Is It Ever “Okay” to Withhold Information from a Patient?

Ethics is always a hot topic when discussing the medical profession. There are plenty of doctors who always make ethical decisions when dealing with their patients. However, there are times when ethics come into question because of information being withheld. Is it ever okay for a doctor to withhold information from a patient? When looking…

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Want to Help Veterans? Support the Tally Bill.

Brian Tally, former Sgt. in the U.S. Marine Corps, was injured severely as a result of the incompetence of a number of doctors and emergency room staff at a Loma Linda, CA VA hospital. The misdiagnosis he received led to an extended period of malpractice and neglect for months that almost took his life. After…

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The Deadly Threat of Superbugs in Hospitals and Beyond

When you visit or are admitted to a hospital as a patient, you are entering the confines of a complex health care system in which many communicable diseases and opportunities to acquire those diseases are present. The term used for this occurrence is Hospital Acquired Infection. Of particular concern today are certain strains of bacteria…

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Your Surgeon May Be Performing Another Surgery at the Same Time as Yours

Some doctors, primarily specialists, take the idea of multi-tasking too far, conducting two or more different surgeries at the same time. Most patients never know that the surgeon they trusted to handle only their procedure was actually involved in multiple surgeries at the same time. Doctors and hospitals argue that these multiple surgeries save costs,…

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What You Should Know About Umbilical Cord Injuries

Babies in the womb receive all of their nutrients and oxygen from the blood of the mother through the umbilical cord. However, if this crucial connection becomes compromised, the infant can suffer serious health complications, including a deprivation of oxygen and a disruption of proper growth. These issues can lead to additional birth injuries for…

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New Proposal Would Allow Military Personnel to File Medical Malpractice Claims

California Congresswoman Jackie Speier has proposed a new bill that would give soldiers the right to sue the federal government for medical malpractice. Currently, federal law prohibits servicepeople from suing the federal government for medical malpractice. The “SFC Richard Stayskal Military Medical Accountability” bill is named after Army Sgt. First Class Richard Stavaskal, who is…

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Surgeons Remove a Lot of Functioning Kidneys

Surgical errors accounted for about 22% of medical malpractice claims last year in the United States according to a major medical malpractice services provider. A number of those errors, it appears, involve the kidneys. An Iowa woman, Dena Knapp, is suing her surgeon, Dr. Scott Baker, after he allegedly removed her kidney, when he was…

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CDC Sets New Guidelines for Children with Concussions

With the 2018-2019 youth sports season up and running, parents and pediatricians are again urged to be vigilant of concussions and head injuries in children. Medical research is constantly discovering new information about head injury and its consequences on young people. The advice that may have been recommended a decade ago may not be the…

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Why Is the U.S. Maternal Mortality Rate So High?

A bombshell article recently published in USA TODAY uncovered surprising information about the maternal mortality rate in the United States. Writer Alison Young researched four years for the piece “Hospitals know how to protect mothers. They just aren’t doing it,” which revealed the startling news that the U.S. is now the most dangerous place in…

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Who Is Responsible for My Baby’s Birth Injury?

Giving birth is a natural and (usually) safe process, with your obstetrician and other medical staff on hand to help it along and assist mother and baby in the event of any complications. During the birth process, babies are especially vulnerable, and if a doctor fails to treat, or improperly treats, a complication or condition,…

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Placental Abruption and Oxygen Deprivation

Thousands of women give birth every day in the United States, including here in the Washington, D.C. area. Labor and delivery is a common and safe experience for mothers and babies, but occasionally there are complications. If a baby is deprived of oxygen during the labor and delivery process, the child can suffer severe birth…

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Nurse “Burnout” Leads to Dangerous Medical Mistakes

Nurses are often the unsung heroes of health care. They work long, grueling hours carrying out the doctor’s orders, they interact with doctors, patients and peers in often chaotic and emotionally exhausting environments and they often do this difficult work exhausted. Fatigue, burnout, exhaustion, overworked: regardless of how you describe it, due to their often…

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Baltimore Family Awarded Millions after a Medication Error Led to the Death of Their Loved One

Medication errors are a significant problem in modern health care. Also called adverse drug events (ADE), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports that ADE’s account for nearly 700,000 emergency department visits and 100,000 hospitalizations each year. The AHRQ also reports that approximately 5% of hospitalized patients will experience an ADE making them…

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Medical Negligence and Hazards at Urgent Care Centers

If there is a strip mall near you, chances are good that it includes an Urgent Care facility. These are free-standing medical centers that operate as a hybrid between an emergency room and health clinic. Designed to treat patients with acute medical conditions and minor traumas. They do not serve patients with serious, life-threatening conditions.…

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A Defective Pacemaker Can Cause More Harm Than Good

A pacemaker is a medical device, first used in Sweden in the 1950s, for patients with heart problems. The device sends electrical impulses that help stabilize patients who have irregular heartbeats. Implanting a pacemaker is usually performed by a cardiologist or a surgeon. Unfortunately, some pacemakers have flaws which can cause death, heart attacks, or…

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Are Stem Cell Treatment Centers the Newest “Snake Oil” Salespeople?

Stem cells hold abundant promise that one day, they will be able to repair and regenerate tissue and create seemingly miraculous therapies customized for an individual. The problem is that stem cell therapy is still in its infancy; unless a patient is undergoing hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation, his or her treatment is an experimental…

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