“No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main.” This is an excerpt from a poem by John Donne. Though he was not describing the medical community in his poem, doctors would do well…
Many times we believe something simply because we have been told or heard it several times. An example would be that if you touch a baby bird its mother won’t take it back or maybe you’ve heard that the Great Wall of China is the…
An alarming investigation by CBS News has uncovered that veterans coming home from the battlefield may face unexpected dangers while receiving treatment from Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals. The recent report found that veterans have been dying of accidental medication overdoses at a far higher rate…
A recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal underlines how vulnerable elderly individuals are to traumatic brain injuries, especially when those brain injuries occur as a result of falls. The study found that head injuries are a common result of falls among older…
In a surprising alliance of typically opposing forces, a group of attorneys and doctors have come together to fight against a proposed sweeping change to Georgia’s medical malpractice laws. The change being considered by lawmakers would be the first of its kind and would remove…
Tort reform, a hotly debated issue in the legal community, is proving a failed experiment. A jury in one of New York’s most conservative counties recently returned a $130 million dollar verdict in a medical malpractice case, the second-largest in the state’s history. The $8 million…
A recent report by Public Citizen uncovered glaring holes in a key government-run database meant to identify doctors and other health care providers who may not be fit for employment. The report found that the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) contains at least 50,000 incomplete…
A recent article discussing robotic surgery mentioned how the trend towards lawsuits against the maker of the popular da Vinci robotic surgical system has taken off in recent years. Law firms across the country have been filing suits in increasing numbers, each claiming that patients…
The surviving family members and the estate of a woman who died after she received an overdose of pain medication after surgery recently won a settlement of $958,000, according to The Daily Record in Harford County, Maryland. The woman was receiving treatment for leg ulcers…
A new development in hormonal therapy could provide relief to victims of devastating brain injury. The therapy is meant in part to help reduce the swelling that often takes place inside the brain after a serious brain injury. The hormone, which is currently operating under…