Articles Posted in Hospital Negligence

Medical Malpractice related to Cath Lab procedures are on the rise as overuse of Cardiac Stents lead to an increase of deaths linked to this type of procedure.

In a recent article on Bloomberg, Sydney P. Freedberg, describes the shocking extreme the administrators at Satilla Regional Medical Center in Waycross, Georgia went to in order to keep their cath lab operating and producing revenue.

Because of its remote location, the hospital was unable to attract competent cardiovascular surgeons. In order to keep their cath lab running the administrators paid an extravagant salary to a non qualified surgeon, Dr. Azmat whose only experience with cardiac stents was a two weekend course experimenting on cadavers and pigs.

The number of deaths resulting from Medical Errors in Hospitals have been grossly underestimated according to new estimates developed by John T. James, a toxicologist at NASA’s space center in Houston. James runs an advocacy organization called Patient Safety America that he created after his 19 year old son died as a result of medical malpractice in a Texas Hospital.

In 1999, “To Err is Human Report”, estimated the number of deaths resulting from medical errors in hospitals at 98,000. In 2010, The Office of the Inspector General for Health and Human Services said that bad hospital care contributed to the deaths of 180,000 in Medicare patients alone in a given year.

According to the study published in the current issue of “Journal of Patient Safety” these numbers are too low and the true number of premature deaths associated with preventable harm to patients is estimated at more than 400,000 per year.

A 2004 landmark study found that medical interns working a 24-hour shift in ICU committed 36 percent more serious medical errors than when they worked 16 hours. This study started the debate that lead to the creation in 2011 of a new rule that required the maximum allowable shift for medical interns to change from 30 straight hours to 16. This rule created a lot of controversy in the medical world and some recent studies question the real benefit of shorter shifts for interns.

In her new article Sandra G. Boodman from the Washington Post gives a detailed overview of the situation then and now.

The Bronx collaborative, a group of hospital and medical insurers demonstrated in a study that patients who were participating in a special program to manage transition between hospital and home were less likely to be re-admitted to hospitals than patients who received the current standard care.

Medical problems that lead to hospital re-admissions can often be prevented by personal contacts with patients before and after their discharge. Intensive pre-discharge education, post discharge follow up appointment with the physician and phone calls to review medication and discuss concerns are significantly lowering the re-admission rate and improving patient satisfaction.