A recent proposal by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommends that adults should start screening for colorectal cancer routinely at age 45, instead of waiting until age 50. The task force is an independent group of experts appointed by the Department of Health and Human Services. While it still must be finalized, its guidance […]
In a recent study published in Risk Analysis, researchers analyzed over two million births between 2005 and 2010 to determine whether certain factors impacted maternal health during hospital births. The study focused on delivery complications that were within the control of the hospital staff such as severe perineal laceration, ruptured uterus, unplanned hysterectomy, admission to […]
Nurses Take D.C., a nurse-driven grassroots movement, is calling attention to a serious problem in healthcare: the understaffing of healthcare facilities across the country. Unsafe nurse-to-patient ratios are contributing to increased morbidity and mortality for patients. The omissions of important nursing care are “often unrecognized errors affecting patient safety.” Deficient staffing is associated with high […]
Discharge summaries serve as the main form of communication between a patient’s medical providers at a hospital and the providers who later treat the patient. They include vital information including the outcome of the patient’s hospital stay, the patient’s status, and provisions for follow-up care. Subsequent healthcare providers glean valuable clinical information from discharge summaries, […]
A woman in Tennessee recently experienced a new mother’s worst nightmare after she discovered the hospital performed a surgical procedure on her newborn that was meant for another baby. According to the mother, Jennifer Melton, a nurse came to take her son Nate away for what she thought was a postnatal checkup, telling Melton to […]
Do you know someone who was injured or died after undergoing one of the following surgeries? Partial removal of the small intestine; Partial removal of the large intestine; Surgery to repair a torn or bleeding ulcer; Surgical removal of scar tissue from the abdomen; Removal of the gallbladder; Removal of the appendix; Open-abdominal surgery If […]
A couple recently filed a wrongful birth lawsuit against a New York hospital, alleging their doctor failed to inform them that their fetus tested positive for cystic fibrosis, and therefore, they were denied the opportunity to obtain an abortion. Cystic Fibrosis “is a life-threatening, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and progressively limits the […]
A Buffalo area woman has sued two local hospitals after her husband was prematurely declared dead by a doctor in the emergency room. Tammy Cleveland says her husband, Michael, was still alive when an emergency room doctor declared him dead last year. Tammy says if the medical staff had listened to her, her husband might […]
A change in state law will bring telemedicine to the Granite State beginning in 2016. In order to use the new system, patients will have to register online and answer a short questionnaire. Doctors will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to evaluate non-emergency health issues. Some of the benefits of […]
Angela Thornton presented herself at the Cardiac and Vascular Center of Arkansas complaining of chest pain in February 2010. Dr. Shabir Dharamsey examined her and concluded that she was suffering from a weak heart. An echocardiogram was administered two days later to confirm the diagnosis. However, court records reveal that the echocardiogram found Thornton’s heart […]
