By Eric Weitz
If you have ever been to Times Square in the heart of New York City, you understand how a flood of noise, sights and smells overwhelm even the most hardened city dweller. Regardless of the time of day, electronic lights flash messages ranging from benign advertisements to danger warnings intended to protect individuals from harm. […]
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A Republican Congressman out of the 8th District of Pennsylvania, Michael Fitzpatrick, is calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate a number of deaths linked to the use of a popular surgical device for gynecological procedures including hysterectomies and uterine fibroid removals. The congressman is also calling for a criminal investigation […]
Continue readingBy Joe Messa
A hypothetical scenario: An ER physician administers pain medication to an emergency department patient. The physician then discharges the patient without warning them that the pain medicine they ingested seriously impairs their ability to operate a motor vehicle. The patient gets behind the wheel of their vehicle, under the influence of pain medication, and gets […]
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Yesterday, November 3, 2015, Pennsylvania voters went to the polls and elected judges to fill three empty seats on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. It was an historic election for the Commonwealth as this was the first time this many seats have been open on the Supreme Court. Messa & Associates endorsed candidates Christine Donohue, Kevin […]
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Today, we give little thought to a person’s right to his or her medical records since the right of a patient to access such information is firmly established under a law that has existed for almost two decades. This absolute right of access did not always exist, however. Forty years ago, patients in most states […]
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A heater-cooler device used to control the temperature of patient’s blood during cardiopulmonary bypass procedures at WellSpan York Hospital might be to blame in the death of four patients and the infection of at least four others. The device in question is manufactured by Sorin Group, (now LivaNova) a medical devices manufacturer based in Italy. […]
Continue readingEvery day, the lawyers at Messa & Associates evaluate potential cases involving knee and hip replacement surgery. According to research published in The Journal Bone & Joint Surgery, the number of total knee replacements performed annually has doubled over the last decade, with the largest increase among young adults. The Centers for Disease Control and […]
Continue readingBy Eric Weitz
Two-hundred and seventy fathers, mothers, children, brothers, sisters, and friends will die today as a result of medical malpractice and preventable medical errors. The same was true yesterday and will repeat itself tomorrow. As hospitals, physicians, and nurses continue to navigate the changes brought on by the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”); patient safety remains […]
Continue readingBy Joe Messa
Duodenoscopes manufactured by Olympus Corporation (dubbed “superbug scopes”) have recently been blamed for the spread of an antibiotic resistant “superbug” called Carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE) that killed two patients at the UCLA medical center in California. The scopes are used in exploratory endoscopic procedures and investigations have revealed that the scopes’ design, full of grooves and […]
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