- Dan Frith | February 28, 2008 6:22 AM |
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MiscellaneousI know almost all organizations give money (call it "lobbying") to Congress. Everyone wants to be heard by their representatives in Congress. Wonder how much money the nursing home industry is giving to Congress to influence its decisions?The American Health Care Association (AHCA), which represents nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, spent $860,000 in the first half of 2007 and...
- Dan Frith | February 27, 2008 6:00 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeMost Americans have had an x-ray taken, some have even had enhanced x-rays called CT scans and even Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies. An MRI is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of organs and structures inside the body. For an MRI test, the area of the body being studied is placed inside a special machine that contains a strong magnet....
- Dan Frith | February 26, 2008 6:45 AM |
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MiscellaneousThe New York Times ran an article on February 18 entitled, "Study Finds Cancer Diagnosis Linked to Insurance." That title doesn't sound too bad does it? I think a more accurate title should be, "Medicaid Recipients and Uninsured More Likely to Die from Cancer."Do you want to know why?The study, conducted by the American Cancer Society, found the uninsured and those covered by Medicaid are more...
- Dan Frith | February 25, 2008 10:24 AM |
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Nursing Home & Elder AbuseA controversial new law endorsed by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and Democrat Sen. Herb Kohl seeks to force nursing homes to provide more information about ownership and accountability. The Act would force nursing homes to file paperwork clearly stating ownership--something that has become increasingly complicated for outsiders to figure out, as private investment groups have bought up...
- Dan Frith | February 22, 2008 6:44 AM |
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MiscellaneousJohnson and Johnson has voluntarily decided to recall its widely popular pain patch over concern that some patients could suffer a fatal overdose from its use.The Duragesic patch has been prescribed for patients experiencing moderate to severe chronic pain. It contains fentanyl, an opioid that can lead to problems such as respiratory depression and fatal overdose. Fentanyl is the active...
- Lauren Ellerman | February 21, 2008 1:51 PM |
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Nursing Home & Elder AbuseNot sure how often the nursing home physician is supposed to come by?What about medications - is that the job of the CNA, MedTech or Nurse?Want to know who to complain to, and how to do it?ASK FOR THE FACILITY POLICIES AND PROCEDURES. Ask for all of them, and then, remind the staff of what needs to be done according to their own policies.Policies are usually pretty good - have a whole bunch of...
- Dan Frith | February 19, 2008 6:06 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeRemember John Ritter...old "Jack Tripper" from the sitcom Three's Company? Well, he died of a tear in the aorta, known as an aortic dissection, on Sept. 11, 2003, at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California. His widow filed a medical malpractice claim against his doctors and the case is now under way. The lawyer for John Ritter's family told the jury he would show the...
- Dan Frith | February 18, 2008 9:41 AM |
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MiscellaneousMy wife and I watch the CBS Show "60 Minutes" almost every week. We enjoy the more in-depth news stories provided by the show as opposed to the 30 seconds per story coverage often provided by the evening news stories.Last night was interesting...but a story on Bayer Pharmaceutical Corporation's product called "Trasylol" had me seeing red!Trasylol is a medication which was designed to reduce...
- Dan Frith | February 17, 2008 12:47 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeThere is a time and place for the arbitration of claims for medical negligence. That time and place arrives after the dispute (read malpractice) occurs and both sides have voluntarily decided to resolve their dispute not through the civil justice system but through arbitration. Unfortunately for the victims of medical negligence, more and more health care providers are requiring patients to...
- Dan Frith | February 16, 2008 6:34 AM |
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Nursing Home & Elder AbuseWe deal with calls all the time from ordinary people who do not know which nursing home is best for their loved one. We try to spend time with each caller and provide a checklist of items to consider. Those important items include: 1. Staffing ratios - does the nursing home have enough nurses and aids to take care of its residents? 2. What is the facility's history of violations of health...
- Lauren Ellerman | February 15, 2008 2:13 PM |
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Nursing Home & Elder AbuseIf I hadn't read medical records from the victim of sexual assault in a long term care facility, I wouldn't believe it possible. Out of Ohio, staff assaults residents - physically and sexually, and other staff do nothing about it! "Nursing home worker John Riems had a temper and spent long periods in patients' rooms with the doors closed, neighbors and former co-workers say, troubling...
- Lauren Ellerman | February 14, 2008 2:18 PM |
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Nursing Home & Elder AbuseThere is a new website at www.seniordecision.com where consumers can rate and review senior care and housing. May be a source of some useful information on defendant facilities. Sounds good to me - hop on there friends, and get to posting!
- Lauren Ellerman | February 13, 2008 2:09 PM |
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MiscellaneousPlease read this article featured in the Washington Post a few weeks ago, By Marie-Therese Connolly"As though declining health, impending mortality and other challenges weren't hard enough, too often old age is also plagued by abuse, neglect and exploitation.Science has extended our lives dramatically: In 1900, Americans' average life expectancy was 47. By 2000, it was 77, and it's still rising....
- Dan Frith | February 13, 2008 6:13 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeMy law firm is getting ready to try a case against a local pharmacy which filled and dispensed a doctor's prescription for medication to which our client was allergic. You may ask, "Why did the client take a medication to which she knew she was allergic"? The answer is that she was given the generic form of the drug - the pills did not look the same and the generic name was no where close to...
- Dan Frith | February 12, 2008 10:50 AM |
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MiscellaneousI cannot express how unfair and biased mandatory arbitration is for American consumers! It seems that every purchase order for a TV, refrigerator, used car, or other product contains language which prevents you (the consumer) from holding the seller/manufacturer responsible for their defective products through our legal system. Instead of filing a lawsuit and having your claim heard by a jury...
- Dan Frith | February 10, 2008 12:30 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeAnyone who has been a patient and submitted to a surgery or other medical procedure typically signs what is called an "informed consent" document. Have you signed one? Did you read it? Do you understand it? Do you know the legal effect of signing the document? The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has acknowledged that many informed consent documents fail to tell the patient...
- Dan Frith | February 08, 2008 9:19 AM |
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MiscellaneousLast week the New York Times published an article about surgeons who had conducted clinical research leading to the Food and Drug Administration's approval of Prodisc, an artificial spinal disk for the lower back. It appears that doctors at about half of the 17 research centers involved in the research stood to profit if the Prodisc was approved, according to confidential information from a...
- Dan Frith | February 07, 2008 10:37 AM |
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Nursing Home & Elder AbuseThe Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today named 4,037 nursing homes whose pressure sore and/or restraint rates it says have targeted them for improvement. Although CMS officials maintain these are "not the worst nursing homes in the country," it says their quality measures in at least one of two areas -- physical restraints among long-stay residents and pressure ulcers among...
- Lauren Ellerman | February 05, 2008 2:05 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeI wish this were a joke - but right now, as I type, your elected officials may be drafting laws that limit your rights in nursing home and medical malpractice cases.In Tennessee, a law is being considered that would forbid nursing home residents from filing suit for negligence - In Virginia, there is a Bill in the House that would allow doctor defendants to offer settlement amount, and if the...
- Dan Frith | February 05, 2008 6:09 AM |
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MiscellaneousMy wife and I have two sons - the oldest is a sophomore in college and the youngest a junior in high school. The oldest is enjoying college and is doing a good job academically. He seems to have adjusted to "college life" (whatever that means) and has joined a fraternity. Fraternity's can be a very positive part of college life but it can also spell trouble!First, let me say I was a...
- Dan Frith | February 04, 2008 10:48 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeComic actor John Ritter's widow says a wrongful death lawsuit going to trial Monday is more about seeking accountability and educating the public about the condition that killed him than the $67 million in damages she is seeking from two doctors.On Sept. 11, 2003, his daughter's fifth birthday, Ritter experienced severe nausea and vomiting and went to went to nearby St. Joseph's Medical Center...
- Dan Frith | February 04, 2008 6:51 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeMy blog posts are filled with stories and commentaries of the short comings of the healthcare industry in America. Well, here is an idea I fully support...let's pay the good doctors more money than the bad doctors!Large employers like General Electric, International Business Machines, Corp., and Verizon Communications have launched an initiative to pay doctors hefty bonuses for providing good...
- Dan Frith | February 03, 2008 1:26 PM |
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MiscellaneousWell...what did you expect? Big Pharma doesn't pay doctors thousands of dollars and provide them with free trips, lunches, and dinners and expect nothing in return. I just assumed the only thing Big Pharma wanted in return was for the doctors to prescribe their drugs whether or not those drugs where the best and least expensive medication to treat the doctors' patients. But...it appears Big...
- Dan Frith | February 02, 2008 6:40 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeHealthsouth Corp. and two Alabama doctors have settled a civil lawsuit brought by the Justice Department. The doctors and Healthsouth jointly agreed to pay $15 million to settle claims by the government of a kickback scheme. Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Larry Lemak are paying $700,000 of the settlement and Healthsouth is paying the remainder. The settlement involved claims made by Healthsouth to...
- Dan Frith | February 01, 2008 1:24 PM |
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MiscellaneousSure you have heard about them...the Stella Awards! The awards are named after that lady who recovered millions of dollars from McDonald's after spilling coffee in her lap! The award draws needed attention to the thousands of frivilous lawsuits filed every year by unscruptulous plaintiffs and their greedy lawyers! But, do you know the real truth? I bet not!The "Stella Awards" is a collection...