On Wednesday, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act--dubbed "FOSTA" for short--was signed into law. The law is intended to bolster accountability among websites that--directly or indirectly--facilitate sex trafficking.The impetus The new...
Detroit Medical Malpractice Law Blog
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...
How willful blindness enables child abuse
Imagine you're a 12-year-old competitive gymnast. Six days a week, you wake up at 6:00 a.m. and head to the gym for practice. Your coach trains you hard for five hours--pushing you to your limits and shouting at you whenever you make a mistake. If you get injured,...
Could a routine urine test leave you bankrupt?
It may sound like an absurd idea. You go to the doctor for a routine exam, and he orders a urine lab. You pee into a cup and are on your merry way. A couple weeks later, you get a bill in the mail that is so exorbitant, it could run you into the ground.This is exactly...
Whom should we blame for the opioid crisis?
Imagine your mother suffered from chronic migraines. She tried everything to treat them—over-the-counter medication, acupuncture, physical therapy—but nothing seemed to work. Nearly every day of her life was filled with incapacitating pain. Finally she...
Parents need to advocate for their newborns in intensive care
Many different conditions can lead to a baby having to spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit. These specialized units can take care of the tiniest newborns, some of whom have serious health concerns. As a parent of a baby in the NICU, you have to be your...
How the Larry Nassar case could spark institutional change
The catalyst of the #metoo movement, Larry Nassar’s trial has been one of the most followed cases of criminal sexual conduct in recent history. A renowned sports medicine doctor for Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics, Nassar was accused of sexually...
Lung cancer diagnosis proves to be toy inhaled decades earlier
When a 47-year-old man suffering from respiratory problems—excessive mucous and unmanageable coughing—sought medical treatment recently, doctors performed an X-ray revealing a black mass in his lung. They drew the most obvious conclusion from the results:...
Tobramycin: Powerful drug with serious side effects
Tobramycin is a powerful antibiotic useful in many medical cases. Often used in patients with cystic fibrosis, this antibiotic is only appropriate in specific circumstances. Physicians must carefully consider all options when a patient needs antibiotics because there...
Premature rupture of the membranes is a scary event
Even though many pregnant women are ready to meet that little bundle of joy from the second the pregnancy is discovered, these women still want to have a full term baby. A normal pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, but a woman is considered full term when she is 37 weeks...