Medical errors happen every day. They occur in alarming numbers and are extremely costly. Some areas of inpatient and outpatient healthcare are particularly unsafe, such as pediatrics, surgery centers, emergency rooms, hospice care, intensive care units (ICUs), lower-volume hospitals, nursing homes/rehabilitation facilities, and more.
The average person may think because medical errors happen so frequently, that medical malpractice lawsuits are abundant and that these cases are clogging up the courts. But these are just two in a long list of medical malpractice myths that need to be cleared up.
Product recalls happen as a result of consumer safety concerns not originally detected when the product was released, or because of an undetected malfunction that requires repair. But injuries or even death can occur when a product is recalled off the market too late.
Even if a product is for sale and being purchased by thousands or millions of consumers, it’s not necessarily safe. It could be a best-seller for a manufacturer, resulting in millions of dollars in profits, but it may not be safe.
Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper Deaths & Injuries
As an attorney, your expertise is in pursuing and winning legal cases, whether it’s medical malpractice, personal injury, or others. That’s why when cases involve a medical component, you need medical experts to assist you with building a winning case.
Nurse consultants guide attorneys through all the medical aspects of their case. This service, also known as concierge nursing, utilizes practicing nurses and/or nurse practitioners as expert witnesses in legal cases.
How do you know if your case could benefit from the help of a nurse consultant? Or should you turn to another type of expert? Let’s examine the ways a nurse consultant can help.
A nurse consultant can organize and interpret medical records and charts.
Misdiagnosis is more common than many people think, especially among pediatric patients. In a study that examined over 1,200 pediatric medical malpractice claims, the most common patient assessment issue was “failure to appreciate and reconcile relevant signs, symptoms and test results.”
The providers in the study failed to see the bigger clinical picture by looking at all available information (such as patient history, reported symptoms, a physical exam, and test results) to properly diagnose the patient.
The third most-common cardiovascular health threat is venous thromboembolism (VTE), or a blood clot in the leg that travels to the lungs. When diagnosed, it can be treated with surgical thrombectomy. But sometimes doctors don’t diagnose it in time to treat it with thrombectomy.
According to WorldThrombosisDay.org, “blood clots in the leg and lungs are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide, many of which could be avoided with proper diagnosis and treatment.”
Most VTE fatalities happen from a failure to diagnose, rather than a failure to treat it. When diagnosed in a sufficient amount of time, surgical thrombectomy is an adequate treatment to prevent long-term injury and death.
When a person is admitted into the hospital, they put their lives in the hands of medical professionals. Each of us trusts that the doctors, nurses, medical assistants, radiology technicians, and any other medical staff have our best interests at heart. But these professionals make mistakes.
Patients turn to physicians for proper diagnosis and treatment. They put their trust in medical staff to take the right steps, run the right tests, and make the right diagnosis. When a doctor fails to diagnose a condition it can lead to permanent damage and sometimes death.
The state of Washington declared a state of emergency on January 25, 2019. The reason? Roughly 55 confirmed cases of measles just this year, most among children under age 10.
It’s not just Washington that’s been affected by this disease outbreak. 11 other states have seen incidences, as well. Currently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is tracking three disease outbreaks (measles specifically) across the country: in New York City, in New York state, and Washington state.
Hospital acquired infections (HAIs) are common in the United States. One in 31 patients contracts a HAI every day. Not only can these infections delay a patient’s recovery, they can also increase the length (and expense) of the hospital stay, and even cause death.
Worst of all: hospital acquired infections are largely preventable.
Nursing home abuse stories are all over the national news. A Quincy nursing home is fined after mental abuse by a staffer. A troubled Raleigh nursing home faces new state and federal investigations.
And of course, the well-known and horrifying story of the long-term care facility patient who was raped, became pregnant, and gave birth.
How common is nursing home abuse in the United States? And what exactly do we mean when we say ‘nursing home abuse’? What are the different types of nursing home abuse?
