Medical Malpractice
Our firm actively represents many medical professionals, including physicians, hospitals and health care providers, in medical malpractice litigation in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Professionals and insurance companies have turned to us throughout the years for high quality representation in the defense of complex negligence claims. In both state and federal courts, the firm has an outstanding trial record. Success in this area is the result of our extensive contacts in the community, our abundant expert resources and the firm’s strong commitment to continued medical and legal training of its associates. Additionally, we have remained on the cutting edge of technological advances in both the office and courtroom settings. With the capability to electronically submit billing information and a variety of billing formats to meet client needs and specifications, we are able to successfully defend medical professionals of any nature with efficiency, as well as the highest degree of professionalism.
We served as liaison counsel for Pennsylvania plastic surgeons in the silicone gel breast implant litigation. In this capacity, the firm represented many plastic surgeons individually and coordinated national discovery efforts for defense attorneys state wide. We successfully defended the first such case ever tried in Pennsylvania. We were also extensively involved in the orthopedic bone screw (pedicle screw) litigation, and also successfully defended the first such case ever tried in Pennsylvania.
Our firm has developed a comprehensive network of highly specialized medical experts from many of the leading health care and teaching institutions across the country. Our extensive litigation experience has enabled us to develop an exhaustive expert data bank which allows our attorneys to retain experts whose credentials match the specific facts of each malpractice case. Whether the case calls for a pediatric neuroradiologist or a medical ethicist, the department is able to provide quality experts in the growing and ever changing environment of medicine and its subspecialties.
- The attorneys of the firm often give presentations in the area of professional liability defense, and have served as lecturers to medical professionals and attorney groups, both locally and state wide. Articles and presentations by members of the firm have covered such topics as the Peer Review Protection Act, the Health Care Services Malpractice Act and the interplay between health care providers and the strict liability provisions of Section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts.
- Attorneys from the firm also serve as faculty members at the ABA National Institute on Medical Malpractice.
- The department is involved in the defense of mass tort cases and, in that capacity, is experienced in compiling and collating massive document productions.
- The department is also experienced in handling and litigating diverse insurance coverage issues and has extensive litigation experience concerning insurance company insolvencies.
Contact:
Carolyn M. Bohmueller
(610) 834-6254
(610) 834-1749 Fax
Click to Email
O'Brien & Ryan News
Defense Verdict for Family Doctor and Practice in Montgomery County
Tracie A. Vizza obtained a defense verdict for a family doctor and his practice, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The case involved a 32 year old man who died from massive, bilateral pulmonary emboli during a visit to a local hospital. A week prior to his trip to...
Successful Defense of Real Estate Holding Company and One of its Members in Successor-In-Interest Liability, Fraudulent Conveyance, and Piercing the Corporate Veil Matter
Anthony P. DeMichele successfully defended a real estate holding company and one of its members in the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County. The case was an offshoot of an underlying lawsuit wherein the plaintiff school district filed a lawsuit against several...
Favorable Ruling from Superior Court of Pennsylvania in Certificate of Merit Matter
Paul Peel received a favorable ruling from the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. In Harris v. Neuberger, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania reversed a trial court's order that granted a plaintiff's Petition to Open Judgments of Non Pros and remanded the matter to the...
Defense Verdict for Surgeon in Montgomery County
Marshall L. Schwartz obtained a defense verdict in a Montgomery County case in which the plaintiff alleged negligence when his bladder was perforated by a surgeon performing a laparoscopic appendectomy. Plaintiff maintained that if the surgery had been done properly,...
Successful Defense of Buyers at Arbitration Involving Failed Residential Real Estate Transaction
Anthony P. DeMichele successfully defended the buyers in a failed residential real estate transaction. The buyers and sellers entered into a residential real estate agreement of sale. Problems arose at the closing, and as a result, the closing on the property failed...
Superior Court Remands Defense Verdict because Admission of Breach required Finding of Negligence
The Superior Court recently remanded a medical malpractice case back to the Clarion County Court of Common Pleas after ruling that the jury erroneously found a clerk’s admitted filing error was not negligent. In writing on behalf of the unanimous...
OIG Issues Favorable Opinion Regarding Payment of Per Diem Fees to Physicians in Emergency Department
On October 23, 2012, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG), issued a favorable Advisory Opinion (Opinion 12-15) regarding the payment of per diem fees by hospitals to physicians providing on-call coverage to unassigned...
Superior Court Orders New Trial after Evidence of Informed Consent was Improper in Medical Negligence Case
In an opinion issued on November 12, 2013, a three-judge panel for the Pennsylvania Superior Court held that repeated references to a patient’s consent to the surgeries at issue in a medical malpractice trial were both irrelevant and unduly prejudicial. Given...
Third Circuit Court of Appeals Holds That Medicaid Liens are Not Prohibited by Anti-Lien and Anti-Recovery Provisions of The Social Security Act
In Tristani v. Richman, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that Medicaid liens on judgments or settlements limited to medical costs are not prohibited by the anti-lien and anti-recovery provisions of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §...
“Benevolent Gesture” Bill is Signed into Law by Governor Corbett
On the morning of October 23, 2013, Senate Bill 379, also known as the “Benevolent Gesture” Bill, was signed into law by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, after unanimous approval in both the State Senate and House of Representatives. The Benevolent Gesture Law...
Female Powerbrokers Q&A With Heather Hansen
Heather Hansen was featured in a Q & A session highlighting legal Female Powerbrokers.
Full article below, published by Law360.com.
Anthony DeMichele is Panelist for HIPAA CLE
On April 8, 2014 Anthony P. DeMichele was a panelist for the CLE program “Understanding and Eliminating Implicit Bias, and Ethical Considerations for Lawyers as Business Associates under HIPAA”, presented by Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company at Pierce College.
How To Maintain Humanity In An EMR World
The push toward implementation of electronic medical records makes it very challenging for risk managers, physicians, nurses and other health professionals to prioritize relationships over efficiency. However, it is important for those who work in these fields to remember to find a balance, says Heather Hansen of O’Brien & Ryan LLP.
Full article below, published by Law360.com.
OBR Sponsors Plymouth Service Memorial
O’Brien & Ryan, LLP is a proud supporter of the Plymouth Township Service & Devotion Monument.
The monument features eight distinctive pillars honoring the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, Law Enforcement, Fire and Ambulance with a special area dedicated to fallen Plymouth Township police officer, Brad Fox.
The monument is located at the corner of Walton Road & Germantown Pike in Plymouth Meeting.
Heather Hansen is part of “Benevolent Gesture” CLE
Heather Hansen presented “What MedMal Defense Lawyers Need to Know about the New Benevolent Gesture Law…” on November 20, 2013, as part of the Pennsylvania Bar Institutes’s webinar series.
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