New doubts cast on a key safety tool: police roadside alcohol-testing devices

November 12, 2019

Although drunk drivers inflict terrible carnage on others traveling on the nation’s streets and highways, law enforcement agencies and skeevy device makers may be unwinding the trust in what has become a cornerstone of the nation’s safety regimes: roadside alcohol testing machines. The New York Times reported that it “interviewed more than 100 lawyers, scientists, executives and police officers and reviewed tens of thousands of pages of court records, corporate filings, confidential emails and…

DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog

Hospital tries to stick ER nurse with $1 million in debt for her preemie’s care

By Patrick A. Malone

November 10, 2019

It’s the price and cost problem, stupid. That’s a fictitious but new tattoo that voters might want politicians to take up as they consider the many major problems with the American health care system, especially as yet more medical billing outrages surface. Marshall Allen, a reporter for ProPublica, the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative site, posted about a doozy: It’s about almost $1 million in charges that a hospital group sought to saddle a new mom with…

DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog

‘Any One of Us’ shows harsh realities and hope for spinal cord injury patients

By Patrick A. Malone

November 7, 2019

[embedded content] Extreme sports may be to blame. Or it might be a falling tree, an error with a surgery, or an auto wreck. As the title of the tough, direct, and new HBO documentary makes clear, “Any One of Us” might suffer from a calamitous spinal cord injury (SCI). The 1-hour and 25-minute work by first-time director Fernando Villena focuses on pro mountain biker Paul Basagoitia but is carried by a “chorus” of 17 women…

DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog

Heart failure deaths spike as nation ages and diabetes and obesity abound

By Patrick A. Malone

November 6, 2019

Although many Americans fret that old age will afflict them with cognitive impairment, from Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, it may be that their hearts will give way first. Experts have expressed growing concern about increasing issues with rises in heart disease, especially in the elderly, and a new study appearing in the online medical journal “JAMA Cardiology” provides explanation why these fears are well-founded: After a period of decline, deaths due…

DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog

Secrecy in drug and medical device lawsuits can imperil patients, experts say

By Patrick A. Malone

November 4, 2019

The civil justice system, by regularly closing off and keeping secret key parts of lawsuits involving medical devices and prescription drugs, may contribute to patients’ serious injuries and deaths, according to a “special communication” published in a noted medical journal. The online article in JAMA Internal Medicine argues for greater transparency and disclosures, with a table of examples that includes how: With the Prempro hormone therapy drug for women, the “Manufacturer hired vendors to…

DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog

Raging wildfires and major power shutoffs: Big tests in Calif. raise questions for the rest of us

By Patrick A. Malone

November 3, 2019

California’s raging wildfires may seem a far coast away, and this seasonal calamity attracts little attention among policy makers in official Washington. But the fires are sending sharp warnings that the rest of the nation might well heed. The disasters have uprooted hundreds of thousands, destroyed dozens of homes and other buildings, and led to shutoffs of a basic service — electricity — to huge swaths of the nation’s most populous state. They also raise…

DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog

Too many spoons full of sugar going down in kids’ drinks

By Patrick A. Malone

November 1, 2019

Grownups shouldn’t be surprised that child obesity is a major and rising concern for 1 in 5 of the nation’s young, putting their short- and long-term health at serious peril: That’s because Big Sugar and major food makers persist in a costly, relentless barrage on kids and adults for unhealthful products, notably sweet drinks that hook children into hard-to-break habits for a lifetime. Although pediatricians and nutrition experts keep warning that babies and tots,…

DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog

For patients, a glimpse into data on the quality and safety of surgery centers

By Patrick A. Malone

October 30, 2019

They may be more appealing and convenient because they’re located in the neighborhood with better hours and more parking. They also may be less costly because they lack the high overheard of big hospitals. But those booming same-day surgery centers have patient safety issues of their own. Their doctors and nurses may not be as well-trained as patients might find at big hospitals or academic medical centers, with 1 in 3 centers not having…

DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog