Category Archives: Medical Malpractice

U.S. to Force Drug Firms to Report Money Paid to Doctors

Written On January 23, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Here’s a rule that’s long overdue — make doctors disclose the payments they receive from drug companies and medical device manufacturers. Knowing that your doctor has just accepted a pile of money from a hip implant company right before he says you need a hip implant might cause you to get a second opinion.
The details [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Medical Malpractice

HHS Report Finds Most Hospital Errors Unreported By Hospital Employees

Written On January 19, 2012 By Bob Kraft

In continuing coverage, ABC News reports on its website, “A new report released Friday by the inspector general of the US Department of Health and Human Services found that more than 80 percent of hospital errors go unreported by hospital employees.” The new “report, which looked at data from hospitalized Medicare patients, also found that most [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

Alarms on Monitors Named Most Hazardous Hospital Technology

Written On December 7, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The Boston (MA) Globe “White Coat Notes” blog reports, “Alarms on cardiac monitors, infusion pumps and ventilators, which are meant to protect patients, have been named the most hazardous technology in hospitals by an organization that tracks problems with medical devices.” Recently, “ECRI Institute, a nonprofit independent research organization in Pennsylvania…published its list of top ten [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Product Liability or Medical Devices

Doctor Gaps in Texas Persist Despite Perry’s Stats

Written On November 14, 2011 By Bob Kraft

It’s no great surprise to many of us that the medical malpractice “tort reform” legislation of several years ago has not brought about the benefits promised by its supporters, such as the big insurance companies. One of those benefits was supposed to be more physicians in under-served areas of the state. But this simply has [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform

Hospital Privacy Curtains May Often Be Contaminated With Hazardous Bacteria

Written On October 14, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Reuters reports that, according to a study presented at the 51st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, hospital privacy curtains may often be contaminated with possibly hazardous bacteria. Researchers found that, of the 43 curtains tested, 41 were found to be contaminated. The investigators found that the curtains tested positive for things like MRSA [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

Some Doctors Handing Out Medicaid Prescriptions for Potent Drugs to Kids

Written On October 13, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Texas has a handful of physicians taking advantage of Medicaid rules by prescribing inappropriate medications for children. This is not only bad for the kids, but eats up Medicaid money that should go to other people. The problem was detailed in an editorial in the Fort Worth Star Telegram. Here are excerpts:
With little oversight and [...]

Posted in Medicaid, Medical Malpractice

More Physicians Facing Charges Over Handling of Prescription Drugs

Written On September 27, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Reuters reported that increasingly, more and more US physicians are finding themselves charged with medical negligence or criminal malpractice in cases regarding how prescription medications were handled. Concerned about the small but growing trend, the American Medical Association warns that the increased number of such cases may interfere with how medicine is practiced, particularly since [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

Some Data on Physicians’ Financial Connections Becoming Available

Written On September 22, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Coverage of payments to physicians from pharmaceutical and device makers received extensive coverage last Thursday primarily pointing out local payment patterns, frequently with a focus on one or a few physicians. The Los Angeles Times reported that “a recent string of scandals has raised questions about whether patients need to know more” about financial connections [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

NIH Finishes Conflict of Interest Rules

Written On September 8, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The Washington Post reports that “the National Institutes of Health has finalized rules to reduce financial conflicts of interests among federally funded researchers who also receive payments or stock from drug and medical device companies.” New regulations state that if a researcher receives at least $5,000 from a drug or device company they must disclose [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Prescription Drug Claims

Most Physicians Face Medical Liability Suits But Few Pay

Written On September 7, 2011 By Bob Kraft

In continuing coverage, American Medical News reports that although nearly all physicians “will be sued at least once during their career,” most cases “will end in their favor,” according to a study published Aug. 18 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study authors estimated that by “age 65, 75% of physicians in low-risk [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform

AAJ Disputes Governor Perry’s Malpractice Reform Claims

Written On August 18, 2011 By Bob Kraft

In a blog post on Rick Perry’s Texas record, the Washington Post (8/15, Plumer) reported, “Perry can claim credit for a 2003 law that caps malpractice awards. Perry said, ‘We’ve had the most sweeping tort reform in the nation,” adding “that Texas has added some 20,000 physicians since the law was passed.” The Post adds, [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform

Angioplasty and Stents May Do More Harm Than Good

Written On August 17, 2011 By Bob Kraft

An article at Boston.com raised a disturbing issue — the continued use of angioplasty and stents in non-acute coronary patients. The reason for concern is that this surgery seems to be no more effective in treating heart problems than does the taking of medication. And of course taking medicine is normally much less risky than [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

California Medical Board Doesn’t Always Discipline Some Doctors’ Malpractice

Written On August 11, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The Los Angeles Times reported the nonprofit Public Citizen disclosed a report Tuesday revealing that “California’s medical board failed to discipline 710 troubled doctors even as they were disciplined by hospitals, surgical centers and other healthcare organizations in the state.” Board investigators took “more than 400 days on average to complete an investigation,” the report [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

Hospital Risks: Perhaps July’s Reputation Is Justified

Written On July 14, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Here’s something to make you think twice about getting surgery this summer — hospital death rates apparently increase in July.
According to a brief article in the New York Times, a new study published this month in Annals of Internal Medicine seems to confirm the rumor that injuries and deaths suffered in hospitals increase each summer [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

Over 2,000 Hospitals Join Patient Safety Initiative

Written On July 13, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The Hill reported in its “Healthwatch” blog, “More than 2,000 hospitals have signed onto a public-private effort to reduce hospital-acquired conditions, federal officials said Friday, meeting the Obama administration’s goal.” Notably, HHS “launched the Partnership for Patients in April, touting it as a way to save 60,000 lives and $35 billion over three years by [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

Should Veterans Have the Right to Sue for Negligence in Military Hospitals?

Written On July 6, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Since 1950, U.S. veterans have been unable to make claims for medical malpractice committed in military hospitals. This seemingly unfair rule was decided in a U.S. Supreme Court case referred to by the Plaintiff’s name, Feres.It is now called the Feres Doctrine.
Many lawyers who represent vets thought there was a chance this 60-year-old rule might [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform, Veterans Benefits

A Lawsuit Is Never Frivolous When It’s About Your Family

Written On July 5, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The Dallas Morning News columnist Steve Blow wrote last weekend about a local couple who have been picketing a nursing home because a relative died there. The couple is frustrated because every lawyer they’ve talked with has told them that lawsuits against nursing homes are essentially worthless in Texas since passage of “tort reform” in [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Political and/or Judicial, Tort Reform

Wrong-Site Surgery Occurs 40 Times Each Week in U.S.

Written On July 1, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The Washington Post reports, “Based on state data, Joint Commission officials estimate that wrong-site surgery occurs 40 times a week in US hospitals and clinics.” In 2010 alone, “93 cases were reported to the accrediting organization, compared with 49 in 2004.” The Post points out, “Attention to the problem comes at a time of increased [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice

Strange Bedfellows — Pharmaceutical Companies and Fancy Restaurants

Written On June 23, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The Boston Globe ran an interesting article last week detailing how expensive restaurants have banded together to fight for repeal or amendment of a 2008 Massachusetts law banning pharmaceutical companies from giving gifts of $50 or more to doctors. The restaurants say this ban is hurting their business, because the pharmaceutical companies frequently bought expensive [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Political and/or Judicial, Prescription Drug Claims

Over Half of Medical Malpractice Claims Relate to Outpatient Care

Written On June 21, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The Wall Street Journal “Health Blog” reported that over half (52%) of malpractice payments made by US physicians involved adverse events related to outpatient care in 2009, according to an analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In an interview, lead study author Dr. Tara Bishop, of Weill Cornell Medical College. told [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice