Medical Malpractice

• CT Scans may cause cancer?

  Lauren Ellerman | November 29, 2007 9:39 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Another study - another outcome... Study warns that 2% of all cancer cases, may actually be caused by radiation from CT scans. The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, as reported on by most major news outlets, encourages radiologists to consider whether all the extra testing is needed.As CBS news reported, "We are very concerned about the built-up public health risk over a...

• Malpractice Reforms Help the Insurance Industry But Harm Patients

  Dan Frith | November 27, 2007 3:56 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  We have now all heard the sad story about how doctors are getting out of medicine due to the high costs of medical malpractice insurance. I don't doubt that some doctors with atrocious track records of providing poor medical care pay hefty malpractice premiums. I also don't doubt that the insurance carriers and the executives who run them are making piles of money providing medical malpractice...

• 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...

• 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...

• The Emotional Toll of Medical Malpractice

  Dan Frith | October 29, 2007 8:38 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  We all know the physical effects of medical negligence. It can mean the loss of the ability to walk or work. It can mean a lifetime of pain. It can mean death! One well-known study estimated that as many as 98,000 hospital deaths a year stem from mistakes by health care workers. A recently published article discusses how these act of medical negligence can affect our emotions. The New...

• Cluster Cancer Outbreaks

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

  Did you see the movie Erin Brokovitch? The Julia Robert's movie where small plaintiff firm takes on polluter because children in a small town are getting cancer at alarming rates. It was based on a true story, and it seems we haven't learned our lesson. Today the AP printed an article on Cancer in community north of Philadelphia. Elevated Cancer Level Found in Pa. MICHAEL RUBINKAM writes The...

• Medical Malpractice Insurance: What is Happening in Florida

  Dan Frith | October 24, 2007 2:25 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Talk with almost any doctor and they will quickly tell you that they are forced to practice defensive medicine due to the fear of being sued. With the next breath they will tell you the cost of their malpractice coverage is outrageous and the result of greedy patients and their medical malpractice lawyers who are too quick to sue! Take these complaints with a grain of salt!Let's look at...

• MRSA Is a Dangerous Infection!

  Dan Frith | October 18, 2007 4:08 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Lauren wrote an article yesterday about a 16 year old boy who lived near our city and died from a MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infection. Today in our local newspaper (The Roanoke Times), another family came forward to tell the tragedy of another child (this time 15 years old!) who died of the same infection. These two reports days apart got me thinking...and worrying! ...