The National Institutes of Health highlight a growing issue in hospitals: the high volume of patients in an emergency department at any given time. In fact, they cite one case in specific in which the emergency department was filled to 250% capacity.
You may be asking yourself, how is it possible for staff to treat patients effectively and safely when they're that over-crowded? The short answer is: they can't. While it's true that many patients still get the care they need, it's also true that mistakes continue to rise as the volume of patients do. Negligence is a common issue within overcrowded hospitals. Staff simply have too many people to look out for and not enough hands, so to speak. Because of this, there can be problems with:
Tasks may be divided among multiple people to get them done faster, leaving an opening for miscommunication. Tasks deemed as lower risk can be left to sit longer than they should, leading to infections or other issues going unnoticed. In all of these scenarios, the patient is the one suffering. Because of that, contacting a lawyer may be a vital step toward seeking crucial compensation.
]]>In the past, doctors and hospitals refused to attempt a vaginal delivery with a mother who had already had one child via cesarean. Since medical knowledge and surgical techniques have advanced since that time, many doctors, clinics and hospitals, though not all of them, now attempt VBAC with women whom they deem to be good candidates. Today, according to WebMD, most VBAC attempts are successful. However, an unsuccessful VBAC attempt is a medical emergency requiring urgent C-section. Some hospitals lack the capability to handle that type of situation, so they do not allow VBAC attempts at all. Therefore, if you are considering VBAC, be sure to find out whether the facility will permit it.
VBAC offers a number of potential benefits. If your VBAC attempt is successful, it likely means that you will have fewer problems with any future childbirth attempts. Scar tissue from multiple C-sections can build up and complicate future pregnancies. After a successful VBAC, your recovery time will be faster, you are likely to lose less blood and you will be at a lower risk of developing an infection.
In some cases, however, VBAC may pose too great a risk to both you and your unborn baby. Contraindications include pre-eclampsia, advanced maternal age (older than 35), maternal obesity, an unusually large baby, history of vaginal rupture and a vertical incision from a previous cesarean.
The information in this article is not intended as legal advice but provided for educational purposes only.
]]>Verywell Health shows that men and women experience heart attacks differently, and that they may be slightly easier to pinpoint in men because of the more "classic" symptoms. Women, on the other hand, experience symptoms that aren't typically talked about. This can include:
Additionally, these symptoms can appear anywhere from 3 to 4 weeks before the actual heart attack occurs, and can act as red flags warning a person that one might be on the way. Issues with the heart can also be harder to diagnose in women because their hearts are actually a smaller size, leading to clots or damage and obstructions being potentially unnoticed in examinations.
Harvard Medical School also examines the difference between the two genders and their heart attack risks. For men, classic symptoms include chest pain that can range in severity and duration. They are more likely to recover faster and leave the hospital more quickly, less likely to die in the hospital after a heart attack, and more likely to be put on medication to prevent future clots.
Those who have been treated for something outside of a heart attack may find themselves permanently crippled. It's possible someone has even lost their loved one due to this. The severity of the effects of a misdiagnosed heart issue can be long-reaching and last for years.
]]>In some situations, a medical emergency may warrant a different course of action. However, in other situations, surgical errors may be the root cause of different actions or outcomes. An example of this can be seen in the case of a woman in Florida. In 2016, the woman was admitted to the hospital for a surgery on her back. One surgeon was supposed to open her up and two other surgeons were supposed to perform the operation.
The first surgeon, however, did more than simply open the woman up in preparation for her intended operation. He also erroneously removed her fully functioning and healthy kidney. According to The Seattle Times, the kidney was believed to be a tumor due to its location which was lower than normal. The surgeon made the choice to remove the kidney without first reviewing the patient's records or receiving consent from the woman or any designated medical power of attorney shey may have had.
The woman filed a medical malpractice lawsuit in the matter and the two surgeons who were to perform the back operation settled their portion for $250,000. The third surgeon is said to have settlted but for an undisclosed amount. That man must also pay a fine to the state board of medicine.
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If you want to find out whether you can pursue a claim for damages against a responsible party, you'll want to investigate the circumstances of how and when your baby's health condition developed. For these purposes, you'll want to determine whether your baby is dealing with a birth injury or a birth defect.
What's a birth injury?
A birth injury happens during labor or delivery. It could be the result of the doctor's improper use of a vacuum or forceps while supervising the delivery. It could also be the result of the doctor missing important clues that -- for any other physician -- would have indicated the need to take immediate action. If your doctor was negligent, missed clear details that other physicians would have noticed or was reckless while administering care, the doctor might be liable for damages if his or her poor performance caused your baby's injuries.
What's a birth defect?
Unlike a birth injury, a birth defect happens while the baby is developing in the womb. It could be triggered by failures on the part of the doctor when prescribing medications. It could be the result of something that the physician failed to notice. When the birth defect is the direct result of the doctor's failures in this regard, then the parents may be able to pursue a personal injury claim for compensation to help pay for the baby's care.
Does your baby have a serious health problem?
While many birth injury and birth defect cases are the clear fault of treating physicians, hospitals and medical staff -- many of these situations are no one's fault. If that's the case, then the parents may not have any avenue by which to pursue compensation. If your baby was born with a serious health condition, make sure to fully evaluate your options to determine whether you and your family can pursue financial justice in court.
]]>As reported by National Public Radio, there is a special type of intensive care unit called an electronic intensive care unit that features a collection of electronic monitoring devices setup to track a patient's status. These devices are in turn monitored by actual people in an offsite location. A new documentary recounts one case in which a woman was put into one of these eICUs after having surgery to replace a hip.
The film was actually made by the son of the patient. During the woman's stay in the unit, she lapsed into a coma that went undetected by the monitors or remote staff for a day and a half. During this time, she experienced heavy bleeding that contributed to an eventual permanent brain injury.
The son was actually told by person running the eICU that the cameras in his mother's room were turned off to protect the patient's privacy. Upon pursuing the injuries his mother experienced, the man identified serious gaps in accountability within the eICU. This story exposes the importance of asking detailed questions not only about a procedure but also about the follow-up care that a person might receive. It is also important for every patient to have a person designated to advocate for them when they must have an operation.
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Sadly, a report by The Seattle Times highlights the fact that this process is anything but error-free and one recent incident that illustrates this happened in Seattle just a few weeks ago. A heart was en route to Seattle from Sacramento and actually made it to Seattle. However, instead of being taken off the plane and delivered to the appropriate organization, the heart took off from SeaTac Airport and began its journey to Dallas.
After 90 minutes in the air, the plane carrying the heart turned around and brought the heart back to Seattle. Fortunately, this case did not result in direct injury to a patient but this type of mistake could be a factor in patient harm.
There are 58 organ procurement organizations in the U.S., all of which are overseen by the United Network for Organ Sharing. Each OPO has a complete monopoly in its regional territory. Selling an organ is illegal but selling tissue such as a heart valve or bone is not illegal. After the recent incident, at least one senator is calling for increased oversight of the transplant system.
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The condition affects muscle tone and movement due to brain abnormalities. According to WebMD, there are four different types of cerebral palsy, categorized by the type of movement involved, and some of these also involve several subtypes.
Ataxic
A child with ataxic cerebral palsy may demonstrate shaky hands, making it difficult to perform certain tasks, or unsteadiness in walking because this type of CP causes coordination and balance problems. Ataxic cerebral palsy is rare.
Dyskinetic
Dyskinetic cerebral palsy makes it nearly impossible to control the movements of the affected muscles because muscle tone is either too loose or too tight. The uncontrolled muscle movement may be either quick or slow, and characterized as curvy, writhing, jerky or twisting.
Spastic
Spastic cerebral palsy involves involuntary contraction of the affected muscles. "Spasm" is the medical term for this involuntary contraction, which can cause muscles to become tight or stiff. There are three subtypes of spastic CP:
Spastic cerebral palsy is the most common type.
Mixed
Some people exhibit symptoms of more than one type of cerebral palsy. It is most common to see dyskinetic and spastic CP symptoms in combination.
The information in this article is not intended as legal advice but provided for educational purposes only.
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The study sought to identify the most common causes of malpractice claims and what doctors can do to prevent adverse events from happening. The medical director at The Doctors Company, the largest medical malpractice insurance company in the nation, cited heart attacks in women as one of the most commonly misdiagnosed events. Women are much less likely to exhibit typical symptoms of heart attack than men. For instance, instead of chest and arm pain, women may complain of gastrointestinal problems.
The other most commonly missed diseases, according to the claims the study reviewed, were meningitis in children and cancer in adults. Breast, melanoma, colon and lung cancers were the most commonly missed diseases in adults. The outcome for many misdiagnosis victims was death.
FindLaw backs the study's findings, claiming that a delay in diagnosis or worse, failure to diagnose, often results in disease progression above and beyond what would have resulted had the doctor diagnosed the condition in a timely manner. Unfortunately, most doctors establish and act upon a "differential diagnosis." This way of thinking requires medical professionals to make a list of differing diagnoses, in descending order of likelihood, based on the patient's symptoms. While somewhat effective, this methodology leaves little room to explore less-likely but still probable causes.
For a patient to have a malpractice claim, a patient must prove that a reasonably cautious doctor, in a comparable situation, would have made the diagnosis. For instance, if any other doctor, given the same information, would have listed the patient's accurate diagnosis on his or her list, but the attending physician did not, the patient may be able to sue for malpractice. Likewise, if the physician listed the diagnosis but failed to order additional tests, the patient may have a claim.
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The problem occurs when paperwork gets mixed up or when the wrong diagnosis is made based on the evidence. A patient could then go through an unnecessary treatment or a treatment that doesn't resolve the problems they're dealing with.
Is it common to be misdiagnosed in the emergency room?
To a degree, yes, because these providers have little or no background health history on the patients. Even if they gather information after a physical exam and tests, there's a potential to misdiagnose the patient. In some cases, illnesses or conditions flare only temporarily, giving the ER doctors and nurses a short timeline to perform tests. If they don't complete them during the health event, they could make a misdiagnosis or fail to see any problem at all.
What are some commonly misdiagnosed conditions?
It is common to misdiagnose heart attacks in women, for one example. Women often have different symptoms than men, making it harder to identify when they're having a heart attack. Women may have pain in the neck or jaw instead of down the left arm, for example.
Pulmonary embolisms may also be misdiagnosed easily. Why? They present in the same way as pulled muscles, asthma attacks and panic attacks. Unless the right tests are ordered, it could be difficult for a provider to make the correct diagnosis. Even with the right tests, it may be possible to miss the blood clots if they are small or in an odd position.
Misreading X-rays is one serious issue in hospitals and doctors' offices
It is somewhat easy to misread an X-ray. One doctor may, for instance, say a patient does not have a broken bone, but upon further study discover that they do. Misreading X-rays can lead to numerous kinds of misdiagnoses, some of which can cause lasting damage or put the patient's life in jeopardy.
As a patient, the best thing you can do is to seek a second opinion when you get a diagnosis. Having two professionals review the documents and data is always a better choice than relying on just one.
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