Medical Malpractice: Want to Learn More?

Dan Frith

Contributor

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I spend a great deal of my time speaking with medical experts and conducting medical research. I try to share good information when I find it and that is my purpose today. The following web sites are sponsored by patient safety groups who are concerned about the high incidence of medical malpractice in America:

Josie King Foundation: The Josie King Foundation’s mission is to prevent others from dying or being harmed by medical errors. By uniting healthcare providers and consumers, and funding innovative safety programs, the group hopes to create a culture of patient safety.

Consumers Advancing Patient Safety: CAPS is a consumer-led nonprofit organization formed to be a collective voice for individuals, families and healers who wish to prevent harm in healthcare encounters through partnership and collaboration.

Persons United Limiting Substandards and Errors in Health Care: This support group/organization is dedicated to raising awareness about patient safety and reducing medical errors through advocacy, education, and support. The group works to empower the public to make informed decisions, increase effective communication and respect between healthcare providers and the public, and create community partnerships to foster safer healthcare environments.

Surgicalfire.org: Most people have never heard about "surgical fires" but they occur more frequently than you could imagine and the consequences are devastating. Examples include an electrical spark from a surgical tool sets off a fire in the breathing tube of a young tonsillectomy patient. A hot particle from a bassinet warmer ignites flames that burn a newborn baby. A nicotine patch on a patient undergoing an MRI scan becomes so hot the patient is burned and the test halted. The Wall Street Journal published a scary article on these problems just months ago.

Medically Induced Trauma Support Services: Medically induced trauma is an unexpected outcome that occurs during medical and/or surgical care that affects the emotional well being of the patient, family member, or clinician. This organization operates much like a support group and the web site is fantastic.

I hope you find these web sites useful.