Health law plays a crucial role in the field of medicine, as it dictates appropriate practices, regulations, and rights and responsibilities for healthcare professionals and patients. Despite this undeniable relationship, there is a lack of focus on health law, and an outdated hidden curriculum in medical education has perpetuated long-standing negative perceptions of the legal system.

The link to the peer reviewed article is found just below:

Medical Law and Medical School Curricula: A Systematic Review

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A Pennsylvania appellate court’s recent ruling makes clear that a hospital’s internal documents are generally considered fair game for discovery in medical malpractice suits and the onus is on health care providers to prove otherwise, experts said.

Read more at: https://www.law360.com/personal-injury-medical-malpractice/articles/1723936?nl_pk=029cff45-637f-44e3-babf-75563f8e0bfd&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=personal-injury-medical-malpractice&utm_content=2023-09-21&read_main=1&nlsidx=0&nlaidx=0?copied=1

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This Pennsylvania case in the news today made me think of the hard work required by trial lawyers.

A Pennsylvania Superior Court panel on Thursday told a University of Pittsburgh hospital that it must make an effort to identify the author of an anonymous report regarding the treatment of a patient who died, saying the whistleblower protections of the state’s Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Act don’t block the hospital from revealing the author’s identity.

Read more at: https://www.law360.com/personal-injury-medical-malpractice/articles/1721860?nl_pk=029cff45-637f-44e3-babf-75563f8e0bfd&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=personal-injury-medical-malpractice&utm_content=2023-09-15&read_main=1&nlsidx=0&nlaidx=3?copied=1

Click here to view the Supreme Court’s ruling in our case, Charles v. Baptist Hospital on peer review privileges.

The post Discovery of Hospital Incident Reporting and Peer Review Privilege appeared first on The Thompson Law Firm.

Between 2019 and 2020, the all-cause mortality rate for ages 1 to 19 years increased by 10.7%, and it increased by an additional 8.3% between 2020 and 2021

Here is the link to the study:

JAMA: The New Crisis of Increasing All-Cause Mortality in US Children and Adolescents

The post Multiple Factors Are Causing An Increase In American Infant Mortality Rates appeared first on The Thompson Law Firm.

Numerous errors and medicolegal aspects have been identified in diagnosing and treating cardiac tamponade associated with cardiac-related procedures such as valve replacement surgeries, cardiac pacemaker implantation, pericardiocentesis, and other non-cardiac related procedures such as peri-hiatal surgeries. Patients taking anticoagulants or anticancer medications are especially susceptible to developing cardiac tamponade when undergoing surgical procedures, raising the question of preoperative screening to avoid errors. Misdiagnosis, treatment delay or failure to deliver the utmost quality of treatment, lack of complication screening and follow-ups for those at risk, surgeons rushing to complete cases, burnout, and other human factors are predispositions to the development of cardiac tamponade. Fortunately, most of these errors occurring within healthcare settings are avoidable and must be prevented for eliminating any risks to reduce the incidence and mortality of cardiac tamponade cases resulting from iatrogenic etiology. It is an intricate condition where precision and caution are crucial.

In medicine, the word “iatrogenic” usually describes an unnecessary injury caused by a healthcare provider. As typically used, it refers to a direct injury caused by your doctor – often during surgery. These injuries can include perforations, and nicks that result in fistula, bleeding, and other trauma to tissue and organs.

One of the most serious iatrogenic injuries is cardiac tamponade, because it can dramatically and suddenly cause disruptions in heart rate.

Here is a peer-reviewed study on the iatrogenic causes of cardiac tamponade.

Iatrogenic Causes of Cardiac Tamponade Resulting From Surgical Procedures: An Overview

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In a key 2017 ruling in a Jacksonville case, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that a hospital was required to provide records to a family in a malpractice case because of the constitutional amendment. The 5-2 ruling overturned a decision by the 1st District Court of Appeal, which had said the federal law shielded the records.

The history of the Constitutional amendment approved by voters goes back to 2004.

The 2004 constitutional amendment passed amid fierce political fights between plaintiffs’ attorneys, doctors and hospitals about the state’s medical-malpractice laws. The amendment, titled “Patients’ Right to Know About Adverse Medical Incidents,” was spearheaded by a political committee linked to plaintiffs’ attorneys …

Here are two posts explaining our appeal in Charles v. Baptist.

Charles v. Baptist (One)

Charles v. Baptist (Three)

Now, the industry and the First District are again attacking Florida’s constitution and the Charles precedent to make patients less safe. Here’s a link to the story out of Tally.

Florida’s First District Court of Appeals Urges SCOF To Rewrite The Constitutional Amendment Passed By Florida Voters Forcing Disclosure of Adverse Incident Reports

The post My Dad and I Didn’t Battle The Charles Case With So Many Other Fine Lawyers, Just To See Florida’s Constitution Undone. appeared first on The Thompson Law Firm.

The false premise that secrecy encourages patient safety measures at any level of hospital administration is a myth that should not be allowed to persist. Medical error continues to contribute to an unacceptable level of mortality in health care and there isn’t anything happening in these secret proceedings to curtail or limit the deaths and injuries. More transparency can only help.

From my 2021 post, Peer Review Privilege is Built upon a Bogus Myth

Here’s a link to the news:

Medical error: An epidemic compounded by gag laws

And here’s a link to some of my older posts on peer review.

Peer Review (my challenges to it in court)

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

The post Peer Review (still) doesn’t work appeared first on The Thompson Law Firm.

The American Medical Association wrote in a statement Friday it is “deeply disturbed” by the decision, which it called an “egregious allowance of government intrusion into the medical examination room,” while the California Medical Association said it “undermines decades of progress in health care for pregnant people,” adding it is a “direct attack on the practice of medicine.”

The link to the Forbes article is here:

Medical Journals And Professional Groups Condemn Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe

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In Australia …

“It’s vital that we try to figure out why some doctors are being sued. A doctor’s error can have devastating repercussions for patients and be costly to the health-care system “Dr. Bradfield stated the following.”

Doctor’s mood increases the chance of medical negligence, study reveals

I am trying to think of a reason that a similar US study would produce different results.

The post Bad Attitude Shuffle (Doctor’s mood increases the chance of medical negligence) appeared first on The Thompson Law Firm.

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 a very similar case of an overworked nurse grabbing the wrong medicine under pressure causing a fatal overdose. I posted about my case in a three-part series titled Overdose: Overdose (No. 1); Overdose (No. 2); and, Overdose (No. 3).

These posts explore the consequences of a hospital overdose. These are “iatrogenic” deaths, meaning they are directly caused by health care providers. These medical errors should lead to prompt “sentinel event” reporting to licensing agencies, professional licensing reporting, and internal hospital peer review reporting. Families rarely get the opportunity to learn what happens in these opaque proceedings. In some cases (like the one I handled), the hospital is not honest with the family about what they know or learn in the aftermath.

In the series of Overdose posts, I lay out my experience litigating the information and discovery – some of which has to be forced or court-ordered – in these situations for the family to learn the true facts.

The post Hospital Medication Errors Can Be Fatal (And Concealed) appeared first on The Thompson Law Firm.