Infections in the large-bore tubes that keep patients in intensive care units alive are often lethal but readily preventable. A simple checklist of sanitary practices was proven to cut the rate of these “central line infections” to nearly zero. But that was in one chain of hospitals in Michigan. What about the rest of the….
Continue ReadingArchives for July 2010
Repeat Cesarean Sections and Malpractice
Doctors repeatedly blame patients for the high rate of Cesarean sections in this country. As one claimed in today’s New York Times letters column, parents demand “nothing short of a perfect outcome” from childbirth and sue when they don’t get it. The reality is quite different. Here’s what I wrote in a letter published in….
Continue ReadingShould You Read Your Own Medical Records? Yes!
Many patients (and a few doctors) continue to be amazed that the law requires that patients be able to obtain a copy of their own medical records. And reading them is good for your health, I and other patient safety advocates maintain. Here’s what I wrote on a New York Times blog about this: Getting….
Continue ReadingMalpractice in Over-Diagnosis of Breast Cancer
A long article in the New York Times brings home the dangers of women undergoing disfiguring surgery or radiation for breast cancer they never had. The story is a familiar one to malpractice attorneys but not well enough known to the public: The critical job of determining if breast tissue is cancerous or not is….
Continue ReadingInexperienced Resident Doctors to Receive More Supervision in Malpractice Prevention Effort
A newly minted M.D. doctor wandering the halls of a hospital, working long hours with little sleep as he or she begins years of residency training, can be a potential disaster waiting to happen. That’s the source of the old bromide about July being the most dangerous month to get sick, since that’s when residency….
Continue ReadingDefensive Medicine: Does It Really Exist?
A new survey in a medical journal says the overwhelming majority of doctors believe that defensive medicine is costing the nation billions of dollars a year and they need protection from malpractice lawsuits. But does it really add up? There is no question that U.S. patients undergo many more tests and procedures than any other….
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