New York Personal Injury Attorneys BlogIn “Beyond Mammography: New Frontiers in Breast Cancer Screening”, American Journal of Medicine, Jennifer S. Drukteinis, MD (Moffitt Cancer Center), Blaise P. Mooney, MD, Chris I. Flowers, MBBS, Robert A. Gatenby, MD, look at a personalized approach to breast cancer screening using new technologies such as low-dose mammography, contrast-enhanced mammography, tomosynthesis, automated whole breast ultrasound, molecular imaging, and magnetic resonance imaging. The study says this approach may lead to a better detection of breast cancer both in the general population and in high-risk groups, such as women with dense breasts.
Published on:
Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury: New Research released by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital
Three recent studies on Traumatic Brain Injury by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai demonstrate that significant opportunity exists to improve intervention and outcomes of TBI.
– An Exploration of Clinical Dementia Phenotypes Among Individuals With and Without Traumatic Brain Injury (Dams-O’Connor K, Spielman L, Hammond FM, Sayed N, Culver C, Diaz-Arrastia R.)
– Mortality of Elderly Individuals with TBI in the First 5 Years Following Injury (Hirshson CI, Gordon WA, Singh A, Ambrose A, Spielman L, Dams-O’Connor K, Cantor J, Dijkers M.)
Published on:
Failure to Diagnose Compartment Syndrome can be a Life Threatening Condition
Failure to Diagnose Compartment Syndrome may be medical malpractice.Compartment Syndrome occurs when the pressure within a closed anatomic space (a compartment) becomes so elevated that capillary perfusion is compromised. Any closed anatomic space including the abdominal cavity is at risk of developing a compartment syndrome. Compartment syndrome is a surgical emergency. Surgical decompression by fasciotomy must be performed within eight hours of onset or permanent neuromuscluar damage may result. Failure to properly treat will cause necrosis of the nerves and the muscles in the affected compartment since the increased intracompartmental pressure leads to ischemia and thus loss of blood supply to the nerves and muscles within the compartment. Further complications include Rhabdomyolysis which may lead to renal failure,loss of limb and sometimes death.
The following video from Dr Nabil Ebraheim, Professor and Chair of Orthopedic Surgery at The University of Toledo, explains with great detail:
– What is Compartment Syndrome?
Published on:
Deadly Plane Crash: the Pilot was flying high on Cannabis
Investigation of a plane accident that killed a pilot, a passenger and left two other passengers seriously injured showed a very high level of THC in a Canadian pilot who was flying a Cessna 208B Caravan operated by Air Tindi Ltd. near Lutsel K’e, Northwest Territories.
The toxicology report indicates that the significant amount of THC found in the pilot’s system impaired his performance and adversely effected his decision making.
Even though the pilot was well qualified to fly using instruments, he chose to fly at a low altitude in foggy conditions. The low visibility prevented the pilot from seeing and avoiding terrain.
Published on:
New York Brain Injury Awareness Month
In New York, as a result of traumatic brain injuries 385 people per day visit emergency rooms or are hospitalized as inpatients. 140,000 New Yorkers are injured every year, that’s 3 times the capacity of Yankees Stadium!
The main cause of traumatic brain injuries are falls and motor vehicle accidents, mostly car accidents but motorcycle accidents as well as bus and truck accidents are also a common cause of traumatic brain injuries. Assault is the third cause of TBI in New York. Other leading causes of brain injuries include bicycle accidents, pedestrian accidents or people struck by or against type of accidents.
Here are some findings based on the most recent statistics from the New York State Department of Health Department
– New Yorkers above 65 year old are the most at risk to fall and be hospitalized for a traumatic brain injury.
Published on:
Direct Savings from Medical Malpractice Reforms are too small to make a Difference on Health Care Spending, Policymakers should look elsewhere for Solutions
In “The Receding Tide of Medical Malpractice Litigation” Professor David A. Hyman University of Illinois, School of Law and School of Medicine, Professor Bernard Black Northwestern University, Law School and Kellogg School of Management, and Myungho Paik Northwestern University, School of Law look over 20 years of national trends in Medical Malpractice Llitigation in cap and non cap states.
The study shows a substantial decline of Medical Malpractice Litigation nationally both in cap and non cap states. The aggregate payout by physicians represents now 0.1% of health care spending. The dollars directly at stake in med mal reform are small and the introduction of a national cap would only bring negligible savings.
Source: “Receding Tide of Medical Malpractice Litigation”, Northwestern University Law School Law and Economics Research Paper No. 12-18, University of Illinois Program in Law, Behavior and Social Science Research Paper No. LE12-13
Published on:
Jeff Bloom to speak at the Emergency Medicine Risk Conference
Tomorrow, March 27th, our partner Jeff Bloom will speak at the Emergency Risk Conference at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The conference will take place at the Mount Sinai Hatch Auditorium, 1450 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. Mr. Bloom will present “Analysis of a court case”.
Below is the program for the Conference:
8:30 – 9:00 Breakfast
Published on:
New York area hospitals are among the worst in the nation when it comes to safety
A recent study on safety in hospitals conducted by Consumer Reports shows that hospitals are not a safe place to be.
For this study Consumer Reports magazine ranked more than 2000 hospitals based on the following criteria:
-Infections aquired in hospitals
-likelyhood to be re-admitted in 30 days
-communication issues around drugs and discharge
-likelyhood to get too many CT scans
-likelyhood of complications
Dr John Santa, director of Consumer Reports’ Health Ratings Center, was recently on “CBS This Morning” (see video below) to express his concerns.
In the New York area, out of 70 hospitals studied, 58 hospitals rank below the national average when it comes to safety.
Among these hospitals 27 out of the 28 teaching hospitals are scoring below average with some of them among the worst of the nation. The only teaching hospital in the New York region that scores above average is the the Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, NY with a safety score of 58 out of 100.
Teaching hospitals are supposed to lead by example as they are training the future doctors of our nation. It is an alarming fact that most teaching hospitals in the New York area are actually the most unsafe in the country.
In the New York area, the worst teaching hospitals when it comes to safety are the Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. with 22 points, the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center Health Care System in the Bronx, N.Y. with 25 points, the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y. with 28 points, Harlem Hospital Center in New York City with 28 points and the Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y. with 29 points.
Continue reading →
Published on:
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.
This two day forum is the nation’s foremost gathering of medical experts, insurance professionals, risk managers, leading plaintiff’s and defense lawyers in the field of Obstetric Malpractice. Participants will be able to attend highly specialized workshops and presentations covering the following subjects:
- The state of obstetric malpractice
Published on:
OSHA, NIOSH present webinar on preventing deadly falls in construction
On April 10, at 11 a.m. EST, OSHA’s Director of Construction Jim Maddux, and NIOSH’s Director of Construction Safety and Health, Dr. Christine Branche, will co-moderate a webinar to discuss ways of stopping the leading killer of construction workers – falls from heights. To register for the free webinar and to learn more about efforts by OSHA, NIOSH, and CPWR to protect construction workers from fatal falls, visit the registration page.
This seminar is part of of a nationwide outreach campaign by OSHA to prevent falls in construction sites. The theme of the campaign is – PLAN ahead to get the job done – PROVIDE the right equipment – TRAIN everyone to use equipment safely These says OSHA are three simple steps to reduce the number of falls and save lives.
Falls are the leading cause of death among constrcution workers. According to the most recent statistics of the LBS in 2011, falls accounted for 541 fatal work injuries.
