I could – and do – tell a lot of stories about this. Over thirty years of working for and against large health care and insurance institutions – and expert witnesses responsible for the education of young doctors in training – makes me appreciate (immensely) professional efforts like this. Health law plays a crucial role […]
Shortages of critical medications continue to rise—including drugs used in hospital emergency rooms and to treat cancer, prescription medications, and even common over-the-counter treatments like children’s cold and flu medicine. The number of active drug shortages in the U.S. reached a peak of 295 at the end of 2022. However, drug shortages are not a […]
The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019 raised the alarm while calling for urgent action to reduce patient harm in healthcare. The United Nations (UN) specialized agency stated that medical malpractice results in 2.6 million deaths annually. “Most of these deaths are avoidable. The personal, social and economic impact of patient harm leads to […]
A link to a podcast on “managing” disruptive behavior in a clinic, hospital, or doctors office: We’ll be discussing the role of Behavioral Emergency Response Teams (BERTs), trained in non-violent intervention techniques, in managing disruptive behavior and improving safety for both patients and staff. We’ll also dive into the impact of trauma-informed care (TIC) on […]
There was a New England Journal of Medicine article decades ago that found that if emergency room patients didn’t list their complaints in the right order and in time – they wouldn’t be heard or recorded properly. Originally reported in the New York Times, this study is getting wide attention. “The study, released [Dec. 15] by […]
In my line of work, these kinds of cases often show up as patients who suffered adverse events because they “fell through the cracks” (an awful euphemism for getting substandard care). Our latest surveys of pharmacists, patients and providers to inform the upcoming 2023 Medication Access Report, support this. The surveys found that patients and […]
The nonprofit-governance requirement for medical schools was a core component of U.S. medical care’s transformation. But recently, several for-profit schools have been provisionally or fully accredited. Here is the link to the New England Journal of Medicine article: For-Profit Medical Schools — Concerns about Quality and Oversight
Here’s a link to the story on the Journal of Hospital Medicine Story: Study: I-PASS Handoff Program Helps Reduce Patient Harm And here’s a link to a video, links to published opinions, and a description of my experience litigating and trying handoff miscommunication and other incidents of medical malpractice. My Medical Malpractice Experience Page
Across the country, children have for weeks been slammed with a massive, early wave of viral infections—driven largely by RSV, but also flu, rhinovirus, enterovirus, and SARS-CoV-2. Many emergency departments and intensive-care units are now at or past capacity, and resorting to extreme measures. At Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, in Maryland, staff has pitched a tent outside the emergency department to […]
Ten years ago, 12-year-old Rory Staunton dove for a ball in gym class and scraped his arm. He woke up the next day with a 104-degree Fahrenheit fever, so his parents took him to the pediatrician and eventually the emergency room. It was just the stomach flu, they were told. Three days later, Rory died […]
