Medical Malpractice

• FDA Approves Use of Silicone Breast Implants

  Ben Glass | November 20, 2006 8:12 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  The plastic surgeons of the world can now expect a happy Holiday season. Patients are starting to line up for breast augmentation in light of the FDA's decision to allow their use again in this country.Here's what Public Citizen had to say about the news:In terms of adverse safety and health information known at the time of approval - such as high rates of rupture, the need for repeat surgery...

• Easy Open Pill Bottles Unsafe for Children

  Ken Margolin | November 20, 2006 9:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Following demographics, many pharmaceutical companies are making so-called "EZ Open" pill bottles designed for adults with arthritis in their hands. The problem is that some of the bottles can also be readily opened by children. The danger of a medication overdose to a child is made greater because many pills are colorful and sugar-coated, making them attractive to a child. Recently, a...

• Lawyers Battle On For The Doctors Who Testify In The Courtroom

  Rick Shapiro | November 18, 2006 9:12 AM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, Chesapeake & Suffolk, VA

  I have previously written a blog article about the amazing efforts by some doctors to try to silence and even revoke the medical licenses of doctors who give honest testimony in medical malpractice cases, almost always on the side of the victim or patient. In other words, when a doctor is sued for malpractice, often the doctor sued does not focus on improving their technique, to avoid another...

• The Ferrari Racing Team Revs Up Hospital Procedures

  Bob Carroll | November 18, 2006 7:02 AM | 0 CommentsPinellas, FL

  The next time the nursing staff decides to change bed linens during your hospital stay start your stopwatch.Hospital Care, Ferrari StyleWhat do a Ferrari race-car team and your local hospital have in common? More than you might think. Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London hired a Formula One Ferrari racing team to improve hospital care. The Wall Street Journal explains:In one of...

• Tooth Whiteners Not A Cause Of Cancer

  Bob Carroll | November 18, 2006 5:25 AM | 0 CommentsPinellas, FL

  This news may brighten your day.Tooth Whiteners Do Not Cause CancerCommon tooth whitening products, which have been used by millions of people, are found to be safe and do not increase the risk of oral cancer when used as directed. This exhaustive review of the literature, including numerous unpublished clinical studies involving over 4,000 human subjects, appeared in an article by Dr. Ian...

• Risks Of Glaucoma Should Not Be Ignored

  Bob Carroll | November 17, 2006 6:05 AM | 0 CommentsPinellas, FL

  I have had glaucoma for years. In the early years my eye pressures were managed by the use of eye drops. Then, very suddenly, I lost much of the vision in my left eye. It happened in only a day or so. And, it has proven to be irreversible. After that experience and the significant vision loss I have had far more aggressive management of my glaucoma, including multiple surgeries. ...

• Medical Providers Bill for Medical Negligence

  Scott Smith | November 16, 2006 4:44 PM | 0 CommentsColumbus, OH

  Medical providers bill the patient for care that results in medical negligence. Some of the largest businesses in the country have called on hospitals to apologize and waive costs related to "never" events - medical errors these employers say should never happen in the first place.Medical negligence such as surgery performed on the wrong body part or mixing up donor sperm and/or donor eggs for...

• Medical Malpractice "Reform"

  Ken Margolin | November 15, 2006 6:00 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Massachusetts, like most states, treats medical malpractice different than most personal injury cases. The Legislature bought into the insurance industry's false, but brilliantly executed, argument that medical malpractice litigation was responsible for driving doctors' insurance rates sky high and for driving doctors out of the state. It is easy to be suspicious of the motives behind the...

• Pennsylvania Hospitals to Report Infection Rates

  Ben Glass | November 15, 2006 2:16 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  Accoriding to an article in USA Today, Pennsylvania became the first state to publicly report the number of patients who contracted an infection in their hospitals. That's good, consumers will have one more piece of informatio to use in deciding where to get their medical care. You can find a good summary of state disclosure laws at this web site.We see quite a few cases where patients allege...

• Deadly Hospital Infections

  Ken Margolin | November 14, 2006 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  The prevalence of drug-resistant, hospital-acquired infections should still be a cause for concern among doctors and patients, according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC's press release on the study's findings discloses that over the past 30 years, "staph" infections, acquired in hospitals and other healthcare facilities such as nursing homes,...