Category Archives for "Patient Safety"

Preventable medical errors kill 200k people a year in the US

By Joe Messa

An article in the March edition of the Journal of Patient Safety discussed medical error related deaths in the US, citing the leading causes to be highly preventable occurences including pressure ulcers (bedsores), hospital-acquired infections, blood clots (embolism), surgical errors, and misdiagnosis. One of the article’s contributors, Dr. Kevin T. Kavanagh, commented, “Our utmost concern […]

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Nurse Sues Cooper University Health Care After MRSA Outbreak

By Joe Messa

A former Cooper University Health Care nurse has filed a lawsuit in Middlesex County against Cooper, alleging wrongful termination and medical malpractice. The nurse, Catherine Tanksley-Bowe, Ph.D, was employed by Cooper for only one month in 2016. During the time of her employment, there was an outbreak of drug resistant MRSA in the neonatal intensive […]

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Guest Post: Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney, Tom Sweeney, Discusses the Myth of the Worker’s Compensation “Doctor”

By Thomas Sweeney

We are all conditioned to believe that when we see a doctor, that doctor is there to help us, heal us, and has our best interests at heart.  Doctors are supposed to follow the Hippocratic Oath which is, “first do no harm.”  Yet, there are many doctors who do not uphold their Hippocratic Oath. There […]

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Study Finds Correlation Between Medical Malpractice and Personality Traits

By Joe Messa

A recent study reported by the New England Journal of Medicine linked certain personality traits (or lack thereof) in physicians to increased medical malpractice claims. The Journal utilized data from the The National Practitioner’s Data Bank (NPDB) for medical malpractice claims paid against physicians between 2005 and 2014; 66,246 claims paid against 54,099 doctors. The […]

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Medical Malpractice Third Leading Cause of Death in US according to BMJ study

By Joe Messa

Patient safety researchers have concluded that today, medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind only heart disease and cancer. Martin Makary, a surgical professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, led a research team that determined that medical errors, including everything from bad doctors to systemic […]

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Guest Post: The effect of hospital distractions on patient safety

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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Medical Device Blamed for the Spread of Cancer in Women

By Joe Messa

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 […]

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Drug Tampering Causes Possible HIV and Hepatitis Exposure at Jersey Shore Hospital

By Joe Messa

Shore Medical Center in Somers Point, NJ has notified 213 patients by mail that they may have been exposed to HIV and/or hepatitis B/C due to employee drug tampering. An investigation is currently underway at the South Jersey hospital, assisted by the New Jersey Department of Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control […]

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NY Court of Appeals Rules Third Party CAN Sue for Medical Malpractice

By 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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