Lee Health Loves Damage Caps, But Only for Itself. Everyone Else Is Expected to Pay Full Freight.

The news is that two Florida public hospitals want in – at the last minute – on the State’s opioid lawsuit. They’re afraid they may get cut off from money available arising out of the opioid prescriptions filled out by their employees. Judge Denies Sarasota Hospital and Lee Health Motion Intervene in Opioid Settlement I’ve […]

Hospital Medication Errors Can Be Fatal (And Concealed)

The patient was supposed to get Versed, a sedative intended to calm her before being scanned in a large, MRI-like machine. But Vaught accidentally grabbed vecuronium, a powerful paralyzer, which stopped the patient’s breathing and left her brain-dead before the error was discovered. That was in a prestigious Tennessee hospital. The link is here. I had […]

On Top Of Locking Many Brain Damaged Children Out Of Court, Florida Begins Gaslighting Them

In the late 1980s, the Florida legislature set up a regulatory scheme to immunize doctors and hospitals by locking Florida courthouse doors to the families of some children who suffer severe brain damage during birth. All government programs get an acronym and the acronym for this burden-shifting agency is NICA (The Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury […]

Orchestra Tune-Up

During a hospital stay, there are many ways for things to go sideways. For a timely and successful discharge, every health care provider and every department has to be working as one – each fulfilling their part toward the end goal of stabilizing the patient and putting them on the road to recovery. The nursing […]

When Business Disputes Interrupt Your Chemotherapy

Cancer patients are caught in the middle of a fight between the Annapolis hospital and nine oncologists. While hospital representatives say the nine doctors resigned, they argue they wanted to continue practicing there and were fired. The doctors were denied access to practice at the hospital and filed a lawsuit in response. Business disputes in […]

Physician Liability for #OUD (Arguments in Ruan v. US)

Convicted doctors argued their appeal in the United States Supreme Court the other day. At issue are jury instructions given in their case and the standard imposed by the trial court. For nearly 90 minutes on Tuesday, the court grappled with the question of whether good faith is a defense for doctors criminally prosecuted for […]

Normal Like You (More Opioid Fallout: Pharmacies Are Next On The List)

“Today, medical science recognizes That some folks aren’t helped by relaxing exercises. In cases of difficult tension, And nervous apprehension, Doctors are now prescribing medicine. It makes those who fear they’re about to quit Feel like they’re ready to begin. Bidding their darkened spirits goodbye For the calming peace of a cloudless sky.” Everclear, Ataraxia […]

If You Have My Film on the ‘Lightbox’, Diagnose Me Now – Not Later

Wisdon comes with winters. Oscar Wilde A recently filed West Virginia case presents a common issue in medical malpractice cases. The human and economic costs of injuries pile up when radiology films are not properly read. The purpose of radiology tests like MRI’s is to correlate clinical signs and symptoms to findings on films. Underlying […]

Peer Review Privilege is Built upon a Bogus Myth (Convince Me I’m Wrong)

The news (Trial Court Order Forcing Disclosure of Quality Assurance Materials Appealed) about the hospital lobby in Illinois (Chicago is home to the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Hospitals that conducts “sentinel event reporting” on licensed hospitals nationally) filing a brief to block patient safety reports led me into my archives. I have written […]