Over 12,000 new cases of cervical cancer occur in the U.S. each year. About 4,000 women die annually from the disease. In an effort to improve timely diagnosis of the disease, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) published updated guidelines on cervical cancer screening. These guidelines parallel recommendations by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the American [...]
A recent study in Neurology shows that stroke rates are increasing among younger patients. This is concerning, not just a trend in public health, but also in terms of a risk for substandard medical care and medical malpractice claims. When diseases and medical conditions that are typically seen in older patients begin affecting younger patients, [...]
Delayed diagnosis of hospital infections can lead to a progression of disease and an adverse outcome. Left untreated, infections can progress from a local problem to sepsis, a systemic response to the infection. With further progression, sepsis can turn to shock, organ failure and, ultimately, death. Likewise, a delay in treatment can make it necessary to [...]
Mishkind Kulwicki Law recently settled a case involving medical errors that occurred when a patient was transferred from one facility to another. We often see mistakes made at this critical time. In fact, physicians have a name for this common type of error: "hand-off error." Typically, the error occurs when key information about the patient is not communicated [...]
Hospital infections remain one of the dark secrets of American hospitals. Rather than becoming rarer, hospital infections seem to be more common. The bacteria Clostridium difficile, also called C. diff., has added to this developing danger in the last several years. USA Today reported that about 350,000 C. diff infections resulted in about 30,000 deaths nationwide in 2010. C [...]
A delay in diagnosis of cancer may cause a patient's prognosis to go from bad to worse. When it comes to lung cancer, this maxim holds true. Recognizing that earlier detection of lung cancer saves lives, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery published updated guidelines for screening high risk patients in order to catch evidence of [...]
Claims for delay in diagnosis of cancer are common in Ohio. Medical malpractice cases involving a delayed diagnosis, or a delay in treatment, of malignant melanoma require consideration of a number of factors. A recent medical study underscores the importance of proper surgical treatment upon timely diagnosis of this potentially deadly cancer. Malignant melanoma is a [...]
A delay in diagnosis of prostate cancer can mean the difference between life and death. For a real world example of how this works, look to the case of Warren Buffet, the third richest man in the world. Buffett was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer during a routine PSA screening test. But the news wasn't all bad. Because [...]
Two common types of Ohio medical malpractice claims arise out of delays in treating aortic abdominal aneurysms (AAAs): failure to perform a AAA repair in the face of a growing aneurysm and failure to emergently diagnose and treat a symptomatic AAA. AAAs are part of a broader category of thoracic aortic disease (TAD), which also includes [...]
A recent study showed that the number of breast cancers detected by mammography doubled between 1990 and 2008 in women ages 40-49. Moreover, the study, Malmberg JA, et al "Impact of mammography detection on the course of breast cancer in women aged 40 to 49 years" Radiology 2012; 262: 797-806., showed that mammography-detected breast cancer in this [...]