There are two scenarios where a cause of death may be reviewed under Ohio law. First, an attending physician who negligently causes his/her patient's death may be the same physician who prepares the Death Certificate. In such a situation, the attending physician has an obvious conflict of interest. The patient's family may want an independent physician [...]
The Ohio Senate passed legislation on Tuesday designed to protect children who sustain a concussion during a sporting event. The legislation was proposed by Akron's Childrens Hospital and other medical groups in response to increasing awareness about the potentially serious long-term effects of concussions and post-concussion syndrome. The legislation contains an eduction component aimed at [...]
Most nursing home and hospital beds come equipped with adjustable bed rails, which can be put up to prevent patients from falling out of bed. However, poor design or misuse of bed rails can lead to injury or death, according to this article in the New York Times. According to the article, about 150 deaths occurred [...]
Patients fall in the nursing home and hospital frequently. According to published statistics, 2% of all hospital admissions are complicated by injuries from falls. The risk of falls is higher in nursing homes and hospital due to patients being weak, elderly or infirm or due to the use of medications. Nursing care plans should include a fall [...]
(...following is a continued discussion about proving damages in brain injury and stroke cases...) Once a brain injury is suspected, it is important to gather information from the client, the client's family, accident-related records (like an incident report or police report), and the client's medical records. These sources offer important clues about the severity of [...]
Ohio Surgical errors occur on a regular basis. Why did the surgery fail? Why did the patient die? Why has recovery following the surgery taken so very long? Why was a foreign object left behind? WHY ISN'T ANYONE EXPLAINING TO ME WHAT WENT WRONG? Behind the wall of silence in healthcare are the unanswered questions [...]
Proving damages in brain injury and stroke cases is very challenging because the injury is often "hidden." Unlike a wrongful death claim or a case involving obvious physical injuries, brain damage from trauma or stroke can result in purely cognitive changes that are difficult to show, especially when the damage cannot be reproduced on MRI, [...]
Hospital negligence comes in various shapes and sizes. A clear case of medical negligence occurs when a doctor orders a test but the test is never performed or the results go unread, and the patient dies or is injured as a result of the missed test result. The Archives of Internal Medicine recently published an article showing that physicians [...]
For patients, the intensive care unit (ICU) is a medical refuge where a team of critical care nurses, critical care physicians and other highly trained and experienced caregivers provide constant bedside care to the sickest patients. The care in ICUs is becoming more technical such that specialized ICUs are now cropping up, such as the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for newborns, the [...]
The next time someone complains about escalating malpractice premiums driving doctors out of business, following is some pertinent information. This argument is often used by Big Insurance and its front organizations, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to promote unneeded "tort reform" legislation. In truth, premiums are falling and the number of U.S. doctors continues to rise. The National [...]