Author Archives: Public Protection Lawyer

Punitive damage awards come up only occasionally in medical malpractice cases because punitive damages are only awarded to “penalize, punish, or deter” a defendant.   Doctors are typically trying to help but make mistakes out of ignorance, fatigue, or even sloth … Continue reading →

It’s happened again.  Bryanna Baker, then 24-years old, became a cardiac cripple in need of a heart transplant because her heart attack was misdiagnosed. This week a Las Vegas jury awarded her $9 million, but because of a legislative cap … Continue reading →

Sometimes the practice of law takes up so much of my time that I don’t get to blog.  But I’ve resurfaced now and two interesting verdicts have come out recently. Hospital to New York’s rich and famous, Lenox Hill, lost … Continue reading →

A former cop in Terre Haute Indiana,  Jeffrey W. Davis, just won a $2.5 million medical malpractice verdict.  But, the judge has no choice and must take half of the verdict away. Davis was 35 in 2004 when he went … Continue reading →

I’ve just gotten through two of the toughest weeks in my career.  I was in four cities, not including Atlanta, in four days doing depositions and then worked through the weekend and Monday getting pleadings out to meet a deadline.  … Continue reading →

A Birmingham Alabama jury awarded the family of Laboyish Catlin $3 million last Friday (February 11, 2011.)  Mr. Catlin, then 37, bled to death in January 2006 a few days after ulcer surgery at Baptist Princeton Hospital.   Essentially, the jury … Continue reading →

Suppose a two-year old gets into the babysitter’s methadone, but at least the babysitter manages to rush the child to the emergency room.   The emergency-room doctor observes the child for a few hours, then sends the child home; the child … Continue reading →

LewRockwell.com just published an interesting article about narcotic use in the United States prior to the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. http://www.lewrockwell.com/huebert/huebert35.1.html