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 on behalf of Orthopaedic Surgeon
Heather Hansen and paralegal Lexi Romney recently received a defense verdict on behalf of an orthopaedic surgeon in Philadelphia County. A 65-year-old woman presented to the orthopaedic surgeon with knee pain. MRI demonstrated a non-displaced occult fracture of the...
Defense Verdict on Behalf of Pulmonologist
Tracie Vizza, Mary Kay Plyter and paralegal Lexi Romney recently received a defense verdict on behalf of a pulmonologist/critical care physician in Chester County. A 67 year old woman who had been treating with her pulmonologist for six years for a chronic and...
Defense Verdict on Behalf of Hand Surgeon
Dan Ryan, Carolyn Bohmueller and paralegal Stacy Jaeger received a defense verdict on behalf of a hand surgeon in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Plaintiff-father and his 11 year old son were involved in a rollover motor vehicle accident, in which the child's...
Defense Verdict on Behalf of Internal Medicine Physician
Heather Hansen recently obtained a defense verdict on behalf of an internal medicine physician in Delaware County. In the case, the plaintiff presented to the emergency department of a local hospital and was admitted for treatment of a suspected urinary tract...
Defense Verdict on Behalf of Hospital
Anthony P. DeMichele and Jaime N. Johnson recently obtained a defense verdict in a medical malpractice case on behalf of a hospital following a four-day jury trial. In July 2010, the 24-year old plaintiff presented to the defendant hospital with complaints of...
Court Declines to Permanently Seal Settlement Petition in MedMal Action
In Page v. Moses Taylor Hospital, et al.,[1] the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas denied defendants’ motion seeking to permanently seal plaintiffs’ settlement petition as well as all related filings and orders, finding that the...
Court Permits Expert Testimony Regarding Fetal Pain & Suffering Claims
In Page v. Moses Taylor Hospital, et al.,[1] the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas denied defendants’ motion in limine to preclude plaintiffs’ claim for pain and suffering of fetuses or, in the alternative a motion for...
House of Representatives Weighs Proposal to Ban Mandatory Arbitration Clauses in Nursing Home Agreements
Recent legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives proposes banning mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses in nursing home agreements. The proposed Arbitration Fairness Act of 2011 would eliminate the requirement that all claims against the nursing home...
United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals Permits Residents of County-Operated Nursing Homes the Right to Bring Claims Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983
On June 30, 2009, in an opinion offered by the Honorable Richard Lowell Nygaard, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals permitted an action against a county operated nursing home to proceed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation...
PA Supreme Court Upholds Law Barring Wrongful Birth Lawsuits
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently upheld a law that bars wrongful birth lawsuits. In the underlying case, Sernovitz v. Dershaw, the plaintiffs filed suit against Mrs. Sernovitz’s treating physicians for failure to inform her of circumstances that...
Two OBR Partners to Speak at the Jefferson Hospital 4th Annual Sepsis Symposium
Marshall L. Schwartz and Michael O. Pitt will present “Sepsis & Septic Shock: Deadly Risk & Liabilities” at the 4th Annual Sepsis Symposium on Tuesday, September 24th, 2019 at the Jefferson Hospital Center City Campus in Philadelphia, PA.
Anthony P. DeMichele is speaking at the 2019 MLM Defense Panel Seminar
Anthony P. DeMichele will be speaking at the 2019 Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Defense Panel Seminar about Strategies for Effectively Dealing with Pro Se Litigants, Tuesday, August 5th.
10 Attorneys Selected to 2019 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers
Each year, on a state-by-state basis, Super Lawyers selects attorneys using peer nominations and evaluations along with third party research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement, and those selected represent the top five percent of the total lawyers in each state.
7 Attorneys Selected to 2018 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers
Each year, on a state-by-state basis, Super Lawyers selects attorneys using peer nominations and evaluations along with third party research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement, and those selected represent the top five percent of the total lawyers in each state.
Heather Hansen Coauthors Article for Journal of Arthroplasty
Heather Hansen, along with several doctors at the Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University, recently coauthored Infection Following Total Joint Arthroplasty is the Main Cause of Litigation: Data from One Metropolitan Area for The Journal of Arthroplasty. The article discusses statistical findings regarding lawsuits filed over the course of six years.
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