The dangers of texting while driving are well publicized today. But what about the dangers of texting while operating on a patient? Believe it or not, this may be a growing form of medical malpractice. An article published recently in The Atlantic entitled, “Texting from the Operating Room,” highlights the rise in incidents involving medical …
Prostate Cancer Misdiagnosis (and What You Can Do About It)
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
Prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of cancers. So, every September, we turn our attention to how we can combat this threat during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Throughout the month, we can all make an extra effort to make sure we and our loved ones are taking every possible precaution against this …
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Autopsies Can Play Important Role in Preventing Cancer Misdiagnosis
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
An autopsy is an examination of a person’s body after death for the purpose of determining the actual cause of death. In many cases, the autopsy can produce painful truths such as the fact that a person’s cancer was misdiagnosed or that it likely could have been diagnosed at a much earlier stage. For instance, …
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Congressman’s Case Illustrates ‘Loss of Chance’ Doctrine
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
A former Ohio state Congressman is fighting an uphill battle with pancreatic cancer, allegedly due to negligence on the part of his government doctors. His case illustrates what is commonly called the “loss of chance” doctrine. According to Cleveland.com, the Congressman’s lawyer claims that government doctors failed to inform the Congressman of a pancreatic lesion …
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Reports Show Hospitals Are Falling Short in Support of Nurses
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
A recently released report by the Leapfrog Group patient safety organization and an op-ed piece in the New York Times shed light on a major factor in hospital injuries: A lack of support for nurses – specifically, understaffing. In the report, “Nursing Workforce Safe Practices,” Leapfrog states that a large percentage of the hospitals which …
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Should Hospitals Change Their Approach to Preventing Staph Infections?
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
Statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that HAIs – “hospital-acquired infections” or “healthcare-associated infections” – are a serious problem in New York and in hospitals and clinics across the country, including staph infections such as MRSA. Because these infections are largely preventable, they are often cited as examples of …
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Study Reveals High Rate of Inaccurate Breast Cancer Diagnoses
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
Pathologists whose work was analyzed for a recently published study often failed to properly diagnose early, non-invasive breast cancer in biopsy tissue samples. The results of the study underscore the importance of getting a second opinion after a breast cancer diagnosis, according to the study’s authors. HealthDay News reports that researchers gave 240 breast biopsy …
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Study Highlights Consequences of Biopsy Contamination, Switching Errors
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
An estimated 4,570 misdiagnoses of prostate cancer occur each year in the U.S., leading to about $880 million in unnecessary medical expenses, due to contamination and switching errors that occur during the biopsy process, according to a new study. The study, “The Clinical and Economic Implications of Specimen Provenance Complications in Diagnostic Prostate Biopsies,” appears …
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How Should You Talk With Your Doctor About Cancer?
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
Miscommunication between a doctor and patient is one of many factors that can lead to a delayed or missed diagnosis of cancer. In some cases, a doctor may not listen as a patient describes symptoms. In other cases, patients may not communicate with their doctor particular symptoms or health issues they are experiencing because they …
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Survey Shows a Need to Increase Public Awareness About Medical Errors
Posted by Powers & Santola, LLP | Medical Malpractice & Errors
Roughly one in four adults who participated in a recent Harvard School of Public Health survey said they had been personally impacted by medical errors. “But calls for public action remained clouded by a great deal of public uncertainty” about a variety of matters, the researchers found. For instance, the survey revealed that many …
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