Virginia updates tagged with 'Consumer Issues'

I have written many times about the basic unfairness of requiring arbitration between parties when a dispute arises. Typically, arbitration is required by the party in a superior bargaining position...

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The federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has a web site which allows patients to rate their hospital experience.You don't have to be a technical expert to understand this...

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The television ad closed the deal in 2004! The image of trusted doctors in white coats trooping out of Nevada to flee high malpractice insurance rates bombarded voters, who overwhelmingly decided to cap the amount of money juries could award victims of botched medical procedures. The bitter fight, marked by twisted statistics and emotional hyperbole, pitted doctors against trial lawyers -- and...

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How about this story line? A growing number of America's hospitals are reusing medical devices labeled as single-use. The items include everything from scissors to sharp saw blades used by surgeons to cut through bones. Does this bother you? It should!Even the manufacturers of single-use medical devices are against reusing the devices. Why? Because the devices are not designed for multiple...

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Admit it...we all want to look and feel younger and liposuction is one of the most common cosmetic surgeries performed in America. The problem for surgeons who conduct the procedure is that more and more people are choosing non-surgical procedures such as light treatments and facial antiwrinkle injectables. The surgeons...seeing a decrease in profitability...have come up with a new procedure...

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a joke. This federal agency is charged with making sure the food and drugs we receive are safe and effective. How well has the FDA done its job?Well...how about having 19 people die and hundreds becoming ill after being given heparin, a blood-thinning drug sold by Baxter International. A belated inspection of the Chinese plant where heparin's active...

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What is happening in America? Employers, pharmaceutical companies, nursing homes, healthcare providers, and hospitals are all trying to prevent being held legally accountable! As an example, how about this situation in Alabama?Fonza Luke had worked as a nurse for Baptist Health System's Princeton Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama, for 26 years when the human resources department summoned...

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All families fear their mother, father, or other loved one who has been placed in a nursing home will not be well taken care of. We worry about falls and if they are getting enough protein in their diet and if are getting enough fluids to prevent dehydration. If they cannot move about by themselves, we worry they may develop pressure sores or decubitus ulcers if the nursing staff fails to...

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We were all told by our parents not to be a "tattletale" but I just read a report which bothers me. Eric Campbell of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston surveyed 1,600 doctors in 2003 and 2004 and his report, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, is disturbing.Approximately 96 percent of the doctors surveyed agreed they should report all instances of...

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I know almost all organizations give money (call it "lobbying") to Congress. Everyone wants to be heard by their representatives in Congress. Wonder how much money the nursing home industry is giving to Congress to influence its decisions?The American Health Care Association (AHCA), which represents nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, spent $860,000 in the first half of 2007 and...

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The New York Times ran an article on February 18 entitled, "Study Finds Cancer Diagnosis Linked to Insurance." That title doesn't sound too bad does it? I think a more accurate title should be, "Medicaid Recipients and Uninsured More Likely to Die from Cancer."Do you want to know why?The study, conducted by the American Cancer Society, found the uninsured and those covered by Medicaid are more...

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Johnson and Johnson has voluntarily decided to recall its widely popular pain patch over concern that some patients could suffer a fatal overdose from its use.The Duragesic patch has been prescribed for patients experiencing moderate to severe chronic pain. It contains fentanyl, an opioid that can lead to problems such as respiratory depression and fatal overdose. Fentanyl is the active...

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My wife and I watch the CBS Show "60 Minutes" almost every week. We enjoy the more in-depth news stories provided by the show as opposed to the 30 seconds per story coverage often provided by the evening news stories.Last night was interesting...but a story on Bayer Pharmaceutical Corporation's product called "Trasylol" had me seeing red!Trasylol is a medication which was designed to reduce...

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Please read this article featured in the Washington Post a few weeks ago, By Marie-Therese Connolly"As though declining health, impending mortality and other challenges weren't hard enough, too often old age is also plagued by abuse, neglect and exploitation.Science has extended our lives dramatically: In 1900, Americans' average life expectancy was 47. By 2000, it was 77, and it's still rising....

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I cannot express how unfair and biased mandatory arbitration is for American consumers! It seems that every purchase order for a TV, refrigerator, used car, or other product contains language which prevents you (the consumer) from holding the seller/manufacturer responsible for their defective products through our legal system. Instead of filing a lawsuit and having your claim heard by a jury...

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