Many surgeries use machines to assist the surgeons who are performing the procedure. While this is a good thing in most instances since machines aren't as likely to make mistakes as humans, there is still a chance that errors will be made.One thing that patients must...
Surgery Errors
Surgical site infections can lead to more invasive procedures
Having surgery can be an ordeal. Worry. Anesthesia. A lengthy healing process. In addition to the immediate danger of surgery, there can be risks afterward, too.One of the risks that comes with any surgical procedure is an infection of the surgical site. These can be...
Surgery centers: For profit or for patients?
Back in 1970, the first surgery center that wasn't in a hospital opened in Phoenix, Arizona. The pioneers who opened the center had a good thought, or so it seemed at the time. Medicare seemed to appreciate the fact that minor surgeries were much less expensive at...
Eye Surgeon Pays $1.4M To Settle Unnecessary Surgery Lawsuit
An ophthalmologist recently agreed to pay the federal government $1.4 million to settle a lawsuit against him concerning the False Claims Act. The federal government alleges that Dr. John Arthur Kiely performed unnecessary surgeries on Medicare and Medicaid patients...
How Are Surgical Patients Exposed To Incurable Brain Disease?
Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD) is an untreatable brain disease affecting one in one million people each year. It is thankful that CJD is rare, because it is often regarded as the human version of "mad cow" disease, quickly transforming healthy brain proteins into...
Study: Anesthesia Drug Ketamine Harms Children’s Brain Activity
Ketamine is a commonly used anesthetic in pediatric operations, but it may be doing serious damage to young patients. According to a study published in Science Daily, children under age 3 who had lengthy exposure to ketamine during surgery displayed memory problems,...
Surgeon’s delay caused woman lifelong disorder; jury awards $1.5M
After roughly eight years, an Indiana woman's medical malpractice claim has finally been resolved via a favorable jury verdict. The $1.5 million jury award is bittersweet; however, because the woman's suffering will continue throughout her lifetime.In 2003, a...