Medical and HealthCare Practice
DeMoura | Smith attorneys have been representing health-care and medical
service providers against personal injury and death claims for more than
forty years. The Firm's clients have included nursing homes, rehabilitation
centers, adult-care facilities, hospitals, medical faculty practice groups,
private medical practices, university medical schools, university dental
schools, physicians, dentists, chiropractors, podiatrists, physical therapists,
nurses, medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and medical
research facilities. DeMoura |Smith attorneys have successfully defended
or favorably resolved malpractice, negligence, wrongful death, sexual
abuse, suicide, Medicare and healthcare fraud, employment and other personal
injury claims for these clients, including:
- Defense of claims against Boston area nursing homes alleging inadequate
supervision and restraint of patients, overdosing of medications, overcharges,
failure to provide appropriate care, bed falls and orthopedic injuries.
- Representation of podiatric practice in Medicare and health-care fraud
investigation and prosecution by United States Department of Health and
Human Services and United States Attorney's Office.
- Defense of respiratory therapist and department administrator at major
Boston teaching hospital in claim by parents of brain damaged child;
- Obtaining summary judgment for surgical nurse in claim of failure to properly
supervise sponge and instrument counts during thoracic surgery;
- Obtaining dismissal of case at medical tribunal stage for oncologist against
claim of unreasonable delay in diagnosis of lung cancer;
- Nuisance value settlement of operating suite environmental controls manufacturer
against claim that failure of controls caused botched surgical procedure
in major Boston hospital;
- Summary judgment for medical device manufacturer of penile implant in United
States District Court;
- Defense of national ambulance company against federal wage and hour class
action brought by EMTs and drivers;
- Summary judgment for device manufacturer regarding an alleged defect in
the design of certain artificial arterial grafts;
- Dismissal of class actions in three states against pharmaceutical company
against allegations of association between Thimerosal in childhood vaccines
and onset of autism;
- Resolution of individual and class-action product defect claims against
silicone breast implant manufacturers; and
- Defense of artificial hip joint manufacturer for alleged design defects
in class action litigation.
Every significant personal injury claim requires the understanding, analysis
and communication of complex medical issues. Our experience in successfully
defending personal injury claims, whether or not related to claims against
a healthcare client, includes comprehensive review and understanding of
medical records and applicable literature, retention of and collaboration
with medical specialists, consultants and experts, deposition and cross-examination
of medical witnesses(including treating physicians, medical providers,
technicians and experts, and examination of the medical causation and
alternative cause issues. Our medical/legal expertise has been successfully
applied to claims involving virtually all serious medical and health-related
injuries including death, extreme burns, traumatic brain injury, spinal
injuries and paralysis, traumatic amputations, and systemic diseases,
injuries and cancers allegedly caused by products or chemical exposures.
We are assisted in the defense of these claims by a certified legal-nurse
consultant with more than thirty years practical experience in a number
of clinical settings including hospitals, private practice, visiting-nurse
care and surgical practice.