Bluestein Attorneys | Blog

In our last blog, we looked into ways to protect yourself and your loved ones from medical malpractice as a result of VA care.

Unfortunately, medical malpractice isn't limited to care received at private medical facilities or in hospitals  — veterans have also found themselves subject to sometimes serious injuries as a result of care they received at the VA.

Current servicemembers and military veterans who have suffered as a result of medical malpractice at the VA do have options! Today, we'll take a look at the two ways to seek a remedy, the steps included, and why it's important to have legal representation.

The recent prison riot at Lee Correctional Institute in Bishopville seems to have begun as a dispute over gang territory and contraband like cell phones. It ended with seven inmates dead and seventeen more injured, after a staff of forty-four guards found themselves trying to maintain order in a prison that houses nearly 1,600 men.

The riot and its aftermath exposed a serious problem with understaffing in both South Carolina prisons and in the prison system nationwide.

Some prisoners' rights activists like those at the National Action Network have asserted that the prisoners' right to safety was violated by the circumstances that led to last week's riot. We've heard more than a few people ask: Do prisoners have rights? What can a prisoner or their family do if they feel their civil rights were violated?

Local Columbia newspaper The State recently reported on the case of U.S. Navy Veteran Eric Walker. Mr. Walker sought care at the Dorn Veterans Hospital in Columbia, SC, while suffering from severe pains in his abdomen.

The hospital asked for a routine urine sample — that's where the 'routine' part of this ER visit ends. To Walker's shock, the hospital informed him that he had flunked their drug test and his stomach pains were caused by "excessive cocaine use" and other drug ingestion. 

Medical staff at Dorn did not attempt to provide treatment for his pain and told him instead to go home and seek help for drug addiction.