Miscellaneous

• Insurance Companies Limit Payments

  Karen Gatlin | January 15, 2008 10:55 AM | 0 CommentsBergen County, NJ

  Some insurance carriers, including Aetna Insurance Company, have decided that they will not provide payment for treatment of conditions that were caused by medical negligence. Such restriction on payment include foreign objects left in patients during surgeries and procedures (instruments, packing, sponges); bedsores arising during admissions; incorrect blood transfusions; patient falls;...

• Coumadin and Hemorrhage

  Karen Gatlin | January 09, 2008 9:24 AM | 0 CommentsBergen County, NJ

  Coumadin is a commonly used medication to prevent blood clots from forming. It is often prescribed to patients with heart arrhythmias; however, coumadin can be a dangerous medication because it increases the risk of hemorrhage and, therefore, requires careful monitoring. Blood testing should be done frequently to measure the level of anticoagulation. Patients should also know that changes in...

• PSA Testing and Prostate Cancer

  Karen Gatlin | January 02, 2008 9:44 AM | 0 CommentsBergen County, NJ

  A blood test for Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) is a routine screening measure for prostate cancer. Prostate cells produce a protein called PSA, and a high PSA level in the blood can be a sign of prostate cancer. The normal range of PSA is 0-4 ng/ml. A PSA greater than 4 may indicate cancer or it may indicate more benign conditions such as enlargement of the prostate or infection. However, the...

• Laparoscopic Gall Bladder Surgery and Bile Duct Injury

  Karen Gatlin | December 27, 2007 9:53 AM | 0 CommentsBergen County, NJ

  Bile duct injury is a risk of laparoscopic gall bladder surgery; however, the risk of injury can be minimized if the surgeon follows accepted standards of surgical procedure. A patient with acute choleycystitis is at an increased risk of bile duct injury during surgery; therefore, an intra operative cholangiogram should be performed in every case because it helps clarify anatomy. Similarly, an...

• Shoulder Dystocia and Nerve Injury

  Karen Gatlin | December 27, 2007 9:51 AM | 0 CommentsBergen County, NJ

  Shoulder dystocia can cause injury to the nerves in the brachial plexus, resulting in impaired function of the arm and shoulder. The injury is the result of improper delivery technique by the obstetrician. The shoulders become "stuck" in the birth canal and traction on the brachial plexus to effect delivery may result in permanent nerve damage. Brachial plexus injury has often been assumed to be...

• Merck Recall of Vaccines Needed to Protect Children against Meningitis and Pneumonia

  Karen Gatlin | December 17, 2007 3:36 PM | 0 CommentsBergen County, NJ

  Merck recalled its flu vaccine when inspectors found bacterial contamination in its manufacturing process. The vaccine protects against infection with a bacteria that causes meningitis and pneumonia. The public has been assured that it was the manufacturing equipment which was found to be contaminated, not the vaccine itself, and that Merck decided to recall the vaccine only as a precaution....

• Childhood Diseases Pose Greater Risks than Vaccines

  Karen Gatlin | December 11, 2007 10:56 AM | 0 CommentsBergen County, NJ

  New Jersey has mandated that pre school children receive vaccines against both influenza and pneumonia, a mandate which has alarmed those parents who worry that vaccines pose a risk of harm to their children. Vaccines do pose a risk, albeit small, which is why the government has a Vaccine Injury Compensation Act to provide treatment for children injured by vaccines. The problem is that common...

• Wrongful Death Legislation

  Donald Caminiti | December 11, 2007 9:00 AM | 0 CommentsBergen County, NJ

  A Wrongful Death Bill (S-176) was voted out of the New Jersey State Senate Judiciary Committee on December 10, with a vote of 7 in favor and 4 in opposition. This bill which is long overdue in New Jersey, would permit survivors of those wronfully killed in automobile accidents, by dangerous products or as a result of medical malpractice to recover for grief and suffering. Justice Alan Handler,...

• HIGH RATE OF HEART DISEASE IN FUTURE GENERATIONS

  Karen Gatlin | December 07, 2007 10:08 AM | 0 CommentsBergen County, NJ

  The New England Journal of Medicine reports that heart disease is expected to rise from 5% to 15%, primarily due to an epidemic of childhood obesity. Childhood obesity developed in the 1970's and has resulted in an increased occurrence of childhood Diabetes. Childhood obesity will cause a 15% increased incidence in coronary heart disease by 2035 and will produce a strain on our health care...

• Wrongful death

  Donald Caminiti | November 20, 2007 2:19 PM | 0 CommentsBergen County, NJ

  The family of a Seton Hall University student abducted outside the school gates and murdered by her former boyfriend can pursue a wongful death claim against the city of Newark baed on a bungled 9-1-1 call.A 9-1-1 caller reported seeing a man pull a woman into a car and drive off as she screamed and beat on the windows. The 9-1-1 operator reported the incident but failed to note the direction...