Medical Malpractice

• Surgical Tools Left in Patients Account for Thousands of Injuries

  RLF Staff | January 17, 2008 7:43 AM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  According to the FDA and Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), about 2500 surgery patients leave the hospital with surgical devices such as clamps, and tweezers or pieces of surgical devices that unintentionally fell off during surgery. The CDRH receives about 1000 reports annually of pieces of medical devices found inside surgery patients and about 1,500 surgery patients are...

• Heparin Overdose in Infants

  RLF Staff | November 23, 2007 6:03 AM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  Heparin overdose in infants is an increasingly common and fatal medication error. Sadly, this error is preventable if only health care professionals would take the few necessary steps to ensure that this fatal mistake does not occur. Heparin is an anti-coagulant medication often given to premature babies to prevent blood clots. However, if too much is given, it can cause severe internal...

• Botox Injection Could Help Cerebral Palsy Patients

  RLF Staff | May 11, 2007 6:55 AM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  New research suggests that injections of botulinum toxin A (Botox) enhanced benefits from occupational therapy for children with cerebral palsy affecting one limb.In the study, Dr Remo N Russo, from Flinders University in Daw Park, South Australia, and colleagues randomly assigned 43 children with hemiplegic (one-sided) cerebral palsy to receive four sessions of occupational therapy (over 4...

• Only 2% of malpractice cases are attempted

  RLF Staff | May 08, 2007 11:22 AM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  Accoring to NewsWireToday.com, medical malpractice causes about 80,000 deaths and injures many more, each year. Shockingly, they report only two percent of malpractice victims seek compensation. Why such a low percentage of suits? I believe there are a few reasons victims or their family do not sue when they suspect malpractice:1. The doctor and hospital convince them they did everything...

• Nursing Home Laws Not Sufficiently Enforced

  RLF Staff | May 03, 2007 9:06 AM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  In a new report released by Congress's investigative branch, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) the U.S. government is criticized for its oversight of nursing homes across the nation. According to the report published in The New York Times, nursing homes and long-term care facilities that are continuously cited for mistreating patients often only face minimal penalties.Because the...

• $150M Suit Filed Against Naval Hospital

  RLF Staff | February 13, 2007 7:09 AM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  The claim statesthe child's cerebral palsy was caused by "failures of the physicians and staff of Naval Hospital Jacksonville, due to asphyxiation during birth process, Gavin Alcorn sustained a severe brain injury."The parents of Gavin Alcorn are filing a $150 million claim against Naval Hospital Jacksonville, claiming medical malpractice. The couple said the boy is brain damaged because of a...

• Dirty Hospitals - Hospital Infections

  Jeff Rasansky | January 10, 2007 10:34 AM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  Two million patients are infected in hospitals each year and more than 90,000 patients die. Do you think we can find a cure? As hospitals work harder to stop infections, bugs become more resistant to to antibiotics. Some studies suggest that hospital acquired infections are the 8th leading cause of death in the United States. This is ridiculous because the spread of infections can be prevented...

• 1.5 Million Americans Affected by Prescription Errors Annually

  RLF Staff | January 05, 2007 6:24 AM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  According to a report by the Institute of Medicine, as many as 1.5 million Americans suffer illness, injury or death annually because of mistakes made in prescribing, dispensing and taking prescription drugs.The report states that statistically, a patient will be subjected to a medication error once a day during their stay on average. That means that for every day one person does not suffer from...

• Are Sleepy Doctors Malpractice Waiting to Happen?

  Robert Wolf | December 12, 2006 3:42 PM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  Imagine yourself as a hospital patient. Your doctor walks in and lets out a long yawn. When you ask why he is so tired, he admits to working nonstop for the last 24 hours. He says that he works these marathon shifts many times a month.Should you be concerned for your safety? Increasing evidence suggests yes. Physicians who work marathon shifts -- those longer than 24 hours -- can cause real harm...

• Jury Awards $144 Million in HMO Discrimination Lawsuit

  Robert Wolf | November 07, 2006 2:25 PM | 0 CommentsDallas, TX

  We all hear the jokes and the stories about HMO plans - they're expensive, unpopular, and many people find them a pain to deal with. Well, a recent jury verdict in Illinois will do nothing but reinforce many beliefs about HMOs. A health maintenance organization hired by the government to provide coverage for the poor in Illinois will have to pay damages of $144 million for discriminating...