New York Medical Malpractice

In the past, physicians have received notifications from the FDA regarding safety alerts to various medications on paper. Now, the recently launched Health Care Notification Network will send any safety alerts to doctors and hospitals via email. The new system is believed to bring down the risk of malpractice litigation.

“The majority of U.S. liability carriers are asking their physicians to enroll today. Delivering product re-calls and warnings immediately online has the potential to directly improve patient safety and reduce malpractice claims—and, ultimately, decrease malpractice insurance premiums,” said David Troxel, MD, an iHealth Alliance board member and medical director of The Doctors Company, the nation’s largest physician-owned liability carrier.

The newly formed HCNN is a joint effort between the FDA, medical societies, health plans and the pharmaceutical industry.

In a recent report released by New York state Department of Health, it was found that New Yorkers who underwent surgery in the state developed infections at a larger rate than the rest of the country. The study found the percentage to be an overwhelming 37% more infections than any other state.

"The only acceptable infection rate is zero, so hospitals that settle for being below average are dangerous places to be," the founder of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, Betsy McCaughey, said.

State health officials said they could not explain the disparity between infection rates in New York and the rest of the country. But they said in New York City, the rate of central line-associated infections was lower than the rate in upstate hospitals, and they said that upstate infection rates drove the statewide average higher.

Infections can always lead to a much more serious issue, including death, which is unacceptable for something that could easily be prevented.

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.

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.

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.

Online Resources and Tools for Your Personal Medical Health

One way to attempt to avoid medical malpractice before it happens is to choose a great hospital. One resource worth checking out in this regard is the US Department of Health and Human Services’ has a Hospital Compare:

Welcome to Hospital Compare. This tool provides you with information on how well the hospitals care for all their adult patients with certain conditions or procedures. This information will help you compare the quality of care hospitals provide. Talk to your doctor about this information to help you, your family and your friends make your best hospital care decisions.

Check out this helpful resource and compare hospitals records.

ALBANY, NY — The Legislature Tuesday approved a bill that will shift millions of dollars from inpatient hospital care to outpatient services, save $828 million in health-care costs and create a loan-forgiveness program for physicians who agree to practice in parts of the state short of doctors.

“Today we took an important step forward in transforming our health-care system to lower costs, increase access and invest in primary and preventive care,”

Gov. David Paterson said

The changes mean $57 million will be taken out of inpatient care and put toward hospital clinics, emergency rooms and ambulatory care. The state will put $45 million more toward community clinics, physician services and additional reimbursements for providers that have evening and weekend hours, according to state budget officials. Medicaid, the health-insurance program for the poor, will pay for diabetes and asthma education, something it has not done in the past.

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