They often lament that things could be different if they had thoroughly checked out a doctor’s background before receiving care for their loved one.

We do very deep investigations into the backgrounds of every potential defendant in the medical malpractice claims we handle, and often get calls from friends, former clients, and other lawyers asking if we have heard anything bad about a doctor in town. To help you investigate a physician’s background for potential problems, we have compiled some valuable resources that can help you make an informed decision.

Start with the physician’s Practitioner Profile with the Florida Department of Health.

The first step in evaluating the profile is to see if it has been verified by the practitioner. Focus on the following categories:

Other State Licensure

Unfortunately, the Florida legislature, in response to heavy lobbying by the medical community, continues to pass laws making it easier for bad physicians to practice medicine in the state. When you see that a physician was licensed in a state that does not correspond with the physician’s educational history (see the following section), look to see if the physician had any problems (lawsuits, disciplinary proceedings, criminal events, etc.,) in the other state that caused the physician to relocate to Florida.

Here is a website Health Guide USA that lists the links to the licensing bodies of other states.

Education and Training, Professional and Postgraduate Training

When reviewing these sections of the profile, you should look to make sure that the practitioner has the appropriate educational background for the area of care they are/were providing. In today’s managed care environment, we frequently see medical mistakes occur when a physician chooses to handle a patient’s problem instead of referring the patient to or consulting with a specialist. Additionally, it can be a red flag when a physician started training in one field of medicine and then switches to an unrelated field.

Specialty Certification

Check to make sure that the practitioner is certified by the appropriate professional board as a specialist in the applicable field of medicine. Consider it a red flag if a physician is not Board Certified or is practicing in an area of medicine different from the area in which the practitioner is board certified. If the information on the profile is stale, go to the following website certification matters and, after registering, confirm the doctor’s certification.

Here are some other websites through which board certification in a specialty can be confirmed:

Anesthesiology
Colon & Rectal Surgery
Family Medicine
Internal Medicine (and related subspecialties)
Neurosurgery
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Orthopedic Surgery
Otolaryngology
Pediatrics (and related subspecialties)
Plastic Surgery
Psychiatry and Neurology
Radiology
Surgery

Financial Responsibility

This section tells you if the practitioner has medical malpractice insurance. Everyone is human and all humans make mistakes. However, professionals should maintain malpractice insurance, not just to cover themselves, but for the sake of their patients. While physicians are grossly being taken advantage of by their medical malpractice insurance carriers (and as a result many do not have sufficient limits of coverage), we have not seen an uninsured physician who did not also have a substantial history of malpractice allegations against them. Most physicians are very well compensated individuals — if a physician has not made provisions to financially address a medical error that permanently harms their patient, you should find one who has.

Disciplinary Action History

Although we rarely see physicians lose their license due to repeated malpractice, our experience suggests that in order to be sanctioned by the state of Florida, a physician has to do something really bad. If the physician has repeated episodes of misconduct, you should find one who does not. Unfortunately, this section of the profile is woefully out of date. Accordingly, you should also check the Board of Medicine’s website to see if there are any proceedings posted there that are omitted from the physician’s profile.

Liability Claims

The vast majority of medical malpractice is caused by a very small minority of practitioners. If the physician has a significant claims history, you should probably consider another doctor. Again, accurate information in the profile is frequently missing from this section. Moreover, if the practitioner is employed by the State of Florida (e.g., most UF/Shands physicians), State Law prohibits them from being individually named in a lawsuit — so any amounts paid out as a result of their negligence will not be publicly reported here or anywhere else. When reviewing this section ‚you should also check the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s Professional Liability Tracking System. This is where payouts made on professional malpractice liability insurance policies are supposed to be reported. Keep in mind that any reported information was provided by the practitioner’s insurance carrier and the reported event is portrayed in the best light. We have also seen events reported where a portion of the payout was made by the practitioner’s employer and the rest by the doctor resulting in an artificially low payout being reported by the doctor responsible for the catastrophic event.

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Read more about Terrell Hogan’s involvement with the HEAL foundation.

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Fla. lawmakers pass texting-while-driving ban

Florida ban on texting while driving goes to governor

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Cooper’s physician, Dr. Michael Paul Widick, of Atlantic Otolaryngology in Cocoa Beach, settled the wrongful death lawsuit in January with one of Cooper’s surviving sons, Aaron, a personal representative of his father’s estate.

The doctor should have never prescribed this drug to Carey Cooper. Prescribing this drug to someone who just had surgery and who didn’t have experience with prescribed strong narcotics was incredibly reckless behavior that took Carey’s life. It’s essentially taking a sledgehammer to fix a problem that could have been treated with tweezers. There were dozens of other less risky options available.

According to court testimony, after returning home, Cooper was nauseated from taking the prescribed liquid hydrocodone, so Dr. Widick called in a prescription for the fentanyl pain patch. The fentanyl pain patch releases a potent narcotic that is 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine through the skin for 72 hours. The patch was 32 times stronger than the liquid hydrocodone the doctor ordered for Cooper.

The FDA’s warning label states that fentanyl patches should only be used in narrow circumstances, such as treating chronic pain like cancer. Its chief risk: it can cause respiratory depression and the patient can stop breathing. According to the packaging, the patches should never be used for post-surgical pain, for acute pain, for intermittent pain or by someone who is not already taking opium-based drugs. Every one of those warnings should have been crimson flags that this was the wrong medication for Carey. He was prescribed the second highest dosage available – 75 micrograms, and it killed him.

Court testimony shows that Carey called Dr. Widick’s office the day he returned home from the hospital, complaining that he had been unable to keep down the liquid hydrocodone and that he was in pain from the surgery. A staffer asked the doctor to see Carey that day, but was told to wait until the next morning. When Carey didn’t come in the next day, the same staff member went to his house to check on him and called the police when there was no answer. Police found Carey dead, with the patch on, the morning of August 17, 2007.

“There are no words to adequately express how much we miss our dad. I would be more at peace if I knew he had died from a disease, but to know he died from a doctor’s careless mistakes makes it more painful,” Aaron Cooper said.

Dr. Widick’s settlement with the estate was for $375,000, which was $125,000 over his medical malpractice insurance policy limits of $250,000. The estate also reached confidential settlements with the manufacturer and with the pharmacy that filled the prescription for the patch. The judge permitted the estate to seek punitive damages against Dr. Widick, which is very usual in medical malpractice cases; however, the case settled before going to trial.

Watch WKMG’s story on the settlement.

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In 2000 the federal TREAD Act was established, dramatically changing the automotive recall design. Before 2000 the law required car companies to issue a recall only when a consumer reported a problem. The TREAD Act now requires that companies look to identify potential problems and notify the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). If NHTSA is not promptly notified of a potential problem then serious fines may be issued.

In, the car companies’ motivation to recall their products is mostly to avoid future litigation; lawsuits over automotive defects that were known, but hidden, and caused serious injuries and deaths have been a major driver of design and manufacturing changes to improve product safety . Yet, whatever the motivation, the philosophy to fix problems before deaths and injuries occur is one that greatly benefits the consumer. After all, making sure that you, the consumer, are protected should be everyone’s main goal.

However, serious issues do arise and, when they do, your life could be in potential danger. One of the ways to avoid the danger of dysfunctional products is to stay aware and updated on recalls. This is why the attorneys and staff here at Terrell Hogan law firm work hard to keep you informed on what products to stay away from and why. Our goal is to protect you from hazardous situations, and keeping you informed is the best way we can achieve that.

The following article: Why Are There So Many Car Recalls?  focuses on the importance of consumer safety and the significance of staying up to date on recalls. Other websites such as: Recalls.org and Cpsc.gov can further help you to stay informed on what products are dangerous. These websites are great tools to help you maintain safety and avoid risky products.

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Target is recalling 150,000 Giada De Laurentiis lasagna pans. The pans are being recalled for a safety issue.  They may break and cause cuts or lacerations.  The pans are 9 by 13 inches in size and were sold either individually or in part of a six-piece set. The bottom of the pan is marked with “Giada De Laurentiis for Target”.

Target has received 39 reports of the pan breaking or cracking during normal use of the product. The breakage caused cuts and lacerations in six of those occasions.

Consumers who have purchased this brand of Lasagna pans should immediately stop using them and return them to their local target for a full refund. Consumers who purchased the pans as part of a set should return the lasagna pan only. These pans were sold at target stores nationwide and on target.com from January 2009 to 0ctober 2012.

Click here for the full CPSC recall alert.

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FDA Warning

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Many of the Terrell Hogan family walked in the HEAL Zoo Walk and had a great time. Bruce & Leigh Maxwell, Wayne & Pat Hogan, Chris, Celeste, Chelsea & Casey Burns, Bernard, Erika, David & Ethan Richardson, Adina Pavlesish, Alberto Becerra, Rob, Erin, Jake & Olivia Martin, Tim & Teri Ellis, Ruth Becerra, Linda & Alan Pickert.

Over twelve hundred people attended and close to $60,000.00 was raised at the recent HEAL (Healing Every Autistic Life) Zoo Walk on April 21. HEAL is a local nonprofit organization that was founded in 2007 to assist the families of children on the First Coast diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a devastating neurological and biological condition that now affects 1 in 50 children at varying levels of severity. Tragically, more children are diagnosed with autism today than with childhood cancer, leukemia and pediatric AIDS combined. Individuals are primarily affected in four key areas: communication, social skills, behavior, and learning.

Terrell Hogan partner and HEAL president, Alan Pickert, with his new best friend, Olivia, daughter of long time Terrell Hogan employee, Erin Martin.

Thanks to the Terrell Hogan law firm, children twelve and under attended the HEAL Zoo Walk on a complimentary basis. “Our firm underwrote the costs for children’s admission because we felt it was important to make the event affordable for families to attend,” said HEAL President and Terrell Hogan partner, Alan Pickert. “We truly believe in HEAL’s mission to assist families and families living with autism, we were thrilled that a record number of participants came out to support the event on Sunday, April 21.”

Through fund raising events like the HEAL Zoo Walk and the contribution of individual and corporate donors, like the Terrell Hogan law firm, HEAL has contributed over one million dollars in grants to local autism related camps, support groups, seminars and schools that provide therapy and support services for children with autism and their families, with an emphasis on families that can not afford the high cost associated with autism. HEAL also spearheads autism advocacy by educating parents, care givers, teachers, health care providers and the medical community on issues related to the care and treatment of children with autism.

“The entire law firm of Terrell Hogan got behind this important event,” said Alan Pickert. Whether it be through donating time, money, walking in the Zoo Walk, or some combination, every member of the Terrell Hogan law firm participated in some way in order to make this years HEAL Zoo Walk a memorable one for everyone in the autism community.

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