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Archive for the ‘Medical Malpractice’ Category

Most Hospital Errors Remain Unreported

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

A new study by the Department of Health and Human Services has found that only one out of seven adverse events affecting hospitalized Medicare patients is reported. Adverse events can include bedsores, hospital-acquired infections, medication errors and surgical errors. Despite an initiative by the Obama administration to curb medical errors, the new study finds that adverse events are rarely reported. This makes corrective action that much more difficult for regulators or administrators who seek to cut down on medical errors. The New York Times reports that even in the cases where adverse events were reported, very few hospitals made changes to existing policies to try and address those errors.
One of the conditions for hospitals accepting payments from the Medicare system is that they track medical errors and their causes to improve the standard of care. Not only are the majority of errors going unreported, but the HHS study shows that many hospital employees “do not recognize what constitutes patient harm”. These types of excuses are unacceptable, and despite numerous studies with similar findings it seems that many hospitals are incapable of addressing the declining standards of the care that they provide. Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter have spent years representing families who have been harmed by medical errors and negligence. If you or a loved one have been harmed by avoidable medical error or a negligent healthcare provider, call us for a free evaluation of your potential claim or visit www.thefloridafirm.com .

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Hospitals Understaffed

Saturday, August 6th, 2011

Like nursing homes, hospitals are often understaffed with nurses and aides. Fearing retaliation, many times nurses do not complain, even when they are concerned that the understaffing might be affecting patient safety. Let’s face it, the fewer nurses to provide care, the more hospitals have to cut corners, increasing the danger of medical errors. Sometimes, nurses can remain quiet no longer. This week nurses banded together to protest understaffing at Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford, Florida. Some nurses even complained they were being assigned to units they weren’t trained for, such as the cardiology unit. The nurses also complained that delays in addressing staffing puts patients in jeopardy. Of course, it goes without saying that understaffing in nursing homes, hospitals, and doctor’s offices leads to medical errors and patient injuries and deaths. If you believe you or a loved one has been a victim of medical mistake or error, call CGWC for a free consultation.

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect | Comments Off

The July Effect

Sunday, July 24th, 2011

In medical circles, it is known as the “July Effect”. July is when new inexperienced interns, nurses and other health care workers start their first jobs with you as the guinea pigs. A new study in the Annals of Medicine confirms that mortality rates increase 4 to 12 percent and hospital patients generally stay longer, spend more time in surgery and have higher hospital bills. While you may not be able to always avoid a hospital admission in July, this information is still of some value. If you can schedule an elective procedure, for example, earlier or later, it is advisable to do so. If not, it is all the more important to have family members and friends with you at the hospital and watching out for anything unusual.

If you think you may be the victim of medical malpractice, call CGWC for a free consultation.

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How YOU Can Prevent Hospital Errors

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

According to a 2011 study in the April Issue of Health Affairs, medication errors, infections, and other hospital mistakes are far more common than previously thought. The study found that adverse events occurred in about 1/3 of all hospital admissions! Consumer Reports On Health recommends you take the following steps if you are headed for a stay in the hospital:

1. Bring a list of all the medications and supplements you take, along with a brief health history;
2. Keep a log of all the tests, treatments, and medical consultations you have during your stay;
3. Double check all medications and dosages before you take them;
4. Have one person in charge of your care coordination, whether it is a doctor, a social worker, or a case manager;
5. Keep your doctor informed;
6. Have a friend or relative with you at all times possible;
7. Ask questions and speak up to a nursing supervisor if you sense that your needs aren’t being met;
8. Be sure all visitors and staff wash their hands;
9. Be sure you understand your discharge instructions well, including medications you’ll be taking home and any dietary or activity modifications expected of you at home.

Victims of medical malpractice need experienced medical malpractice attorneys to know their legal rights in this increasingly risky and complicated world of health care. For a free consultation, contact CGWC and speak to our experienced medical malpractice attorneys.

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2010 Medical Malpractice Costs Lowest Ever on Record

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

In 2010, the cost of medical malpractice to the US healthcare industry was the lowest ever recorded, after falling for seven straight years. The total cost of malpractice last year amounted to only 0.13 of one percent of total national health care costs. These statistics come from the National Practitioners Database, and were published and analyzed by Public Citizen here. These statistics offer clear confirmation that health care costs are not rising due to medical malpractice lawsuits, although some pundits and legislators continue to insist that this is the case. The HEALTH Act (Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost, Timely Healthcare Act) (HR 5), a proposed bill currently working its way through Congress, was advanced using  just such reasoning. In Public Citizen’s analysis of this new data, David Arkush correctly states:

“the premise on which this bill is based is bogus…Health care costs have nothing to do with what’s going on in the courtroom. Lawmakers are using it as an excuse to throw a bone to their campaign contributors in the health care industry, who don’t want patients to have legal recourse if they are harmed by malpractice.”

The attorneys at Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter fight to help those affected by medical malpractice, and the loved ones of those who have died as a result of medical errors. However, medical malpractice lawsuits do more than seek financial compensation for damages caused by malpractice. These lawsuits also serve to penalize negligent hospitals or other medical facilities, pressuring them to keep sub-standard levels of care from becoming the norm. The costs of American healthcare have risen steadily for the past twenty years, while the costs to the healthcare system of malpractice litigation have steadily fallen. With the statistics showing so clearly that malpractice litigation is NOT responsible for rising medical costs, the ongoing calls for “tort reform” based on that flawed argument are baseless. Legislators have been quick to hand out favors to big-business interests in recent years, while chipping away at the rights of the very citizens who voted them into office. Our firm is dedicated to protecting Florida’s citizens from eroding standards of care, by helping them seek compensation when they are injured by medical malpractice. If you or a love one has been the victim of medical malpractice, call Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter for a free consultation. We believe that the right of an individual to seek justice for damages caused by malpractice should never be diminished by the backroom dealings of corporate lobbyists and elected officials.

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Medical Errors Undetected 90% of the Time

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

A new study published in Health Affairs has found that U.S. hospitals miss 90% of the medical errors that occur. This is even with the reporting systems hospitals say they have in place to reduce errors. The study found that adverse events occur in about a third of patient admissions! Moreover, the study found that medical errors occur 10 times more often than originally thought.

Victim of medical malpractice? Contact CGWC for a free consultation.

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How Patients Can Help Prevent Misdiagnosis

Friday, March 18th, 2011

Misdiagnosis is one of the most common types of medical malpractice or negligence. Misdiagnosis is when the physician incorrectly or inaccurately reaches a conclusion about the cause of the patient’s symptoms. In hospitals, about 1 of every 20 deaths is caused by misdiagnosis. Misdiagnosis can be the result of lack of communication among doctors and nurses, a failure to order or follow up on diagnostic studies or laboratory results, and inaccurate or incomplete information from patients.

How can a patient prevent misdiagnosis? Primarily by speaking up and asking questions. Be sure you tell your doctor everything. You can’t expect a doctor to reach the right conclusion without all the facts. Ask your doctor what your diagnosis is. Ask why he believes this diagnosis. Ask if there are other possible diagnoses and why these were excluded. Be sure you follow up on your own diagnostic studies and laboratory studies ordered by your doctors. Know what the results were, and if they were normal or abnormal. If abnormal, what is your doctor doing about it? If something seems off, ask for repeat studies.

In short, don’t be afraid to speak up and ask questions. It’s your body and it’s your health.

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Corrupt Legislation Coming To Florida?

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

Most people have heard that Tom Delay, former U.S. House Majority Leader from Texas, was convicted of criminal money laundering charges related to campaign fundraising. What most people may not know, is who gave him all that money and what did they expect in return? The fact is that money came from nursing home corporations. Former Majority Leader Delay was sentenced to three years in prison for conspiring to launder money, including money from nursing home corporations, to illegally influence the outcome of legislative elections in Texas in 2002. A jury convicted Mr. Delay of redirecting donations, including those from a nursing home corporation to the campaigns of seven chosen state house candidates.

These candidates won a majority in the Texas House as a result of the 2002 elections, and nursing home corporations got what they wanted most: a so-called tort reform law that virtually outlawed lawsuits against nursing homes for abuse and neglect of Texas’ most vulnerable senior citizens.

Rick Scott, former chairman and CEO of Columbia Hospital Corporation of America, and now Florida’s Governor, was forced to resign his post at that corporation in 1997 after the FBI, the IRS and the Department of Health & Human Services prosecuted his company for fraudulent billing practices. In 2002, Columbia/HCA pled guilty to 14 felonies and agreed to pay the largest fraud settlement in the history of the U.S.A. Columbia/HCA admitted to systematically overbilling Medicare and other health care programs by exaggerating diagnoses and paying kickbacks to doctors for patient referrals. In all, Columbia/HCA paid billions to settle these claims, by far the  largest fraud settlement in the history of the U.S.A.

Who do you think got Rick Scott elected? What do you think they expect from him?

It should come as no surprise that Rick Scott identified in his inaugural address the so-called “axis of unemployment” which he said included “litigation” and that he wants to limit the rights of consumers to seek justice in courts. He doesn’t just want to restrict rights or eliminate frivolous lawsuits. Make no mistake about that. He wants to eliminate consumer claims, as a practical matter, almost entirely, even immunizing doctors and hospitals from virtually all claims for medical negligence, no matter how severe the harm: paralysis, brain damage, amputation, and even death.

Texas justice is coming to Florida unless consumers stop the sale of the civil justice system to big business. Remember this, too. There will be no legislation proposed to limit the rights of these hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, and big businesses to sue you. Only limits on your rights to sue them.

Call your Congressman and tell him or her that this is wrong. Call your local newspaper and tell them to expose this obscene exploitation of your local state government. Make them hear your voice. Or when you need the courthouse, you’ll find the doors are locked and justice only a past memory.

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Cure For Medical Malpractice?

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

Every legislative session in Florida and nationwide, the health care and insurance industries descend upon legislators with money and influence in a fever pitch to cure their perceived medical malpractice insurance rates. Their idea of a cure is to eliminate the rights of real victims of medical mistakes. Not just victims of simple mistakes that cause a little inconvenience while at the hospital or a few more hours of medication or therapy, but people with real, serious, life altering injuries — like paralysis, amputation, and even death.

Well, the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget 2009-2010 has a different idea for a cure and wrote about it in an article. He says that the real cure to any perceived medical malpractice crisis is to eliminate malpractice. How? He suggests immunizing doctors from liability when they meet recognized standards of care established by evidence based guidelines from proven medical organizations.  Do no harm, follow the recognized standards, and there is no liability. Imagine that as a cure for medical malpractice, rather than limiting the rights of real victims.

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Do No Harm And Admit Your Mistakes

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

Medical errors kill over 100,000 Americans each year. Hospitals, doctors and health care providers respond with a virtual call to arms demanding that legislatures restrict and eliminate their patients’ legal rights to compensation for injuries and death. They oppose efforts by patients and consumer groups to broaden patients’ rights and even oppose efforts to prevent them from getting the truth from internal records investigating malpractice. Worse, they participate with their insurance companies and big business in vilifying their patients who sue and their lawyers. Why? They say to hold down insurance premiums and jury verdicts on frivolous claims.

The University of Michigan Health System has found another way to deal with medical malpractice and medical errors:  Admit their mistakes and pay for them early without hostile litigation with their patients. An August study revealed that the University Of Michigan Health System’s innovative approach of disclosure and compensation has reduced lawsuits and legal defense costs by 61%. Moreover, there is no proof that admitting mistakes opened the floodgates to a frenzy of medical malpractice lawsuits.

Maybe there are some lessons here. To read more about this “unorthodox” approach of health care providers admitting and paying for their mistakes, read the article in Newsweek.

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