Dosing errors, delay to treat or failure to diagnose a medical condition because of poor interaction between humans and computers or loss of data can result in serious personal injury and wrongful death. Poor choice or inadequate implementation of Emergency Department Information Systems (EDISs) can threaten health care quality and…
Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice
Medical Malpractice – Failure to diagnose colon cancer – the use of a quarterly report card improves precancerous polyp detection rate from 44.7% to 53.9%
During colonoscopy, endoscopists can find potentially precancerous growths (polyps) and remove them, however some polyps especially on the right side of the colon are more difficult to detect. Failure to detect these polyps reduces the efficacy of colonoscopy for colon cancer screening. By using a quarterly report card, endoscopists at…
Reminder: Stephen Mackauf to co-chair Obstetric Malpractice Forum
Our partner Stephen Mackauf and John E. Hall Jr. from Hall Booth Smith, P.C. will co chair the 12th Annual Advanced Forum of the American Conference Institute on Obstetric Malpractice Claims on June 26th-27 2013 in Philadelphia. For more iinformation see our prior post here.
Medical Malpractice – Disturbingly high rates of dirty endoscopes show Hospital Negligence in cleaning process
30 % of duodenoscopes, 24% of gastroscopes and 3% of colonoscopes have unacceptable level of “bio dirt” from previous clients bodies leading to a potential risk of infection according to a new study by researchers at 3M infection Prevention Division and presented at the 40th Annual Conference of the Association…
Diagnostic Error – medical malpractice that can be life-threatening or result in death or permanent disability.
Diagnostic errors are not a new problem, in 1991 the Harvard medical Practice Study, investigated Medical Malpractice in New York Hospitals and found out that diagnostic errors were accounting for 14% of physicians errors and that 75% of them were due to doctors negligence. In 1999 a study from the…
Medical Malpractice – Failure to diagnose Ischemia – Routine Fractional Flow Reserve measured after angiography decreases misdiagnoses
Angiography alone doesn’t detect Ischemia and may lead to misdiagnosis when a patient is being checked for chest pain. A routine Functional Flow Reserve Measurement (FFR) after the angiography would lead to a change of diagnosis for 1 out of 4 patients according to a new study presented at EuroPCR…
Negligence – Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI) significantly increase hospital profit margin
The average profit margin for a hospital to treat an infected patient is $ 55,000 while the margin to treat a similar patient without infection is just $ 6,500 according to a recent study from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine published in the American Journal of Medical Quality.…
Personal Injury – Women suffering from severe injuries are less likely to receive trauma care than men suffering from severe injury
Severely injured women are 21% less likely to receive appropriate care in a trauma center than men. Results are similar for women injured after a fall or a car accident, across all income levels and also when comparing rural versus urban patients according to a study , led by Andrea…
Medical Malpractice – Hospital Negligence – methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) may be killed with metal ions attached to clay
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is caused by a specific staph bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics and therefore very difficult to treat. If not diagnosed on time MRSA can be life threatening. MRSA is a major concern for hospitals where the superbug can attack older patients or those suffering…
Failure to diagnose Breast cancer: Women should be informed that Digital direct radiography (DR) is much more effective than Computed radiography (CR) at detecting breast cancer
There is a higher rate of failure to diagnose breast cancer among women who are screened using computed radiography compared to women who are screened using digital direct radiography according to a new study lead by Anna M. Chiarelli, Ph.D., senior scientist in Prevention and Cancer Control at Cancer Care…