Vesna Jaksic has an interesting article on Law.com on potential problems with binding arbitration agreements between doctors and patients, wherein patients sign away their right to a jury trial. From the article: Binding arbitration agreements between doctors and patients — in which patients waive their right to a jury trial — are becoming more common,….
Continue ReadingArchives for March 2008
Medical Mistakes: A Doctor’s Point of View
Tara Parker-Pope has an interesting interview with Dr. Gary Brandeland about how doctors deal with medical mistakes. Dr. Brandeland’s obstetrical patient died due to someone else’s error, but Dr. Brandeland still suffered from guilt over it. In addition to the interview with Ms. Parker-Pope, he has an essay describing the incident. One of Dr. Brandeland’s….
Continue ReadingStudy Supports Reduction of Older Blood Use in Transfusions
A new study shows that heart surgery patients are more likely to die or suffer other problems if they get blood that has been sitting on the shelf for more than two weeks. The study, entitled Duration of Red-Cell Storage and Complications After Cardiac Surgery, was published in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine…..
Continue ReadingAnti-Psychotics in Nursing Homes, Re-visited
In a previous entry, we discussed the phenomenon of a form elder abuse in nursing homes wherein staff give anti-psychotics elderly patients without psychotic disorders in order to make them easier to deal with. Earlier this month, a study was released following up on that, showing which states have the highest rate of this form….
Continue ReadingLawsuit Settled in Missed Colon Cancer Diagnosis
Recently on this blog, we discussed the difficulty of diagnosing colon cancer and the problems that can ensue from rushing the colonoscopy procedure. A lawsuit over just such a missed diagnosis due to a hastily-performed procedure has been settled between the Endoscopy Center in Nevada, one of its doctors and a former patient who now….
Continue ReadingHeparin Contaminant Closer To Identification
Earlier this month, the anticoagulant (blood-thinning) drug heparin was linked to 19 deaths in the U.S.A. as well as several hundred allergic reactions. A contaminant was thought to be the cause of these deaths, and now the Food and Drug Administration has said they have identified the contaminant: The contaminant, the regulators said, is a….
Continue ReadingAnesthesia Awareness More Common Than Previously Believed
What is Anesthesia Awareness, also known as Unintended Awareness? It is when a patient wakes up during surgery. When this happens, the patient experiences extreme pain but cannot move or cry out. The patient often also remembers parts of the surgery. This can have long-term emotional and psychological effects. A new study shows that Anesthesia….
Continue ReadingEasy-to-Miss Lesions Most Likely To Turn Cancerous
A new study of colonoscopy suggests that flat, hard-to-spot lesions in the colon are the most likely to become cancerous. American doctors have been aware of these lesions for a couple of decades. But until recently, there was little reason to think that they were dangerous when occurring in America, although studies done in Japan….
Continue ReadingPatients Need Access to Hospital Records
Two recent events highlight the need for easy access to information about a hospital’s record of mistakes and violation of standards. The Florida Supreme Court ruled on Thursday March 6th that patients have a right to see records on past mistakes made by hospitals and health care providers, including very old records, and that laws….
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