Pat Malone, in my opinion, is one of the most capable medical malpractice lawyers in the United States. That is why I frequently read his D.C. medical malpractice blog.
I am currently representing the family of a young man who died because he received the wrong medication during his treatment in hospital. So an article Pat recently wrote on Hospital Medication Errors caught my attention.
Medication errors common
Medical malpractice lawyers know most potential victims of medical malpractice never file a claim. Recently a report by ABC News has confirmed that in the United States more than 80% of hospital errors are not reported by hospital employees.
Hospitals Don’t Learn From Mistakes?
The report analyzed data from hospitalized Medicare patients. Investigators determined even when mistakes were reported hospitals rarely changed their policies or practices to prevent repeated errors. Hospitals usually claimed that errors were not due to “systemic quality problems”.
The Canadian Patient Safety Institute, a non-profit organization, has created a new website designed to provide the public and health care providers with patient safety information from around the world.
The website is located at www.patientsafetyinstitute.ca
The goal of the website is to provide access to safety advisories, alerts and other resources as well as to allow users to share information to help enhance patient care and protection.
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.
Today the Supreme Court of Canada issued a decision refusing to grant leave (permission) to hear the appeal of a case from Alberta dealing with the issue of standard of care in medical malpractice compensation claims.
The Court of Appeal decision in Nattrass v. Webber reminds us that the practice of medicine is constantly evolving and this may affect the issue of the standard of care.
Four Things You Need to Prove
Summertime is Dangerous in Hospitals
Past studies have shown that teaching hospitals experience higher rates of medical errors. It is referred to as the “July phenomenon” in the U.S. or even more morbidly the “August killing season” in the U.K. The problem has been confirmed to exist in Hospitals in Australia as well.
More Medical Students = More Deaths?
Distractions Cause Nursing Errors
Nurses who are distracted or interrupted during their medical preparation experience higher levels of medical errors.
I have posted before about how overworking causes errors that lead to medical malpractice.
Almost 100,000 Medical Mistakes Each Year in Canada
The Canadian Medical Association has determined that over 87,000 patients in Canada suffer an adverse event (medical error or mistake) each year.
The same study determined that more than 24,000 people die each year due to medical errors.
Why Did You Write The Book?
I get asked that a lot. There’s a ton of work that goes into writing a book about medical malpractice claims. Most books about the topic are written by lawyers, for lawyers, and they are pretty dry reading.
I wanted to write a book that the average person could pick up and read and come away better educated and informed about the medical malpractice claims process and what is involved in filing a medical malpractice claim.
When someone dies unexpectedly, or suffers a serious but unexpected injury, while they are in a hospital or under the care of a doctor, it is human nature to assume that the hospital or doctor must have made a mistake. Many clients come to me and say: “How could this have happened? The doctor must have screwed up!”
We all want to believe that when something really bad happens to good people, someone will be held responsible. But that is not always the case.
Burden of Proof
