Cape Breton District Health Authority has stated that 21 patients in two Cape Breton Hospitals have tested positive for the bacteria C. difficile. Four people have died as a result of the infections.
Hospital Acquired Infections a Deadly Problem
Nosocomial infections (Hospital acquired infections) are the fourth largest killer in Canada.
My colleague, Ches Crosbie recently posted about an American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology report that studied medical charts for more than two millions births in California over a 14 year period. According to the study children born between the hours of 10 PM and 4 AM were 22% more likely to develop cerebral palsy.
Ches suggested:
Hospitals already have issues with staff shortages and fatigued workers, so it makes sense to me that these problems might be worse during the “graveyard shift”.
In 2001 Spencer Sullivan had elective surgery for neck and back pain at the University of California San Francisco Medical Centre. The surgery went well and there were no complications.
Negligent Nursing Care
But while Sullivan was in the hospital recuperating his nurse, Rose McKenzie, gave him two different types of pain medication without checking with the doctors who were in charge of Sullivan’s care. McKenzie then failed to monitor Sullivan throughout the night.
There is an old saying that a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.
But what do you call a patient who diagnoses himself? “Dangerous.” At least according to Dr. Ross Upshur, a University of Toronto scientist and Canada Research Chair in primary-care research.
Self Diagnosis Dangerous
More and more patients are turning to Google and the internet to diagnose, and even treat, their injuries and illnesses. Doctors are warning people about the dangers of relying on unproven or inaccurate information that can be found while surfing the web.
Reasons for judgement were released recently in the case of McLintock v. Alidina.
The plaintiff, Ann McLintock alleged negligence on the part of her family physician, Dr. Alidina, because Alidina hd failed to advise the plaintiff of the results of mammogram testing. McLintock had to undergo a course of 25 radiation treatments and surgical intervention as a result of the alleged delay.
Different Standards for Different Doctors?
There are three things that an injured patient must prove in order to be entitled to receive compensation:
1. What is the standard of care?
2. Did the defendant fail to meet the standard of care?
Winnipeg police have announced they have created a “special team” to conduct a criminal investigation into the death of Brian Sinclair.
Medical Malpractice Claim Filed After Hospital Waiting Room Death
Mr. Sinclair died in the Emergency Department of a Manitoba hospital after waiting 34 hours to be seen by a doctor.
The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia just released its decision in Langille v. Dzierzanowski .
Elderly Plaintiff
The plaintiff, Walter Murray Langille, is 91 years old. He filed a medical malpractice claim against the defendants alleging they removed part of his colon because they mistakenly diagnosed him with colon cancer.
Medical malpractice can happen in a variety of ways. Often there are simple steps that can be taken to reduce or eliminate the chance that patients may suffer an injury (or worse) due to malpractice.
Reduces Errors
I have posted before about how using surgical checklists helps reduce medical errors and prevents deaths due to surgical errors.
Each year millions of North Americans take medication that is supposed to help increase their bone strength. More than 20 million prescriptions of Bisphosphonates are written by doctors every year for the treatment of post menopausal osteoporosis (brittle bones). The common brand names of the drugs are Fosamax, Actonel, and Boniva.
May Hurt Instead of Help
The irony is that while these drugs are promoted and prescribed to help increase bone strength, new medical evidence indicates that long term use of the medication may actually cause bone loss.
