Valleywide Legal Blog
Physician Conflicts of Interest
One of the very first of the ethical rules promulgated by the American Medical Association requires doctors to place the welfare of the patient ahead of the doctor’s own self-interest or obligations to others. As life grows ever more complicated, … Read More
Some Really Good News About Prostate Cancer
One in nine men will develop prostate cancer during their lifetimes. Most will die of something else. Fewer than 20% will develop the aggressive form of the cancer which is most likely to spread and to kill the patient. Until … Read More
Posted in Cancer, Doctors, General Health, genetic testing, health, Health Care Costs, Infection, medical research, Prostate Cancer, prostate cancer testing, science news | Nursing Homes Can Kill You – Even If You Never Set Foot In One
As the population of the United States ages, more and more of us will find ourselves or our loved ones in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities. There is more and more data to suggest that these facilities are … Read More
Posted in antibiotic resistant bacteria, blood infections, General Health, health, healthy living, Hospitals, Infection, medical research, Nurses, science news, Sepsis | Technology Comes For The Humble Stethoscope.
Two hundred years ago, a Frenchman invented a tube with which he could listen to heart and lung sounds. This was the first stethoscope. Heart disease is one of the major causes of death throughout the world. Often the abnormalities … Read More
Sepsis and Diet.
Sepsis is one of the leading killers in the United States. 1.7 million Americans get sepsis each year. Fully one-third of all patients who die in hospital have sepsis. Sepsis is the body’s response to overwhelming infection. For most of … Read More
The Surgical “Black Box” Revisited.
A little over four years ago, I wrote about a Canadian surgeon who had developed a “black box” to monitor events in the operating room and warn surgeons and nurses if they were deviating from best practices. The goal was … Read More
Posted in disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, Hospital Negligence, Hospitals, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, medical research, Nurses, Secrecy, Surgical Errors | 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
Medical Malpractice and Off-Label Use.
Off-label use is the use of a medication or a medical device for a purpose other than the purpose the Food and Drug Administration has approved for it. Doctors sometimes prescribe a medication originally developed to treat one medical condition … Read More
Posted in Doctors, drug companies, Informed Consent, Lawsuits, Medical Devices, medical errors, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice cases, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, medical research, Medication Errors, Orthopedics, plaintiff, Secrecy | 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 | The Problem With Drug Prices.
There was a good story in the Washington Post earlier this week discussing some of the reasons for our high drug prices. So why are prices so high? Why doesn’t our vaunted free market system drive them lower through competition? While … Read More
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