The reporter Joanna C. Schwartz says that one goal of the Affordable Health Care Act is to increase patient safety. In light of that fact, now is a good time to understand the effect malpractice cases have on safety efforts to protect patients.

Malpractice cases don’t just benefit the plaintiffs. In terms of promoting patient safety, a recent survey done by Joanna C. Schwartz, an assistant professor of law at the University of California, indicates that medical malpractice litigation actually helps improve medical care for everyone.

Schwartz surveyed over 400 health care professionals who deal with hospital risks and health care quality. She learned that while it is assumed that litigation is deleterious because it causes hospitals to hide their mistakes, law suits actually lead to more transparency. Medical providers are infamous for under reporting errors, even when there are no litigation concerns. Malpractice cases reveal errors that would have gone unreported. Plus, the data collected from law suits helps in the identification of problematic departments and risky procedures. This data is especially important for delayed complications from procedures. Once a patient leaves the hospital, any complications typically are not included in reporting systems. For example, complications from gastric bypass surgery often occur months after the procedure. Hospital data would not include those problems, but law suits would reveal them and make the people responsible for improving quality of care aware of the risks that need to be addressed.

The vast majority (95%) of the hospitals Schwartz surveyed claimed they include the information they gather from law suits into their patient safety efforts. Law suits increase the identification of medical errors and reveal the details of those mistakes. Therefore, limiting law suits could hinder safety efforts.

To read the complete article in the New York Times click here

The post Improving the Overall Safety of Healthcare and Medicine appeared first on Villari Law.

It is illegal for a nursing home to neglect or abuse its residents. There are state and federal laws that were passed to protect nursing home residents and to guarantee them certain rights. There are many reasons that elderly residents in facilities suffer nursing home abuse and neglect. Often nursing home workers are overworked, poorly trained and receive low wages. Other times neglect occurs when a nursing home owner tries to cut corners and reduce costs by skimping on staff.

Attorney Brian Strauss of Villari, Brandes & Giannone has extensive legal experience representing nursing home residents and their families in cases against nursing homes. He was a recent guest on CBS 3 Eyewitness News with anchor Pat Ciarrocchi.

If you or someone you love is being neglected or abused, or has been neglected or abused, in a nursing home, there is something you can do. Don’t let you or a loved one suffer nursing home abuse, call today for a free consultation! Villari, Brandes & Giannone will help you get the justice you deserve.

The post Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect becoming more prevalent appeared first on Villari Law.

I often remind families of children with birth injuries to never stop asking doctors, nurses, or therapists for answers to their many questions after a medical mistake. That’s what one of my clients Mary did to find out what was causing the developmental delays in her son Cody.

“We had to push the medical community to take a look at him and decide what is causing all of these delays,” she said. “We ran through the hoops for a while until they had finally diagnosed (him) with cerebral palsy.”

It was devastating for the family to find out that their little boy had cerebral palsy. It brought Mary and her husband quickly back to that moment when Cody entered this world, where a doctor’s preventable mistake left him oxygen deprived which led to severe brain injury. The family knew something could possibly be wrong because during the birth, the staff was frantically running around and not providing them with answers about what was going on with baby Cody. When the family left the hospital, no one told them to look for any signs of any possible birth injury. It’s something that most hospitals don’t do; leaving you to figure it out in hopes you won’t point the finger in their direction when you discover their mistake.

Cody’s family contacted my office for assistance in helping them to financially meet the demands of a child with a birth injury. Your child will require a lifetime of doctor’s visits, numerous therapists, specialized education and other treatments and services. You need a trusted guide to help you battle a system that knows what to do when trying not be held financially accountable for the devastating consequences of their preventable medical mistakes.

“He’s just got a personality that just pulls us through with everything that we’ve been through,” said Mary. “Cody is always laughing, always smiling even when he is sick.”

I became a Philadelphia birth injury attorney to give a voice to those children like Cody, to give them more chances in life to do just that — smile. I’ve helped hundreds of families take that first step to providing for a child with a birth injury by recovering hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of the children, adults and families we have had the privilege to represent  in state and federal courts throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

The post Philadelphia Birth Injury Attorney Helps Family Find Answers appeared first on Villari Law.

Children with cerebral palsy have a wide variety of problems, from very mild impairment to severe disabilities requiring extensive life long medical and therapeutic care. These problems can be caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain, quite often due to preventable medical mistakes. Sadly, these medical mistakes leave parents and their children with a lifetime of medical expenses for doctors, therapists and specialists.

The 11-year-old Detroit boy, Drew Kijek, is a long way from home at Georgia Health Sciences University where he’ll spend this month and into April taking part in the first of its kind FDA sanctioned trial. Drew’s parents banked cord blood at his birth, one of the estimated five percent of parents who store cord blood for possible use, according to the largest private cord blood bank in California. Doctors will transfer it to him in hopes that it can find the damaged areas of the brain and regenerate the areas affected by cerebral palsy.

Researchers claim that the procedure will be pain free; there will be no lengthy surgeries since the treatment involves only umbilical cord blood transfusions. The blood will be thawed and transferred intravenously into his body. The experts leading the study are optimistic due to the fact that the stem cells being used are from Drew at birth. It wasn’t until after he turned 1 year when he was diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy, which affects his arms and legs.

The American Pregnancy Association estimates around 500,000 families have a child that has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Drew will be the second child from the state of Michigan to undergo a similar stem cell therapy. The mother of the first child told her hometown newspaper that within two weeks her daughter was able to pull herself up in her walker.
As a Philadelphia birth injury attorney that has had his life touched by the strength and determination of parents and their children with cerebral palsy, I hold onto hope that this stem cell research provides relief and promise for a better future.

The post Philadelphia Birth Injury Attorney Hopes Stem Cells Hold Key appeared first on Villari Law.

For almost 9 months, Mary and her husband looked forward to welcoming a healthy baby boy into the family. The couple even started looking ahead at the many wonderful   milestones they would face together as a family. Unfortunately, after hours in labor at the hospital, their son’s delivery left them with a child suffering from a severe brain injury due to preventable oxygen deprivation during the birthing process.

“My pregnancy went just fine, I had no complications whatsoever,” said Mary. “When I went into the hospital that day, I should have given birth to a healthy baby boy.” She will forever remember how, instead, her son, Cody, was born “blue in color and floppy”.

Cody was eventually stabilized but he remained in the hospital. As a result of severe oxygen deprivation during Mary’s labor and delivery, Cody required hospitalization for eight days. The family thought that the worst was over when Cody was sent home. They were told nothing was wrong.

It was a “bumpy start”, but the family started to once again plan for a happy future with their new little boy. Mary knew, however, “call it mother’s intuition”, she said, that Cody wasn’t developing like other children his age. She therefore reached out to doctors to see if they could help her pinpoint what was going on with her son.

“They were hesitant, though, to give him a diagnosis for some reason. They tried to tell me that he is a baby boy. Boys develop behind girls, they don’t reach the milestones like the girls do,” said Mary. “But it was very obvious that this was more severe than just comparing the two.”

Mary’s intuition brought her to my firm. We consulted with medical experts and were advised that Cody’s problems were the result of preventable oxygen deprivation during his labor and delivery.  The tragic result of this preventable medical mistake left Cody with cerebral palsy. What happened in just a few minutes left Cody and his parents facing a lifetime of emotional stress and unexpected financial demands. Thankfully, the recovery our firm obtained for Mary, Cody and their family provided tens of millions of dollars for Cody’s medical, educational and therapeutic needs over his lifetime.

As a Philadelphia birth injury attorney that has helped many families secure a future for their injured children, I understand all too well the devastating consequences of preventable medical mistakes and the financial demands of raising a child that has suffered at the hands of a doctor’s, nurse’s or medical staff’s negligence.  I have also discovered that one thing you can always trust is a “Mother’s intuition.” If you feel that you are not getting the correct answers about what happened to your child, I’m here to listen and to help.

The post Philadelphia Birth Injury Attorney Knows Never Doubt a Mom’s Intuition appeared first on Villari Law.

As a Philadelphia birth injury attorney, I have helped hundreds of families battle hospitals because of preventable medical mistakes that have caused serious injury. For the victims such mistakes, the battle can be long, expensive and an often impossible journey.

According to a recent article in Time entitled,  “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us,” it was discovered that the United States spent more on health care than the next 10 biggest spenders combined, including Japan, China and Canada. If you dig deeper into those numbers, you see that the US spends about 20 percent of their Gross Domestic Product on healthcare, compared to half of that in other developed nations. The article spoke volumes as to the status of healthcare in this country, “Taken as a whole, these powerful institutions and the bills they churn out dominate the nation’s economy and put demands on taxpayers to a degree unequaled anywhere else on earth…Yet in every measurable way, the results our health care system produces are no better and often worse than the outcomes in those countries.”

So, how is it that we continue to spend far more for health care, yet our quality of care is often worse than in other countries? When was the last time you went to a drug store and paid $30.00 for one Tylenol tablet? Yet, hospitals regularly charge that much to their patients according to the Time article. And, that was only one of many examples cited by Time of such outrageous hospital pricing for care they provide to us.

The Time article suggests that Medicine is a powerful money machine and that the health industry’s financial interests in protecting that “machine” are enormous. Indeed, according to research conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics, hospitals, insurance companies and big pharmaceutical companies spend big bucks lobbying in Washington – more than three times the amount the defense industry does. No wonder with such incredible mark-ups for services at stake.

Until we address this issue, true health care reform will not be possible. Why do we as a nation accept such exorbitant, across the board mark-ups for almost every service, medication, test or procedure done at hospitals?  This seems even more outrageous when one considers that many hospitals are “non-profit” institutions. Although people tend to think that a non-profit hospital is not a profit driven business, think again. They charge the same high prices, according to Time.

The unfortunate harsh reality suggested by all of this is that the quality of our health care may be far less important to the health industry in our country than protecting their profits. Read the Time article!

The post Philadelphia Birth Injury Attorney Discusses Hospitals’ Secrets appeared first on Villari Law.

The stress of raising a child with a birth injury such as cerebral palsy can be overwhelming. As a new parent of a child with such a birth injury, you are thrown into a world that you’ve never experienced and are constantly trying to learn as you go. It can be an emotionally draining experience because it seems that you just can never catch up. You soon learn that available government resources and benefits are not enough and that the “system” is tilted against helping you. It’s also a financially draining experience, especially, if you don’t ask for help.

I wanted to share with you the story of Christina, a single mother trying to raise a daughter with CP, who everyday deals with the stresses of a child who suffered a birth injury due to a doctor’s preventable medical mistake. She asked for our help only after enduring years of frustration and stress.

Christina was ready and very excited to become a new mother of a little girl. Near the end of an otherwise normal pregnancy, she went to the hospital after experiencing some abdominal discomfort. After checking in, an intern just a few months out of medical school was left in charge of her high-risk situation, a fact she did not know or was told about. She reasonably thought that her little girl was in the hands of an experienced doctor.

Immediately, there were signs of trouble that were overlooked by the intern and hospital staff: ruptured membranes; possible premature delivery; and a dangerously low heart rate for her baby lasting for over an hour and a half.  Eventually, Christina was rushed to an operating room for an emergency cesarean section. Her 3 pound 12 ounce daughter had to be resuscitated and taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  After an extended stay at the hospital, mother and child left the hospital with no idea as to what happened or what was ahead, as no one from the hospital would answer her questions other than telling her that her daughter had cerebral palsy.

The stress of being a mother with a child with cerebral palsy was overwhelming for Christina and her family on many levels. “Emotionally it is very draining,” said Christina. “She’s a wonderful child and I won’t change her for the world.” “But we just couldn’t get answers and the help that we needed.” “We were sinking fast.” That’s when Christina called my office — the first step toward easing the financial and emotional stress of a lifetime of doctors, therapists and other medical specialists her daughter needed, and the first step in finding out what happened.

“As a single mother, I felt like I had to protect my child and secure her future,” said Christina. “To make sure that she could function and be able to have a normal life just as any other child.” My firm investigated Christina’s case and filed a lawsuit against those who committed the medical mistakes that caused her daughter’s cerebral Palsy.

I’m a Philadelphia birth injury attorney that has investigated thousands of cases. I and my firm have recovered more than $100 million dollars to help our birth injury clients. Mothers like Christina will tell you the best decision she made for her and her child was taking the time to reach out to us and simply ask for help. Christina can now rest assured that she will be able to provide for all of her daughter’s medical, educational and therapy needs throughout her lifetime, as I and my firm were able to secure millions of dollars in funding from the responsible medical providers.

The post Philadelphia Birth Injury Attorney Eases Mother’s Stress appeared first on Villari Law.

Why did this happen?  An intern, just months out of medical school, was permitted to treat Christina’s high-risk pregnancy by the hospital. Christina was not told that her labor and delivery was in the hands of an inexperienced intern.  With ruptured membranes, at just 32 weeks of pregnancy, Christina’s baby’s heart rate was dangerously low for over an hour and a half, but the intern did nothing. As a result, Christina’s baby suffered extensive brain damage due to lack of oxygen that was preventable with timely, skilled care.

After giving birth, Christina watched the medical staff resuscitate her tiny baby girl in the delivery room before being rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This new mother’s life changed forever in a matter of minutes, and little did she know at that time what a challenging life was ahead for her and her daughter.

As a result of medical mistakes by the involved hospital, doctors and nursing staff, Christina’s baby girl suffered Cerebral Palsy and is impaired in all aspects of life, such as expressive and receptive language. Sadly, it was a preventable medical mistake that left this new mother and her family with a lifetime of medical expenses for doctors, therapists and specialists.

Christina reached out to our firm, Villari, Brandes, & Giannone, for answers and help for her daughter, “I was distressed and worried about my child,” said Christina. “The attorneys made me feel very comfortable…they let me know that it was no fault of mine that my daughter had CP.”

As a Philadelphia birth injury attorney that has helped many clients recover more than $100 million dollars in help, I know how to fight for our clients in complex medical cases. We dug in our heels and went to bat for a little girl whose life was changed by a birth injury that could easily have been prevented. “It was a blessing having an attorney who could understand what I was going through as a parent and was able to help me provide for my child’s future,” Christina said.

While Christina and her daughter’s life headed down a very difficult and expensive path they could not have foreseen, it was made much easier by the settlement our team of litigators was able to achieve. Christina can rest assured that she will be able to provide for all of her daughter’s medical, specialized educational and therapy needs throughout her lifetime.

The post Philadelphia Birth Injury Attorney Fueled by Mother’s Guilt appeared first on Villari Law.

There are many times as a parent that we become angry. Sometimes it’s small things that quickly pass and other times, as a Grandmother of one of my clients found, it’s life altering events that fuel the anger. Sometimes, however, the anger we feel can and does lead to good things.

Cody’s Grandmother spent a lot of time helping to care for her grandson after he was born and knew there was something seriously wrong with him. “I noticed he was not developing right and something was definitely wrong and nobody was coming forward to say what it was. No matter how many doctor’s appointments he had with his pediatricians, they never mentioned that there was anything wrong with Cody. And, I am not a doctor, but I noticed that there was something wrong because Cody’s head always went to one side and, when I would watch him, no matter what I did to prop his head straight – I’d put a blanket there sometimes – right away his head would slant back to that side, and he would always lay with his hands crunched up. And to get him dressed, it takes you an hour to just get a T shirt on him because you had to pull his arms in order to get clothes on to him. All of this made me angry.”

Cody’s parents were facing a lifetime of medical and specialized educational expenses and didn’t know where to turn. Eventually, Cody was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, but no one would explain how or why it happened. Ultimately, his Grandmother’s anger and frustration over Cody’s condition led Cody’s parents to my firm, Villari, Brandes, & Giannone for answers and help. Grandmom just wouldn’t take no for an answer when it came to Cody. She wanted answers!

Our firm routinely handles complex birth injury cases and understands the anger and frustration that accompanies a cerebral palsy diagnosis, especially when the cause is a preventable medical error. We conducted a thorough investigation of Cody’s medical care and consulted experienced obstetricians, neonatologists, and other medical experts. The experts advised us that Cody had suffered preventable oxygen deprivation injury to his brain during his birth. Had it not happened, he would be normal.

We pursued a claim on behalf of Cody and his parents. The recovery our firm obtained for them provided tens of millions of dollars for Cody’s needs over his lifetime. Thanks to Cody’s Grandmother and her anger over her Grandson’s condition, Cody’s life changed dramatically for the better. Cody and his parents were able to find the answers and help they needed from an experienced Philadelphia birth injury attorney.

The post Philadelphia Birth Injury Attorney Understands a Grandmother’s Anger appeared first on Villari Law.

A day does not go by that I’m not reassured that my decision to become a Philadelphia birth injury attorney was the right choice for me. Helping Crista Wells and her family battle the medical industry after a preventable and devastating birth injury left her child with permanent health issues is just one source of that reassurance.  Crista’s story exemplifies that there truly are options out there for families whose children suffer a birth injury at the hands of a doctor, nursing staff or hospital to overcome the devastating effects such injuries can have on a family.

Crista enjoyed nine months of a normal pregnancy looking forward to the moment she would welcome her baby girl into the world. Unfortunately, that quickly changed after birth when her little girl was rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the hospital to resuscitate her from severe oxygen deprivation that occurred due to an unwarranted delay in the delivery. “I was devastated,” said Christa. “I couldn’t believe it because I had a full-term healthy pregnancy.” “No one even warned me such a thing could happen”.

After battling for weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Christa’s little girl left the hospital with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, a permanent and severely debilitating brain injury. The doctors only told Christa that her daughter had cerebral palsy; not that she would need a lifetime of doctors, therapists and painful treatments. And, as to why it happened, it was only later that the Wells family found out about what caused their once healthy baby to leave the hospital with a severe birth injury. “When I found out everything could have been prevented…I was mad,” said Wells. “They made me feel that it was something I did.”

Christa’s anger didn’t go away easily, especially when she learned that the hospital should have performed an emergency C-section early in her labor that would have prevented the injury to her daughter, as there were repeated, clear signs that her baby was in distress. The decision not to do so, and instead push on to a vaginal delivery, left her baby with a devastating birth injury.

Our law firm has learned over years of representing families like the wells that doctors, nurses and other hospital staff do not like disclosing the cause of a child’s injury. Nor, do they fully prepare them for the difficult, time consuming and financially draining situation they will soon face. “I was feeling sad and worried how she would live her life,” Christa said. “Who was going to take care of her when I’m gone?”

Does Crista’s story sound familiar? Is it your story as well? Did a birth injury put your child and family on a path that you never dreamed was possible? As a Philadelphia birth injury attorney, I and my firm have helped many mothers like Crista who have to struggle each day because of a doctor’s medical error. We have the answers you’re looking for as to how to plan your life and that of your child’s. It’s not a journey you have to take alone. We are here to help your family take that next step to determining whether or not a medical mistake was preventable and what can be done about it to protect your child’s future.

The post Philadelphia Birth Injury Attorney Reminds Families There Are Options appeared first on Villari Law.