A large group of Warren (Ohio) area physicians donned their white lab coats Wednesday while lashing out at excessive malpractice insurance premiums that they say are caused by a larger-than-normal number of malpractice claims. Without being specific in terms [naturally] of the actual number of malpractice suits in court, Dr.…
There appears to be a correlation between antidepressant drugs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSSIs) and falling injuries in nursing home patients who have dementia. The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology released the results of a study that should make people take pause when approving certain medication for their loved…
Tragic story here about a lieutenant from a Sheriff’s Department who was severely incapacitated after he underwent bariatric surgery in 2007. The details of his care and treatment are appalling. After being told that a weight-loss surgery would be “less risky” than continuing to live in his physical state (he…
Suit was recently filed in the Superior Court in Hartford, Connecticut, alleging that a pediatrician failed to diagnose bacterial meningitis, leading the loss of a young boy’s eyesight. The details here are so sad. The lawsuit claims that the doctor dismissed the boy’s severe headache, instead of sending him to…
The Pop Tort rages about the certificate of merit requirement that many states have in medical malpractice cases, citing a particularly onerous Connecticut merit requirement. The Pop Tort cites a news article of an awful injustice done to a woman who had her medical malpractice lawsuit dismissed. After a long…
One frequent emergency room complaint is abdominal pain of unknown origin. The challenge for the ER doctor is to diagnose the source of the problem, or at least narrow the problem, and rule out life-threatening aliments. Three big potentials for problems are appendicitis, volvulus, and ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm and…
The family of a man who died at Massachusetts General Hospital has settled its case against the hospital for $850,000. The man died after nurses failed to respond to alarms on his cardiac monitor. This death has shed national attention on the dangers of “alarm fatigue’’ among hospital staff. A…
The Tennessee Court of Appeals issued an opinion on its relatively new certificate of merit rule in Crawford v. Kavanaugh. Maryland has a similar rule and this opinion is a cautionary tale for both Tennessee and Maryland malpractice lawyers. The lesson: don’t take a malpractice case unless you know how…
A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in Texas after a nursing home resident fell from her bed and suffered severe and eventually fatal neurological injuries. The facts are awful. A woman was found on the floor, next to her bed, yelling for help. She was neurologically alert and coherent,…
A new study, published in the Annals of Surgery, has determined that elderly nursing home residents may suffer more complications from major operations than other people their age. Based on more than 70,000 nursing home residents, and 1 million non-institutionalized Medicare enrollees 65 years and older, it is being reported…