Medical Malpractice

• Thinking About Back Surgery? I Suggest You Wait!

  Dan Frith | November 13, 2007 9:50 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  I am 50 years old and starting to feel it! You know...those everyday aches and pains. This past summer I injured my back while exercising and ended up with pain and numbness shooting down my leg and couldn't get comfortable sitting, standing, or lying down for extended periods of time. My doctors did not recommend surgery and for that I am grateful. A few weeks of rest and medication did the...

• Doctor not liable for saving child

  Lauren Ellerman | November 12, 2007 3:01 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Wow... This one really tests the limits of malpractice I think. What do you think?Seattle Post Intelligencer reports today that physician is not held liable by high court. The baby's parents filed a malpractice lawsuit after his 2004 birth. They claimed doctors in Vancouver were negligent when they continued to resuscitate the baby for almost half an hour after he was born.Nichole Stewart-Graves...

• Merck to Pay $4.85 Billion!

  Dan Frith | November 10, 2007 6:25 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  New Jersey-based Merck, the maker of the painkiller Vioxx, has agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits in one of the largest civil cases ever. The proposed settlement becomes binding only if the majority of those plaintiffs agree to drop their cases. Lawyers for the plaintiffs say Merck misled patients about the safety of Vioxx. Merck pulled Vioxx from the market Sept. 30,...

• Hospital Acquired Infections

  Dan Frith | November 06, 2007 1:01 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  The news is full of reports of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) - a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection found in schools, nursing homes, and hospitals. The same reports stress better personal hygiene including hand-washing, gloves and masks where appropriate. But what if you are about to enter a hospital for an elective operation - don't you want to know how the...

• Medtronic Recall - Broken Wires

  Dan Frith | November 05, 2007 12:33 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  As early as January of 2007, hospitals began seeing problems in patients with Medtronic implanted defibrillators who were experiencing severe electrical shocks. The shocks were caused by broken wires, called a lead, which tells a defibrillator when to send an electrical shock to a malfunctioning heart. The Minneapolis Heart Institute concluded that the Medtronic Sprint Fidelis defibrillator...

• Bayer Withdraws Antibleeding Drug Trasylol

  Dan Frith | November 05, 2007 12:19 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Bayer has announced it is suspending sales of Trasylol worldwide amid evidence that the antibleeding drug may have a higher risk of death than similar drugs. Trasylol is an antifibrinolytic drug, used to slow the breakdown of blood clots and subsequent excessive bleeding. The drug is widely used in heart-bypass surgery, by reducing reduce blood loss, it helps patients avoid transfusions. ...

• Dancing Dentist Injures Patient with Drill

  Dan Frith | November 04, 2007 12:19 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Here is a story that is hard to believe! A Syracuse, New York dentist seriously injured his patient while dancing to a song on the radio! This is more than negligence...this is stupidity!Brandy Fanning, 31, was seriously injured by her dentist when, while dancing to a song on the radio, a drill bit used for a dental procedure broke off and lodged near her eye. According to a recently filed...

• Dementia Patients Taking Antipsychotics have Shorter Life Spans

  Dan Frith | November 02, 2007 3:09 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Dementia is a fairly common diagnosis for patients in nursing homes. The condition is typically diagnosed by its symptoms - a significant loss of intellectual abilities such as memory capacity which is severe enough to interfere with social or occupational functioning. Dementia is typically treated by the use of antipsychotics such as Haldol, Risperidal, Zyprexa, Seroquel, and others. While...

• Emergency Room wait so long, 33 year old dies!

  Lauren Ellerman | November 01, 2007 9:25 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  This article is upsetting - but not the first time we have heard about an emergency room wait being so long that a person does not receive treatment in time.LA Times reports "Christopher Jones arrived at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar on Sunday complaining of chest pains. Jones, 33, was told to sit in the waiting room until it was his turn. He didn't receive a simple test to determine...

• Court upholds high jury verdict against West Virginia doctor

  Lauren Ellerman | October 30, 2007 3:09 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Read all about it - High Court upholds $1.7 million verdict against West Virginia physician.The appeal, filed by the physician, alleged the trial court wrongly calculated judgment. In addition, the physician alleged the plaintiff was faking his injuries. Now, faking a headache maybe, but being blind - that's a hard one to fake! For more information on this subject, please refer to the section...