Pittsburgh Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

A recent article by the Patient Safety Authority of Pennsylvania cited improper patient weight before giving out medication or anesthesia as a common error made by hospitals.

Too often when patients present to the ER, nurses and physicians fail to get an accurate patient weight.  Even though it is fairly simple to do, this critical fact is too often ignored, leading medical personnel to estimate a patient's weight.  One of the most frequent and tragic consequences of the practice of "guestimating" weight is a medication error.  Most medications, particularly those intended to regulate the heart, prevent clots, or anesthetize patients are dosed according to weight.  That is why it is absolutely imperative for a weight to be taken and recorded.

We have reviewed and represented individuals who experienced serious adverse events due to medication errors.  Children and the elderly are the patient populations most frequently impacted by this preventable error.  (See the article by the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Advisory).

 If you or a loved one has developed unanticipated complications after receiving anesthesia or other medications, you may want to have your medical records reviewed by an attorney who focuses on medical malpractice.  Not every bad result is caused by medical malpractice, but until you have your medical records reviewed by an attorney with a medical background you may never know if your result was caused by negligence.

In a report released today in the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Advisory, researchers with the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority found that diagnostic errors in hospitals caused about two times as many "adverse events" as medication errors.

The PA Patient Safety Authority defines diagnostic error as "a diagnosis that is missed, incorrect, or delayed as detected by a subsequent definitive test or finding."

Such errors include misdiagnosis following a heart attack or stroke and delayed diagnosis of breast cancer. Such errors frequently result in ill effects for the patient and, therefore, the report seems pertinent as more light is shined on the role hospitals have to play in preventing medical malpractice.

In 2005, a mere six states required HAI (hospital-acquired infection) reporting. Today, 27 states have adopted laws requiring hospitals and nursing homes to report instances of infection involving patients. Pennsylvania was one of the first states to recognize the importance of such reporting and adopted the practice in 2007.

There are a lot of reasons to make a priority out of HAI reporting:

1. Hospital-acquired infections kill thousands of patients every year.
2. Many times the product of hospital negligence or oversight, at least one-third of these infections are completely preventable.
3. Hospital-acquired infections cost hospitals money. It also raises healthcare costs.
4. Finding a way to lower consumer healthcare costs has been an issue for years across the country.

For 11 years, the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI) has worked hard to improve patient safety in southwestern Pennsylvania. Taking the stance that good healthcare should be a local initiative and not just a federal one, doctors, community leaders and others have come together to decrease hospital negligence and medical errors.

Despite their local focus, PRHI has not given up on pushing for improving oversight at a national level. Just last year, the group threw its support behind the creation of a "federal patient-safety agency." They're not the only ones at the table, but they are one of the first and Pennsylvania has plenty of reason to be proud of these trailblazers for improved healthcare.

Improving health and safety standards in hospitals is in the forefront of many minds, or should be, this month. A study on healthcare spending, released this year, showed that a whopping 25 percent of costs were associated with completely preventable medical errors.

In Nevada, and 30 other states, medical malpractice caps limit the amount of money a hospital and doctors will be forced to pay out in non-economic damages. One of the most contentious topics at play in the healthcare debate, med mal caps have been touted by opposing sides as both necessary and egregious.

Since the caps mostly limit non-economic payouts, cases involving victims such as children and the elderly - those who are not making much money, if any - usually see relatively minuscule payouts.

While physicians have argued that such caps are necessary to keep doctors in-state and keep healthcare costs down, there has been surprisingly little evidence that such caps save much money at all. In California, where malpractice caps have existed for years, healthcare costs are higher than ever.

Earlier this month, the Nevada Supreme Court asked opposing sides in a malpractice lawsuit to file briefs in a case that challenges the state's $350,000 cap on non-economic damages.

Medical malpractice is in the hot seat again this week on the Pittsburgh Medical Malpractice Blog.

As discussed last week, roughly 25 percent of America's healthcare costs arise from completely preventable medical errors. This number is based on empirical research, hard data collected by the hospitals themselves.

The problem is that, many times, injured patients have to go to court and force a confession, or at least prompt a settlement. Another study, covered here, showed a huge percentage of doctors unwilling to confront or report other physicians for perceived ineptitude or demonstrated incompetence. (See: Hospital Negligence and Error? Not Your Physician's Problem)

In the rush to avoid blame or be perceived as a bad doctor, it seems that many have forgotten the simple power of an apology. Yes, there's a study to back that up too.

Could Tylenol use increase your child's chance of developing asthma? A study by Dr. Richard Beasley, from the Medical Research Institute or New Zealand, seems to point towards that conclusion, though more focused studies will likely be necessary before a definitive yea or nay can be produced.

The study involved more than 300,000 children between the ages of 13 and 14-years-old, from countries all over the world. Each was questioned as to his or her use of acetaminophen (paracetamol outside of the U.S.) and then had medical history and complications taken into account.

Beasley found what he described as a "significant association" between the pain reliever and development of asthma. In fact, if the results are accurate, then the use of drugs like Tylenol may raise the risk of Asthma by 50 percent.

These youth were also found to be at a higher risk for eczema, a skin disorder, and nasal allergies.

The Society of Actuaries recently released the results of a study aimed at uncovering the total cost of preventable medical errors, nationwide. The results were incredible.

In 2008, medical errors cost the United States' economy an estimated $19.5 billion, and that is only the cost of medical errors that were measurable. In the same year, these preventable medical errors constituted a full 25 percent of costs associated with medical injuries and malpractice.

In nearly every healthcare debate, injured patients and grieving families are blamed for current healthcare costs. Medical malpractice lawsuits are railed against and reward caps are proposed as a one-size-fits-all solution.

Still, "87 percent of actuaries believe that reducing medical errors is an effective way to control healthcare cost trends for the commercial population, and 88 percent believe this to be true for the Medicare population."