“The AMA strongly believes patients should have access to reliable information about physicians, and state regulatory agencies are best positioned to offer well-balanced information to help patients make informed decisions about physicians,” an AMA spokesperson said in a statement.

Trial lawyers shouldn’t be the only ones with access to relevant information about the background of your medical doctors and hospitals. Consumers need access to this information in order to protect themselves and their families.

Here is the link.

Most extensive database for doctor misconduct is unviewable to public

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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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That assessment has become increasingly true. The U.S. has diverged over the past decade from other comparably developed countries, where traffic fatalities have been falling. This American exception became even starker during the pandemic. In 2020, as car travel plummeted around the world, traffic fatalities broadly fell as well. But in the U.S., the opposite happened. Travel declined, and deaths still went up. Preliminary federal data suggests road fatalities rose again in 2021.

New York Times

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High LDL-C is inversely associated with mortality in most people over 60 years. This finding is inconsistent with the cholesterol hypothesis.

You can find the BMJ study here:

Lack of an association or an inverse association between low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and mortality in the elderly: a systematic review

While guidance for prescribing statins remains unchanged, more and more questions are being asked. The influence of Big Pharma on these decisions cannot be understated. Statin use is now so prevalent that a cottage industry has built up around studying their side effects. Dr. David Healy is a conscientious and responsible professional to follow if you are interested in the effects of Big Pharma on the FDA. Here is one of his excellent articles on the subject of randomized controlled trials and how they are run.

The Evidence that Counts for FDA

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Here is a link to my page describing my medical malpractice experience”

wdeft Medical Malpractice Cases

Here’s a story from JD Supra on the subject.

Electronic Fetal Heart Monitoring and Medical Malpractice

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Stark, Quality Fraud, and CMS

CMS is trying to change some of that and the new rules are beginning to go into effect. One of those rules allows to consumers to comparison shop medical billing and reimbursement practices. Here is the link to the CMS page:

CMS Announcement of Medical Expense Transparency for US Consumers

The new rules are far broader than those that went into effect last year requiring hospitals to post their negotiated rates for the public to see. Now insurers must post the amounts paid for “every physician in network, every hospital, every surgery center, every nursing facility,” said Jeffrey Leibach, a partner at the consulting firm Guidehouse.

“When you start doing the math, you’re talking trillions of records,” he said. The fines the federal government could impose for noncompliance are also heftier than the penalties that hospitals face.

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According to a new report, the majority of black adults have had at least one negative experience with a healthcare provider. But young black women are particularly likely to report a harmful interaction during routine health care.

Study: Racial Disparity In Health Care

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What we sometimes lose sight of is the other side of that blessed event – the Mother. And on that score, studies are confirming a problematic and worsening trend.

From the New York Times, a link and a quote,

US Maternal And Birth Related Deaths Are Rising

The United States already has a much higher maternal mortality rate than other developed countries, and the increase in deaths pushes the nation’s maternal mortality rate to 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020 from 20.1 deaths in 2019. Maternal mortality rates in developed countries have in recent years ranged from fewer than two deaths per 100,000 live births in Norway and New Zealand to just below nine deaths per 100,000 live births in France and Canada.

And from the peer-reviewed journals,

Obstetrics and Gynecology: US Trends in Maternal Mortality

Rigorous studies carried out by the National Center for Health Statistics show that previously reported increases in maternal mortality rates in the United States were an artifact of changes in surveillance. The pregnancy checkbox, introduced in the revised 2003 death certificate and implemented by the states in a staggered manner, resulted in increased identification of maternal deaths and in reported maternal mortality rates.

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The United States care system is often failing to meet the needs of individuals, families and communities affected by traumatic brain injury, according to a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The authors make many recommendations for advancing progress in TBI care, including changes to classification methods, improving research funding and establishing continuity of care.

Here is the link: The U.S. is failing to care for traumatic brain injury survivors, experts say.

In my experience, this is true. When a potential head injury exists – whether in the setting of a vehicle accident, an assault/battery or in the medical setting – a lawyer has to be on alert for undiagnosed signs and symptoms of traumatic brain injury. The initial signs are often subtle and not recorded. You have to know what you are looking for and what to do about it. This includes familiarity with neurology, neuroradiology, and neuropsychology experts that can help with the diagnosis and plan of treatment.

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