A racially mixed couple from Connecticut are shocked because they recently found out that a complete stranger is the biological father of their twin girls. Now before this turns into a Maury Povich show special questioning the wife's fidelity, it seems like the father could be the fertility doctor that the couple went to for artificial insemination.

In a lawsuit filed back in 2005, the couple argued that Dr. Ben Ramaley used his own sperm to artificially inseminate the woman. The lawsuit was settled this week.

CBS News reports that the case was settled for an undisclosed amount of money and a confidentiality agreement was signed. As a result, the family and the doctor refuse to comment on the case. The question of the twin girls' paternity still hangs in the air.  

Patterns of abuse at a number of nursing home facilities have been brought to the surface via news stories in recent weeks, drawing attention to the duty that nursing facilities have to prevent residents' mistreatment and harm, and the legal rights of vulnerable nursing home patients.

At LaSalle County Nursing Home in Ottawa, Illinois, a male resident has been linked to the sexual abuse of at least 10 other nursing home patients, and the Illinois Department of Public Health has concluded that the facility didn't do enough to prevent the abuse, according to an Associated Press story covered by WGIL-Galesburg.

In Minnesota, investigation and hearings are ongoing in a case involving allegations that a group of teenage nursing assistants were involved in the sexual and emotional abuse of 15 residents at the Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea facility, according to a report in the Albert Lea Tribune.

Almost 50 medical malpractice lawsuits filed, and hundreds of dollars awarded to patients injured by botched LASIK eye surgery procedures. That's the recent litigation history against one Chicago eye doctor who is still treating patients, and just part of the alarming story being reported in the Chicago Tribune this week.

Almost a year ago, the chief medical prosecutor in Illinois investigated the mounting claims of negligence against Dr. Nicholas Caro, and recommended that the Chicago ophthalmologist's medical license be revoked or suspended, after Caro "mishandled Lasik surgeries and failed to properly manage treatment of post-operative complications," the Tribune reports.

But so far no action has been taken against Dr. Caro, who continues to perform eye operations, and the case highlights the sometimes glacial pace of disciplinary proceedings against doctors, even when those who are tied to stacks of complaints.

When It Comes to Medical Test Results, What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

Your doctor may not be telling you everything you need to know about your health -- including bad news from lab tests -- according to a new study that looked at the exchange of information between primary care physicians and their patients.

The study Frequency of Failure to Inform Patients of Clinically Significant Outpatient Test Results examined the recent history of 5,434 randomly-selected patients who were 50 to 69 years old.

The study found that in just over seven percent of cases, the primary physician either failed to inform the patient of "abnormal outpatient test results" -- the potentially bad news from things like blood tests, MRIs and X-rays -- or failed to properly document informing the patient. The research was published earlier this month in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Patients who received treatment for prostate cancer at Philadelphia's Veterans Affairs Medical Center were victimized by a disturbing pattern of medical errors involving radiation therapy, and the situation has members of Congress calling for a federal inquiry.

The stories emerging this week -- as reported in the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer -- detail a number of cases in which radioactive seeds were implanted into patients' healthy organs instead of into cancerous prostates, and outline a cover-up that made sure the errors went unreported (and therefore uncorrected).

There may be a big splash in the medical malpractice reform pool coming soon. President Obama is privately urging that medical malpractice lawsuit limits be included in any federal health care package, as a means of keeping overall health care costs down, the New York Times is reporting.

President Obama is attending the annual American Medical Association meeting this week. And recently, in what the Times calls "closed-door talks," Obama has been "making the case that reducing malpractice lawsuits -- a goal of many doctors and Republicans -- can help drive down health care costs, and should be considered as part of any health care overhaul, according to lawmakers of both parties, as well as A.M.A. officials."

Most antidepressant medications come with FDA-ordered "black box" warning labels on their packaging, advising patients and care providers of the potentially deadly side effects of the drugs' use -- specifically, the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior, especially in young patients.

These warnings, while necessary, may also raise a barrier of fear and apprehension that's keeping adults and children from getting help for serious mental health problems, according to a study released this week.

Trends in Warnings and Diagnosis. The study Persisting Decline in Depression Treatment After FDA Warnings, published in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, traces trends in depression diagnosis and treatment alongside the timeline of FDA warnings on popular prescription antidepressant medications like Celexa, Cymbalta, Paxil, Prozac, Wellbutrin, and Zoloft.

What Did the Study Find? The study concluded that, from the time of the first strong FDA Public Health Advisory linking antidepressants with suicidality in children (in late 2003), through the "black box" warning for pediatric patients (2005) and its extension to young adults (2007), the rates of diagnosis and treatment of clinical depression have declined rather dramatically across all age groups: down 44 percent for kids, 37 percent for young adults, and 29 percent for adults.

An Oklahoma City surgeon has been the subject of at least 14 lawsuits in the last year, including a wrongful death claim filed by the father of a teenage patient who died while under the surgeon's care, multiple news sources are reporting.

On Tuesday, Fox News reported that a medical malpractice lawsuit had been filed against Oklahoma City surgeon Paul Christopher Francel, by a former patient who will be representing himself in Oklahoma County District Court.

In February, Sabit Kurbanov filed a wrongful death complaint against Francel, over allegedly negligent care that caused the death of Kurbanov's 16-year-old son David, according to NewsOK.com, which reports that "Francel has been named as a defendant in at least a dozen civil lawsuits claiming medical negligence since June 2007."

Ed McMahon has settled a medical malpractice lawsuit with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, over the hospital's treatment of neck injuries the entertainer suffered after a fall at a friend's home in 2007.

The longtime sidekick of Johnny Carson on NBC's "The Tonight Show" was injured in March of 2007 when he fell and broke his neck at the home of investor Robert Day, according to Reuters.

McMahon had alleged that Cedars-Sinai Medical Center failed to properly diagnose his broken neck, sent him home without taking any X-rays, and botched two operations on the entertainer's spine, Reuters reports: "The veteran TV announcer said the resulting discomfort and pain left him unable to work for many months."

A Florida pharmacy has admitted that incorrectly-prepared medication was given to 21 horses that died before an international polo match last weekend. The story raises some interesting legal questions that arise when animals suffer harm and become the subject of injury lawsuits.

CNN is reporting that Franck's Pharmacy in Ocala, Florida is acknowledging that the strength of certain medication ingredients is to blame for the deaths of the horses, which "collapsed one after another in front of spectators at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida, while being prepared for a tournament Sunday."

No legal action has been announced over the Florida polo horse deaths, but what happens when animals and pets are the subject of a lawsuit for injuries or death?