Medical Malpractice
Patient Tips To Avoid Wrong Site Surgery
Earlier this week, in the post Medical Malpractice, Dead By Mistake, And Wrong-Site Surgery, I promised patient tips for avoiding wrong-site surgeries. I’m carrying out on that promise today. Here are some things that surgical patients can do to avoiid wrong-site surgery: 1. Make sure you know what surgeon is in charge, and communicate with…
Read MoreMedical Malpractice, Dead By Mistake, and Wrong Site Surgery
Richard Flagg entered Meadowland Hospital in Secaucus, NJ with a diseased lung. Unfortunately, his surgeons accidentlally removed his healthy lung, leaving behind a tumor in his diseased lung. Mr. Flagg survived for three years, attached to oxygen, until the tumor ruptured and he drowned in his blood. This is one of the stories in the…
Read MoreWhy Isn't There More Outrage About Medical Malpractice Deaths?
The Hearst family of newspapers and television stations has put together, Dead By Mistake, an unprecedented look at medical malpractice deaths. This was a massive project, and there are several aspects that I want to look at over the next few days, but the focus of today is, “Why Aren’t More People Outraged Over Medical…
Read MoreSurgeons: Use Us Because We're Easy To Sue?
Last week, noted blogger, Doctor Rich had a post examining the American College of Surgeons’ advice regarding medical tourism, where a patient travels outside the United States to obtain medical care. No shocker, but American surgeons aren’t fans of the practice, and they did their best to give reasons why patients should be careful with…
Read MoreDallas Morning News: Malpractice Caps Not Reducing Health Costs
Today’s Dallas Morning News ran a story that looked at whether the cost of health care has declined since the adoption of Texas’s medical malpractice caps. The evidence concludes that the caps aren’t reducing health care costs for consumers. Six years after the caps were passed, the doctors have enjoyed lower insurance rates (though rates…
Read MoreStudy Finds Texas Medical Malpractice Reforms Are Discriminatory
In 2003, the Texas legislature adopted sweeping medical malpractice reforms, including putting a cap on the amount of non-economic damages that plaintiffs could recover. Up unitl now, we’ve had a lot of anecdotal evidence that the caps were unfair, but earlier this week, four law professors (including three from the University of Texas school of…
Read MoreTort reform measures help patients "receive the justice they deserve." Are you kidding me?
I thought this was a case that we could all agree upon. David Fitzgerald went to his doctor to receive medical treatment and ended up with an infection that led to the amputation of both arms and legs. The case went to trial in February, and Fitzgerald prevailed. A jury awarded him $6.72 million in…
Read MoreA Tale of Two Stories on Texas Medical Malpractice Reform
In the last few days, two stories have circulated about Texas medical malpractice reforms, and each of the stories has drawn wildly differing opinions about the success of the reforms. Over the weekend, former Texas representative Joe Nixon, one of the primary backers of tort reform, wrote an editorial in the Wall Street Journal describing…
Read MoreA Doctor Touting the Benefits of Texas's Medical Malpractice System?
I was watching a local news station last night, and they had a story about medical tourism. There is apparently a quickly growing trend of people visiting foreign countries (primarily India) to have medical procedures performed. The procedures are suppposedly much cheaper than the same surgeries here in the US. I really began paying attention…
Read MoreDennis Quaid: Medical Errors Are Huge Problem
“IT’S BIGGER THAN AIDS. IT’S BIGGER THAN BREAST CANCER. IT’S BIGGER THAN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS. AND YET, NO ONE SEEMS TO REALLY BE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM.” I couldn’t have said it any better myself. That quote from Dennis Quaid accurately sets forth the problem with medical errors. Over 100,000 people a year die from medical…
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