Medical Malpractice

Longtime drummer for rock band Blink-182 Travis Barker recently filed a malpractice suit against a Santa Monica medical imaging center. This action caps off an unfortunate several months for the musician and his family. Earlier this past summer, in June, Barker was admitted to the hospital to receive treatment for blood clots in his arms,…

For many decades, paramedics have treated urgent cardiac arrest victims with adrenaline to prevent their death. However, newly released information is suggesting that the drug used by these medical professionals when cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and electric shocks failed to work, only improves the chance of preventing death by a slim margin, but at the same…

Regardless of whether you have a surgical procedure done at a surgery center or hospital, you expect those in charge of your surgery to provide the same level of competency and safe care before, during, and after surgery. However, the statistics are revealing significant inadequacies when it comes to the resources and oversight associated with…

In a poll by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), nine out 10 emergency room doctors say their hospitals aren’t prepared for a mass tragedy or major disaster. The poll also revealed that fewer than half of doctors believe their emergency rooms are only “somewhat” equipped to handle an incident that drastically increases ER…

In a recent ruling, the Florida Supreme Court stated that the injuries a patient sustained resulting from the use of a restraint maneuver at The National Deaf Academy were the result of negligence, and not medical malpractice. Because the patient’s cause of injury was not related to malpractice, the Supreme Court ruled that the plaintiff…

Kernicterus is a rare form of birth injury which results from a newborn’s inability to process excess levels of bilirubin in the blood after birth. Babies are typically born with a surplus of red blood cells, and their bodies accumulate bilirubin as it breaks these cells down. A newborn’s liver often becomes overworked in processing…

An endoscopy is a medical procedure that uses a scope, which is a long tube with a tiny camera mounted on the end, to explore inside a patient’s body. The physician inserts the scope into an opening in the patient’s body, and they can then watch the video feed that captures an up-close view in…

Diagnosis is the medical process of determining which conditions or illnesses are causing a patient’s symptoms. Errors during surgery accounted for 24% of medical error claims, and errors in medical management accounted for 14% of the claims. A new study found that diagnostic errors were the largest part of medical malpractice claims during the years…

Biologists James Watson and Francis Crick are credited with having discovered the structure of DNA. This discovery has paved the way for medical and scientific breakthroughs for combatting disease, using fingerprinting in criminal cases, modifying food, and giving the world Jurassic Park. Over the last 65 years, we have come to rely on DNA to…

Colon and rectal surgeries, collectively referred to as colorectal surgeries, account for about 24% of all general surgery cases and about 15% of the physicians in this field face medical malpractice lawsuits each year. A study published in the Journal of Surgical Research analyzed 122 medical malpractice lawsuits and found that the most common cause…

Even the most simple of surgeries can elicit concern for patients. While surgeons and other medical professionals are highly trained in their craft, human error is always a possibility. Beyond simple errors, there is also the potential for acute carelessness and negligence that can result in serious complications or injury. Surgical malpractice can produce long-term…

Medication errors in a health care setting are rampant despite efforts to solve the problem. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality defines an adverse drug event (ADE) as harm experienced by a patient because of exposure to a medication. ADEs account for approximately 700,000 emergency room visits and 100,000 hospitalizations each year. The AHQR…

At least 100 women have come forward claiming to be patients of Dr. Charles Akoda at Prince George’s Hospital Center in Maryland. The problem is that Dr. Charles Akoda is not a real person; he’s an identity thief who managed to fool both hospital administrators and patients for eight years, as he practiced as an…

Back in October, USA TODAY published a piece about their investigation into allegations of medical malpractice at the VA hospital in Togus, Maine. They discovered that a podiatrist named Thomas Franchini was responsible for mistakes that harmed veterans in 88 different cases. Instead of firing Franchini outright, the VA “let him quietly resign and move…

Nurses are often the unsung heroes of health care. They work long, grueling hours carrying out the doctor’s orders, they interact with doctors, patients and peers in often chaotic and emotionally exhausting environments and they often do this difficult work exhausted. Fatigue, burnout, exhaustion, overworked: regardless of how you describe it, due to their often…

Back in August, regulators from the Washington, D.C. Department of Health closed the Obstetrics Department at the United Medical Center, the only full-service hospital in Southeast Washington. The Washington Post obtained a letter to Luis A. Hernandez, CEO of UMC, from the D.C. Department of Health, advising him that they were restricting the hospital’s license,…

A story on the TV program “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” highlighted the recent string of deaths of children in dentist’s chairs across the United States. Many adults are afraid and anxiety about going to the dentist for a dental procedure, but we go, and we sit through it with just Novocain as a local…

Plastic surgeries are usually elective procedures women and men undergo to improve their personal appearance. Sometimes they are necessary to correct the consequences from a serious accident, such as a fire that caused disfiguring burns. When you go under the knife, you expect your surgeon to be competent and professional. A simple mistake before, during,…

Cerebral palsy, often caused by medical malpractice at birth, affects the brain and the nervous system of newborns. The condition lasts a lifetime. It often requires extensive physical and emotional therapy. Cerebral palsy is not considered a degenerative disease—meaning that the condition itself generally does not worsen with aging. Having said that, though, as many…

Cataracts are cloudiness in eye lenses that cause vision loss over time. The exact cause of cataracts is not known but they are very common for people over 65 years of age. In cataract surgery, an ophthalmologist removes the defective lens and replaces it with an artificial lens. The two types of cataract surgeries are…

While not even doctors can be infallible, we still look to them to always have the right answers and to provide the perfect cure when we are sick. Sometimes, despite their best efforts, doctors make mistakes in diagnosing a disease or ailment, and sometimes those mistakes are honest ones and other times they are a…

Stem cells hold abundant promise that one day, they will be able to repair and regenerate tissue and create seemingly miraculous therapies customized for an individual. The problem is that stem cell therapy is still in its infancy; unless a patient is undergoing hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation, his or her treatment is an experimental…

Howard University Hospital (HUH) has suffered a steady decline from its glory days as a grand hospital for the middle-class black patients of the city, to an institution that is leaking respected physicians, accreditation for five of its training programs, administrators and money. The Washington Post published an extensive expose revealing that the hospital has…

Approximately 3 million Americans undergo surgery each year in the United States with some of those procedures being elective and others are emergencies. All surgeries carry varying degrees of risk, and every time a patient goes under the knife they open themselves up to the opportunity for a medical mistake. The Washington Post reported on…