A: Jeffrey’s answer: I am sorry that you did not receive the expected care you deserved. Unfortunately, from the facts you presented, your suffering between 6:30 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. would not likely result in an award of damages that would make your case worth pursuing if you won the case. Most experienced medical malpractice attorneys know that these cases are extraordinarily expensive and time consuming to pursue. State laws require that cases of medical negligence must be proven with the testimony of expert physicians. These physicians charge a lot of money to testify in a case because it takes time away from their own practice. A typical med mal case, depending on the number of experts needed, may cost from $30,000 -- $200,000 in expert fees to prepare the case for trial. Even if a jury of your peers is sympathetic, any award that they gave you would not likely cover the expert fees and attorney's fees required to successfully pursue the case. Moreover, even if you had a run-away verdict, the court of appeal has the power to reduce any award that it deems to be too high for the damages suffered.

My advice is to go to the risk management office of the hospital and file a complaint or grievance. If the anesthesiologist has a habit of doing this, your complaint will help document this for the future and hold him accountable.

A: Jeffrey’s answer: When a prisoner becomes ill or suffers an injury they are entitled to receive the same medical treatment as any other patient. The fact that a person is incarcerated is not an excuse to deny them proper medical treatment or provide them with substandard treatment. The law recognizes several possible causes of action when a prisoner does not receive the proper medical care. These causes of action range from constitutional violations to state law medical malpractice claims.

The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects prisoners from cruel and inhuman punishment. Case law which has interpreted this provision has held that deliberate indiference to serious medical needs of prisoners constitutes unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain which is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. In order to prevail on a claim alleging violation of constitutional rights resulting from inadequate medical care, the prisoner must allege acts or omissions sufficiently harmful to evidence deliberate indifference to serious medical needs. Medical malpractice does not become a constitutional violation merely because the victim is a prisoner. Thus, a complaint that a physician has been negligent in diagnosing or treating a medical condition does not state a valid constitutional claim under the Eighth Amendment.. That indifference is manifested by prison doctors or guards in intentionally denying or delaying access to medical care or intentionally interfering with treatment once it is ordered.

Cases alleging deliberate indifference are brought in the United States District Court for the District in which the medical negligect occurred. Federal procedural law allows the claimaint to also assert state law medical malpractice negligence claims as an alternate theory of recovery in these cases.

Prisoners may also bring claims for medical malpractice in state court against the prison facility and/or medical provider. These claims are governed by the procedures and law of each state (which may vary). Some states require that a prisoner file an administrative complaint before allowing the case to proceed to state court.

Regardless of the specific cause of action, these cases require the testimony of expert witnesses who can review the medical care and determine if that care was improper. It is also often necessary to retain experts in prison medical procedures to prove that the guards did not follow the appropriate protocols in rendering medical care to the prisoners.

A: Jeffrey’s answer: According to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, more than 7,000 deaths occur each year from incorrect prescriptions. Another 1.5 million people are made sick or injured by drug errors.

If your daughter is not seriously harmed, there is no reason to hire a lawyer. There is also no reason to expect the pharmacy to do much of anything about the error. Pharmacies usually won't admit fault, even when no serious injury occurred. The admission in your case is rare.

If you believe the pharmacist should be held accountable for being negligent and putting your daughter's well-being at risk, you should file a complaint with your state pharmacy board, the entity that licenses pharmacists.

Each state's board has an established complaint procedure. You can find a list of the state boards at the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Web site.

If your daughter has suffered serious and grievous harm from the incorrect prescription, do not further communicate with the pharmacy. You should never try to negotiate a settlement yourself and, just as your insurer tells you not to make any statements after a serious traffic accident, you should not communicate with the pharmacy in any way. You can only hurt your case.

Instead, collect all the evidence -- any remaining medication, hospital and doctor bills, receipts, death certificates, etc. -- and lock them up in a safe place, preferably a safe deposit box.

Also, take notes. Write down what happened and when, get the names of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and everyone else who played a role in the accident. Do it now, while your memory is fresh. Put the notes in the safe deposit box with the rest of the evidence.

Once you have secured all of the evidence, you must find the most accomplished and most experienced medical malpractice lawyer in your area. Forget everything you have heard about what a litigious society we are and how too many people are filing lawsuits.

The fact is that more than 90% of lawsuits are filed by businesses. It's not lawsuits filed by greviously injured consumers that are clogging the courts. If you have been harmed, the legal system is the place to go for justice. That's why it's there.

You must find the right lawyer. Most lawyers, like most of anything else, are just so-so and most never go to trial and do not aggressively represent personal injury cases. You need to find an accomplished lawyer in your state who: a.) only represents injured consumers and b.) whose practice consists largely of medical malpractice trial work.