A Professional Law Corporation

Articles published by Janet Ours:

JANET OURS NAMED AS A 2008 HEALTH LAW ELITE by Virginia Business Magazine.

Janet Ours received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from West Virginia Wesleyan College and practiced clinical nursing in the areas of emergency and trauma care, cruise ship nursing, medevac and flight nursing, and in development of new health care programs and health care systems for 25 years. Ms. Ours earned her Juris Doctorate from the George Mason University of Law and now practices health and family law. She's a member of the American Association of Nurse Attorneys, the Prince William Bar Association, the American Association of Trial Attorneys, a Fellow in the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, and remains s member of the Greater Prince William Medical Reserve Corps.

Ms. Ours' health law practice includes:

• · The representation of health care professionals in disciplinary matters to the Virginia Board of Health (the Department of Health Professionals in Virginia has separate Boards for each profession and Ms. Ours has specifically represented practitioners before the Board of Nursing, the Board of Medicine, the Board of Pharmacy, the Board of Licensed Professional Counselors, and the Board of Licensed Clinical Social Workers.)
• · Representation as corporate council of health care institutions and practices.
• · Representation of individual health care professionals in peer review or other in-house professional practice settings to include military institutions, advising health care practices and associations regarding specific regulatory requirements, compliance issues, standard of care issues and employment matters
• · Personal injury cases with profession al practices or any impacting health care issues
• · Representation of health care consumers in varied settings
• · Court-appointed and private representation of patients under a disability or in settings of suspected family abuse and/or neglect
• · Publishing and speaking on issues of health law

Health Law Updates:

Though Shalt Not Bear False Witness November 2009

It shouldn't take a nurse attorney to advise any competent health care practitioner not to lie to their patients. A Roanoke City Circuit Judge has ruled that a woman may seek punitive damages and attorney fees for alleged misrepresentations about her breast implant surgery even though the claims fall within the Virginia Medical Malpractice Act. The judge in this case has essentially ruled that there's nothing in the Virginia Medical Malpractice Act that keeps a party from proceeding against a health care provider under more than one legal theory or cause of action. In this particular claim the complainant, a client who went for a breast implant, discovered a sponge that had been left behind in surgery. The claims include a claim that her surgeon told her that the first implant had been rejected, but did not disclose that complications might have been related to the sponge that was left behind. It is also reported that the physician told the patient there would be no charge for the surgery to remove the implant or replace it. The complaint alleges the client was given a reimbursement check for the first surgery and asked to sign a document just before she was being rolled into the operating room for her second surgery and after having received pre-op medication releasing the surgeon from any claims related to the original surgery. Can you even count the number of problems here?

Following the theory that when things go bad, they keep going bad, this patient ended up having even a third implant surgery. This case is far from resolved and will certainly have interesting ramifications on Virginia Health Law practice. One lesson here for all health care practitioners is painfully simple; don't lie to your patients. If there has been any sort of incident, call your legal representation for specific advice. Don't fall into the trap of making a bad situation worse. The attorneys representing this particular plaintiff have been bright enough to not only file medical malpractice complaints, but also have included a complaint for fraud.

Ask yourself whether your professional practice insurance includes intentional criminal acts such as fraud. Mine does not.