Carolina Medical Malpractice Trial Attorney
The legal practice of E. Vernon F. Glenn is founded to protect the rights of individuals and be an advocate for those who have been injured by the carelessness and negligence of others.
If you or someone you love has suffered an injury or a wrongful death due to medical negligence or malpractice, Contact South Carolina medical malpractice attorney E. Vernon F. Glenn, Esquire, for a free initial case review.
For additional information on what constitutes medical malpractice, visit http://www.scmedicalmalpracticelawyer.com/
Lawsuits, eye problems fail to stop surgeon
Greenberg was essentially blind in one eye and therefore lacked the depth perception that many experts say is critical for operating in sensitive places such as the spine or nerves. According to court-ordered examinations, he was colorblind in his other eye, a condition that can make it difficult to distinguish between nerves and blood vessels or between healthy and unhealthy tissue...Greenberg had a lengthy history of malpractice lawsuits and settlements in Arizona. Six times his insurers had paid to resolve malpractice cases, four of them for $300,000 or more
-- Raleigh News and Observer, Monday, October 24, 2005. Joseph Neff, Staff Writer
Medical Malpractice Takes Many Forms
Regrettably, medical malpractice takes many forms, and may involve many individuals, including doctors, nurses, surgeons, pharmacists, drug and medical device manufacturers, hospital and emergency room personnel, medical technology, ambulance companies, or others.
Some of the most common types of medical malpractice involve:
- Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose
- Failure to treat
- Patient abandonment or failure to monitor
- Surgical errors
- Laparoscopic or minimally invasive surgical complications
- Obstetrical malpractice and delivery room malpractice, including birth injuries
- Neo-natal (newborn) malpractice and pediatric malpractice
- Medication errors, such as improper prescriptions
One of the worst forms of medical negligence involves injuring newborns during their birth. Many birth injuries occur due to conditions that arise during pregnancy or during the delivery process. Many times birth injuries lead to cerebral palsy, which ultimately requires life-long care for the newborn.
Over the course of his 30 years in practice, E. Vernon F. Glenn has built up strong relationships with a number of doctors and other medical professionals. These people know the standard of care in their fields and make themselves available for Mr. Glenn to call upon when he needs a medical analysis for your case.
If you need to bring medical malpractice or birth injury lawsuit, please Contact the Law Offices of E. Vernon F. Glenn. In most instances, personal injury cases are taken on a contingency fee basis, which means there are no legal fees unless we recover damages on your behalf. Contact E. Vernon F. Glenn, Esquire, through this web site or by calling our convenient toll-free number.
Thoughts About Medical Malpractice Cases
These are, simply put, tough, tough cases to deal with. I’ve been evaluating them, working them up and trying them for almost my entire 30+ year career. They are only about 10% of my case load but they take more than 50% of my time. We get over 400 calls and inquiries a year about medical negligence cases alone and we have to be very careful in our vetting and selection process. Why so many calls? Well, most lawyers in town do not undertake these cases for many of the reasons I’ll describe below and most lawyers in town know that I enjoy evaluating and thinking about these matters so it’s a natural fit and many cases come to my office by referral and guidance from other attorneys.
Also, there is a lot of medical injury out there. Plainly put, the National Institutes of Health find that there are about TEN THOUSAND!! or more unnecessary deaths a year in this country because of medical errors. That is the equivalent of one jumbo jet a week crashing into the ground with the ensuing deaths of all passengers and crew aboard. Do you think that if that happened for even three weeks in a row that the American Public and Government would be raising holy, unshirted Hell about what was going on and they’d want it fixed and quick? About 20 years ago, the Harvard School of Public Health published in the New England Journal of Medicine two mega-studies that have come to be known as the Harvard I and II Studies. They estimated then and there has been no trending downward since that between 1% and 3% of all hospitalized patients in this country are iatrogenically (Health Care Caused) injured, with those injuries ranging from slight to the ultimate, death. (Yet, the government’s basic response to this ongoing epidemic and cascade of medical malpractice is to impose limits and caps on recoveries and to make bringing lawsuits harder to bring. They punish the people when they get hurt. Remarkable. They call it “Tort Reform”. I call it what it really is which is the stuck you find on the ground wherever bulls are. Elsewhere on this website, you’ll find some additional comments from me on this terrible trend known as Tort Reform.)
Lawyers don’t like these cases because VERSUS (I like them because):
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They’re time consuming. (So? I’ve got to do something with my time.)
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They don’t want to upset their doctor friends. (I’ve got great doctors who understand I do this honestly and respect my work though it does make them uncomfortable; besides, I was not the cutest or most popular fellow in my high school class. PS My wife, children and dogs still like me fine.)
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They’re very expensive to pursue. (I’ve got some extra money available from time to time to help folks who need help; and too, sometimes the clients will pay the expenses.)
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The South is conservative. (So? Conservatives still want to be treated properly.)
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The South is ‘Republican’. (So? As I type this, Senator Jim DeMint’s Mother is involved in a malpractice case against a treating doctor for radiation burn injuries. Everyone deserves competent health care.)
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The medicine is another thing that has to be learned. (I’m used to it and like it. Of course, I am not a doctor. Still, I’ve been reading and learning this stuff for three decades and I have a fairly high comfort zone with it.)
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They are a whole lot of work. (What isn’t?)
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They are complex and complicated. (They are intellectually intriguing.)
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They require more ‘trial’ work. (I’ve done my share and will do more before it’s all over. I’m accustomed to the work.)
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They drive their staff crazy. (Ours too but they’re really good with these cases and take enormous pride in their efforts in our various cases. I drive them crazy anyway.)
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They are witness and expert intensive. (True and to me, that’s part of their intrigue; they are very much like pulling a large puzzle together and it’s being done with a combination of law, medicine and people, a fascinating combination.)
Here is what I look for:
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The “OH MY GOD!!!!” factor. When I hear or read the story of what happened, do I reflexively and instantly think, “OH MY GOD!!!! THIS IS AWFUL!!” To me, it is an excellent benchmark of how a jury might receive the case.
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Are the clients nice folks? Will they present well? Are their life’s stories compelling?
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Can the case be cleanly presented? Or, are there complicating problems with messy previous medical histories and preexisting conditions?
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Can I explain this case clearly and concisely to a stranger in 25 words or less? If not, then there may be problems in getting others, like adjusters, lawyers, judges and jurors to “get it”.
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Who exactly are the defendants? Hospitals? Doctors? Nurses? It depends.
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Can the case be efficiently put together? Medical experts run $500 an hour and much higher. Can they be found? Will they come to court and testify if they find negligence?
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Where is the case to be tried? Urban or rural? Business-friendly or Worker-friendly?
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Is there a specific, identifiable cause of injury or is it more complicated, a series of events?
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Is the type of treatment complained of standardized and well in place over time or is it an experimental or new therapy?
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Is the injury the result of psychiatric treatment or cosmetic surgery that has had an unappealing result?
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Is there a pharmacological/prescription problem within the case?
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And I also think about many, many other things that, depending on the case, must be considered.
Keep in mind that these are generally not “smaller” cases, that there is a lot at stake, that they are defended by the very best lawyers the insurance industry can hire and they require precise attention, dotting all the ‘i’s and crossing all the ‘t’s.
You may rest assured that No Matter What, there will be doctor or health care experts on the other side of the case who will flatly say that nothing incorrect or improper or negligent was done. Plus the liability insurance companies or carriers for these cases stall and stall and drag things out as much as they can. And to boot, the biggest medical malpractice carrier here in South Carolina is in rotten shape because of two-plus decades or sorry administration and amateurish management. They are in bad financial shape and simply do not pay money out until they have to.
Generally, what we do when we get a call is send you a questionnaire that helps us take a look at what the problem is.
So, that’s my small primer on Medical Malpractice.
If you have doubt or questions or wonder what happened to you or a loved one, give us a call. But please do not waste time or put the call off. Statutes of limitation are running and some of the saddest calls I’ve had to make in my career are to people who had serious injuries or had suffered worse and who had let the time allowed by law run out. Please, act when and while you can.
Attorney Glenn's comments and background on medical malpractice issues featured in...
Most people aren't sure what they're coming to me for," Vernon Glenn, the South Carolina trial attorney, told me. "The tip off is often from nurses saying 'This was just wrong. This never should have happened.' " The families ask him to have a look at the medical files. If the loss or injury is serious, he has a medical expert review the files. "More often than you would think, we'll say, 'Here's what happened. ...We don't think it's a case.' And they'll say, 'At least we know what happened now.' "
