After two patients died and many other suffered personal injury from a recent “superbug”outbreak involving duodenoscopes, the safety of these medical devices (see previous blog) and the method used by hospitals to reprocess them are being questioned. In a recent Hazard Report, the ECRI Institute is recommending culturing Duodenoscopes as a key…
Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice
Hospitals sharing multi-dose diabetes pen devices among patients is medical malpractice that the FDA is trying to fight by requiring additional label warnings
Sharing diabetes pens among patients is a gross medical malpractice that can lead to transmission of infections and viruses such as HIV and hepatitis viruses. According to the FDA, since 2008 thousands of patients may have been exposed to blood-borne pathogens from the sharing of multi-dose pen devices for insulin and other…
Superbug outbreaks related to duodenoscopes : hospital negligence or product liability ? And what is the FDA doing about it?
Since 2009, the FDA has been aware that duodenoscopes manufactured by Japanese companies Olympus, Pentax and Fujifilm have been at the origin of the spread of sometimes fatal spread of pathogens but did nothing to change the situation. Hospitals that faced such outbreaks began sterilizing the devices more rigorously and the transmission…
Potential case of medical malpractice threatens UCLA hospital as two patients died and nearly 180 patients may have been infected by contaminated endoscopes
Medical negligence by doctors or medical staff who do not respect cleaning procedures or fail to discard contaminated implements are often the reason why hospital patients are getting infected by contaminated instruments. Yesterday, UCLA Medical Center announced that 179 patients may have been infected by the super-bug bacteria carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) transmitted…
A mobile medical app allowing for continuing glucose monitoring may help prevent medical malpractice related to failure to manage diabetes
Failure to manage diabetes can be medical malpractice that can result in serious personal injury such as loss of a limb, an eye or a kidney. A new medical App that was just approved by the FDA may help improve monitoring patients with diabetes. The Dexcom Share Direct Secondary Displays…
What are the potential risks of using pain medicine during pregnancy?
To prescribe or recommend certain types of pain medicine to a pregnant woman can be medical malpractice that can result in miscarriage, birth defects or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The FDA looked at the most recent research studies published in the medical literature on this subject and found that…
Medical malpractice suspected after beauty queen who received a $1000 coupon for surgery as pageant prize dies during liposuction
The family of 19 year old Catherine Cando Cornejo is claiming that medical malpractice is at the origin of the death of the young beauty queen. The young woman decided to have an abdominal liposuction after she won a coupon for a surgery during a beauty pageant in Ecuador. According…
New rules adopted by the Obama administration will discourage nonprofit hospitals from over charging and using aggressive tactics to collect payments from low income patients
Nonprofit hospitals despicable practices of overcharging patients with no insurance and then using aggressive tactics to collect payments are being discouraged by new rules recently adopted by the Obama Administration. Under the new rules, patients with no insurance who are eligible for financial assistance can not be charged more than…
New ruling opens door to medical malpractice against cruise lines
In 2011, the family of 82 year old Pasqualre Vaglio from New York sued a cruise line for medical malpractice after the medical staff on board failed to diagnose a brain injury that would lead to the death of the man a few days later. Medical malpractice lawsuits against cruises…
A company selling products intended for medical training purposes is recalling some of its practice IV Bags as reports came out that they were being used on patients
To administer non sterile products intended for training to patients is medical malpractice that can have very dangerous consequences. Recently Wallcur, a company that sells medical products intended for training purposes only, received reports that some of its training Sodium Chloride IV Bags had been used outside of their intended…