Wrongful Death

Published on: August 21, 2013

Best and Worst Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery in New York State

New data from New York DOH unveil mortality rates for cardiac surgery by hospitals and by type of procedure. Even though some procedures are by nature riskier than others, New Yorkers suffering from heart conditions should understand that not every hospital offers the same level of safety.

Based on the data provided by The New York State Health Department here are some of the findings:

Valve surgery is the riskiest type of cardiac surgery with a mortality rate of 4.59% for New York State between 2008 and 2010. PCI or Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, sometimes also called coronary angioplasty or coronary stenting is the less risky of all types of cardiac surgeries as long as it is a planned surgery. It becomes riskier when it is an emergency procedure.

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The following graphs show the mortality rate by hospital for the various type of procedures. Because some hospitals may deal with riskier cases than others the graphs show 3 types of mortality rates:
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Published on: August 17, 2013

Every day 30 children die from unintentional poisoning

By GGCRBHS&M

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is launching a prevention campaign to prevent children poisoning by single laundry packets. Please share this on social media to tell parents to store laundry pocket locked up and out of site.

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Published on: August 13, 2013

Personal Injury & Product Liability: football helmet manufacturers use strong language on labels to warn players about potential head injury

By GGCRBHS&M

football%20helmet.jpg “No helmet system can protect you from serious brain and/or neck injuries including paralysis or death. To avoid these risks, do not engage in the sport of football” is the type of language that consumers will read on most warning labels when they purchase a football helmet these days.

Football has a very high incidence of catastrophic personal injuries with traumatic brain injury and cervical spinal cord injury being the most common. Recent lawsuits have accused the league and some product manufacturers of hiding evidence or not properly warning about the dangers of repeated head trauma.

In a recent article, Ken Belson, a sport reporter for the New York Times, gives a complete overview of what type of warning helmet manufacturers are using Today to warn the players and to protect themselves from a product liability lawsuit.

Published on: August 13, 2013

Product Liability, Product Recalls – Celebrating the 5th Year of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)

By GGCRBHS&M

product%20recall.png Millions of toys that contained dangerous levels of lead paint and other toxins as well as dangerous children products have been recalled since the Consumer Safety Improvement Act was signed into law 5 years ago.

This bipartisan legislation made a real difference in protecting young Americans from personal injury and wrongful death.

New York Medical Malpractice, Surgical Errors and Complications – Mount Sinai, NYU Langone Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital are the best hospitals to have surgery in the city, St Luke’s is the worst

By GGCRBHS&M

Complications during or after surgery are happening too often at New York City, St Luke’s Hospital. The Hospital scored a low overall surgery rating on the new Consumer Reports surgery safety rating. The safest hospitals in the city to have surgery are Mount Sinai, NYU Langone Medical Center and New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Consumer Reports looked at medicare claims data from 2009 through 2011 for patients undergoing 27 categories of common scheduled surgeries. For each hospital, the results for all procedures are combined into an overall surgery rating.The global ranking is based on who died in the hospital or stayed longer than expected for their procedure. More detail by type of surgery as well as a hospital ranking by state can be found on the Consumer Reports website.

Most common surgery complications are bad reaction to anesthesia, heart problems or surgeon nicking a blood vessel, leaving an instrument inside, or even operating on the wrong body part. Complications can also happen after the surgery. Nationally, 30 percent of patients suffer infections, heart attacks, strokes, or other complications after surgery and sometimes even die as a result.

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Published on: August 9, 2013

Chemical Accidents Prevention: Obama signs executive order to to improve the safety and security of chemical facilities and reduce the risks of hazardous chemicals to workers and communities

By GGCRBHS&M

Last April the explosion at a fertilizer plant in West Texas was of the magnitude of a small earthquake. It killed 15, destroyed houses, businesses and municipal buildings, and left a 93-foot crater. To avoid such a tragedy in the future, President Obama last week signed an executive order directing Federal agencies to work with stakeholders to improve chemical safety and security.
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Published on: August 6, 2013

Medical Malpractice – Emergency Room Doctors in the US are still using fresh frozen plasma to reverse hemorrhage induced by Warfarin even though Prothrombin Complex Concentrates (PCCs) are significantly more effective at reducing the bleeding

By GGCRBHS&M

Excessive bleeding caused by Warfarin can lead to wrongful death if not addressed promptly. This anti coagulant medication is commonly prescribed to address blood clots but it has a very serious side effects that leave patients at risk of very heavy bleeding. In the US when emergency room doctors are faced with warfarin anticoagulation they commonly use fresh frozen plasma to reverse the bleeding.

Frozen Plasma therapy is slow and unpredictable and most emergency room doctors around the world have been replacing it with Prothrombin complex concentrates (PCCs), a therapy that can reverse Warfarin anticoagulation in minutes according to an article from the American College of Emergency Physician based on a study by Kenneth Frumkin, PhD, MD of the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va. published in Annals of Emergency Medicine.

Hopefully the use of these life-saving products will increase in the US since the Food and Drug Administration accepted a form of PCC specifically intended for warfarin reversal last April.

Published on: July 29, 2013

Fatal Bridal Party Boating Accident on the Hudson River is a tragic reminder that alcohol and boating are a deadly mix

By GGCRBHS&M

A bridal party on a speedboat turned into a horrible tragedy when then intoxicated skipper of a of a 19-foot Stingray bowrider collided with a construction barge on the Hudson River near the Tappan Zee Bridge , north of New York City. The best man and the bride died in the accident leaving behind an injured and unconsolable husband-to-be.

Alcohol use is the number one contributing factor in deaths for recreational boating in the US.

Last year in New York 11 people died in boating accidents where alcohol use was cited as the primary contributing factor. This number is the highest among all states with a total of 140 deaths for the totality of the US territory in 2012.

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Published on: July 25, 2013

Medical Malpractice Case & Commentary – why 15% of patients undergoing an emergency laparotomy will die in the next 30 days and what can be done to improve this situation?

By GGCRBHS&M

An elderly woman with an history of pancreatitis was admitted for an emergency laparotomy after she showed symptoms of acute abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. The diagnosis was small bowel obstruction. Her heart stopped during anesthesia and she had to be resuscitated and sent to the ICU. She died there the day after. The hospital’s case review committee concluded it was a misdiagnosis: the patient suffered acute pancreatitis and not a small bowel obstruction therefore surgery was contraindicated and death could have been prevented. This type of cases raises questions about the decision process in emergency surgery, specifically for elderly people. The complete case as well as a medical commentary, references and World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist can be found at Web M&M.

Published on: July 24, 2013

Children with cancer who use a central line at home for their treatment have 3 times more risk of developing a dangerous blood infection than children who used a central line while in the hospital

By GGCRBHS&M

Doctors should be vigilant when they decide to send home some pediatric cancer patients who still need to use a central venous catheter for their treatment. Because the central line is a tube that is placed directly into a major blood vessel, it can easily become a gateway for bacteria in the blood stream if it is not handled properly. Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) can lead to serious personal injury such as organ damage and sometimes death.

A recent study from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center published yesterday in the journal Pediatric Blood & Cancer followed 319 children with cancer between 2009 and 2010. Most children were first treated in the hospital and then sent home to continue their treatment. 19 children developed a central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) while hospitalized and 55 while at home.

Hospitals have been fighting for a long time against bloodstream infections and they have made serious progress in reducing them. They have experienced clinicians following precise protocols.Things are different when children are treated at home by family members. More should be done in preventing development of CLABSIs at home.For example teaching family members how to handle and clean central lines should be part of the formal discharge protocol. It is not the case yet.