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Birth Injury
- Indicators of Medical Malpractice For Birth Injuries; Kingston, Medical Malpractice Attorney Discusses
- Breaking News: Landmark Case Finds Standard Defense in Obstetrical Medical Malpractice Cases as Scientifically Invalid!
- FL Wrongful Birth Medical Malpractice Case Yields $4.5 Award; Repercussions in New York?
- Most OB-GYN Guidelines are Based on Opinion and Weak Information!
- Smoking and Birth Defects Are Now Definitively Linked! Click Here To Find Out More!
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Posted on 2/8/2012
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Birth Injury
- Birth injury is preventable in most cases in Kingston, New York
- Learn what you can expect in each stage of your labor and delivery in Kingston, New York
- Spotting signs of fetal distress can be crucial to the prevention of birth injuries in Kingston, New York
- Find out why you may not want to induce your labor in Kingston, New York
- Learn the warning signs of a placenta abruption and be prepared for his potentially fatal complication in Kingston, New York
Kingston, New York medical malpractice lawyer reveals how the truth about medical errors is hidden by the American Hospital Association
In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported that 98,000 people are killed by preventable medical errors in American hospitals every year. That scary number did not include persons severely disabled by medical errors or those injured or killed by preventable medical mistakes outside of a hospital, i.e., physician's office. The top recommendation by the authors of this report was to implement procedures for the mandatory reporting of medical errors by physicians and hospitals. This never happened.
Now, 11 years later, a new report by the Department of Health and Human Services estimates medical errors contribute to the deaths of an estimated 180,000 patients every year. This new report has findings that are virtually identical to those contained in the shocking report of the Institute of Medicine in 1999 and the recommendations of the authors of both studies are the same: INSTITUTE MANDATORY REPORTING OF MEDICAL ERRORS!
Disclosure of medical errors will help medical consumers select physicians and hospitals based upon knowledge of their prior mistakes. As reported in an editorial of the USA Today, "It's a problem crying out for a fix" and disclosure of medical mistakes is the number one step that can be taken to remedy this problem.
When the American Hospital Association's President was asked to comment about the disclosure of medical errors, the response was that "there is no magic solution to this challenge. If there were practices that would avoid every bad outcome, hospitals and clinicians would adopt them." He's right in one respect, there is no magic potion to fix the US's mess with poor medical care. However, mandatory reporting of medical errors is a step that is long overdue and still resisted by physicians and medical societies.
The President of the American Hospital Association claims that "hospitals willingly report performance data on key measures that demonstrate how care provided is affecting patient outcomes." Even better, the President states that such disclosure of medical mistakes by hospitals "also report adverse events to patient safety organizations, where they are analyzed by safety experts so everyone can learn from what occurred at a single hospital." Sounds good, but it's total crap!
What "patient safety organizations" is the President of the American Hospital Associations referring to? Where do hospitals report performance data to demonstrate how patient care is being provided? There are no specifics provided by the President of the American Hospital Association. The generalizations are not, unfortunately, substantiated by any shred of evidence and in fact, the President's claims are bogus.
Hospitals and physicians continue to cover up medical mistakes just as they have always been doing. Medical consumers are forced to make decisions about hospitals and physicians based on their gut feelings without any actual knowledge of the medical mistakes in the background of their medical provider.
Let's give an example of the coverup: the National Practitioner's Data Bank was created in 1986 by the federal government as a databank for the reporting of payments by physicians in medical malpractice lawsuits and claims. For those physicians who do not report malpractice settlements to the National Practitioners Data Bank, there have been no consequences. Even worse, consumers have no access to the National Practitioners Data Bank. You might be treated by a physician who has made ten malpractice payments in the last five years, but unfortunately, you have no way of finding out because the National Practitioners Data Bank is not accessible to you.
The sad fact is that the continued obstruction by physicians and hospitals to mandatory reporting of medical mistakes has resulted in death and injury for patients and a heavy dose of medical malpractice lawsuits against negligent physicians. Perhaps physicians like the status quo, but you shouldn't. Consumers are as poorly informed about medical mistakes as they were in 1999, when 98,000 deaths were first reported by the Institute of Medicine.
Birth Injury
Indicators of Medical Malpractice For Birth Injuries; Kingston, Medical Malpractice Attorney Discusses
Birth injuries themselves can be very challenging to access whether or not there was malpractice. There are some red flags to look out for.Breaking News: Landmark Case Finds Standard Defense in Obstetrical Medical Malpractice Cases as Scientifically Invalid!
The case Muhammad v. Fitzpatrick upheld a determination by a S.Ct. Justice who precluded evidence of a newborn’s injuries which were caused during birth.FL Wrongful Birth Medical Malpractice Case Yields $4.5 Award; Repercussions in New York?
Parents brought a wrongful birth medical malpractice lawsuit against an OB-GYN in Florida and just received a $4.5 million award from a Florida jury.Most OB-GYN Guidelines are Based on Opinion and Weak Information!
A recent study found that only 30% of all OB-GYN guidelines come from established, empirical tests!Smoking and Birth Defects Are Now Definitively Linked! Click Here To Find Out More!
Smoking has now been definitively linked to a number of devastating birth defects in newborn children.Kingston medical malpractice lawyer exposes the flawed logic of Governor Cuomo's neurologically impaired infant's fund
Find out what you should know about the neurologically impaired infant's trustOpen Letter to Governor Cuomo about your Budget
Governor Cuomo sells out to special interests in insurance and medical groups while ignoring the rights of severely disabled childrenOpen Letter to Governor Cuomo about your Budget
Governor Cuomo sells out to special interests in insurance and medical groups while ignoring the rights of severely disabled childrenShould video camera and photographs be kept out of the delivery room? Hospitals and doctors think so.
Should videotaping be permitted in the delivery room? Many hospitals bar cameras and videotaping from the delivery room.Pharmaceutical company jacks up the cost of preventing premature babies: good ole Capitalism or bad medicine for moms?
Why the massive overcharge for a drug to prevent premature labor in pregnant moms is regrettableAlbany Times Union weighs in on malpractice reform today: "Back to the operating table"
In an editorial in today's Albany Times Union, the T-U blasted Governor Cuomo's proposal to deprive malpractice victims of their rights in the Medicaid Reform Act.Addressing the cap on non-economic damages for malpractice victims, the editor of the Times-Union wrote: "Such a limited cap on nonmedical, non-economic damages in malpractice cases is the wrong approach. Bad doctors adn careless hospitals should pay a stiff penalty when they destroy people's health or lives, and $250,000 is, by any measure, an offensively low price to put on the loss of a child's potential."
"If the state wants to reduce malpractice claims and insurance rates, it should aggressively weed out of the medical profession what many seem to agree is a relatively small number of bad practitioners."
AMEN!!! It's about time that a newspaper is challenging the ridiculous caps proposed by Governor Cuomo! These caps will not save money for the taxpayers (the ostensible purpose of Medicaid reform), but rather will be a total political gift to insurance carriers, hospitals and doctors.
Governor Cuomo cares more about Big Business than the rights of the severely disabled and that's unfortunate.
Why you should be reaching out to your state legislator about Proposal #131 depriving injury victims of their rights. Read this article!
The best article yet why Proposal #131 is grossly unfair to injury victims.News Flash! Obstetricians avoid malpractice payments by focusing on patient safety at Weill Cornell Hospital--a lesson for tort reform advocates
How to avoid malpractice payments? Safety practices at Weill Cornell Hospital provide the answer.Scary time for New Yorkers! Governor Cuomo proposes law to shut down the rights of malpractice victims.
Governor Cuomo wants to deprive malpractice victims of their rights. New Yorkers, the time to act is NOW!Gestational diabetes can affect mothers long after they give birth
If you have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, you must make sure you check for diabetes after you deliver your babyIf you or a loved one is pregnant, you need to know about gestational diabetes.
One-third of pregnant US women are not checked for gestational diabetes putting them and their babies at risk.New study reveals that autism may not be genetic. New study raises questions about the causes of autism.
Jaundiced newborns are at a higher risk for autism.Why is the rate of premature babies higher in the U.S. than any other industrialized nation?
Before you blame malpractice lawyers, let's take a look at the facts.Discover When Taking Oral Contraception May Be Necessary to Prevent Birth Defects
A new study suggests that 40% of women who take medications that can cause birth defects misuse or skip taking their oral contraception pills despite the risk involved. Medications that have been deemed unsafe to take during pregnancy are known as Category X drugs. Examples of these drugs include certain types of statins, acne medications, sedatives, and sleep aids. Scientists from the Medco Research Institute looked at prescription records of 26,136 of its female enrollees, between the ages of 18 and 44 who were prescribed both an oral contraceptive and a Category X drug.
About 60% of the enrollees took the oral contraceptive reliably, filling their prescriptions regularly and having enough on hand to take it 95% of the time. However, 22% only filled their prescriptions often enough to have enough available 80 to 94% of the time and the other 19% appeared to have enough filled to have the contraception less than 80% of the time. Medco stated that it received permission from its clients to use to use the data and analyzed the data without names included.
According to the study, which was published in the October issue of the American Journal of Medicine, 6 percent of U.S. pregnancies occur among women taking Category X medications that are known to cause birth defects. The authors of the study assert that women taking these medications may not be aware of the risks involved in becoming pregnant. The study's data showed that certain group of women, such as women taking large number of different prescription medications, those in certain minority groups, and women with lower levels of education were less likely to properly take their contraception on a regular basis.
According to lead author, Amy Steinkeller, these women may not understand that birth control must be taken "on a nearly perfect, consistent basis" and may not be being effectively counseled by their physician or pharmacist. Steinkeller suggested in a recent press release that physicians and pharmacists may feel "awkward" or uncomfortable discussing the topic with those being prescribed both an oral contraceptive and a Category X medication.
Medco's research findings are extremely important and show that women taking Category X medications and oral contraceptives must be better educated as to the risks involved in becoming pregnant while on these medications. Doctors and pharmacists must do their jobs and counsel these patients adequately, and not allow any "awkward" feelings they may have about the subject matter get in the way of doing their job. All women taking oral contraception should try take the medication as prescribed; I have a feeling that the most difficult part of oral contraception is remembering to take it. If you are taking an oral contraceptive, try setting an alarm on your cell phone for the same time every day to remind you to take your medication or post a note somewhere you will notice such as by your front door or on the refrigerator. If you have been prescribed any type of medication by your doctor, but are not sure if it is a Category X drug, consult him or her immediately and find out whether you should start taking oral contraception.
Giving Birth - There's An App For That
The application, AirStrip OB, doesn't actually help the mother deliver the baby herself, but it does give her physician information to let him know how the mother is doing while in labor without needing to be in the room.Can Taking a Birth Control Pill Prevent Birth Defects?
A new birth control pill may help reduce birth defects in women who have taken the pill prior to conceiving!Rare Disease Sometimes Mistaken for Cerebral Palsy
Although less than 1,000 people in the United States have been diagnosed with Dopamine-responsive dystonia, some medical experts are now wondering whether the condition is as rare as was originally thought. Physicians are becoming increasingly uncomfortable as more and more infants are being diagnosed with the condition after having been misdiagnosed with cerebral palsy.Doctors at For-Profit Hospitals More Likely to Order Caesarean Sections
According to a new study conducted by California Watch, which compiled data from California's birth records, for-profit hospitals are performing cesarean sections at higher rates than nonprofit hospitals.Feeding Tube Mistakes During Pregnancy Lead to Death and Despair
The misuse and poor design of feeding tubes is leading to countless deaths, including those of pregnant women, unborn children, and infants. However, both the Food and Drug Administration and the manufacturers of the tubes are dragging their feet when it comes to removing them from circulation.Despite New Law, Midwives May Still Need Practice Orders to Practice Safe Medicine
The Midwifery Modernization Act has now become law as of last Friday. Although many previously thought that it would give midwives an increased ability to independently practice, it may not do anything at all unless midwives open their own independent practices.
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John H. Fisher
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Kingston, New York 12402-3058
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John H. Fisher
130 North Front Street
Kingston, New York 12402-3058
Phone: 518.265.9131
Toll Free: 866.889.6882