New York Medical Malpractice

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.

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.

Lasiks eye surgery is big business in the medical community. The question becomes is it for everyone? Are doctors opting for lasiks when other options should be pursued instead? Lauran Neergaaard, a medical writer points out:

About 7.6 million Americans have undergone some form of laser vision correction, including the $2,000-per-eye Lasik. Lasik is quick and, if no problems occur, painless: Doctors cut a flap in the cornea - the clear covering of the eye- aim a laser underneath it and zap to reshape the cornea for sharper sight.

The vast majority of patients, 95 percent, see better and are happy they had Lasik, said Dr. Kerry Solomon of the Medical University of South Carolina, who led a review of Lasik’s safety for the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

But doctors advise against Lasik for one in four people who seek the surgery. Their pupils may be too large or corneas too thin or they may have some other condition that can increase the risk of a poor outcome.

Solomon estimates that fewer than 1 percent of patients have severe complications that leave poor vision.

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Why is the FDA doing a study of Lasik patient satisfaction and health?
Lauran continues:

Make no mistake: Most Lasik recipients do walk away with crisper vision, some better than 20/20.

But not everyone’s a good candidate, and an unlucky few do suffer life-changing side effects: poor vision, painful dry eyes, glare or problems seeing at night.

How big are the risks? The Food and Drug Administration thinks about 5 percent of patients are dissatisfied with Lasik. How many struggle daily with side effects? How many are just unhappy that they couldn’t completely ditch their glasses? The range of effects on patients’ quality of life is a big unknown.

So with a public hearing Friday, the FDA is beginning a new effort to determine if warnings about Lasik’s risks are appropriate. The agency also is pairing with eye surgeons for a major study expected to enroll hundreds of Lasik patients to better understand who has bad outcomes and exactly what their complaints are.

Its great that the FDA is finally waking up to this issue after a decade of lasik surgery so that the next generation of lasiks patients will be happier, safer, and ultimately healthier.

Medicine use by Americans for chronic conditions is skyrocketing. Linda A. Johnson, business writer for AP points out:

In addition, there is the pharmaceutical industry’s relentless advertising. With those factors unlikely to change, doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow.

“Unless we do things to change the way we’re managing health in this country … things will get worse instead of getting better,” predicted Jones, a heart specialist and dean of the University of Mississippi’s medical school.

Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country. But it was unclear how their prescriptions compare to those of insured people elsewhere. Comparable data were not available for Europe, for instance.

Medco’s data show that last year, 51 percent of American children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, up from 50 percent the previous four years and 47 percent in 2001. Most of the drugs are taken daily, although some are needed less often.

The company examined prescription records from 2001 to 2007 of a representative sample of 2.5 million customers, from newborns to the elderly.

Medication use for chronic problems was seen in all demographic groups:

- Almost two-thirds of women 20 and older.
- One in four children and teenagers.
- 52 percent of adult men.
- Three out of four people 65 or older.

Among seniors, 28 percent of women and nearly 22 percent of men take five or more medicines regularly.

Karen Walker of Paterson, N.J., takes 18 prescription medicines daily for high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic back and shoulder pain, asthma and the painful muscle disorder fibromyalgia.

Only when America steps of the medicine treadmill with the health care and medical liability crisis be alleviated.

Intense scuitinty is being applied to the The New York City Buildings Department’s “Saftey Week” amid controversy. The Downtown Express points out:

Construction Safety Week has gotten more attention than usual this year, because it echoes the Buildings Department’s increasing focus on safety amid the disasters, LiMandri said.

The article continues:

Last year, OSHA did 45 site inspections of demolition work in the city. At 38 of those sites, inspectors saw enough problems to issue a total of 175 violations, including some at Deutsche. That’s an average of 3.9 violations per inspected demolition site, higher than OSHA’s average of 3.2 violations per general construction site.

The D.O.B. and OSHA spent much of Wednesday’s presentation detailing their respective construction codes.

Almost 4 violations per building seems absurd. Something must be done to dramatically increase construction worker safety in New York City.

One way to attempt to avoid malpractice is to choose a great physician. But “How do you pick the best physician?” Web MD suggests some great questions and solutions:

Step 1: Check Credentials

To find a good doctor, it’s always nice to get positive referrals from family and friends.

Parents are also advised to check credentials, which are usually displayed on the practitioner’s office wall. Appropriate training in pediatrics involves medical school and at least three years of residency in either pediatrics or family medicine. After that, many doctors take a test given by the American Board of Pediatrics or the American Board of Family Medicine, and if they pass, become board certified. Web sites for most insurance companies list the credentials of physicians in their plan.

It is possible to be a good doctor without this certification, says Itkin, but having it demonstrates a certain knowledge base; likewise, being a Fellow of the AAP (FAAP) or American Academy of Family Practice (FAAFP). Members of these academies receive vital educational and support materials that keep doctors current on medical issues.

Step 2: Do the Footwork

Questions for your pediatrician might include:

* What is your pediatric background?
* Do you have a subspecialty or area of pediatric interest? If so, what is it?
* How do I reach you after hours or during an emergency?
* To what hospital do you admit patients?
* If I have a minor question, when is the best time to call?
* If I cannot speak with you, who will handle my questions?
* Is there anything you would like to know about my family?

Step 3: Assess Your Feelings

The bond between the parent and pediatrician is a critical one. A doctor may be well-qualified, but experts say if a parent doesn’t have confidence in the physician, it may affect the welfare of the child.

For more information you might check out Shopping for a Pediatrician.

Gardiner Harris in the New York Times specifically reports:

Drug and medical device companies should be banned from offering free food, gifts, travel and ghost-writing services to doctors, staff members and students in all 129 of the nation’s medical colleges, an influential college association has concluded.

The case against these corrupting practices is convincing:

Drug companies spend billions wooing doctors — more than they spend on research or consumer advertising. Medical schools, packed with prominent professors and impressionable trainees, are particularly attractive marketing targets.

So companies have for decades provided faculty and students free food and gifts, offered lucrative consulting arrangements to top-notch teachers and even ghost-wrote research papers for busy professors.

“Such forms of industry involvement tend to establish reciprocal relationships that can inject bias, distort decision-making and create the perception among colleagues, students, trainees and the public that practitioners are being ‘bought’ or ‘bribed’ by industry,” the report said.

The drug companies like, Merck “Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Amgen and Medtronic” have empty claims to the contrary:

They were wrong.

In addition to the gift, food and travel bans, the report recommended that medical schools should “strongly discourage participation by their faculty in industry-sponsored speakers’ bureaus,” in which doctors are paid to promote drug and device benefits.

More ethical guidelines and transparency in this area which is in great need of reform. I firmly believe that more open discussion about such issues would help improve the medical community and our national welfare.

Having a legal advisor to help you through the complex legal maze can be an important for legal and economic reasons.. Find Law asks:

How a Medical Malpractice Attorney Can Help

After any situation that could potentially involve medical malpractice, you should speak with an experienced Medical Malpractice attorney who will evaluate your case with you, to ensure that your legal rights are fully assessed and protected. An attorney can explain what you can expect at every step of your personal injury case, and will take action on your behalf — researching the law, interviewing witnesses, collecting records, conferring with expert consultants, planning legal strategy, and negotiating with insurers and opposing counsel — all with an eye toward strengthening your position and ensuring your fair recovery.