Washington updates in category: Medical Malpractice

Lawyers, like doctors, architects, accountants or any other professional, are responsible for the damage created when they make an error. Often referred to as professional malpractice, these errors...

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A May 18th article in the New York Times described a new program at several prominent hospitals across the nation. When a medical mistake was made, the doctor met with the patient and explained what...

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The above headline highlighted an article in the Vancouver Washington paper this week. The article went on to say 1 in 15 children admitted to hospitals were harmed by drug mix-ups or accidental...

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While most of the doctors agreed they needed to keep up with changes in the profession and have their competence reviewed, only 31 percent had undergone a competency review in the past three years. Dr. James Thompson, chief executive officer of the Federation of State Medical Boards, said one problem may be that doctors know there is not much that can be done to help doctors who are struggling...

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Over the past year, hospitals in Washington left "foreign objects" in 36 surgery patients. And 21 people got surgery on the wrong body parts. Hospitals have reported such "adverse events" to the state Department of Health since 2000, also including performing surgery on the wrong patient, and medication errors that can kill or seriously harm patients. But now the Washington State Hospital...

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A recently filed lawsuit in the Federal Court in Miami alleges that the medical staff aboard the Carnival Legend, a ship that is part of the Carnival Cruise Line, committed medical malpractice. On September 6, 2006 cruise passenger, Helen Kerr, 73, was reportedly misdiagnosed and mistreated while suffering from a fluid buildup in her lungs.According to the complaint, Ms. Kerr went to the...

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Fentanyl, a highly addictive drug that is 80 times more potent than morphine. Now, the company that makes a Fentanyl-based painkiller called Fentora is warning doctors about the proper way to prescribe it, following the deaths of four people who took the drug. According to news reports there of those deaths were due to so-called "off-label" usage, meaning doctors prescribed the drug to treat...

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With our aging population more and more people are filling prescriptions. That's one of the reasons that incidents of pharmacy malpractice are on the rise. A recent decision in Florida, in a case involving pharmacy malpractice, is notable:It took just three hours of deliberation for a Florida jury to award $28.5 million to the family of a woman who suffered a suffered a massive cerebral...

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Heart attacks are a leading cause of death in America. Sadly, however, they also could be prevented in many cases. Diet and exercise are the best forms of prevention. But sometimes heart attacks occur because doctors misdiagnose them and their warning signs. Recent articles suggest that misdiagnosis often occurs because health care organizations are focused on the bottom line. When patients...

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A Clark County jury last week awarded $4.5 million to the family of late artist Craig Pozzi. According to the jury, Mr. Pozzi's doctors had misdiagnosed his condition for years. They diagnosed his symptoms as anxiety attacks when in fact the episodes were small seizures occurring as a result of the large brain tumor. Doctors testified during the two-week trial that if Pozzi's tumor had been...

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In Washington, D.C. the organization known as the American Trial Lawyers Association stated with the civil justice reforms, that the pro-business groups are pushing voters to not register, these are the results that were released after a poll was recently conducted.At a press conference in the National Press Club building, the American Association for Justice, formerly the ATLA, offered proof in...

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Frivolous litigation does not block up the court system along with frivolous lawsuits are not a major provider on the rising of the malpractic insurance cost, according to investigators here.Claims were reviewed by board-certified physicians, fellows or final year surgical residents. The claims were reviewed for adverse outcome as well as for medical error, which was defined using this...

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Doctor's among Seattle are often having sleeping problems, suffering from stress, and are loosing their confidence that is caused by making medical errors.Patients are not the only ones harmed by medical errors, according to a survey that found many doctors who make mistakes -- and even those who come close -- suffer stress, sleep problems and loss of confidence.The survey involved 3,171 doctors...

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There are up to 98,000 death's a year due to Medical errors that leads to the fifth-leading causes of death in the United States. "Medical errors in the healthcare system arise from miscommunication, physician order transcription errors, adverse drug events, or incomplete patient medical records," says David Plow, Senior Analyst at MRG. "Generally, medical errors are caused by overcrowded,...

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Race discrepancy in the medical care continues after a large nationwide study was done. It showed that black people have a 30 percent of a less than likely chance to get specialized therapy after a heart attack. In long term the study shows that black people are more than likely to die after a heart attack compared to the whites.WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Blacks were far less likely than whites...

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