Valleywide Legal Blog

“The Computer Will See You Now.”

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the world and medicine is one of the areas in which it is changing things rapidly with much more to come. Dr. Eric Topol wears many hats.  He is a cardiologist, a professor of genomics, director … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Health Care Costs, Hospitals, medical charts, Medical Costs, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Medication Errors, science news, Secrecy |

Arizona Hospitals Busted by Medicare for Patient Safety Lapses.

I am not the only one who believes that there are patient safety problems at Arizona hospitals.  Medicare has announced that it is penalizing 15 Arizona hospitals for high rates of infection and patient safety issues.  The Arizona 15 are … Read More

Posted in General Health, health, Health Care Costs, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Infection, Medical Costs, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, Medicare, Sepsis |

Jury Awards $14 Million in Malpractice Case.

Here is another large malpractice award that sounds excessive but is probably not.  The facts, as they almost always are in these cases, are sad. A twelve-year-old girl underwent a heart transplant in 2007 at a Seattle children’s hospital.  In … Read More

Posted in Blood Clots, Doctors, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Lawsuits, Medical Costs, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Case Value, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Secrecy, Stroke, Surgical Errors, Valuing Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases, Verdicts |

Incidence of Malpractice in Long-Term-Care Hospitals.

Unbiased information about medical malpractice is often hard to come by.  As I have discussed from time to time, there is a veil of secrecy that surrounds malpractice events and claims.  Doctors and hospitals don’t want to admit they make … Read More

Posted in disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, health, Health Care Costs, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, Medical Costs, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Medicare, Medication Errors, Nurses, Secrecy |

Drug Costs Continue To Soar.

I have often written about the fact that drug prices in the United States are a disgrace.  See here and here.  We pay more for the same drugs than anyone else in the world.  A recent article in the New … Read More

Posted in drug companies, General Health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Medical Costs, medical research, Medicare |

Never Underestimate The Corrosive Effect Of Money

When I look back on past blog posts, I am surprised at the number of times money is involved in whatever bad thing I am writing about.  Doctors, people to whom we entrust our lives and those of our family, … Read More

Posted in Defensive Medicine, Doctors, drug companies, Fee for Service, Fraud, Health Care Costs, Medical Costs, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, Medicare, Secrecy, tort reform |

Malpractice Myths Don’t Match The Facts.

Last week I wrote about a study which examined over 20 years of reports to the National Practitioners Data Bank about payments made on behalf of doctors to resolve medical malpractice claims.  I discussed the study findings about the most … Read More

Posted in disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, Health Care Costs, Lawsuits, Malpractice caps, Malpractice costs, Medical Costs, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice cases, medical malpractice damages caps, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, medical research, plaintiff, Secrecy, tort reform |

Happy New Year – Big Pharma Is Raising Drug Prices Again And People Are Dying As A Result.

The price of drugs has been going up and up for the last 20 years as the big drug companies have raised prices over and over again for no reason other than a desire for record profits.  No one in … Read More

Posted in drug companies, General Health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, healthy living, Medical Costs, medical ethics, Pharmacies, Rationing |

You Are “Leakage.”

Health care costs go up and up.  Hospital chains get larger and larger by purchasing the practices of local doctors.  These two trends are related. One of the main reasons hospitals purchase the practices of local doctors is to create … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, Health Care Costs, Hospitals, Medical Costs, medical ethics, Secrecy |

Generic Drug Price Fixing.

“Generic” is the name given to drugs that are not protected by patents.  Anyone can make a generic drug.  Because they are not protected by patents, it is anticipated that competition will drive down the prices of generic drugs to … Read More

Posted in drug companies, Fraud, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Lawsuits, Medical Costs, Medicare, Secrecy |