Medical Malpractice

What Doctors And Insurance Companies Don't Want You To Know

Alert! The current strategy of the insurance companies is to keep you from getting the award you deserve when you sue a doctor or hospital for negligence.

Insurance companies are pushing states to put a “cap” on how much the jury can give YOU for your pain and suffering. This limits YOU to an amount set by the state legislature no matter how much you are injured! For example, the doctor may operate on the wrong foot, cut off the wrong arm, leave a medical instrument in your body, or worse kill you, yet YOU may only get a small sum of money which will not even begin to compensate YOU for the immense pain and suffering you endured and will continue to suffer for the REST OF YOUR LIFE! This small sum of money may even be LESS THAN THE DOCTOR MAKES IN ONLY 1 YEAR OF EMPLOYMENT yet you will not get any more than the “cap” allows!

The insurance companies and doctors say this is necessary to ensure better patient care (don't ask us, we don't understand the rationale either) and to keep premiums down. They even say THERE'S A SHORTAGE OF DOCTORS due to this. Perhaps this is because they artificially set low numbers on how many students may enter school and how many will be considered to pass the required tests in an attempt to keep the number of doctors at a low and PRICES AT A HIGH. In reality, premiums on medical insurance go up because of negligent doctors not because of jury awards that are too high.

The negligence of doctors that are guilty of malpractice is not the fault of the patient that is injured, yet it will be the patient that is punished because he or she will not get sufficient money to even maintain the same living standard maintained before the person was injured.

Insurance companies do not do their part to weed out bad doctors because they WANT MORE PREMIUMS. Since they do not; they expect plaintiffs to accept lower amounts for their injuries so the insurance companies don't lose money. Don't let the enemies of our justice system forget that you as the jury are the guardians of our system.
DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THEIR LIES ABOUT PREMIUMS. Remember the facts! In California which is one of the WORST states for Plainitffs with a low “cap” on damages, the premiums are 20% HIGHER for malpractice coverage than the national average!

DO EVERTHING IN YOUR POWER TO DEFEND THE JURY SYSTEM AND PREVENT ANY CAPS ON DAMAGES. YOU ARE THE DECISION MAKERS NOT THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY.

How to find out if your Doctor has been disciplined or has had a lawsuit brought against them

Most doctors do a good job for their clients, however when you sign a consent form for any procedure at a doctor's office you are not consenting to below standard professional care

Consumers have the right to know who the serious wrongdoers are when it comes to medical care Disciplinary data from a National Practitioner Data Bank is by law only available to hospitals and health care organizations. Many times doctors are allowed to continue the practice despite serious infractions and the hospitals that are supposed to track credentials of doctors usually don't do you

One of the greatest dangers to consumers is those who are passing themselves off as doctors or those who are peddling phony cures!

Here are some things a consumer should do to protect themselves:

• If you find a doctor's name on a disciplinary list read the changes carefully to see if anything that may that may harm you as a patient. Ask your doctor to explain why he has been disciplined.
• Ask your doctor where he or she has privileges; check the reputations of these hospitals
• Check with people in the medical community about your doctors or hospitals reputation. Ask your family doctor about the doctors that re refers.

Play detective with Doctors! Try these websites:

• Questionabledoctors.com: Has data on doctors that have been disciplined by state medical boards and federal agencies in 13 states for a variety of charges. Charges $10 a month for three month subscription. Lets you a doctor's name before you pay. Search alphabetically by doctor's last name or state.
• Quackwatch.org: operates growing number of websites combats health related fraud myths and fads. Reports on actions by federal and state agencies.
• Fsmb.org or docinfo.org: group for all state medical boards. Provides web addresses mailing addresses and phone numbers for state boards. Will search for disciplinary information of doctor's for consumers for $9.95 a report.
• Docboard.org: A free site. Contains licensing background malpractice criminal conviction and disciplinary information of doctor's and others involved in health care from state government licensing boards

The U.S. Dept. of health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General oig.hhs.gov/fraud/exclusions/listofexcluded.html: database provides information on doctor's hospitals or other groups excluded from participation in federal health programs due to fraud patient abuse licensing boards. You can search by name or name of business state type of practice type of exclusion.

Please call us to discuss any personal injury case you or your friends may have. Don't take chances with your case, put yourself into the hands of experience.

Please call us to discuss any medical malpractice / personal injury case. Don't take chances; put yourself into the hands of experience.

WE ARE LAWYERS FOR LEGAL PLANS
Call today to see if your plan is one of them

CONTACT US AT:
GREENBERG & MEROLA, Attorneys at Law
521 5th Avenue, Suite 1700, New York, NY
2280 Grand Avenue, Suite 2280, Baldwin, NY
Conference Offices: Nassau, Brooklyn, Queens, Westchester, Bronx, Suffolk

521 5th Ave., Ste. 1700, New York NY	2280 Grand Ave., Ste. 202, Baldwin NY	26 Court St., Bklyn NY	1129 Northern Blvd., Manhasset NY	214-11 Northern Blvd., Bayside NY	145-11 Jamaica Ave., Jamaica NY	547 N. Ave., New Rochelle NY	749 E. 135th St., Bronx NY	150 Motor Pkwy., Hauppauge NY

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Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney Advertising. This website provides general information. Due to complexities and constant changes in the law, exceptions to general principles of law, and variations of state laws, seek professional legal advice before acting on any matter!

Some of the information on this website only pertains to certain states. Accordingly seek professional legal advice before acting on any matter.