A federal database designed to help Americans better track the performance of physicians contains so many accuracies that it cannot be considered reliable. The database, which is run by the federal Centers for Medicine for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is supposed...
Medical Malpractice
Patients seek relief in cases against unethical Michigan doctor, P.2
Last time, we spoke about the conviction of former hematologist and oncologist Farid Fata in Michigan for defrauding patients. As we noted, Fata is facing potential civil liability for his misdeeds, but plaintiffs do face challenges in seeking relief from the...
Patients seek relief in cases against unethical Michigan doctor, P.1
When we talk about medical malpractice on this blog and in general, we are very often speaking about decent doctors who, for one reason or another, had a lapse of judgment and made a mistake that ended up harming a patient. In some medical malpractice cases, a...
Transparency in health care and patient compensation
A recent article on the blog Health Affairs made an important point about the current situation with the health care system when it comes to dealing with medical errors: transparency can significantly improve the outcome of cases in which medical errors occur, even...
Patient engagement doesn’t negate physicians’ responsibility
Increasingly, health systems across the United States are moving toward an approach which aims to increase patients' involvement in their own care. The idea is that patients who take ownership of their treatment through deeper engagement can help improve their own...
When doctors fail to recommend cancer screening
We've been talking about cancer screening in our last couple posts--the risks, the benefits, and the potential for doctors to make the mistake of failing to recommend cancer screening. The latter issue is an important one, of course, because doctors have a huge...
Screening for cervical cancer: guidelines are only guidelines, P.2
In our last post, we spoke briefly about new guidelines released by the American College of Physicians that govern when health care providers should order screening for cervical cancer. The guidelines are an attempt to balance the risks associated with cancer...
Screening for cervical cancer: guidelines are only guidelines, P.1
Cervical cancer, like other forms of cancer, is best treated when physicians are able to identify it early on and begin appropriate treatment as soon as possible. The presence of cervical cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, is typically first determined...
Electronic records no guarantee against error
More and more businesses and industries, in an effort to cut costs and streamline operations have been turning to electronic record-keeping in recent years. In the field of health care, the use of electronic health records is becoming a widespread trend, with many in...
Off-label drug prescriptions and medical malpractice liability
We began speaking in our last post about litigation that has been initiated against GlaxoSmithKline in connection with Zofran. As we noted, the lawsuits accuse the manufacturer of failing to warn patients about the risks the drug presents for pregnant women, which...