Patient Safety in the News - June 2014

Tim Darragh reported that there are 43% fewer medical malpractice cases being filed in Pennsylvania today than there were ten years ago. The article attributes the decrease two new rules which require (a) medical malpractice cases to be filed in the county where the malpractice took place and (b) the filing of an affidavit of merit at the outset of a case.

Dennis Slattery, for the Daily News, wrote about the New York Judiciary’s adoption of a program formerly run by Judge Douglas McKeon in the Bronx which seeks to reach early settlements in meritorious medical malpractice cases filed against municipal hospitals.  The program has resulted in decreased litigation costs and safer care because hospitals have implemented safety programs to learn from the mistakes.

Steven Reinberg, for CBS News, wrote about the rise in the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus. The virus has still not been contracted in the United States, but it is predicted that it could arrive this summer. The virus causes high fevers, joint pain and swelling, headaches and a rash. In rare instances it is fatal.

Andrew Pollack, for the New York Times, reported on how health insurance plans are lowering drug costs by requiring pharmaceutical companies to choose between discounting their drugs or not being covered.

Patient Safety in the News - May 2014

Kate Thomas, reporting for the New York Times, discussed how Insys Therapeutics, maker of  Subsys, a narcotic pain killer, increased sales by aggressively marketing Subsys to physicians for off-label use. The medication was approved by the FDA for use in cancer patients, but just 1% of prescriptions are now written by oncologists.

Melissa Healy, of the LA Times, reported that the United Nations’ leading expert on food and nutrition declared that the international community must focus and mobilize against unhealthy diets that contribute to the global obesity problem.

Sharon Begley of Reuters discussed a study by biologists Tony Wyss-Coray of Stanford University and Saul Villeda of the University of California San Francisco which revealed that when old mice were transfused blood from young mice, the aging process in the brain was reversed.

Karen Kaplan wrote about a recent study appearing in JAMA that revealed that while 40 years of clinical trials have unequivocally demonstrated that antibiotics do not help patients suffering from acute bronchitis, 70% of patients treated for that condition are still prescribed these drugs. In fact, antibiotic prescriptions for acute bronchitis have increased since 1996, despite the fact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been trying to stop this practice for the last 15 years.

CBC reported that a study published in the 1970s suggesting that fish oil lowers the risk of heart disease is fatally flawed and its conclusions are based on faulty research.

Patient Safety in the News February 2014

In this story, NPR highlighted Senator Joe Manchin’s attempts to introduce legislation to force the FDA to ban a new painkiller, Zohydro, which was placed on the market this week. Zohydro is one of the most powerful prescription pain medications created and it is crushable, so that it can be abused by snorting it. The drug is so potent that swallowing one tablet could kill a child. 42 different public health organizations have called for the FDA to ban the drug, as well as attorneys general from 28 states. The FDA’s own advisory panel voted 11-2 against approving the drug, but top FDA officials over-ruled this decision, taking the position that the drug was needed. Emails later became public that showed that FDA officials participated in private meetings with pain drug companies that paid organizers thousands of dollars to attend, including Zohydro’s manufacturer.  Matthew Perrone wrote a similar story for ABC.  Huffington Post Live discussed this story in the context of the nation’s current hydrocodone abuse epidemic.

Yolanda Kennedy, for Medical Xpress, discussed a study appearing in the British Medical Journal Quality & Safety which demonstrated that by requiring hospital pharmacists to collaborate with health care providers during key points of a hospital admission, overall prescription errors were reduced 79% and  severely harmful medication errors were entirely eliminated. 

Errors due to the failure of junior physicians and nurses to speak up about concerns of patient safety were discussed in this article appearing on BMC Health Services Research.

Vineet Chopra, MD and Laurence F. McMahon Jr., MD, argued in JAMA that the rudimentary alarm systems in hospitals need to be updated with new technology that analyzes information and sends meaningful warnings to health practitioners.

Patient Safety in the News January 2014

A stunning expose by Julie Creswell Reed Abelson in the New York Times detailed how a multi-state hospital chain is alleged to have put profits before patients in an increasing trend that is moving medicine away from individual decision making by doctors toward corporate control focused on profits.

Journalist Ryan White wrote about the implications of a report issued by the Dartmouth Atlas Project which found significant variations in care provided to children in different geographic regions in New England, raising questions about overuse of medical services and whether financial gain is impacting the medical decision making of pediatricians.

In this book review, Marcia Angell highlighted the disturbing conflicts of interest that permeate the pharmaceutical industry and medical academia and result in the over-prescription of drugs in a way that is against the interests of patients. Ms. Angell discusses three books: (a) Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial; (b) Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs and (c) Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness. 

Jenny Gold, writing for NPR, discusses the complete absence of price transparency in the field of medicine. Most surgeons do not know the cost of the medical devices they implant into patients, and make decisions based on the fact that they are aligned with a particular manufacturer because they receive some sort of royalty or consulting fee. Meanwhile, hospital systems and purchasing groups sign agreements keeping the actual price of these devices confidential so medical device manufacturers can sell the same product at vastly different prices.

Robert Langreth, writing for Bloomberg, points out how underreporting of adverse events is creating a false sense of security in patients who undergo robotic surgical procedures and otherwise impacting the FDA’s oversight of medical devices.

Latest Questions and answers submitted online in November and December 2013

Here are the questions that were submitted to me online in November and December 2013 and the answers I provided.

Question: 

Is it considered medical malpractice if my father was diagnosed with muscle inflammation when he really had metastatic disease? My father was experiencing severe pain in his whole body. In August, he visited an ER where he was diagnosed with muscle inflammation. He was prescribed muscle relaxers & given orders to see his primary physician. My father did not have insurance so the follow up was not made. In early October after still experiencing severe pain we took him to a low-income clinic were again the diagnosis was muscle inflammation. Both facilities took x-rays of his chest. I might add that this clinic also denied him low income insurance because he stated that he worked & made $500 a month in the month of June which is way below the income limits. My mom paid cash for these visits/x M rays. In late October, he visited another ER room because he had broken his arm (pathological fracture from the tumor). This hospital took x-rays of his arm & ordered further tests as the cancer was evident in the x-ray of just his arm. He was finally diagnosed in late October with metastatic disease. He passed away in early Dec.

Answer: 

The big question in most failure to diagnose cancer cases is whether the patient can prove that the doctor’s negligent care caused the damages suffered by the plaintiff. In essence, the plaintiff must be able to show that earlier intervention would have changed the outcome. This is a fact sensitive inquiry. An attorney will have to review the medical records and often get experts to review the pertinent radiography films to determine when accepted standards of care should have compelled a doctor to investigate the possible diagnosis. Then, if it is determined that the cancer was present and detectible, the next question becomes what was the likely stage/prognosis when the cancer should have been discovered. If the cancer was at an early stage when it should have been discovered, the case is more likely to be viable.

If you want to investigate your case further, you should contact a local medical malpractice attorney (one in your state).  They take these cases on a contingency basis which means you only have to pay if you succeed.  Additionally, initial consultations are usually free. You can use the "Find a Lawyer" service through this website to research medical malpractice attorneys.  Then, visit each attorney's website and look for a firm that has a record of successful verdicts. If you are unable to find a lawyer who meets these qualifications within your state, sometimes you may contact an out of state lawyer who can refer you to a qualified attorney in your state while providing support related to the issues of medicine.

Question: 

Can I sue my Dr. for giving me more dose than he actually prescribed? The thing is my Dr. prescribed for a certain dose of medication which I am taking it at his office. When I get my bill it is for double dose of what he prescribes. This could be either they are over dosing me or charging me for what I have not received. My question is can I sue for either of the case. Thanks.

Answer: 

Medication errors are very common. Whether an attorney will investigate a medical malpractice case as a result of a medication error caused lasting harm for the patient. Many times a patient will suffer minor harm from a medication mistake because they quickly notice something is amiss when they experience side effects from the medicine, and stop taking it and contact their health care provider, and the mistake is uncovered.
If you suffer lasting harm from a medication error, and you want to investigate a medical malpractice case you should contact a local medical malpractice attorney (one in your state).  They take these cases on a contingency basis which means you only have to pay if you succeed.  Additionally, initial consultations are usually free. You can use the "Find a Lawyer" service through this website to research medical malpractice attorneys.  Then, visit each attorney's website and look for a firm that has a record of successful verdicts.  If you are unable to find a lawyer who meets these qualifications within your state, sometimes you may contact an out of state lawyer who can refer you to a qualified attorney in your state while providing support related to the issues of medicine.
Below are some articles you may find helpful.  They are written for a New Jersey audience (where I practice) but the ideas discussed in these articles usually apply in most other jurisdictions as well.

Question: 

Nurse Practitioner changed the dosage of the wrong pill. I was taking high blood pressure and cholesterol meds. Through diet I was controlling my Cholesterol and weaning myself off of the pills. I explained this to the nurse practitioner and she said she would lower the dosage of my cholesterol pills. I received both of my new prescriptions and had them filled. Around two months later my heart rate excelled and my heart started adding beats. Come to find out they had changed the dosage of my heart meds not my cholesterol. After several heart monitors, stress test, specialist and many other tests, the Cardiologist informed me that the pill mistake would cause my heart to add the extra beats and put it in the distress it was in.

Answer: 

Medication errors are very common. Whether an attorney will investigate a medical malpractice case as a result of a medication error caused lasting harm for the patient. Many times a patient will suffer minor harm from a medication mistake because they quickly notice something is amiss when they experience side effects from the medicine, and stop taking it and contact their health care provider, and the mistake is uncovered.

If you suffer lasting harm from a medication error, and you want to investigate a medical malpractice case you should contact a local medical malpractice attorney (one in your state).  They take these cases on a contingency basis which means you only have to pay if you succeed.  Additionally, initial consultations are usually free. You can use the "Find a Lawyer" service through this website to research medical malpractice attorneys.  Then, visit each attorney's website and look for a firm that has a record of successful verdicts.  If you are unable to find a lawyer who meets these qualifications within your state, sometimes you may contact an out of state lawyer who can refer you to a qualified attorney in your state while providing support related to the issues of medicine.

Question: 

My husband was diagnose with throat cancer and told it would not spread. He went through radiation and chemo for about 3 months after that the said it spread to lungs. He had a sore nose they told him it was a pimple to put hot compress on. Then about 3 weeks later they said he has a sinus infection and gave him antibiotics which gave him a sezious 2 hours later hospital final gave him a brain scan and now he has cancer in face and brain also.

Answer: 

The big question in most failure to diagnose cancer cases is whether the patient can prove that the doctor’s negligent care caused the damages suffered by the plaintiff. In essence, the plaintiff must be able to show that earlier intervention would have changed the outcome. This is a fact sensitive inquiry. An attorney will have to review the medical records and often get experts to review the pertinent radiography films to determine when accepted standards of care should have compelled a doctor to investigate the possible diagnosis. Then, if it is determined that the cancer was present and detectible, the next question becomes what was the likely stage/prognosis when the cancer should have been discovered. If the cancer was at an early stage when it should have been discovered, the case is more likely to be viable.

If you want to investigate your case further, you should contact a local medical malpractice attorney (one in your state).  They take these cases on a contingency basis which means you only have to pay if you succeed.  Additionally, initial consultations are usually free. You can use the "Find a Lawyer" service through this website to research medical malpractice attorneys.  Then, visit each attorney's website and look for a firm that has a record of successful verdicts. If you are unable to find a lawyer who meets these qualifications within your state, sometimes you may contact an out of state lawyer who can refer you to a qualified attorney in your state while providing support related to the issues of medicine.

Patient Safety in the News December 2013

Medical Care In The News

The BBC published yet another article discussing the fact that medical standards of care suffer on the weekends. New plans to improve care for patients over the weekend were enacted by the government, after a study demonstrated that people inn England were 16% more likely to die if they were admitted to a hospital on a Sunday, rather than during the week. Apparently, poorer outcomes on the weekend were related to the fact that historically, medical care at England hospitals was being provided by junior doctors in training. This problem is not exclusive to England, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2008 concluded that survival rates for people suffering heart attacks were lower for people admitted to the hospital in America on nights and weekends. This article from Forbes discussed how Kaiser Permanente has successfully dealt with this problem by scheduling diagnostic testing for some patients on the weekends so that weekend emergency patients can benefit from having qualified staff members in the hospital if the need arises.

Here is an article from the New York Times discussing a study from the Annals of Surgery which concluded that patient safety measures implemented in the last six years restricting the amount of hours residents can work have negatively impacted the skills of new surgeons.

Here is an article in the New York Times that discusses and provides links to websites that evaluate the safety records of hospitals.

Here is an article in the New York Times that discusses the disparity in breast cancer survival rates between white and black women in the United States. The article points out that black women have not benefitted as well from early detection and treatment initiatives because many lack insurance and often only report to physicians when their cancer is at a later stage.

Drug Safety in the News.

Here is an article from NPR on the subject of how drug companies influence the way physicians practice medicine. It raises questions about the fact that the new guidelines issued by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology will lead to doubling the number of patients taking cholesterol lowering drugs and that many of the experts who worked on the guidelines have ties to the pharmaceutical industry.  This article from BMJ addresses the same topic, pointing out the New Guidelines are controversial.

Here is an article in the New York Times exposing how the pharmaceutical industry’s marketing of ADD drugs has led to almost 3 million more children actively taking medication for this disorder over the last 13 years.  The article describes how the rise in ADD diagnoses coincided with a two decade campaign by pharmaceutical companies to promote the use of their drugs, which included marketing efforts directed not just at adults, but also children.

Here is an article from NPR that points out that the number of children taking antipsychotic drugs has tripled over the last 15 because doctors are prescribing these medications for reasons that are not approved by the FDA. This is going on despite the fact that there is “minimal evidence that the drugs help kids for approved uses, much less unapproved ones…” Once again, overuse of drugs in these cases has been ascribed in part to “overly aggressive drug marketing.

Here is an article published in Vanity Fair that discusses the NuvaRing, a contraceptive manufactured by Merck which carries with it an increased risk of blood clots and has resulted in roughly 3,500 lawsuits to date, but is still on the market.

Here is an article in the New York Times discussing a study in BMJ that determined that exercise worked as good as medication at decreasing the risk posed by heart disease, heart failure, stroke and diabetes.

Here is an article from NPR that points to recent studies that demonstrate that taking multivitamins does not promote health.

Questions and Answers for October 2013

Here are answers to the questions that were submitted to me online for the month of October 2013.