It's an uncomfortable and common experience among patients: leaving a clinic or a doctor's office and not feeling reassured, but rather feeling uncertain about the diagnosis and proposed treatment. Maybe the doctor didn't fully explain something, or maybe the patient was reticent to ask a question.
Study: Outpatient Misdiagnoses Estimated at 12 Million per Year
Will Fatal Bus-Truck Accident Spur New Safety Regulations?
If you've been following national news, you may have seen ongoing reports of a fatal bus-truck collision in California. A tractor-trailer collided with a motorcoach that was carrying about 40 high school students, and a bus window had to be kicked out for many of the students to escape. Flames engulfed the truck and the bus, and 10 people lost their lives. The tragedy underscores the need for updated safety standards for large buses.
Family awarded nearly $3 million in medical malpractice suit
People who are in pain may find relief in the hands of their physicians. However, when the physician overlooks a major problem, this can make the patient's health problems worse, causing permanent injuries as well as emotional distress. In extraordinary circumstances, the patient may end up taking his or her life as a result of the alleged medical malpractice. If this occurs, the victim's family members may choose to try to hold the offending physician accountable for his or her negligent medical treatment in Illinois.
Hospitals Using Standardization to Combat Medical Errors
In the last 15 years, studies of U.S. hospitals have revealed a disturbing frequency of patient deaths resulting from medical mistakes that could have been prevented. According to a 1999 report from the Institute of Medicine, the annual number of deaths caused by preventable hospital errors was estimated to be as high as 98,000.
Laser Offenses an Increasing Problem in Aviation Safety
Because of the serious risk of aircraft accidents, it is now illegal to point a laser at a helicopter or an airplane. The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 raised the penalties for so-called "lasing" offenses, one response to the number of reported laser incidents having increased by 1,000 percent since 2005.
Electronic Logs Proposed for Truck Drivers' Hours of Service
Keeping hours-of-service records is a primary safety requirement for truck drivers and trucking companies. Truck drivers are required to log their hours and take rest breaks to avoid fatigue, which too often is a contributing factor in serious truck accidents.
