Attorney

Video: Who Can File a Wrongful Death
Lawsuit in South Carolina?

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in South Carolina?
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Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Attorney David Hood and I’ve been practicing law in South Carolina for over 30 years. One of our primary focuses is wrongful death lawsuits. People often ask, how do you file one in South Carolina? We’re going to cover that right now.

What do we need to show to file a wrongful death lawsuit in South Carolina?

The first thing that needs to be established is that the person’s death was caused by someone else’s (and not their own) actions. An example would be the death was caused by being rear ended by a truck, as opposed to a drunk driver driving into a tree. Another example would be being killed because the person was given the wrong medication and not because of an illegal drug overdose.

The Personal Representative of the estate should file the lawsuit

If the person who died (called the decedent) had a will, it should name the representative of the estate and that person should file the lawsuit.

If the decedent died without a will, the family needs to get a Personal Representative appointed by the Probate Court. Once that’s done, the Personal Representative can file a lawsuit on behalf of the estate.

Intestate law dictates what should happen when someone dies without a will

Assuming the wrongful death lawsuit is successful, South Carolina intestate law (which is when somebody dies without a will) dictates how the proceeds are to be divided up. It’ll depend upon whether there’s a surviving spouse, any children or surviving parents.

Take care, I hope this was helpful.

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Categories
Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Video: How to Sue for
Medical Negligence in South Carolina

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Video Transcription

Hi, I’m attorney David Hood and I’ve been practicing law in South Carolina for over 30 years. And today, what I’d like to cover is a primary area of practice for us, which is medical malpractice, and how do you sue for medical malpractice in South Carolina?

Reasonable Standard of Care

Basically, you have to show that the medical treatment you received was below the reasonable standard of care in South Carolina. In addition, you have to show that the outcome would have been a lot better, if you had gotten the right care.

Medical Records

To do this, you need to get all your medical records together and then have a medical expert review them. After the expert reviews all your records, if the expert believes you received substandard care and suffered significant damages because of it, then you may have a case.

Medical Expert’s Affidavit

Typically, the medical expert has to be able to issue an affidavit saying that they believe medical malpractice was committed in South Carolina and that there were serious injuries or death due to the medical malpractice.

File the Lawsuit

Once the expert issues the affidavit, you can file the lawsuit. After that, both sides normally get more experts and the discovery phase starts. This information exchange period can take a year or more to complete.

Mediation

Once the discovery phase has been completed, a mediation will typically be set up to see if the parties can resolve the case before the trial. If not, then the case goes to trial.

It can be a long and expensive process, but many medical malpractice lawyers in South Carolina will front the costs if they believe (and the expert agrees) that there is a case.

Take care, I hope this was helpful.  

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Categories
Personal Injury Attorney in South Carolina

Video: Do I Have a Personal Injury Case
in South Carolina? Part 2

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Do I Have a Personal Injury Case in South Carolina? Part 2

Video Transcription

Hi, I’m Attorney David Hood and I’ve been practicing law throughout South Carolina for over 30 years. One area we emphasize is Personal Injury, and people often ask us, “Do I have a good case?” We’ve covered part of that in part 1, and we want to wrap up the rest of that for you right now in part 2.

Do I have a good case?

If you’ve been injured in an accident, you might be wondering whether you have a strong case. The answer is, it depends.

I’m going to you about factors we consider to determine whether or not you have a strong potential personal injury case.

Witnesses

Number 5: Witnesses. Your case is only as good as your evidence, and usually your evidence is only as good as your witnesses. If, for example, your only witness to support liability is a relative or friend, your case is weaker than if you had several impartial witnesses. Your doctor might be a witness to the medical part of your case. If the doctor involved has never testified, doesn’t want to testify or can’t testify well, this lowers your settlement value.

How Tight-Fisted is the Defendant’s Insurance Company?

Number 6: How tight-fisted is the defendant’s insurance company? As lawyers, we are familiar with which companies are the most tight-fisted and will make ridiculous, low-ball offers on cases. Some we might need to file suit on. However, if the carrier is fair, and some of them are, we may get a higher settlement offer.

How Much Time Has Passed?

Number 7: How much time has passed since the incident that caused your injuries? As a general rule, the longer it takes a case to get to a jury, the less sympathetic the jurors will be. This is particularly true if you experienced pain or other symptoms for a limited time after the accident, but you have fully recovered by the time of the trial.

How Much Damage?

Number 8: How much damage was there to the cars involved? In many automobile cases, the actual damage to the automobile may be minimal as car bumpers are made to absorb more impact now than they could years ago. If there was only a bumper scratch or minor fender damage, the jury will question the extent of the impact and, therefore, the extent of your injuries. On the other hand, if the car in which you were injured looks like an accordion, it will be easier to convince a jury that you sustained serious injuries.

Recap

To recap, the primary factors determining case strength are:

How clear is the defendant’s liability?

How large and consistent with your injuries are your medical records?

Will insurance or defendant assets fully cover your loss?

Will a jury like you and your actions, and dislike the defendant and his actions?

Do persuasive and unbiased witnesses support your claim?

Does the insurer have fair settlement practices?

Will you be fully recovered by the time of trial?

And in auto accident cases, how extensively and visibly was your car damaged?

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Categories
Personal Injury Attorney in South Carolina

Video: Do I Have a Personal Injury Case
in South Carolina? Part 1

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Video Transcription

Hi, I’m Attorney David Hood and I’ve been practicing law throughout South Carolina for over 30 years. In our practice, we’ve handled a lot of personal injury cases and accident cases, and people ask the question almost every time: Do I have a good case? We’re going to dive into that for you right now.

Do I have a good case?

If you have been injured in an accident you might be wondering whether you have a strong case. The answer is “it depends”. I’m going to talk to you about factors we consider, to determine whether or not you have a strong potential personal injury case.

Liability

Number 1 is liability. Liability is basically fault. Proving “liability” (that the other person caused the accident, not you) is the first and biggest hurdle in your case. This is especially true in smaller personal injury cases. Insurance companies have no fear whatsoever about rejecting claims in small cases in which there are serious questions as to liability. To put it another way, if the defendant’s fault or responsibility is unclear, then so is your chance of achieving a favorable outcome in your case.

Damages

The second factor is damages. Liability can be clear, but if there are no damages, then you have no case. Damages are the harm that was done to you in the accident, including your past and future medical bills, as well as your pain and suffering and out of pocket loss. Even in the earlier stages of your case, you probably have some idea as to how severe your injuries are. Cases involving broken bones, which show on x-rays are relatively easy, but soft tissue cases, such as neck and back strains, are more difficult because they don’t easily show on x-rays or MRI’s.

Ability to Pay

Number 3 is the ability to pay. Does the potential defendant have the ability to pay? If not, you and your attorney may invest a good deal of time, money, effort and emotional energy in the case, but never see a penny in return. Either some type of insurance must cover the incident, or the defendant must have personal assets like property that could be sold to pay the judgment.

Will the Jury Like You?

Number 4, will the jury like you? Will jurors empathize with your situation? On the other hand, what kind of person is the defendant? Will the jury like the defendant? There are some “bad defendants” – the drunk driver, the tire squealer, or the bully. If you have an unlikeable defendant, your settlement range goes up. But even more importantly, if the jury doesn’t like you or doesn’t believe you, your settlement range goes down.

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Categories
Medical Malpractice Lawyer

What Happens When the Pharmacy Gives You the Wrong Medication?

Getting the wrong medication from the pharmacy and suffering serious harm sounds like a nightmare, but it’s shockingly common:  according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), medication errors cause at least one death every day and injure about 1.3 million people annually in the United States. So what happens when a medication error puts your health and well-being in jeopardy? Do you have any legal recourse against the pharmacy or the person who made the mistake? In this article, we’ll answer those questions and go over the basics of pharmacy malpractice law so you know what to do if a prescription error hurts you or someone you love.

How Medication Errors Happen

Although most people will look to the pharmacy for responsibility when a medication error happens, things can go wrong at any step in the complex process of prescribing and dispensing drugs. Harmful medication errors can occur when a doctor prescribes a drug, when the pharmacy repackages or dispenses it, or when a medical professional administers it or monitors the patient afterward.

Common causes of prescription errors include:

  • Poor communication between pharmacy and medical professionals
  • Confusion caused by ambiguous product names, poorly-written directions, or hard-to-decipher medical abbreviations or handwriting
  • Failure to employ proper procedures and techniques for prescribing and dispensing medications
  • Lack of product knowledge or training on the part of pharmacy staff
  • Job stress, apathy, or outright carelessness on the part of pharmacists, pharmacy staff, or other medical professionals

Because medication errors can occur in so many ways and at so many separate points in the process of prescribing and dispensing drugs, the lawsuits that result from medication errors are often complex and require an extensive understanding of the prescription drug system on the part of the attorneys who handle them.

What to Do If You’ve Been Harmed by a Medication Error

Whether a medication error constitutes pharmacy malpractice (or) or both, depends on the behavior that led to the error. If a doctor, pharmacist, or pharmacy staff member failed to follow established guidelines and practices for their field and didn’t exercise the reasonable care that’s expected of a medical professional, then they might have committed malpractice.

RELATED: 5 Common Examples of Lawsuit-Worthy Medical Malpractice

A doctor or pharmacist could have committed malpractice (depending on the context) if they:

  • Prescribed the wrong medication
  • Gave you the wrong dosage of a medication
  • Failed to take an adequate history of your health and prescription drug use
  • Didn’t warn you about all the risks associated with the medication, including potential harmful interactions between different drugs
  • Dangerously mixed different prescription drugs that shouldn’t go together

If you or someone you love has been harmed by a medication error, you may be entitled to compensation. Since your case will hinge on whether the doctor’s office or pharmacy followed accepted standards of conduct for their field, you need to work with a lawyer who understands those standards and who has the resources and experts needed to investigate your case and determine whether someone else’s negligence played a role in your suffering.

David L. Hood: Representing Pharmacy Malpractice Victims Throughout South Carolina

Prescription errors can lead to untold pain and suffering for patients, but the legal system helps victims hold the people who hurt them accountable. For pharmacy malpractice victims, Attorney David L. Hood puts together a team (with co-counsel) that has years of experience handling pharmacy malpractice cases. This accomplished team can draw from a professional network of doctors, nurses, and other medical experts who will help determine the cause of a medication mistake and provide expert testimony if medical negligence played a role in your case. If someone else’s reckless or careless behavior caused you or your family suffering, David L. Hood will fight with determination and explore every available legal option to get you the justice and compensation you deserve.

If you or someone you love has been hurt by a pharmacy error in South Carolina, contact The Law Offices of David L. Hood today to speak with an attorney and get a free, no-risk initial assessment of your case. Call us at (843) 491-6025 or fill out our easy online contact form and we’ll follow up with you right away.

Reference

Medication error reports. (2016, October 20). U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/MedicationErrors/ucm080629.htm

The content provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject.

Categories
Motor Vehicle Accidents

What Do I Do If I Have Whiplash After a Car Accident?

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What Is Whiplash?

Whiplash injuries come from abrupt back-and-forth movement of the head and neck. Whiplash may also be characterized as a neck strain, a neck sprain, or a neck injury, but these terms can refer to other conditions as well.

The same back-and-forth motion associated with whiplash can cause other problems too, such as bone fractures, injuries to the discs of the spine, nerve damage, and injuries to the muscles and ligaments in the back.

Whiplash After a Car Accident

Whiplash after a car accident occurs most often when the car suddenly stops, like in a rear-end collision. Since the victim’s body is traveling at high speeds, the neck keeps going forward and then is quickly jerked back when the car stops.

The resulting injury is often extremely painful, although the pain does not always present immediately after experiencing a trauma. Soft tissue injuries and back strains from whiplash, especially, may take a few days to show the full range of symptoms.

Signs and Symptoms of Whiplash Injuries

Symptoms of whiplash will vary from person to person, but they may include the following:

  • Pain and stiffness in the neck, especially when trying to move
  • Decreased range of motion in the neck
  • Headaches
  • Dizziness
  • Pain in the shoulder(s) and/or upper back
  • Numbness or a tingling sensation in the arms
  • Fatigue

In more extreme or complex cases (especially those that involve a traumatic brain injury as well), victims may also suffer from other symptoms, such as:

  • Blurred or double vision
  • Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
  • Disturbances in sleep patterns, such as feeling extremely tired (hypersomnia) or not being able to sleep (insomnia)
  • Changes in mood, such as increased irritability or suffering from depression
  • Difficulty concentrating or suffering from memory problems

Should I Seek Medical Treatment?

Getting medical treatment right away is essential after a car wreck, especially if you’re experiencing the symptoms of whiplash. Even if you aren’t suffering from any pain right away, it may be best to get checked out by a doctor. A qualified physician will be able to evaluate your condition, and they may detect signs and symptoms that you haven’t noticed yet.

RELATED: These 6 Tips Can Help You After a Car Accident

Having detailed medical records starting right after the crash will also help if you choose to file a personal injury claim to get compensation for your medical bills, lost wages for missed work, and other losses that result from your injury. Whiplash claims are often looked at with skepticism by insurance adjustors, but having proof of medical records directly after your injury will help support your claim and build a stronger legal case.

Filing a Whiplash Injury Claim

If you’re experiencing whiplash symptoms after a crash, you should contact an experienced car accident attorney like David L. Hood. During a free initial consultation, your attorney can listen to the details of your story and give you informed advice about what your best course of action is moving forward.

Unfortunately, many people don’t consider speaking with an attorney until the medical bills start to pile up or until they get a meager settlement offer from the insurance company. An experienced lawyer can still help them at this point, but it requires a lot of catch-up if they haven’t been keeping track of their medical bills and expenses. If you have not yet spoken to a lawyer, it is important to keep careful track of documents like medical bills, pay stubs, and pharmacy receipts. Any out-of-pocket expenses or other financial losses could be eligible for compensation if you have a comprehensive paper trail.

And if the insurance company offers you a settlement that doesn’t cover your expenses and meet your financial needs — or if they don’t offer you a settlement at all — then call David L. Hood for help.

David L. Hood: Helping Whiplash Victims in South Carolina

If you have been injured by another driver in a car accident — especially if you are suffering from a neck, spine, or back injury — please call The Law Offices of David L. Hood right away at (843) 491-6025 or fill out our brief online contact form. We offer free consultations where we can listen to your story and give you advice about what your best course of action is moving forward. And if you choose David L. Hood to handle your personal injury claim, our legal team will handle all the details of your case so you can focus on healing.

We aggressively pursue justice and compensation for those who have been harmed in car accidents, and if we take on your case, you do not have to pay us unless we reach a settlement or win your case in court.*

*Clients are not liable for any expenses, unless there is a recovery in their case; however, if there is a recovery in their case, clients will be liable for expenses. Attorney’s fees are based on a percentage of the recovery, which will be computed before deducting expenses.

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Categories
Motor Vehicle Accidents

These 6 Tips Can Help You
After a Car Accident

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Even if you’re a careful driver, you can still be a victim of a crash when someone else is at fault. Being in a collision often leads to pain, anxiety, and anger, and the intensity of the experience can cause people to make decisions that may not serve their best interests. 

However, if you can stay calm and level-headed after a car accident, you can ensure that you get the information you need for insurance purposes. You’ll also need this information if you want to pursue a personal injury case, which can provide justice and compensation for your injuries. If you know the right steps to take during the crucial hours and days after a car accident, then you won’t have to research them in the heat of the moment, when your mind is still reeling and you’re in pain.

With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of six important steps to take if you are ever involved in an accident. If you follow these tips, they can have a tremendously positive impact if you decide to file a personal injury claim related to a crash. These tips can help you after a car accident:

#1: Call Emergency Personnel

You should immediately assess the situation after an accident: Are you or your passengers injured? Was there another vehicle involved? Is anyone in the other vehicle injured? If an emergency exists at the scene, call 911 right away.

Even if everyone seems okay and there are no serious injuries or medical emergencies, you should still call the non-emergency line of the police department and get a police officer to come out to the scene. Make sure nothing is removed from the site of the crash until the police arrive, as anything at the scene could constitute important evidence.

Once there, the police officer will take statements from both drivers and any witnesses. The officer might issue a citation to the driver he or she believes is at fault. However, a citation at the scene is not the “last word” on who is at fault for the accident; for this reason, you need to document the accident as best you can, as you may need to recall the information later during a deposition or other court proceeding.

When speaking with law enforcement officers or other witnesses at the scene, you should never make statements that ascribe blame for the accident, either to you or anyone else. Even if you think you were at fault for the accident, don’t apologize — you don’t have all the facts yet, and you don’t know what other factors might have caused the accident beyond your own behavior. When talking with the police, answer any questions they have truthfully and in a straightforward manner, but stick to the facts of the accident only.

#2: Document the Accident Scene

While the police will review the scene so they can write an official report, you should also gather your own documentation. Try to collect contact, license, and insurance information from the other driver. Ask any witnesses to describe what happened and provide their contact information. If possible, take photos of them at the scene so you can prove they were involved in the accident or there to see it happen.

You should also take photos of the scene itself, with a special focus on photographing any damage to the vehicles and any bodily injuries. Try to get a few snapshots that can convey the time of day, weather conditions, or any other variables that might be important, such as road conditions. Try to take photos from different angles and make sure they include landmarks (billboards, mile markers, fire hydrants, trees, etc.) so you can accurately convey distance and perspective.

Additionally, while the accident is still fresh in your mind, do your best to draw a diagram of what happened and/or write down what happened. In your account, be sure to include key facts like the location, landmarks, direction, car speed, what the other car or driver was doing, points of collision, tire marks on the road, etc.

After the police officer wraps up the accident report and you have all the information you need, you’ll be free to leave the accident scene.

#3: Make an Appointment with Your Doctor

After leaving the accident scene, make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible. Even if you feel like you were not seriously injured and didn’t need immediate medical attention, you should see a physician to officially document your physical and mental condition after the accident.

RELATED: What Do I Do If I Have Whiplash After a Car Accident?

This is helpful for two reasons: first, a doctor will be able to expertly diagnose injuries and other issues that you may not be able to. Second, some injuries and types of pain — for example, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) or neck and back injuries — may not seem severe right after the accident, but may worsen over time.

If you still decide not to see a doctor, understand that you’re essentially closing the door forever on receiving any compensation for your injuries. Without any medical documentation related to your accident, it’s not possible to establish damages, and filing a personal injury claim becomes a lost cause.

#4: Avoid Posting About Your Accident on Social Media

Many people today post about all major life events on social media, and the temptation to share your story on social media may be strong. However, you should avoid this urge and stay off social media as much as possible in the days after your accident, as anything you post may become evidence that’s available to the defense in your personal injury case.

Do not post any photos or updates about the car accident on social media. Better yet, don’t use your social media at all until all matters related to the accident are resolved. However, if you’ve already posted something, do not try to go back and delete it. It may be considered evidence in your case, and if so, it’s illegal to remove that post.

#5: Do Not Discuss the Accident with Insurance Adjusters

Once the other driver notifies his or her insurance company about the accident, a representative from the company may call you to get a statement about what happened. It’s important to understand that you are not obligated to speak with this person, and you should refuse to answer any of their questions until you’ve talked to an attorney. Do not discuss anything regarding the accident, your or any others’ physical status, or damage to your vehicle. Anything you say can — and likely will — be used against you in later legal proceedings.

The other driver’s insurance representative’s job is to get you to say something incriminating about yourself or your actions on the day of the crash that might have contributed to the accident. Rather than fall into this trap, contact an experienced personal injury lawyer right away if an insurance adjuster calls you for a statement.

#6: Contact a Personal Injury Attorney After a Car Accident

Dealing with insurers, doctor’s appointments, medical bills, and more after a car wreck can be overwhelming — especially if someone else was responsible for the crash. When you’ve been injured because of someone else’s negligence or carelessness, you shouldn’t have to pay for their poor decisions, and you deserve justice and compensation if their negligence led to medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering for you or a loved one.

Unfortunately, insurance companies — both the other driver’s and yours — only want to protect themselves, not you. After a collision, you need someone on your side. The legal team at the Law Offices of David L. Hood is here to help you manage everything related to your injury so you can focus on healing. We also know how to navigate the complicated landscape of the law surrounding your unique case, and we will fight to get a fair settlement for you or take your case to trial if needed.

The Law Offices of David L. Hood: Here to Fight for Injury Victims in Georgetown and Horry Counties and Throughout South Carolina

Here at The Law Offices of David L. Hood, we have years of experience representing injured victims in South Carolina, and we offer a free initial consultation so we can listen to your story and provide candid advice about what your legal options are. If you choose to hire us, we also work on a contingent fee basis, which means you don’t pay fees or expenses unless we achieve a settlement or win your case in court.

If you or a loved one has recently been injured in a car accident, contact the Law Offices of David L. Hood at (843) 491-6025 or fill out our online contact form and we’ll get in touch to schedule your free consultation. We know a car accident can turn a person’s life upside-down, but we’re here to support you and guide you at every step in your journey toward justice and healing.

The content provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject.

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Categories
Medical Malpractice Lawyer Pharmacy Malpractice

Is Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Putting You at Risk?

For decades, pharmacists were the most trusted profession in America. Though they are still respected, they are no longer the most trusted.

Back then, pharmacies were actually owned by the pharmacists; they were independent. Pharmacists normally lived in the community they served, and knew their customers well. They would take their time filling prescriptions, and were very personable, talking to customers about their health and their families. Sometimes pharmacists would have members of their families working with them.

John McDonald, R. Ph. owned McDonald’s Drugstore in the 1970’s. His wife worked the cash register there. Here’s how he described his relationship with his customers. “I enjoy the community and the contact with the people. I probably knew 90 percent of the customers, the families, and watched them grow up. Now we get a lot of people in just to look and reminisce.”(PeoplesPharmacy.com)

Unfortunately, mom and pop pharmacies are a thing of the past. Here’s how Joe Graedon,  President of The People’s Pharmacy describes modern day pharmacies, “Today, most prescriptions are filled in chain pharmacies, groceries or big box discount stores. Most of your interaction is with the clerk or the technician rather than the pharmacist.”

Dominating the pharmacy market now are a few big chains. According to a 2019 Drug Channels Institute report, about 70 percent of prescriptions in the United States are filled by chain drugstores, supermarkets or retailers like Walmart. “As the companies have grown, they have applied cost-cutting measures, especially performance metrics, to their pharmacist employees.” Pharmacists are now expected to fill many prescriptions quickly, causing our health to be at risk.

Many pharmacists at these huge retail chains say they are not surprised by mistakes that happen while filling prescriptions. Pharmacists at companies like CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens described chaotic, understaffed work environments where it has become hard to perform their jobs safely, putting the public in danger of medication errors.

“They struggle to fill prescriptions, give flu shots, tend the drive-through, answer phones, work the register, counsel patients, and call doctors and insurance companies, they said – all the while racing to meet corporate performance metrics that they characterized as unreasonable and unsafe in an industry squeezed to do more with less.”(Boston.com)

Distraught pharmacists are reporting to State boards and associations, explaining their struggles, even to the point of saying they feel they are a danger to the public.

State pharmacy boards find it difficult to regulate the chains. In 2006, the last comprehensive study of medication errors showed that an estimated 1.5 million Americans were harmed by pharmacy errors each year.

A pharmacist in South Carolina “acknowledged making 10 to 12 errors a year – “that are caught” – in an anonymous letter to the…Board of Pharmacy.”(SeattleTimes.com)

How are we at risk due to frenzied pharmacies?

It was a Monday, when a pharmacist in South Carolina handed a mother of an 8-year-old child a prescription that was supposed to contain Ritalin to help control her daughter’s ADHD. Due to the pharmacy being understaffed on the busiest day of the week, the little girl was mistakenly prescribed a diabetes drug at 16 times the normal adult dosage. “After taking the medication, the little girl sank into a coma and suffered permanent brain damage. The pharmacist who made the mistake, investigators discovered, was at the end of a 12-hour shift – and a 60-hour work week.”(Consumer.HealthDay.com)

In 2018, 85-year-old Mary Scheuerman’s son, Alton James picked up her prescription from Publix. The doctor had prescribed her medicine for depression. Her son said that he gave her a pill each morning, per the instructions on the bottle. “After six days, she turned pale, her blood pressure dropped, and she was rushed to the hospital.” Five days later, Scheuerman died of organ failure.

At the hospital, one of the doctors told Alton James that “his mother’s blood had a toxic level of methotrexate, a drug often used to treat cancer.” Alton James said his mother did not have cancer, and was supposed to be taking an antidepressant. After investigating, a pharmacy employee confirmed that methotrexate had mistakenly been dispensed to his mother.

How to protect yourself from pharmacy mistakes:

  • Talk to the pharmacist. If a prescription is one you’ve never taken, talk to the actual pharmacist. Even though they look very busy, and probably are, they “are the best source of information about the drugs they dispense.” Ask about side effects and about interactions with any other medicines you are already taking. Just taking the time to ask one question increases the odds that the pharmacist will take a second look at your prescription, and catch any possible errors.
  • Open the bag and check your prescription. One mistake that is commonly made is a prescription being dispensed to the wrong patient, according to The Institute for Safe Medication Practices. Check the printout and the prescription bottle to be sure the correct name is on both. Also check the address and birth date, in case someone with a similar name had a prescription filled at the same time.
  • Look at the actual medication in the bottle. If you have taken the medicine before, you will recognize if the medicine looks different. If so, don’t assume it’s because of a different manufacturer. ASK THE PHARMACIST.Most prescription bottles will have a description of what the medicine looks like. Read it and compare to the contents. If anything looks amiss, ASK THE PHARMACIST. The internet can also help you identify medicines. WebMD, Drugs.com and the National Library of Medicine all have websites to help identify pills.
  • Read the instructions. Read the informational leaflet included with most prescriptions. Make sure the medication matches the ailment being treated.
  • Report errors. Alert the pharmacist as soon as possible if there are any errors. The pharmacist should exchange the wrong medication for the right one. If a prescription was mistakenly mixed up with another patient, it’s important that the other patient is informed quickly, before taking the wrong medication. Also alert the prescribing physician, since the mistake may have started there.

Mistakes can also be reported to state pharmacy boards. For South Carolina patients, that would be the South Carolina Board of Pharmacy.

THE LAW OFFICES OF DAVID L. HOOD – REPRESENTING PHARMACY MALPRACTICE VICTIMS IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Prescription malpractice can cause serious health problems and even result in death for many innocent patients. However, if the matter is handled expertly, those responsible for the damages can be held accountable. The Law Offices of David L. Hood and his co-counsel have experience in handling pharmacy malpractice cases. With an understanding of the system, they utilize their network of medical experts and pharmacists to figure out the cause of the mistake and obtain (if possible) an expert opinion so a claim can be filed against those at fault.

If you have suffered at the hand of someone else’s negligence and incompetence, let The Law Offices of David L. Hood do whatever it takes to help you and your family get justice. We will fight until you get the compensation that you deserve.

If you or a loved-one has been a victim of pharmacy malpractice in South Carolina, contact us for a free initial consultation. If you choose us to fight for your claim, we will work with you on a contingent-fee basis, meaning, you won’t owe us a fee unless we get a recovery for you! You can call us now at (843) 491-6025 or contact us at any of our offices in South Carolina here.

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Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Military Members Now Permitted to Be Compensated for Medical Malpractice

For the past 70 years, members of the military “have been barred from filing medical malpractice claims against the government” under the Feres Doctrine.(NPR.com) Recently, Congress has made changes that will benefit the military and their families.

On December 20, 2019, when the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was signed into law, it contained a little-noticed provision that “creates a medical-malpractice exception” to Feres v. United States, a 1950 U.S. Supreme Court decision. (USNews.com)

What is the Feres doctrine?

The Feres Doctrine was named after Lt. Rudolph Feres, who was a highly decorated World War II paratrooper. He “made it through some of the toughest fighting of World War II, only to be killed in a stateside barracks fire.”(TheNewYorkTimes.com) In 1947, Lt. Feres and three other officers were killed when the boiler in their barracks exploded and started a fire in the middle of the night.

Lt. Feres had a wife and an infant son at home, dependent on him. His widow “sued the Army for $100,000, claiming that the camp had failed to have a fire guard on watch that night and that the boiler was known to be faulty.” At that point, the Supreme Court laid down the Feres doctrine, which states, “The government is not liable for injuries sustained by military members on active duty.”

Since that time, the Feres doctrine has shielded the military from many lawsuits.

In one extreme case, a soldier’s stomach was opened up for a follow-up operation for abdominal pain. The surgeon discovered a 30 x 18 inch towel containing the inscription “Medical Department U.S. Army”, left there during the previous surgery.

Sergeant First Class Richard Stayskal

Sergeant First Class Richard Stayskal is bringing about needed change for military members and their families. Stayskal is a 38-year-old Purple Heart recipient. In 2004, he was shot through the chest in Iraq by a sniper. He recovered, and stayed in the military.

In January 2017, the Green Beret underwent a routine chest scan, during a physical at a Fort Bragg base hospital. Although the scan picked up tumors in his lungs, the technician never told him, or notified his doctors.

Stayskal went back to the hospital with shortness of breath and chest pains a few months later. Once again, the tumors were missed by Army doctors.

When he finally went to a civilian pulmonologist in June 2017, the cancer was spotted; but by then it had metastasized. Stayskal is now receiving treatment, but because the Stage 4 lung cancer was detected so late, it’s incurable.

Stayskal said, “I was so angry, I reported the negligence to the hospital commander. The response I got was a total lack of concern. Nothing was done.”

After months of fighting, Stayskal took his fight to lawmakers in Washington, DC. The Sergeant First Class Richard Stayskal Military Accountability Act of 2019 was proposed, but not passed; however, “provisions of that act are now included in the 2020 NDAA.” (ABC11.com)

Stayskal says of the new law, “This is everybody’s fight…for the last 70 years, everybody who’s not had a voice or the ones who have tried and fell short…this is a victory for service members across the board.”

How does the new provision work?

Malpractice cases will not go through the federal courts. “Instead, they will be addressed through an existing Defense Department adjudication agency that handles Military Claims Act lawsuits.”

Under the provision, which went into effect on January 1, 2020, military members who have medical malpractice cases will file for compensation just like they would for worker’s compensation, with award amounts being determined by federal court data. For example, if the average compensation for a lost leg is $25 million in the federal court system, a soldier who lost her leg due to medical malpractice in a military hospital would also receive $25 million.

There is a 3-year statute of limitations for filing a case, and the provision will be retroactive to the beginning of 2018, which means Sgt. Stayskal can now pursue his malpractice claim.

CONTACT THE LAW OFFICES OF DAVID L. HOOD FOR A FREE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CONSULTATION

If you or someone you care about has suffered because of medical negligence, please schedule your free consultation by calling the Law Offices of David L. Hood at (843) 491-6025 or filling out our brief online contact form.

We know how difficult it can be to deal with the immediate and long-term effects of a serious malpractice-related injury. At The Law Offices of David L. Hood, we work hard to make things simple for you. After a free case evaluation, if we believe we can help you and your family, Medical Malpractice Attorney David L. Hood, co-counsel, and our team of experts will vigorously pursue your case to get you the best result we can achieve. Let us put our years of experience to work for you!

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Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Overlapping Surgeries Can Be Catastrophic

Each year, millions of Americans undergo surgery. When we are “under the knife”, we expect to have the surgeon’s full attention. Little do we know that our surgeon may be performing another operation at the same time.

“The pressure to be more efficient and treat more patients can lead surgeons to schedule procedures in more than one operating room at a time.” (StatNews.com)

“Overlapping surgery refers to operations performed by the same primary surgeon such that the start of one surgery overlaps with the end of another. A qualified practitioner finishes noncritical aspects of the first operation while the primary surgeon moves to the next operation.” (JAMANetwork.com)

New research shows that overlapping surgeries is generally safe; however, there are some groups for which this is not the case.

Research found that there was a small increase of complications and even death for overlapping surgeries involving coronary artery bypass grafting and for high-risk patients. Small errors in care could be catastrophic for these groups, causing infections, pneumonia, heart attack, or death.

Bobby Jenks, former Red Sox pitcher settled a claim for $5.1 million after a surgeon caused him a career-ending spine injury, operating on his back and overseeing another operation simultaneously.

Jenks had pitched 19 games before hurting his back in June of 2011.

Dr. Kirkham Wood recommended spinal decompression surgery for Jenks, in hopes of getting him back on the mound again.

The three-hour surgery appeared to have gone well initially. But two weeks post-surgery, Jenks suffered a dural sac tear and leaked spinal fluid. Per discharge instructions, Jenks left messages for Dr. Wood, but never got a return call.

In pain, Jenks went to another surgeon, who repaired the tear, and said that Wood had left a bony spicule which caused the tear.

Jenks had already filed suit when he found out that Dr. Wood had been overseeing another surgery during his operation. Dr. Wood had been sued twice before by patients who had serious complications due to him juggling simultaneous surgeries

Jenks said, “Never picking up a baseball again is absolutely devastating…I was living the dream, and it was taken away from me.”(BostonGlobe.com)

Surgeons must take responsibility and not only make sure both patients are informed when performing overlapping surgeries, but should avoid overlapping surgeries altogether when there is a possibility that the practice could be unsafe.

CONTACT THE LAW OFFICES OF DAVID L. HOOD FOR A FREE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CONSULTATION

If you or someone you care about has suffered because of medical negligence, please schedule your free consultation by calling the Law Offices of David L. Hood at (843) 491-6025 or filling out our brief online contact form.

We know how difficult it can be to deal with the immediate and long-term effects of a serious malpractice-related injury. At The Law Offices of David L. Hood, we work hard to make things simple for you. After a free case evaluation, if we believe we can help you and your family, Medical Malpractice Attorney David L. Hood, co-counsel, and our team of experts will vigorously pursue your case to get you the best result we can achieve. Let us put our years of experience to work for you!