New York Medical Malpractice

Unfortunately, diabetes is on the rise. Health News points out:

The constant bombardment by the media (and our parents) about the benefits of healthy food and exercise seems to be falling on deaf ears, as Americans’ incidence of diabetes continues to rise. While not all diabetes can be prevented or controlled through diet or exercise, it certainly could help a good portion of the 3 million Americans who became a diabetic within the last two years, increasing the national total to an estimated 24 million people. According to information just released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this accounts for nearly 8 percent of the American population.

If that’s not enough bad news, there are two more whammies coming our way: (1) another 57 million people are estimated to have pre-diabetes, which is a condition that causes an increased risk for diabetes, and (2) about 25 percent of the people who have the disease are not aware of it (although this percentage has decreased 5 percent over the past two years).

Hopefully, with decisive action, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) can take decisive action to prevent the future rise in diabetes.

Should doctors be able to practice while under investigation for medical malpractice. Some say yes, others strongly disagree. New York Newsday points out:

Gov. David A. Paterson’s measures aimed at improving patient safety and putting more teeth into physician discipline drew a mixed reaction yesterday from experts in health care and the legal profession.

During his news briefing yesterday, Paterson alluded to Dr. Harvey Finkelstein, the Long Island physician caught in controversy after more than 10,000 of his patients were notified they might have been exposed to hepatitis C, B and HIV.

Under the governor’s plan, physicians would not be able to practice while an investigation is under way. But that denies doctors the right of due process, said Dr. Melissa Palmer, a liver specialist in Plainview who evaluated dozens of Finkelstein’s patients for liver disease. “What happened to innocent until proven guilty?” she said yesterday.

“Don’t get me wrong, I think all doctors should be using universal precautions,” she said of guidelines to prevent the transmission of communicable infections in health care settings. “But until they’re actually proven 100 percent guilty, they should not be forced from practice.”

While this is a measure to protect the public, does this go too far in taking away doctor’s rights? You decide. Please voice your opinion, and leave a comment.

A new safety bill in New York increases accountability for those who suffer medical malpractice. NY Newsday documents:

Most doctors charged with misconduct by the state Health Department will have their names made public and all will have just one day to produce office records demanded by investigators under a wide-ranging patient safety bill agreement announced Monday by Gov. David A. Paterson.

The article points out that this rule was created due to the Finkelstein case in which records were not available for 3 years:

Finkelstein, a pain-management doctor who worked primarily from a Plainview office, had infected at least one patient with hepatitis C by reusing syringes in multidose vials. More than 10,000 patients were eventually notified of possible exposure to tainted syringes.

Finkelstein also had accumulated 10 malpractice settlements in a decade, which critics said should have triggered an investigation by the Office of Professional Medical Conduct, the health department agency that investigates doctors. The law will require continuous state review of malpractice records to see if troubling patterns emerge, prompting inquiry. Hannon said it would “restore confidence in the physician-patient relationship. … We can turn around to people who were critical of the system because of Finkelstein and say we have made substantial improvement.”

This new development is great. It seems to fill the existing legal loophole and increase patient safety.

You can use the renewed awareness around sudden cardiac death to improve your health. New York Newsday reports:

“Any time a celebrity has a medical problem that hits the news, there’s a heightened awareness of the condition. That’s human nature,” said Dr. Stephen Green, chief of cardiology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. “We’ve been seeing more people coming into the emergency room and scheduling appointments.”

Today, heart disease treatment and heart attack prevention are a combination of the age-old mantra — don’t smoke, do exercise, maintain a healthy weight, and eat well — and tests and medications that can bolster the system against deadly episodes.

Along with standard tests for heart disease risk, many doctors are turning to an array of new screenings that pinpoint protein markers as a way to get a jump-start on cardiovascular disease and to stop it before it starts.

Some are looking at C-reactive protein, a marker in the blood that indicates inflammation. Blocked coronary arteries are prime examples of inflammation.

Check out the article at NY Newsday. If you’ve gone to a doctor and you believe that they have performed a procedure like one of the above and you’ve been harmed by the proceedure, please seek responsible legal counsel.

In New York health and product liability news, the Associated Press reports:

Unhealthy trans fats in restaurant food? Not in New York City.

Eateries must remove artificial trans fats from all menu items by July 1.

When first implemented last year, the Health Department ban applied only to fry oils and spreads. It now will also include baked goods, frozen foods, cannoli and doughnuts.

Read the full story at the AP to get more details.

The nation’s health is in such disarray, its good to see a step away from trans fat in New York City. Hopefully other cities and localities will follow New York’s lead. Street vendors must be in a pickle, however.

The FDA has pointed to a handful of drugs that increase the risk of death. The AP reports:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration warned doctors Monday that prescribing a certain group of psychiatric drugs to seniors suffering from dementia can increase their risk of death.

Anti-psychotic drugs are approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disease, but doctors frequently prescribe them to treat elderly patients with dementia.

FDA’s announcement was an update to a 2005 action, when regulators added warnings about increased heart attacks and pneumonia to drugs called aytpical antipsychotics. The medicines include blockbusters like Eli Lilly & Co.’s Zyprexa and Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal.

FDA said Monday those same risks apply to 11 older drugs known as conventional antipsychotics, including thorazine and prolixin. The drugs were developed in the 1950s and have largely been replaced by the newer medications, which are believed to have fewer side effects, such as tremors.

If you have taken these drugs and have suffered and injury as a result, you should seek legal counsel.

Medical malpractice is hotly debated in think tanks and legal forums of all types as one of the most controversial of our generation. The Civil Defense Blog of the Drum Major Policy Institute points out:

America’s medical malpractice system is one part Rip van Winkle and one part Anna Nicole Smith.

It’s Rip van Winkle because malpractice policy usually lies dormant for a decade or more until it hears the clamor of a liability insurance crisis. Once awakened, moreover, it typically acts as if the health care system has not changed since its prior revival. Why Anna Nichole Smith? Because malpractice liability is a train wreck that Americans can’t help watching. Once captivated, the public imbues malpractice with importance to the U.S. health care system far beyond that indicated by objective criteria. The Jury’s Still Out: A Critical Look at Malpractice Reform

Check out the great discussion about medical malpractice law and reform in the comments of the above post. What are your thoughts?

In New York psychiatry and medical malpractice news,New York Newsday points out:

MINEOLA, N.Y. - A former psychiatrist who confided to a patient that he wanted to kill six people _ and asked the patient to help him find a handgun _ has settled a medical malpractice lawsuit with the man.

Richard Karpf agreed to pay $365,000 to Dennis White, a former patient who called police in January 2003 telling them of Karpf’s intentions. The settlement came Monday, while a Nassau County jury was in its second day of deliberations in the civil lawsuit.

Karpf was arrested after purchasing a pistol and silencer from someone who turned out to be an undercover officer. He pleaded guilty in 2004 to illegal weapon possession and was sentenced to three months in jail. He remains on probation through next year.

Its unfortunate that society that people get this low and resort to these kinds of outlandish tactices.

In the latest New York State medical malpractice news. The proposed bill by the New York PIRG is calling for increased review of doctors, in an effort to increase health and combat medical malpractice:

The proposed bill calls for several changes in OPMC procedures and the laws in order to give New Yorkers better protection from the harm that substandard doctors can inflict.

First, malpractice payments made by a doctor would be continually reviewed to determine whether further investigation and action is required by OPMC. While a malpractice payment does not automatically equate with professional misconduct, high numbers of lawsuits appear to be a red flag identifying substandard doctors. According to the federally run National Practitioner Data Bank, “Generally the data [collected by the data bank] show that as a physician’s number of Malpractice Payment Reports increases the likelihood that the physician has Adverse Action Reports also increases.” Adverse action reports are actions taken against a licensee. There is also evidence that a relatively small number of doctors are responsible for a disproportionate number of malpractice payouts.

Second, the law would be changed to permit the public to know when a doctor has been formally charged by OPMC. At present the only information made public by the state is the final action sanctioning a licensee. While OPMC had tried to make the doctor disciplinary process more transparent years back, a court ruled in 1993 that formal charges could not be published unless the law was changed to permit it.

For more about this bill, check out the New York PIRG report for this public health and malpractice bill.

Drug companies corrupt our medical care system in the United StatesThe Independent Online reports:

The first bill, Assembly 11187, would considerably restrict the pharmaceutical industry’s ability to shower doctors and doctors-to-be with gifts ranging from free lunches to free travel. Gift giving has a corrupting influence on the choices doctors make in their prescribing practices, with numerous studies demonstrating that gifts to prescribers influence what they prescribe, often to the detriment of patient safety. Curbing gifts to prescribers has become a focus of those concerned with both improving the quality of care and with controlling the cost of prescription drugs.

Many medical schools, hospitals and clinics have taken steps to ban some drug industry freebies within their confines. Growing numbers of academic medical centers now forbid the acceptance of any gifts from or promotional contact with industry salespeople by residents and other staff. Drug promotion giveaways have also been the focus of attention in Congress and in many state legislatures, with a few states passing restrictive legislation over the past few years. Now, after several years of false starts New York finally has an opportunity to improve the quality of doctors and others who prescribe as well as hold down inflation in health care costs.

Hopefully this bill will have a dramatic role increasing in curbing subtle corruption and quality health care across New York State.