Ohio residents may be interested in the legal treatment of slip-and-fall accidents that occur within a hospital. Whether these accidents are an example of ordinary negligence or medical malpractice has caused significant debate. It is important to distinguish between the two types of accidents since it there are more obstacles when filing a medical…
Many Ohio patients who are diagnosed with cardiovascular disease are given aspirin to help with their symptoms. However, some may be told that they have an aspirin allergy without seeing a specialist, which could result in an individual being taken off an effective treatment for no reason. According to one study, 34 percent of…
A report issued on Oct. 25 regarding the growing number of medication errors that occur during surgery may be of interest to Ohio residents. According to the report, Harvard researchers evaluating surgical procedures at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston uncovered medication-related mistakes in nearly 50 percent of those procedures. The seven-month study took place…
Ohio patients may not know that the signs and symptoms of colon cancer can often be similar to a bad case of hemorrhoids. While hemorrhoids are not a serious issue and can actually be treated at home, colon cancer is a leading cause of death, according to the American cancer Society. As such, patients…
Of all the reasons people file orthopedic surgery medical malpractice claims, a study conducted by The Doctors Company found that the main reason is surgical mistakes. This accounted for 46 percent of claims. Another 13 percent were related to diagnoses while 16 percent concerned improper patient management. There are steps hospitals and physicians in…
In the last few years, the importance of early screening for breast cancer has been called into question. This is partially due to a retrospective study from a few years ago that indicated improved outcomes are attributable to better treatment instead of earlier detection. However, a new study shows that early identification is probably…
It has been estimated that as many as 12 percent of patients have adverse events in hospitals, and about 50 percent are surgery-related incidents. Ohio patients should know that an adverse event could involve preventable infection, wrong-site surgery, drug mistakes, instruments or swabs left in the body, and it could prove fatal. Non-technical facets…
While doctors do their best to properly diagnose their patients, misdiagnoses of cancer are fairly common in Ohio and around the country. A study found that doctors themselves thought the misdiagnosis rate for cancer was no higher than 10 percent, while another study found that incorrect information regarding cancer diagnoses is given 28 percent…
As some Ohio residents know, many patients die yearly around the country due to doctor error. Mistakes such as operating on the wrong site or the wrong patient as well as prescription error all have a part to play. Approximately 5 to 15 percent of the deaths are caused by a misdiagnosis. There are…
Ohio residents with some degree of brain injury may be interested to learn that experts are warning against overdiagnosis of mild traumatic brain injury. Overdiagnosis in general is a problem with many different diseases. While it would seem intuitive that diagnosing a disease as early as possible is the most desirable outcome, early diagnosis…