In the last post, this blog discussed a Chicago Tribune investigation that uncovered problems with filling prescriptions in pharmacies throughout the Chicagoland area. A reporter sought to have two prescriptions filled at more than 250 area pharmacies. The common medications are known to interact with each other, producing severe muscle breakdown in the human body. This is […]
Medical Malpractice
Medical Mistakes Take Heavy Toll
Heart disease and cancer are easily the top two causes of death in the United States, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The third leading cause of death, contributing more than one-quarter of a million fatalities a year, is medical errors. The study calculated that 9.5 percent of deaths in this […]
Medical Malpractice Bill Under Fire
The Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2016 has come under fire from the American Bar Association. According to the ABA, states have had the authority to determine medical liability law for over 200 years. The HEALTH ACT seeks to eliminate the rights of states to determine medical liability law in numerous […]
Medical Testing Carries Risks
Medical testing equipment is a significant investment. Hospitals and clinics purchasing this equipment face substantial pressure to justify the expense by keeping the machines busy. This requires a steady stream of patients getting tested for various health conditions. Some clinics have responded to this pressure by advertising the tests directly to the public, without waiting […]
Are Cesarean Births Driven By Medical Needs?
The World Health Organization suggests that the optimal rate for Cesarean section births is somewhere between 5 and 10 percent. At the turn of the century, the rate of C-section births began to rise sharply. By 2009, almost one-third of the babies born in this country came by Cesarean section. The number has declined slightly […]
Nearly 20 Percent of Elderly Patients Suffer Medical Injuries
At the very least, medical care is meant to protect patients from unnecessary injury or illness. We generally expect medical treatment to improve our health rather than harm it. However, in many cases, medical mistakes cause injuries and other medical problems that are not related to the patient’s underlying condition. A study recently published in the journal […]
Study: Outpatient Misdiagnoses Estimated at 12 Million per Year
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. When these concerns crop up, it is extremely important […]
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 […]
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. Many […]
Combination Drugs May Lead To Liver Damage
A pain reliever many people consider harmless can cause liver failure and even death if taken in excess. To reduce the number of dangerous overdoses of acetaminophen, the Food and Drug Administration has recommended that doctors put an end to prescriptions for certain combination drugs. A combination drug is a pain medication that combines acetaminophen with an opioid. […]
New Guidelines To Tackle Medical Mistakes
Patient safety may take a back seat to the realities of the health care culture in the United States. Preventable medical errors have been identified as the third leading cause of death in the country, according to a study conducted by Patient Safety America. The study estimated that medical mistakes may kill as many as 440,000 people […]
Health Care Costs And Medical Malpractice
The cost of health care in the United States is unprecedented on a global scale. Among the most commonly cited reasons for the expense of health care here is the cost of medical malpractice insurance. Politicians and many in the medical industry like to point the finger at medical malpractice claims and insurance necessary to protect against […]
Victims May Not Be Told About Medical Mistakes
Most people realize that there is a possibility they will not get a good result when going to a hospital. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to identify when the bad result was caused by preventable medical error. Doctors and hospital staff are not always forthcoming about mistakes that cause a patient harm. According to recent research […]
Hospital Acquired Infections And Medical Malpractice
Going to a hospital with one medical problem and acquiring one or more problems while there is hardly an unusual occurrence. Hospital acquired infections are a common problem in certain health care facilities. Some of the most common pathogens are antibiotic resistant and have been known to cause serious medical problems, even death. One of the measures […]
How To Address Medical Malpractice Errors
The recent estimate regarding fatal medical errors should serve as motivation for people interested in patient safety. There were roughly 34 million hospital admissions across the United States last year. Given the estimate provided by the Journal of Patient Safety of 210,000 to 440,000 deaths caused by medical errors, that translates to a 0.6-1.3 percent fatality […]
New Research About Fatal Medical Errors
Several studies have been conducted to understand the scope of medical mistakes in the U.S. health care industry. Recent research suggests the problem is much larger than previously thought. It suggests that medical mistakes are the third most common cause of death in the country, following heart disease and cancer. According to the research appearing in the […]
Sacred Heart Hospital In Chicago Has License Revoked By State
Sacred Heart Hospital has had its license revoked by the Illinois Department of Public Health. The hospital had been closed since July 1, following an FBI raid. The State determined that the facility was “not fit, willing and able to provide a proper standard of care.” The FBI raid concerned questionable billing practices as well […]
Missed, Delayed And Incorrect Diagnoses And Medical Malpractice
Recent research has shown that diagnostic errors were the most common basis for successful medical malpractice claims from 1986 to 2010. A study of such claims in the National Practitioner Data Bank revealed that incorrect, missed or delayed diagnoses made up 29 percent of the nearly 350,000 successful malpractice claims filed during that period. The study was […]
Surgical Errors May Increase Profits For American Hospitals
According to a study appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, surgical errors can greatly increase the profit margin for the hospitals where they are committed. The research was conducted using data from more than 34,000 surgical patients who were operated on in selected Texas hospitals in 2010. The study looked at Medicare patients, privately […]
Patient Safety Awareness Week And Patient Engagement
March 4 through March 10 is National Patient Safety Awareness Week. The initiative is led by the National Patient Safety Foundation and focuses on an issue that affects hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. According to the Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study, conducted by HealthGrades Inc., there were more than 200,000 potentially preventable deaths suffered […]
