Valleywide Legal Blog

Doctor Conflicts of Interest Are Getting Worse.

“Under no circumstances may physicians place their own financial interests above the welfare of their patients.”  American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics Opinion 11.2.2. Doctors rightly occupy a privileged position in our society.  We entrust them with our bodies, … Read More

Posted in Doctors, drug companies, Fee for Service, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Hip Replacement, Hospitals, joint replacement, Medical Costs, Medical Devices, medical ethics, Medicare, Plastic Surgery, PODS, Prostate Cancer, Secrecy |

Wrong Site Surgeries.

Wrong site surgeries are in the news again.  Wrong site surgery occurs when a surgeon operates on a part of the body that was not intended to be the target of the surgery.  While most cases of wrong site surgery … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Hip Replacement, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, joint replacement, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, never events, Nurses, Surgical Errors |

Physician Conflicts of Interest

Physicians occupy a special place in our society.  They are respected and honored.  They are often well-compensated for their efforts.  We trust our doctors.  Very few patients ever think that the doctor who is recommending surgery or a particular treatment … Read More

Posted in Doctors, drug companies, Fee for Service, Fraud, health, Health Care Costs, Hip Replacement, Hospitals, joint replacement, Medical Devices, medical ethics, Orthopedics, PODS, Secrecy |

Hip Replacements.

One consequence of our lengthening life spans is that we are wearing out our original equipment.  Our knees and hips were not intended to last 60 or 70 years.  They certainly weren’t intended to support the heavy bodies so many … Read More

Posted in Arizona Medical Board, Blood Clots, blood infections, Board Certification, Doctors, heart attack, Hip Replacement, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Infection, joint replacement, Medical Devices, Medicare, Nurses, Obesity, Orthopedics, Pulmonary Embolism, Sepsis, Surgical Errors |

You Are Being Operated On, Do You Know Where Your Surgeon Is?

A recent story about a Syracuse, New York orthopedic surgeon casts light on a practice that will likely come as a shock to most patients.  The surgeon is accused of botching a hip replacement in which his patient allegedly suffered … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, Fraud, Hip Replacement, Informed Consent, joint replacement, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice cases, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Orthopedics, Surgical Errors, Verdicts |

Even Hospitals Don’t Know What Surgery Costs.

In August I wrote a post about why our health care costs keep going up and up and up.  We don’t dictate pricing to hospitals, we rely on the market to set a fair price using supply and demand.  Hospital consolidation, … Read More

Posted in Fee for Service, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Hospitals, joint replacement, Medical Costs, Secrecy |

Hospitals – Ask Before You Go.

I have written often about the importance of being an informed consumer of medical treatment.  As we become more connected, more and more information becomes available to consumers to identify doctors with questionable histories and hospitals with less than stellar … Read More

Posted in healthy living, heart attack, Heart Attacks, Hip Replacement, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, joint replacement, medical errors, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Medicare, Nurses, Stroke |

Joint Replacement Becoming More Prevalent

A recent article in my local paper discussed the rising number of joint replacement surgeries in the United States.  Nationally, close to 1.2 million knee and hip surgeries are performed annually.  That number is expected to increase to 3.4 million over the … Read More

Posted in Health Care Costs, joint replacement, Medical Malpractice, Orthopedics | Tagged , , |