Medical Malpractice

The Medical Board of California licenses physicians and other medical professionals. It also investigates medical complaints and issues disciplinary actions. The most serious penalties include license revocation, suspension and probation. These are the Los Angeles County physicians and surgeons subject to serious disciplinary actions between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31, 1998, according to medical board documents. Generally, final actions are published only after all appeals are exhausted. Dr.

William H. Ginsburg, a seasoned medical malpractice attorney who bolted to national prominence in the brutal arena of Washington politics as Monica Lewinsky's lawyer, died Monday at his home in Sherman Oaks. He was 70. The cause was cancer, said his daughter-in-law Virginia Ginsburg. In 1998, Ginsburg was a senior partner in a Beverly Hills medical malpractice firm, where he had a sterling track record defending unpopular clients. He represented the physician accused of covering up the cause of entertainer Liberace's death from AIDS and the cardiologist who examined Loyola Marymount University basketball star Hank Gathers just before the young player's sudden death during a game.

Re "Medical Disciplinary Actions," July 23: I would hope that the overwhelming majority of practicing doctors who daily and unstintingly provide health care to those in need would be as disappointed as this citizen with the "slap 'em on the wrist" disciplinary measures taken by the Medical Board of California. To so lightly treat these malpractitioners is in itself a form of malpractice. Come on, docs, put those scalpels to work and excise the rotten apples! Douglas A. Brown Glendale

The NFL Players Assn. has formally requested the San Diego Chargers find a new doctor after the union revealed the team's current physician, Dr. David Chao, has been found liable of medical malpractice, according to U-T San Diego . "There is a team doctor named Dr. Chao who is currently the San Diego team doctor who has been found liable of medical malpractice twice -- twice,” said NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith at a news conference Thursday....

President Obama took both Republicans and normally supportive patients' rights advocates by surprise this week when he voiced support for a national limit on medical malpractice lawsuits. "I'm willing to look at other ideas to bring down costs" besides repealing his healthcare overhaul, Obama said in his State of the Union address, including "medical malpractice reform to rein in frivolous lawsuits. " The president's words breathed new life into the often discussed but never enacted Republican initiative.

Medical malpractice reform is unlikely to cut healthcare spending significantly, the Congressional Budget Office reported Friday. Enacting a cap on pain-and-suffering and punitive damages, changing liability laws and tightening the statute of limitations on malpractice claims would lower total healthcare spending by about one-half of 1% each year -- $11 billion at the current level -- according to an estimate by the nonpartisan agency. The figure is far lower than previous estimates by groups backing malpractice reform.

NEVADA * Gov. Kenny Guinn signed Nevada's medical malpractice insurance reform bill into law, hoping to end a health-care crisis that forced the state's top trauma center to temporarily close. The law, which takes effect Oct. 1, caps most medical malpractice jury awards at $350,000. Some insurance companies had stopped doing business in Nevada, citing the high cost of settling malpractice claims.

The bullet that struck Larney Johnson while he was playing basketball with friends punctured his kidney before lodging in his spine and immediately paralyzing him. Paramedics rushed him to California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles, where surgeons repaired his kidney. But three years later, he said, doctors made a startling discovery: a surgical sponge had been left behind. Johnson had to undergo a second operation to remove the sponge before spending six weeks in bed recovering.

When prosecutors earlier this year filed murder charges against a physician for prescribing to patients who overdosed, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said he was also sending a message to other "Dr. Feelgoods" who over-prescribe. "Enough is enough," he said. "Doctors are not above the law. " But in the months since Rowland Heights physician Hsiu-Ying "Lisa" Tseng was charged, there has been a growing debate among medical professionals about whether prosecutors went too far by alleging murder.

Click here to download TV listings for the week of Sept. 2 - 8 in PDF format This week's TV Movies     SUNDAY Her majesty: In the documentary special "Royal Memories: Prince Charles' Tribute to the Queen," the potential future king of Great Britain uses photographs and home movies to paint a personal portrait of his dear old mum. (KOCE, 8 p.m.) Lucy and Ethel. Kirk and Spock. Bert and Ernie. Sam and Diane. Mulder and Scully. See which of your favorite small-screen pairings made the list in the special "TV's Most Dynamic Duos: Presented by the Paley Center for Media.

[ For the record, 3:48 p.m. May 9: A report from MSNBC.com has found the story of the vengeful dentist to be a hoax. The Daily Mail, which was one of the first to run the story and which was a Times source, told MSNBC that it could not stand behind the report. Yahoo News, another Times source, has updated its story with MSNBC's report of the hoax.] For better or worse, you don't hear much news out of Poland these days. But one new, eyebrow-raising story from that country is making a splash on social media as well as headlines across the U.S. because it taps into men's nightmares and women's revenge fantasies.

A football fix Re "A big score in L.A.'s NFL bid," Feb. 1 Has anyone bothered to ask Los Angeles residents if they desperately want or need a downtown stadium? Traffic through the 10 and 110 interchange is a disaster when there is any activity at Staples Center or L.A. Live. I have always been a sports fanatic, but the thought of a huge football stadium downtown angers me when there are better locations. Whenever I hear that it will not cost taxpayers anything, I laugh.

President Obama took both Republicans and normally supportive patients' rights advocates by surprise this week when he voiced support for a national limit on medical malpractice lawsuits. "I'm willing to look at other ideas to bring down costs" besides repealing his healthcare overhaul, Obama said in his State of the Union address, including "medical malpractice reform to rein in frivolous lawsuits. " The president's words breathed new life into the often discussed but never enacted Republican initiative.

Two years ago last week, Olivia Cull, 17, was taken off life support. The standout student ? who planned to study classics at Smith College ? had slipped into a coma during a routine, outpatient procedure at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA in Westwood. The story of her death was presented to Congress a few days ago, among cases cited by patient advocates pushing to lift the caps on damages for medical malpractice lawsuits. As lawmakers search for ways to trim healthcare costs, debate continues over the country's medical malpractice laws.

A coalition of oil interests, insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms and other business interests has poured at least $480,000 into a mail and television campaign to oppose one of the eight Democrats competing in the June 8 primary for an open Venice/South Bay Assembly seat. Groups funded by the Civil Justice Assn. of California and two medical malpractice insurance organizations have spent the money to defeat Betsy Butler, a former fundraiser for two major environmental groups and the Consumer Attorneys of California.