Sentinel events are significant medical mistakes that affect patient safety and result in severe temporary harm, permanent harm, or death. The data compiled by the Joint Commission for 2023 found that sentinel events were close to 2022’s record high. In 2023, there were 1411 reported and reviewed events. Of these,…
The new feature length documentary “Born Free: Birth in America” is a 95-minute investigation into maternal mortality in the United States, and why it’s increasingly dangerous for mothers to give birth in this country. The movie was made by Paula James-Martinez, a British journalist who became a mother in 2018.…
CNN covered a recent report that found hundreds of thousands of deaths and permanent disabilities are the result of misdiagnosis of disease and other conditions. Every year, around 371,000 people pass away, while 420,000 find themselves permanently disabled with loss of limbs of organs, brain damage, blindness or metastasized cancer.…
Photo Credit: Victor Moussa / Shutterstock.com A stroke is essentially a “brain attack” that – like a heart attack – occurs when the blood flow to a portion of the brain is cut off. Strokes are the fifth-leading cause of death in the United States, with about 800,000 people suffering…
Photo Credit: nimon / Shutterstock.com Breast augmentation, or augmentation mammoplasty, has been the most common elective cosmetic surgery in the United States for over a decade. Last year alone, there were over 300,000 breast augmentation surgeries performed across the United States. This figure represents a 3% increase from the year…
In a recent case, a mother sued her daughter’s doctor after her daughter overdosed on a combination of prescription and non-prescription pills. The daughter died on May 18, 2013 after she took a lethal combination of pills. On May 15, 2015, the mother filed the claim against her daughter’s doctor,…
In a recent case, a plaintiff who was receiving treatment at a hospital was injured as he was being moved on a gurney within the hospital by medical personnel. While the plaintiff was being transferred, the gurney tipped over, and he suffered fractures as a result. The plaintiff filed a…
In a recent case, a 90-year-old woman was admitted to a hospital in 2009. During her stay at the hospital, the woman suffered several complications, and she died within weeks of her arrival. The woman’s son requested her medical records, and he received them almost one year after her death.…
Earlier this month, a Massachusetts court issued a written opinion in a medical malpractice case adopting the continuing course of treatment doctrine. The continuing course of treatment doctrine acts to toll the statute of limitations in medical malpractice cases while the defendant is still providing medical care for the plaintiff.…
In a recent case in front of a state appellate court, a woman filed a medical malpractice lawsuit after she was treated for a condition known as thoracic outlet syndrome. The illness caused her extreme pain around her shoulder and in her arm and also caused her numbness, swelling, and…