Patients put a lot of trust and faith in their doctors to provide quality care. The damage that can result from negligence can be disastrous.
Our firm handles a variety of medical malpractice claims for clients located in Multnomah County and throughout Oregon, including those arising out of:
- Missed diagnoses
- Delayed diagnosis
- Incorrect diagnosis
- Lack of informed consent
- Anesthesia injuries
- Surgical injuries
- Injuries during labor and delivery of children
- Surgical injuries
- Improperly prescribed, dispensed, or filled medication
Our office represents deserving clients with serious injuries in medical malpractice actions. We will carefully spend time consulting with you in evaluating your case and discuss the appropriate experts to evaluate your case.
Medical Malpractice — Past Case Example #1
Greg Kafoury, Joan Thomas, and Mark McDougal
In the case that became a cover story for Willamette Week, Joan Thomas sued her former psychiatrist, William L. Newton, M.D. She had sought out Dr. Newton for his help in treating her for long-standing drug addiction, which had arisen out of her treatment for chronic pain from a severe auto accident. Although she had been drug-free for a considerable time, Dr. Newton immediately put her back on drugs, and over the next several years, he fed her addiction to the point where the drugs became the only thing that mattered in her life. Then, Dr. Newton began taking some of the drugs he was prescribing for her and consuming them himself. Eventually, he had her securing street drugs to feed his own appetite. She finally broke free of him, tape recorded an incriminating phone conversation, and forced him to explain his conduct to a civil jury. The verdict was $600,000.
Medical Malpractice — Past Case Example #2
Mark McDougal, Client Larry Benson and Greg Kafoury
Larry Benson: Verdict: $900,000. Larry Benson’s urologist began treating him at age 18 for headaches. The doctor turned Benson into a drug addict, and a virtual slave. Over the next 20 years, Benson provided the doctor with a vast array of goods and services in return for undocumented drugs, until Benson finally broke free, and ended his addiction and sued the doctor.
Medical Malpractice — Past Case Example #3
John Murphy had back surgery performed by Dr. Misko, a neurosurgeon. Four pedicle screws were inserted into his vertebrae, and two of them were grossly misplaced, causing nerve damage, with severe and permanent pain. The doctor was thereafter accused by his own staff members of practicing surgery while suffering from obvious mental deterioration. The case settled on the day before trial for a confidential amount.
Medical Malpractice — Past Case Example #4
D.E.T., a patient at a Kaiser hospital, was told that she needed to have a breast removed because it was cancerous. After the surgery, the doctors admitted to her that the subsequent examination showed no trace of cancer. We sued Kaiser for malpractice, and the case settled within a few months.
Medical Malpractice — Past Case Example #5
P.M. sought psychological counseling for a variety of emotional difficulties, most arising out of a history of abuse as a child. Recognizing her extraordinary vulnerability, her psychologist groomed her for sexual abuse, and ultimately did engage in sexual contact with her. The effects were, of course, emotionally devastating for her. We brought suit against the psychologist, and eventually secured a settlement. The psychologist lost his license, but now practices under the title of “counselor.”
Medical Malpractice — Past Case Example #6
Larry Rothman responded to an ad in the Willamette Week for a “holistic” dentist. The dentist was Azadeh Kahjavi. Rothman was having some minor discomfort, and simply wanted to be checked. Dr. Kahjavi took a wand and moved it around inside Rothman’s mouth, and each time it beeped she declared that she had found a new cavity. Rothman had not seen a dentist in some time, but he had never had a cavity in his life. Neither did he have one then. Nonetheless, Dr. Kahjavi diagnosed some 22 cavities, and did a massive amount of work on the luckless Mr. Rothman. She also did a root canal, which failed and led to an infection and eventual extraction, a crown which fell out within a few months, and, for some murky reason, she filed down several of his teeth. Many of the filings that were done either cracked, broke, or developed holes. We filed suit for malpractice. At deposition, Dr. Kahjavi tried to explain that what she had been repairing were not cavities but fractures in the teeth. When asked why her records indicated no fractures, but 22 cavities, she explained, “Well, you wouldn’t want to just write fractures all over the place.” We filed suit for major compensatory and punitive damages. The case settled for an undisclosed amount on the eve of trial.