Caregiver fatigue can result in hospital negligence. A recent study shows that hospitalists are being overworked to the detriment of patient safety. There has been an increasing trend toward the use of hospitalists to provide primary care services to hospitalized patients. Hospitalists are typically internists or family practice physicians who provide general medical care but restrict their [...]
Medical errors in pathology often lead to unnecessary treatment or a delayed diagnosis of disease. A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology found that mistakes occur in up to 3.5% of prostate biopsies that are analyzed by reference labs. This high error rate is attributed to mis-read pathology and also biopsy specimens being switched [...]
What makes Mishkind Kulwicki Law successful is that we care! We know that when a serious injury or death occurs, you need a law firm that you can depend upon for truthful, professional and competent representation. We understand that when a serious injury or death occurs, you need qualified yet compassionate representation. At Mishkind Kulwicki [...]
Medical malpractice cases arising out of misread or misreported pathology slides occur with stunning frequency. In point of fact, a patient is at the mercy of the pathologist, a physician who they have never met and know nothing about. Because medical doctors and hospitals need not publicly report mistakes, local physicians who rely on pathology labs [...]
Dangerous drugs may include some over-the-counter medicines. Recent verdicts outside of Ohio underscore the dangers of one such medicine -- Motrin. Johnson & Johnson, the makers of Motrin, have been ordered to pay a 7 year-old girl $63 million after she developed toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) from taking Motrin. TEN, also called erythema multiforme or Lyell's syndrome, is a [...]
I just read an interesting article called Small Trucks, Big Regulations published by a very smart lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, Joseph Fried. Fried pointed out that in some circumstances, pickup trucks and other small frame trucks may be subject to the same regulations that apply to semi tractor trailer rigs. We are familiar with the federal regulatory [...]
Misdiagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common basis for medical negligence actions. The problem arises because PE can masquerade as other medical conditions such as heart attack or sepsis. It is erroneous to make assumptions about common symptoms like shortness of breath and chest pain without doing a proper and thorough workup. Oftentimes, this [...]
Birth injuries are oft-litigated medical malpractice cases. There is much at stake when a newborn is injured because the costs of caring for a severely injured infant over the course his/her life can exceed $5-10 Million, depending on the severity of the injury and specific needs of the child. In addition, the personal costs of this [...]
Medical malpractice cases occasionally arise out of decisionmaking about blood transfusions. Blood transfusions involve the administration of whole blood or blood products through an intravenous line (IV) to replace blood lost at surgery or due to hemorrhage following traumatic injury. The procedure is surprisingly common; nearly 5 million patients require blood tranfusions each year in the [...]
Medical errors in the management of suicidal patients is a death sentence. Suicide rates are climbing in the U.S., so primary care providers (PCPs) are facing more encounters with suicidal patients. In this blogpost, I will discuss treatment guidelines set forth in the Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry for suicidal patients. The [...]