Sepsis, a deadly bloodstream infection, is a common and largely unreported consequence of pressure inuries/ulcers. According to a recent article by The Chicago Tribune, sepsis was the most common reason that elderly residents are transferred from their nursing home to hospitals. Despite the massive financial and human implications, the newspaper states the problem is largely […]
Medical Malpractice
Elderly Man Passes Away from Preventable Pressure Ulcer
An Australian man passed away from a preventable pressure injury/ulcer he received while at an Australian hospital. According to ABC North and West, the pressure ulcer, or bed sore, developed and became so severe that the Australian’s organs shut down. Now, the family of Peter James McBride is demanding answers from the hospital and its […]
Nurses at Montefiore Hospital Say Bronx Patients Are Endangered
After a lack of response from management, a group of nurses is going public about the poor treatment of patients at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx. Speaking to The Daily News, the nurses describe “horror stories” of overcrowding, understaffed medical personnel, unsanitary conditions, and a management structure who seems oblivious or unconcerned about these serious […]
Woman Dies After Medics Falsely Assume She Cannot Afford Ambulance Ride
In a stunning and tragic case out of Florida, a new mother passed away after four medics allegedly told the woman she could not afford an ambulance ride. The woman, Crystle Galloway, had recently given birth to a son via C-section a few days before the event. According to Galloway’s mother, Nicole Black, Galloway was found slumped […]
Hospital Mergers and Acquisitions May Harm Patient Health, At Least in Short-Term
After the rapid pace of consolidation in the healthcare industry over the past decade, many patient advocates are beginning to study the effects of these mergers and acquisitions on the quality of patient care. While many of the business executives in charge of these restructurings tout improved patient health as a benefit, it appears the opposite […]
After Hip Surgery, Elderly Patient Develops Stage Four Bed Sore At Hospital
A Canadian woman developed a stage-four pressure ulcer after spending several weeks at a hospital recovering from hip surgery. The woman, Lola Chiasson Hawkins, had a bed sore so deep it reached to her bone by the time the hospital staff recognized the severity of the problem and took corrective measures. Perhaps even worse, her […]
After Dancing Through Her Surgeries, Georgia Doctor is Finally Suspended
A Georgia doctor who wanted to be known as the “dancing doctor” will no longer be a doctor in the State of Georgia. In a fantastic story by the New York Times, the dermatologist, whose name is Dr. Windell Davis-Boutte, would stop in the middle of her surgeries and perform a dance routine to popular hip-hop […]
New York Abortion Doctor Pleads Guilty to Negligence in Death of Woman
A New York doctor who claims he has performed over 40,000 abortions in the state pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in the death of a Queens woman. Dr. Robert Rho terminated the pregnancy of 30-year-old Jaime Lee Morales, who was six-months pregnant at the time of the procedure. After the abortion, Morales was “bleeding uncontrollably […]
Medication Errors Common in ICU Transfers
A new report by Christiana Care Health System showed that medication errors occurred in 47 percent of ICU Transfers. The study which followed 985 patients at almost 60 different ICUs across the East Coast who were transferred from the ICU to a non-ICU area in the same hospital or medical unit. According to the study, […]
Renowned Heart Doctor Violated Ethics Rules, Harmed Patients
In an attempt to advance the medical field, a world-renowned heart surgeon stands accused of violating ethical rules and harming patients, according to a groundbreaking report by ProPublica. The heart doctor, O.H. “Bud” Frazier, is credited with saving thousands of lives in his obsessive, career-long drive to create an artificial heart. However, to reach his admittedly noble […]
NYT: Seeking Profit, Doctors Lure Patients into Unnecessary Surgeries
Doctors and legal financing companies are pushing women into receiving unnecessary surgeries in a brazen attempt to win legal settlements, according to the New York Times. The article focuses on women who have received vaginal mesh implants – a medical procedure fraught with problems for some women. In the illuminating piece, women with these implants are contacted by […]
Citing Lack of Resources, Nursing Homes Fail to Treat Opioid Addiction
A recent report by StatNews shows that many nursing homes across the country are refusing to admit elderly Americans with opioid addictions, and failing to effectively treat those with addiction already placed in their care. According to the newspaper, elderly Americans who have been prescribed methadone or buprenorphine, medications commonly used to treat opioid addiction, […]
Quality of Medical Care Improves for Most Americans
A recent study highlighted the improving areas of medical care in the United States. Released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the study tracked seven main criteria related to healthcare between 2000 and 2014 – person-centered care, patient safety, healthy living, effective treatment, care coordination, and affordable care. Here is the breakdown on how […]
Widow of Glenn Frey, Former Eagles Bandmember, Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Cindy Frey, the widow of late Eagle’s co-founder Glenn Frey, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Mt. Sinai hospital and physician Steven Itzkowitz. The lawsuit alleges the hospital and doctor were negligent in failing to properly diagnose and treat the health conditions that led to his untimely death in January 2016. Frey died at the age of 67 from complications […]
New York City Paid Lowest Amount in Five Years to Settle Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
New York City paid over $123 million last year to settle medical malpractice lawsuits against the 11 city-run hospitals. In total, that amount settled only 198 of the cases pending against the hospitals in 2017. Since 2011, the city has paid an eye-watering $928 million to settle medical malpractice lawsuits. City representatives state that the […]
Lavern’s Law: Cancer Patients Will Now Have More Time to Sue in New York
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature have finally reached a deal on medical malpractice lawsuits relating to cancer diagnosis. Under the new law, cancer patients will be able to sue doctors and other medical professionals for a wrongful diagnosis or missed diagnosis of cancer for up to two-and-a-half years from the date the patient discovered, or should have discovered, the misdiagnosis. […]
Northern Manor Geriatric Center Cited for Use of Antipsychotic Drugs
Between 2013 and 2017, the Northern Manor Geriatric Center in Rockland County, New York received more than double the average number of citations by the New York Department of Health, the entity responsible for performing yearly inspections at all nursing homes in the state. Compared to the statewide average of 34 citations- relating to either standard […]
Lawsuit: Port Authority Secretly Recorded Medical Exams
A Port Authority employee filed a lawsuit alleging that she was secretly videotaped during a medical exam. The employee, Charlene Talarico, said the incident happened during an exam in August 2016. Talarico is suing for unspecified damages, according to the lawsuit filed in a Manhattan federal court last week. Alleging emotional distress, pain and suffering, and other unspecified […]
Bayberry Nursing Home Cited for Medication Errors
Bayberry Nursing Home in New Rochelle, New York received 19 citations for violating New York laws on protecting nursing home residents and ensuring their safety over the previous four years. In the last year alone, the Westchester nursing home received five citations, three of which were categorized as “moderately severe” violations. These are the violations […]
Overmedication Still a Problem at Nursing Homes
According to a recent report released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), almost 16 percent of residents at long-term nursing homes are being treated with antipsychotic medications. While down from 24 percent in 2011, the CMS report and many doctors question the efficacy and necessity of these powerful mind-altering medications. According to […]
New York Post: New York Hospitals Sued for Releasing Dangerous Patients
Two New York City hospitals are being sued for the damages caused by the release of allegedly dangerous patients from their psychiatric wards. In the past month, two lawsuits have been filed against New York City hospitals alleging that the hospitals behaved in a negligent or careless manner when they released dangerous patients into the tri-state area. These patients […]
Report: Hospice Does Not Respond One in Five Times
A new report by Time Magazine shines a harsh light on the hospice care industry in America – reporting that 21 percent of hospices, accounting for more than 84,000 patients, failed to provide critical care to patients in 2015. The report, which includes vivid and heartbreaking stories, points towards a largely unregulated industry that received […]
Hospital Errors the Third Leading Cause of Death, Elderly are Especially Vulnerable
The third leading cause of death in America is death by hospital error, according to Johns Hopkins’ Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. Following heart disease and cancer, hospital errors account for around 440,000 deaths each year. That means that there are more than 1,000 preventable deaths in hospitals across America every day. Given these findings, its perhaps unsurprising that […]
New York Highest Court: Statute of Limitations for “Wrongful Birth” Begin at Child’s Birth
The New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, ruled in favor of two sets of parents who were pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctors that performed their in-vitro fertilization treatment. The issue before the Court of Appeals involved whether the statute of limitations for the medical malpractice began when the doctor committed the malpractice or […]
Rhinovirus Outbreak at Westchester Veterans Home Leaves Four Dead
In August of 2016, the New York State Veteran’s Home in Montrose, New York had a horrific rhinovirus outbreak. At one point, the facility in Westchester had one-out-of-every-four residents sick with the virus. Altogether, there were 58 documented cases of rhinovirus at the 221-bed retirement home for veterans. Sadly, four of the elderly residents with […]