Source: Wall Street Journal You may recall a prior blog post on this site, "All your doctors are belong to us" in which mention was made of class action litigation driving drug manufacturer, Eli Lilly to disclose physicians who receive money from Lilly. http://www.lillyfacultyregistry.com/lilly-registry-report.jsp. You may further recall that just in time for Halloween, I [...]
Source: US FDA; Wall Street Journal You will recall that in October of 2009, we reported on the FDA's investigation of Cedars-Sinai Hospital in LA and documented overdosing of radiation during CT scans. And you may further recall that I said this was likely an emerging trend. Well, you will be shocked to know that [...]
As a medical malpractice attorney one quickly learns the indelicate balance between dealing with truly horrific tragedy, to both patients and, for the most part, well-meaning doctors, while still being open to finding the moments of unintentional hilarity which such tragedy occasionally provides. Not nearly as callous as it sounds. There is a long tradition [...]
Our Case:*Ms. S was a 35 year old woman who entered the hospital for a laparacopic procedure to remove gallstones and her gallbladder (Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy). She began to experience significant pain and symptoms following this fairly routine procedure. An ERCP (a type of diagnostic study) was performed which demonstrated that the doctor had placed surgical [...]
Source: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions -Media (3/11/2009) Patient safety experts at Johns Hopkins are pushing for medical providers to give the same attention to diagnostic errors as they devote to drug prescription errors, wrong-site surgeries and hospital-acquired infections. Drs. Newman-Toker and Pronovost, estimate that 40,000 to 80,000 hospital deaths per year are the result of [...]
Informed consent is a interesting concept. The idea is that before a doctor performs any invasive procedure upon you, typically surgery, or before you are administered an "experimental" medication, you, the patient, should be aware of all of the potential risks and alternatives. It wasn't always so, btw. Add to this that states deal with [...]
Our case:*Mrs. H, a 36 year old woman became pregnant and completed all required prenatal care visits. Despite assurances of a normal and healthy pregnancy, Dr. S decided Mrs. H should be admitted for induction as the baby might be "too large for gestational age." On the evening of August 12, at approximately 10:16 p.m. [...]
This could easily be a one hour lecture topic. In a nutshell, following 4 years of college, doctors go to medical school (4 years), then do an internship (1 year) and Residency (3-4 years). Some pursue a fellowship (1-2 years) thereafter. Surgeons and other specialists can easily rack up 6-8 years of training, post med [...]
Okay, that's a little dramatic, but only a little. Back to your local hospital we go. Those chili cheese fries and beer chaser didn't sit to well and you aren't quite sure if it's heartburn or a heart attack you are currently experiencing. You take the fastest known route to direct provider medical care possible, [...]
Sydney, Zurich,Tel Aviv and Idaho. What do these places have in common? Let's take a walk, or in this case a drive, into your local hospital (after 9 p.m.). You arrive having just fallen on ice, your ankle now sufficiently doubled in size. There is a strong likelihood that your "films" are being read, remotely, [...]