Medical Malpractice

• Medication mixups: are hospitals harming Maine kids?

  Alison McKellar | April 22, 2008 9:36 PM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  A recent study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics says that one out of every fifteen hospitalized kids is injured by drug mix ups, accidental overdoses and bad reactions. This...

• Drunk Doctors a Concern for Maine Patients?

  Don Briggs | February 18, 2008 6:06 PM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  Hopefully this situation will never arise in Maine but it has in New Jersey. A New Jersey pediaitrician had his license to practice medicine revoked for allegedly being drunk on the job, administering expired vaccines to young patients and pointing a loaded gun at two assistants. As many as 1,100 children may not have been properly immunized and, as a result, may not be protected according to...

• Medication Errors in Maine Hospitals

  Alison Mynick, RN, Esq. | February 18, 2008 3:01 PM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  One in 10 patients in Massachusetts hospitals suffers serious and avoidable medication mistakes. Can what is happening to Maine patients in Maine hospitals be very different? Probably not.The study by a Boston doctor, reported in the Boston Globe shows that the culprit is a doctor's handwritten order for medicine in a patient chart. When a hospital switiches to a computerized ordering system...

• Nursing Home Abuse and Financial Exploitation of Elderly is a Serious Problem in Maine

  Don Briggs | January 15, 2008 1:35 PM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  Retirement is supposed to be the reward for a long life of hard work, but for many Maine seniors, the golden years are being stolen away by caregiver neglect, physical abuse, and financial exploitation. Whether the abuse happens in nursing homes or is inflicted by the victims own family, it's becoming a big problem in the United States and Maine is no exception. Retirement is supposed to be the...

• Therapeutic Hypothermia in Maine: When is it Malpractice Not to Offer the Big Chill?

  Alison Mynick, RN, Esq. | January 03, 2008 8:41 PM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  It wasn't so long ago that some Maine heart attack victims who were resuscitated faced the following "good news/bad news" situation: The good news was that normal heart rhythm was restored after CPR. The heart attack victim lived. The bad news, often, was that lack of oxygen to the brain during the heart attack caused such serious brain damage that the survivor didn't seem like the same person...

• New Year's Resolution: Keep Count

  Alison Mynick, RN, Esq. | December 31, 2007 1:49 PM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  Today the Editor of the Boston Globe closes out 2007 with a list of 39 deaths from domestic violence. Senseless, needless, unjustified death. The Globe brings honor to itself, and the deceased, by humanizing these wrongful deaths. This is- no question-a generous and excellent use of a 6 x 18 inch space on the Globe's editorial page. Keeping the issue front and center is part of bringing...

• Playing Fair: Discovering Facts About Medical Malpractice Injuries

  Alison Mynick, RN, Esq. | June 02, 2007 3:04 PM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  How do you prove your medical malpractice case? What do you do if a defendant hospital doesn't "play fair" ? In Charleston, South Carolina the Court ordered a hospital to pay $1.3 million as a sanction to the plaintiff in a medical malpractice. The reason: The hospital was found to have given inaccurate answers to questions, inaccurate testmony and to have engaged in other "misconduct" . See:...

• Weekend Medical Malpractice: Delay Places Stroke Victims At Risk

  Alison Mynick, RN, Esq. | March 19, 2007 11:14 AM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  Each year 700,000 American suffer the devastation of a stroke. About one third die, and many survivors suffer irreversible effects that limit speech and mobility.You are fourteen times more likely to die of a stroke if you're brought to the ER on the weekend. A recent Canadian study outlines the startling figures, but the reasons why a weekend stroke patient is more likely to die than his or...

• Medical Malpractice Suit Filed Against Hospital

  Christina Cole | January 25, 2007 3:15 AM | 0 CommentsBangor & Augusta, ME

  Two years after her Father killed her husband, Ann Meador is blaming West Florida Hospital for the tragedy.In a medical malpractice suit filed in Escambia Circuit court, Meador is claiming her father, Leslie Johnson, walked out of the hospital wearing nothing more than a blanket prior to murdering her husband, Bill Meador, in the victim's downtown law office.The lawsuit alleges West Florida...