There is no presumption that a doctor possesses the required skill and knowledge required of him by the controlling medical standards and that in treating his patients, that he applies that knowledge and skill. Williams v. Golden, 95-2712 (La. App. 4 Cir. 7/23/97), 699 So.2d 102, 106-07, writ denied, 1997-2788…
Where medical disciplines overlap, a specialist in one field may give expert testimony as to the standard of care applicable to areas of the practice of medicine common to both disciplines. Corley v. State, DHH, 32,613 (La.App. 2 Cir. 12/30/99), 749 So.2d 926, 931-32, citing Leyva v. Iberia General Hospital,…
In a medical negligence claim against a Louisiana doctor practicing in a specific specialty, the plaintiff has the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) the degree of knowledge or skill possessed, or the degree of care ordinarily exercised by physicians licensed to practice and actively practicing…
In Louisiana, “[t]o establish a claim for medical malpractice, a plaintiff must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) the standard of care applicable to the defendant; (2) the defendant breached that standard of care; and (3) there was a causal connection between the breach and the resulting injury.…
A plaintiff in a medical negligence case must present his claim first to a medical review panel of physicians of the same specialty as the defendant physician and licensed to practice in Louisiana. Physicians from other states or from different specialties can not be appointed to a medical review panel.…
The Louisiana legislature has created an extensive statutory scheme governing medical negligence claims brought against doctors who qualify as “health care providers” under the statute. Two primary features of this scheme are: (1) the mandatory submission of all claims to a medical review panel prior to any suit being filed,…
The jury is not required to disregard testimony merely because the witness may be interested or biased. It is within the province of the trier of fact to place more probative value on the testimony of an interested witness than that of a disinterested witness. Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d…
For the third time in four years, Louisiana’s largest medical malpractice insurer, LAMMICO (Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Company) is issuing a large dividend of approximately $5.1 million to its Louisiana and Arkansas policyholders (including individual physicians and other health care professionals, groups & healthcare facilities). LAMMICO’s Louisiana doctors will get…
The Baton Rouge, Louisiana personal injury law firm of Dué Guidry Piedrahita Andrews Courrege L.C. was selected for first tier (those firms that scored within a certain percentage of the highest scoring firms) inclusion in the 2010 inaugural rankings of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms”, in the…
Baton Rouge, Louisiana trial lawyer, Donald W. Price, was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America ® 2011 in the fields of Personal Injury Litigation and Medical Malpractice. (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.). Inclusion in Best Lawyers ® is based on an…