The best way to reduce medical malpractice lawsuits is to reduce the amount of malpractice. Sounds obvious but up to now, more attention has been placed on limiting the number of malpractice claims and the amount that can be awarded to victims of malpractice. Placing limits on the amount that a jury can award a [...]
A delay in diagnosis of prostate cancer can mean the difference between life and death. For a real world example of how this works, look to the case of Warren Buffet, the third richest man in the world. Buffett was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer during a routine PSA screening test. But the news wasn't all bad. Because [...]
Two common types of Ohio medical malpractice claims arise out of delays in treating aortic abdominal aneurysms (AAAs): failure to perform a AAA repair in the face of a growing aneurysm and failure to emergently diagnose and treat a symptomatic AAA. AAAs are part of a broader category of thoracic aortic disease (TAD), which also includes [...]
Communication errors in the setting of a doctor's office, nursing home or hospital can lead to devastating, yet preventable medical errors. Despite all the talk about changes being made in the healthcare field to improve patient safety, the medical-legal team at Mishkind Kulwicki Law continues to see medical errors due to communication deficits on an [...]
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine confirms that CT angiography is effective in ruling out acute coronary syndromes, such as heart attack (also called myocardial infarction or MI). The test allows emergency physicians to safely discharge low to intermediate risk patients suspected of a potential heart attack in most cases. Delays [...]
One common type of medical negligence in Ohio involves a delay in diagnosis of an impending or early heart attack. Young people and women are particularly prone to misdiagnosis as physicians remain biased that this is a disease of smokers or older, overweight males. To combat these diagnostic biases, and the often fatal outcomes that come [...]
Findings from a European study on the effects of screening for prostate cancer show that screening results in a 21% reduction in the risk of dying from prostate cancer. The European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) analyzed data from 162,000 men in a comprehensive and well-designed study. In stark terms, the improved survival equates to saving [...]
Cervical cancer is a progressive disease that is fatal if left untreated and undiagnosed. As with most cancers, early detection of cervical cancer saves lives. However, medical negligence cases involving a delay in diagnosis of cervical cancer continue to occur. Often, the opportunity to catch cervical cancer in its earliest stages, when it is most treatable and [...]
A recent study showed that the number of breast cancers detected by mammography doubled between 1990 and 2008 in women ages 40-49. Moreover, the study, Malmberg JA, et al "Impact of mammography detection on the course of breast cancer in women aged 40 to 49 years" Radiology 2012; 262: 797-806., showed that mammography-detected breast cancer in this [...]
The American Cancer Society has long recognized that colonoscopy is an important tool for screening patients for colorectal cancer and also a treatment tool when precancerous polyps are detected. A recent study confirms the effectiveness of colonoscopy for treatment: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1100370. This study shows that polypectomy (removal of precancerous polyps using a colonoscope) prevents polyps from progressing [...]