Bergen County Personal Injury Lawyer - Medical Malpractice

Medical Malpractice: The Risks of Prescribing Accutane

Karen Gatlin — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:03:14 GMT

Accutane is a drug commonly used to treat acne, a troublesome but non lethal skin condition. Therefore, the benefits of Accutane must be carefully weighed against its risks. Both precribing physicians and their patients must appreciate the dangers of the drug which the FDA has documented. Among the risks are: miscarriage, severe birth defects; liver, colon and lung injuries; and heart and brain injuries such as heart attack and stroke. Indeed, Accutane has been described as one of the most dangerous drugs available. See Green, J. Babies, Blemishes and the FDA: A History of Accutane Regulation in the United States, Harvard Law School, March 2002.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Karen Gatlin

Medical Malpractice Resulting in Brain Injured Child

Donald Caminiti — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:18:00 GMT

The AP recently reported that a jury has awarded the parents of a brain-damaged boy $11.4 million following a three week trial in a medical malpractice case.

The injured boy's parents claimed in a 2006 lawsuit that negligent care by a nurse and nurse midwife resulted in brain injuries to their son during his birth in 2005.

The jury sided with the plaintiffs and, on Oct. 17 awarded $11.4 million. Although the hospital issued a statement saying it believes the care was appropriate and that the award was excessive, the parents' attorney noted that the award is barely compensation for the life long medical care the young boy will require.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Donald Caminiti

Medical Malpractice: Prevention of Bed Sores

Karen Gatlin — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 09:49:01 GMT

Almost all besores are preventable. The occurrence of a bedsore is now a "never event"; that is, the treatment will not be covered by Medicare as it is considered a totally preventable occurrence. A bed sore, also known as a pressure sore, decubitus, or skin sore, is caused by reduced blood flow to an area of the skin which results in tissue death. The skin is the largest organ in the body, and maintenance of healthy skin during illness requires preventative measures. The biggest threat to maintenance of healthy skin is prolonged bed rest. In bed rest, the body weight is largely placed on bony prominences such as the sacrum, elbows, and heels. The prolonged pressure on the skin reduces blood supply and leads to tissue death. The first sign of a bedsore is redness of the skin, and the redness does not turn white when touched. If left untreated, the redness will lead to abrasion or blister, followed by an ulcer, and eventually, destruction of all soft tissue in the area.

Prevention includes: 1) daily inspection of the skin, especially the most vulnerable bony areas; 2) use of a sheepskin or air mattress to protect areas that are subject to too much pressure; 3) frequent change of position (at least every two hour in bed and weight shifts every 20 minutes when sitting); 4) maintaining clean and dry skin; 5) use of lotion and massage, especially to the bony prominence; 6) maintaining adequate hydration; 7) maintaining a healthy diet; 8) cessation of smoking; and 9) seeking prompt medical care at the beginning signs of ulcer formation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Karen Gatlin

Medical Malpractice or Complications?

Karen Gatlin — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:03:50 GMT

When a patient, a physician herself, underwent hysterectomy, her doctor told her that the recovery time would be short, about a week. Not so. Four months and three surgeries later as well as thousands of dollars in medical bills and lost wages, she is still recovering. She was told that she suffered a complication, something that can occur despite the best of care. About a week after surgery, she experienced severe pain and accumulation of urine in her abdomen and the doctor explained that he must have nicked the ureter, the tube that carriers the urine to the bladder, during the surgery. A nephrostomy tube was placed to drain the urine and she had surgery to place a stent in the injured ureter. Subsequently she had surgery to repair the ureter.

All of her relatives suggested that she sue the doctor so she consulted a malpractice attorney who refused to take the case. A different lawyer told her that it would be a very difficult case to win, because it would be tough to show the injury was the result of the doctor's negligence. The complication that caused all these problems, the nicking of a ureter, would most likely be considered a regular complication of the surgery, and not negligence. This means that even though she suffered, she wouldn't have a case. "Just because you have a bad outcome doesn't mean you can sue," she was told. Although only a medical expert can determine if there was a departure from accepted standards of care, attorneys are reluctant to undertake medical malpractice cases which may well fall into the category of complications that can occur absent negligence.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Karen Gatlin

Medical malpractice in children

Donald Caminiti — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:12:00 GMT

Medical errors pose a greater threat to children than to adults for a number of reasons, according to a report in the New York Times. They are physically small, and their kidneys, liver and immune system are still developing. Even a tiny increase in the dose of medication can have serious effects — especially in babies born prematurely. And if children take a turn for the worse, they can deteriorate more rapidly than adults. Children also are less able to communicate what they are feeling, making it difficult to diagnose their problem or know when a symptom or complication develops.

Adult medications are prepackaged and have standardized doses, but pediatric medications vary, based on the child’s weight and sometimes height, requiring doctors to make calculations. It is easy to misplace a decimal point, a tenfold error.

Typically, an adult formulation is diluted for children, and sometimes “the amount of medication being diluted is smaller than an air bubble in a syringe,” said Dr. Rainu Kaushal, director of quality and patient safety at the Komansky Center for Children’s Health at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

“The Joint Commission reported that about 32 percent of medication errors in children in the operating room involved the wrong dose, compared with 14 percent in adults.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Donald Caminiti

The Poor Record of the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners

Karen Gatlin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:37:00 GMT

Dr. Joseph Gluck, a New Jersey pediatrician, was the former director of the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners from 1998 to 2006. It was therefore surprising to hear him recently state that the board does not properly review complaints and has failed to protect the public against incompetent and, perhaps, dangerous physicians. New Jersey has one of the ten worst records in terms of imposing sanctions on physicians who are a danger to the health and safety of the public. Instead of revoking licenses, the board has often imposed a reprimand or suspension, allowing physicians to maintain or resume their practices after a short period of non practice. There needs to be more oversight of the Board to ensure that proper action is taken to protect New Jersey citizens from incompetent or impaired physicians.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Karen Gatlin

Arthoscopic knee surgery ... and unnecessary procedure?

Donald Caminiti — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:14:00 GMT

According to a recent story in the New York Times, thousands of patients each year may be undergoing unnecessary arthroscopic knee surgery, say two studies published in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine. According to researchers, the surgery provides no more relief for arthritis patients than medication and physical therapy. Approximately 1 million arthroscopic knee surgeries are performed in the United States each year.

Read Article: The New York Times

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Donald Caminiti

Medical Doctors Concede that Lawsuits Serve as a "Vital Deterrent" for Consumers

Donald Caminiti — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:54:00 GMT

Top doctors who run one of the most influential U.S. medical journals are giving the U.S. Supreme Court some unsolicited legal advice about a major case.

Lawsuits can serve as "a vital deterrent" and protect consumers if drug companies do not disclose risks to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before it approves medicines for use, the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine said in a friend-of-the-court brief. The FDA "is in no position" to guarantee drug safety, the brief said.

At issue is Wyeth v. Levine, a case expected to be heard late this year that could have far-reaching implications for litigation over allegedly harmful drugs, such as the painkiller Vioxx.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Donald Caminiti

Concierge Medicine

Karen Gatlin — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:09:57 GMT

Some doctors have decided to limit their practice of medicine to patients who pay directly for treatment and do not require physicians to submit forms and other paperwork to insurance companies. This kind of medical practice has been called "Boutique" of "Concierge" medicine. The doctors do not participate in Medicare nor do they accept insurance payments. Patients retain their medical insurance to cover specialists and hospitalizations, but pay a yearly fee to their primary physicians for medical services, a fee which can range from $1,000 to $15,000. This not only avoids paperwork for the doctor’s office, but increases their salaries and provides more time to spend with each patient as the number of patients seen daily is much smaller. Rather than see a large number of patients daily who ware shuffled in and out in an assembly line manner, concierge medicine allows doctors to spend a long time with each patient and to have a real understanding of their medical conditions and daily lives. Preventative medicine is emphasized. Patients are offered weekend appointments, home visits, and 24 hour access to physicians As more careful medicine and more time spent with patients equates with less error, these doctors are offered much less expensive malpractice insurance and the patients received higher quality care. Does concierge medicine lead to a two tiered medical system, one catering to the wealthy, another to the poor? Or is it a return to the family doctor style of medicine when house calls were routine?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Karen Gatlin

Medical Errors Dangerously Common

Donald Caminiti — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:52:00 GMT

So-called “never events,” the most serious types of medical errors, occurred at least once every six days in Utah hospitals during 2007, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Among the 57 serious medical errors, also referred to as sentinel events, reported by Utah hospitals, 27 resulted in fatalities. The Institute of Medicine estimates that 98,000 deaths a year are caused by medical errors. Heather May, The Salt Lake Tribune 08/19/2008

Read Article: The Salt Lake Tribune

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Donald Caminiti