As we approach the New Year 2014 the effects of medical malpractice errors continue to be felt with devastating results. It is estimated that hospitals throughout the United States are responsible for preventable medical errors which cause some 210,000 patient deaths per year. Preventable medical errors include surgery performed upon the wrong part of the patient, [...]
Source: BBC Health News One of the problems with lung cancer, other than its frequent late discovery, is that the cancer adapts and becomes resistant to chemotherapy treatments over time. Once adaption occurs, there is no current treatment available and patients with the disease die from it. Scientists across Britain are undertaking a mapping of [...]
Sources: David A. Hyman, MD, JD ; and Charles Silver, JD; CHEST 2013; 143(1):222–227 Take it with a grain of salt as it comes from a physician-lawyer and a lawyer, but strongly consider a well-researched article published in a peer reviewed medical journal which seeks to dispel the 5 Major myths that are consistently brought up [...]
Sources: Journal of Advanced Nursing 2013 69(2):247-62; University of Maryland School of Nursing Study A study from the University of Maryland in Baltimore sheds light on a common nursing practice in hospital and surgical settings, which you might not be aware of -patient handoffs. Patient handoffs ("taking report") occur when nursing staff changes shift, from am [...]
Source: US Dept. of Health & Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Press Release Hospital infections persist, according to the recently issued National Healthcare Quality Report and National Healthcare Disparities Report by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to the conclusion that improvements in patient safety continue to lag. Very [...]
Sources: U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention; National Institutes of Health Childhood Disease Rates have been kept low with the advent of vaccination programs. Childhood disease is common in the early months and years of life. Some upper respiratory viral or bacterial infections—colds, bronchitis, or croup—are quite common. Also common are ear infections, sinusitis, impetigo [...]
Injury: Sacral (lower back) bed sore aquired in hospital and requiring colostomy for a 25 year old paraplegic patient in a New Jersey Hospital Age of Patient at Injury: 25 years of age Result: $488,000 Settlement Court: Camden County, NJ Comments: Stage 4 bed sore (Hospitals like to call them "decubitus ulcers" because it sounds nicer) aquired by [...]
Sources: AARP, The Magazine, Story by Beth Howard; the Leapfrog Group By Gayle R. Lewis, Esquire: Hospital malpractice continues to be a major health concern. The Leapfrog Group is an independent, national not-for-profit organization "founded more than a decade ago by the nation’s leading employers and private healthcare experts." According to their website, "The Leapfrog [...]
By: Gayle R. Lewis, Esquire Sources: British Medical Journal 2013;346:f2023; BBC Health News A STUDY initiated by Sweedish researchers was recently published in the British Medical Joural. The goal of the study was to determine the association (if any) between concentration of prostate specific antigen (PSA) at age 40-55 and subsequent risk of prostate cancer metastasis (spread) and [...]
Sources: World Health Organization; BBC Health News; British Medical Journal THE World Health Organisation has issued its first guidelines on potassium intake, recommending that adults should consume more than 4g of potassium (or 90 to 100mmol) per day. This follows recent publication in the British Medical Journal which adds to the body of evidence suggesting that [...]