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Suicide Risk Assessment in Psychiatry: Clinical Judgment and Legal Expectations

Suicide Risk Assessment in Psychiatry: Clinical Judgment and Legal Expectations By Clara Alvarez, MD, FAPA | Psychiatrist | Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry | Forensic & Med-Legal Consultant Abstract Suicide remains one of the most feared outcomes in psychiatric practice and a frequent focus of malpractice litigation. Despite extensive research, suicide cannot be reliably predicted at the individual…

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Nursing Home Pressure Ulcers and Bedsores: A Medical Malpractice Guide for Attorneys

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, pressure ulcers affect more than 2.5 million Americans each year. In nursing homes, where residents depend entirely on staff for repositioning, skin checks, and wound care, these injuries are among the most reliable indicators of neglect. A pressure ulcer, commonly called a bedsore or decubitus ulcer,…

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$38 Million Wrongful-Conviction Verdict Against New Haven: What the Morant Case Reveals About Police-Practices Evidence

Twenty-one years is a life. It is birthdays missed, parents aging, children growing up, jobs never taken, and ordinary mornings that never belonged to Stefon Morant. That is what sits behind the federal jury’s $38 million verdict against the City of New Haven and two former detectives. The number is enormous, but the harder question…

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Missed Signals, System Failures, and the Expanding Scope of Liability: Lessons from a $49 Million Connecticut Cervical Cancer Verdict

A recent $49 million jury award out of Connecticut against Westchester Medical Group PC reflects a noticeable shift in how medical malpractice claims are being framed and decided. Rather than focusing on a single misstep by a provider, the case—brought by Jennifer Anderson and her husband—centered on a pattern of missed opportunities within a preventive…

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$70.8 Million Stroke Verdict in Florida: Emergency Room Discharge Decisions, Contractor Liability, and the Medicaid Damage Cap Battle

The recent $70.8 million jury verdict in Chiaka Stewart v. Tampa General Hospital, Inphynet Contracting Services, LLC, and Heather Anderson, APRN underscores several core dynamics that continue to define high-exposure medical malpractice litigation in Florida: emergency department discharge decision-making, stroke-related diagnostic pathways, contractor liability, and the evolving landscape of statutory damage limitations—particularly as they relate…

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