Watch Your Step, Falls in Hospitals Hurt Thousands of Patients Annually
Did you know falls are one of the top patient safety threats in hospitals? Statistics gathered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) show that thousands of hospital patients are injured in falls every year. One-third of hospital falls are preventable. In some cases, hospitals do not take the necessary steps to prevent… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Can Robots Transform Hospital Safety?
Robots are being used in healthcare settings to prevent pharmacy mistakes, assist with surgery and to diagnose illnesses. In many cases, robots perform these tasks more accurately than human beings. It seems possible robots can make hospitals safer. Read on to learn more about how robots or artificial intelligence have been used to prevent medical… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Should You Use Yelp to Find a Hospital or Doctor?
People use Yelp to find reviews on restaurants, barbershops, retail stores and other businesses. Customers also leave detailed comments describing their experiences with service. Should we use Yelp to rate hospitals or doctors in the same way we do businesses? Would this be a reliable way of finding hospital safety scores? Yelp does allow patients… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Can Hospital Interpreters Cause Medical Mistakes?
Hospitals across the country use interpreters to help doctors communicate with patients who primarily speak foreign languages. In some cases, hospital interpreter mistakes cause patients to suffer permanent or fatal consequences. Several years ago, NPR wrote an article that shared the story of Willie Ramirez, an 18-year-old man who suffered a catastrophic injury due to… Read more »
Tags: MedicalMistakes
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Are Children More Vulnerable to Medical Errors?
Children are more likely than adults to suffer permanent disabilities or death from medical errors. This is because organs and immune systems are still developing during early childhood. Children are also less capable of communicating with doctors or nurses when errors are made. For these reasons, it is important for parents to help prevent medical… Read more »
Tags: Parenting
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Can Pokémon Go Endanger the Safety of Hospital Patients?
Millions of people across the world are playing Pokémon Go, a new smartphone game that superimposes the famous franchise over the real world. The goal of the game is to visit these locations and capture as many Pokémon as possible. Unfortunately, this has caused problems for players capturing Pokémon at police stations, on crowded freeways,… Read more »
Tags: PatientSafety
Posted in Medical Malpractice
EMS ‘Selfie War’ an Example of Shocking Unprofessional Behavior by Medical Workers
Medical professionals such as doctors, nurses and EMS workers are tasked with the most important jobs in the world – saving the lives of other people. When these professionals misbehave or neglect their duties to care for others, patients can face serious harm. Unfortunately, recent examples of patient abuse show unprofessional behavior happens more than… Read more »
Tags: PatientRights
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Why are Surgical Mistakes Kept from Patients and Families?
Several weeks ago, we discussed the possibility that hospitals have a ‘culture of silence’ when patients are harmed by medical mistakes. Recent research suggests many doctors still hide medical errors, but that the number is gradually increasing. An article published by CBS News claims many doctors still remain silent on mistakes. According to a study… Read more »
Tags: PatientRights
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Historical Medical Mistakes You Won’t Believe: Death of a President
We often discuss on our blog how patients affected by modern medical mistakes can be killed or left permanently disabled. Historical medical mistakes led to identical outcomes for patients. In some cases, historical medical mistakes had world-changing implications. Throughout the next several months, we are going to walk you through several examples of medical mistakes… Read more »
Tags: History
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Chicago Medical Malpractice Case a Textbook Example of Birth Injury
Birth injuries can have devastating costs for children and their families, both emotional and financial. Even worse, these emotional and medical costs are often preventable. We can use a recent medical malpractice case to explore the consequences of birth injuries further. A Chicago mother and her child were awarded $53 million from a medical malpractice… Read more »
Tags: Pregnancy
Posted in Medical Malpractice
