Rampant problems of poor quality care infect the U.S. kidney dialysis system. Medical malpractice is a real daily occurrence in many dialysis centers. Patients and families who have experienced a serious injury or death related to a dialysis mishap should know that one way to seek accountability is with a malpractice investigation and lawsuit.
ProPublica, the investigative reporting group, published a series on the quality of care the nation’s 400,000 dialysis patients get, and it’s not pretty. The basic conclusion:
“Taxpayers spend more than $20 billion a year to care for those on dialysis — about $77,000 per patient, more, by some accounts, than any other nation. Yet the United States continues to have one of the industrialized world’s highest mortality rates for dialysis care. …
“At clinics from coast to coast, patients commonly receive treatment in settings that are unsanitary and prone to perilous lapses in care. Regulators have few tools and little will to enforce quality standards. Industry consolidation has left patients with fewer choices of provider. The government has withheld critical data about clinics’ performance from patients, the very people who need it most. Meanwhile, the two corporate chains that dominate the dialysis-care system are consistently profitable, together making about $2 billion in operating profits a year.”
The ProPublica reporters go on to say that: “One reason the system’s problems have evolved out of the health care spotlight is that kidney failure disproportionately afflicts minorities and the dispossessed.”
Consult with an Experienced Malpractice Attorney
If you believe you or a family member has been seriously injured from medical malpractice, medical error, or neglect by a doctor, hospital, nurse, clinic, nursing home or other health care provider, you may want to click here to contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney for a free evaluation of your case. You can also email us at info@patrickmalonelaw.com or call us at 202-742-1500 or 888-625-6635 toll-free. We will respond within 24 hours. There is no charge for our initial consultation.
