Medical Malpractice: Over Prescribed

You have to wonder what a doctor is thinking when he or she over prescribes medications to his or her patients.

Have we as patients become so intolerant of a little discomfort that we need a pill to aid indigestion, headaches, or a hang nail?

Poor actress Brittany Murphy, if she weighed 100 pounds, she was lucky. All photos of her practically reveal skin-and-bones with big eyes and a bigger grin.

Who would ever guess that her medicine cabinet overflowed with a bevy of medications?

According to this article, she was taking:

• anti-seizure meds, also to prevent migraines
• anti-inflammatory
• depression med
• anxiety med
• treats diabetic symptoms and is also a bipolar med
• anxiety med
• pain reliever
• hypertension, used to prevent heart attacks
  
• antibiotic
• pain med
• and miscellaneous vitamins.

Was she taking all of these at the same time? Was her doctor aware of the drug interactions? Did one doctor prescribe them all? Did one pharmacy supply them all?

So many questions for such a beautiful, talented actress who sadly has had her last encore.

Pennsylvania Patient Safety

Pennsylvania registered nurses can receive continuing education hours by reading Patient Safety Advisory articles that are posted on the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association web site.

PA state law requires registered nurses to have 30 hours of continuing education every two years for license renewal. The Patient Safety Advisory has a wealth of clinical information and improvement strategies based upon actual events occurring in Pennsylvania's healthcare facilities.

RNs who are members of Pennsylvania State Nursing Association can obtain the hours for free through the web site while non-members must pay a nominal fee to the nurses association.

The Authority also has partnered with the Pennsylvania Medical Society to offer continuing education credits to physicians through the Pennsylvania Medical Society's web site. Currently, the Patient Safety Authority is working with the medical society to offer a catalog of issues for physicians to tailor their continuing education credits to their specialty or field of interest.

Should doctors and nurses just be able to read articles for continuing education credits?

Dirty Little Secret at Veterans Administration

A 50-something Army veteran goes to the hospital for a colonoscopy; a year later he learned the Veteran Administration failed to properly sterlize the equipment. Then he finds out he's infected with HIV.

He's not alone.

Seven other patients tested for HIV, 12 for hepatitis B, and 37 for hepatitis C.

The sterilization problem affects the Tennessee Veterans Administration (VA) and thousands of veterans who had endoscopic procedures may be exposed in three Tenn. facilities.

A Nashville attorney is preparing to file claims on behalf of a dozen veterans who have contracted hepatitis B or C, as well as 50 to 60 emotional-distress claims from veterans and family members.

The sterilization problem came to the light of day when officials at the VA Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn., learned that workers were sanitizing endoscopy equipment at the end of the day instead of after each procedure. The manufacturer of the equipment recommends a cleaning after each use.

The VA announced that patients who underwent endoscopic procedures in Murfreesboro from April 2003 to December 2008; in Augusta, Ga., from January 2008 to November 2008; and in Miami from May 2004 to March of this year may have been exposed to cross-contamination.

Bilirubin Test May Defuse Jaundice Brain Injury

When a 3-day-old infant developed jaundice, a doctor told the parents not to worry.

The doctor was wrong.

The infant's bulirubin spiked which in turn affected her brain. A simple bilirubin test could've prevented this child's brain damage.

Using a bilirubin test, doctors can catch high bilirubin levels early. Lowering these levels may involve simple phototherapy which transforms the toxic version of bilirubin into a nontoxic form that the body can easily eliminate.

In severe cases, babies can receive blood transfusions to get rid of the bilirubin before it has a chance to damage their brains. The child is unable to move normally, but her mental faculties remain unaffected.

Medical Malpractice: Failure to Diagnose

A college student and her family are suing Ohio University for medical negligence because she went to the health center three times in 12 hours and they failed to properly diagnose her condition. She was suffering from necrotizing fasciitis but was diagnosed with throat inflammation and muscle strain.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a flesh-eating disease caused by flesh-eating bacteria like MRSA.


Later that day, her parents took her to an Athens hospital and she was transferred to a Columbus hospital where she underwent surgery. The lawsuit claims that a proper diagnosis may have averted the need to amputate her right arm and shoulder.

Medical Malpractice Insurance Co. Not Paying

Imagine if you came up against a malpractice insurance company that said it couldn't cover its damages! This is precisely what is happening to the hapless people that have suffered due to the hand of a certain Dr. Stark. These people didn't just suffer physical trauma - they lost their loved ones because of Dr. Stark's illegal practices. And now, they could be left with nothing.

Dr. Stark gained notoriety when it was found that five of his patients had died. The reason points right back at the doctor, who illegally prescribed painkillers to a number of patients. Reports say that he may have doled out these drugs to as many as 80 people every day. He has been charged with eighteen counts, including conspiracy and distributing drugs outside the bounds of medical practice resulting in death. And now, the medical malpractice insurance company says it can't pay the damages.

This is incredibly difficult, particularly for the families of Thaison Roark and Brandon Scott. Both men died at the hands of Dr. Stark and hadn't even reached 35 years of age, with Roark only being 20 when he passed away. Now their families are being denied their damages because the medical malpractice insurance company says it doesn't provide for acts that are in violation of the law. This is in spite of the fact that a former employee of Stack has not only pleaded guilty to conspiracy, but has also agreed to testify against Stack!

Unfortunately, this looks like yet another case of the patients losing twice over.

Hospital CEOs and Hospital Care

Hospitals. The best thing you can do is avoid them if possible. Once thought to be the beacon of goodness and kind deads -- now are frequently fraught with rampant infection, a lack of competent staff or understaffed, and managed by CEOs that put profits over people and care.

Read the article, "10 Things Hospital CEOs Don't Want you to Know", nod your head, and find a lawyer if medical malpractice has happened to you or a family member. You are not alone in this regard.