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Information Resource on the New Healthcare Law

The federal government is now offering a website dedicated to explaining the new healthcare law, known as the Affordable Care Act. Consumers can use this resource to find out when pre-existing condition coverage will be available and other important provisions of the new law.

Should I get an autopsy?

When a loved one dies in the hospital, the family members left behind suffer profound grief and sorrow.  Needless to say, it's always tough to say goodbye to the people we love.  Unfortunately, when one of our loved ones dies in the hospital, a host of practical decisions must be made immediately.  One of those decisions is whether to get an autopsy.  We have seen that many people who are struggling with the loss of a loved one decide against an autopsy because they feel their loved one has already been through enough.  This is often a big mistake.  Many times an autopsy is a very good idea.  A sensible rule of thumb is this:  If you have any degree of suspicion -- any degree at all -- that your loved one who died in the hospital should not have died when or how they did, GET AN AUTOPSY!  We have had cases involving a failure to diagnose and treat a heart attack where the defense is that the person would have died of breast cancer anyways. An autopsy is the only way to know for sure what caused your loved one's death and whether the death was the result of medical malpractice or medical negligence by a doctor or hospital employees.

If you have a situation where a loved one died in the hospital and you have questions,  please call us directly at 412-471-4300 or 800-350-6161, or click here.

Dye developed in Pittsburgh could predict Alzheimer's 10 years before it strikes

An article published on August 11, 2008 in the Archives of Neurology suggests that a compound called "Pittsburgh Compound B" consistently attaches itself to proteins in the brain, and is 90% effective in predicting the later development of beta amyloid plaques, a leading cause of Alzheimer's Disease.  Pittsburgh Compound B, or PiB as it is commonly known, is a compound that was developed by University of Pittsburgh researchers as a way to diagnose Alzheimer's Disease.  Now, doctors in Finland have discovered that not only is PiB effective in diagnosing the disease once it develops, it also can be used to predict, 10 years in advance, if people are at higher risk of developing the disease.  For more information about Alzheimer's Disease, click here.

If you suspect that your disease process, whatever it may be, was not timely and properly diagnosed or treated, please call us directly at 412-471-4300 or 800-350-6161, or click here.  Berger & Lagnese, headquartered in Pittsburgh, specializes in medical malpractice and works on cases in Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Uniontown, Erie, Washington, and all courts in Western Pennsylvania.

Presidential election

So you don't think who gets elected president matters?  You think both Democrats and Rebulicans are the same?  There is one big difference: Who will be appointed to the Supreme Court.  If McCain is elected he has promised to nominate new members to the Supreme Court who are going to follow the Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito view of the world. McCain is going to nominate judges who will agree to limit the amount a jury can award to a person who has been injured by a careless doctor, a reckless truck driver and a dangerous product.  That is because McCain does not trust our jury system.  He supports caps on the amount a person can recover for pain and suffering in medical malpractice, products liability and truck accident lawsuits.  Consider this when you decide whether to vote for McCain or Obama.

Sooner is better than later when it comes to contacting a lawyer

If you are thinking about talking to a lawyer about a possible medical negligence case that occured in Pittsburgh, Uniontown, Beaver or any other place in Pennsylvania, the sooner you contact the lawyer, the better.  Speaking to a lawyer sooner rather than later is better for a couple of reasons.  The first reason is the statute of limitations.  As a general rule, the Pennsylvania statute of limitations gives you two years from the date of the medical malpractice to file suit.  If you wait a year and a half to contact a lawyer, that gives the lawyer only six months to investigate the matter before the statute runs.  Six months is not a lot of time to complete a thorough investigation of a potential medical malpractice suit for failure to diagnosis breast cancer or cerebral palsy.  The second reason it's better to contact a lawyer sooner rather than later is that memories fade over time.  The sooner a lawsuit is brought, the sooner witnesses to the negligence can be interviewed under oath.  The sooner these witnesses are interviewed, the more they will remember about what happened.  So remember:  if you are thinking about talking to a lawyer, the sooner you do that the better, for you and your potential case.

If you think you may have a medical malpractice case,  please call us directly at 412-471-4300 or 800-350-6161, or click here.

Zimmer Durom Hip Replacement

The New York Times recently reported that Zimmer Holdings the largest manufacturer of surgical devices in the United States stopped sales of the Zimmer Durom hip replacement cap. Zimmer stopped sales because orthopedic surgeons who had implanted the cap in patients were finding that the cap was failing and causing patient more pain and problems after hip replacement.  However, Zimmer had been warned a year earlier by one of its highly paid consultants a Los Angeles surgeon Lawrence Dorr that the Durom cap should be recalled because it was crippling patients.  Zimmer refused and continued to sell the cup.  So Dr. Dorr went public and warned his other orthopedic surgeons who were members of the American Association of Hip and Knees Surgeons.  Finally Zimmer stopped selling the Durom cap.

Certainly there are people right here in Pittsburgh who had a Zimmer Durom cap implanted after Zimmer was aware that the cap was failing at an alarming rate and hurting people. This is just another example of a manufacturer who puts profits ahead of patient safety.  Because Zimmer and other medical device manufacturers continue to put products on the market that are defective and dangerous people who are injured by these medical devices and products need lawyers who can help them get the compensation they deserve.  At Berger & Lagnese we have represented people who have been injured as a result of a defective medical device and other defective products.  Often lawsuits are the only way to get companies to stop manufacturing unsafe products or medical devices.

If you believe you have been injured by a defective product or medical device, please call us directly at 412-471-4300 or 800-350-6161, or click here.