Indiana Injury Lawyer Blog

While there are a number of benefits from the use of medical and health technology, there are also a number of risks associated with the use of such technology. The ECRI Institute has released a list of the top 10 technology hazards for the year 2012.

The list was compiled after asking the following questions-

• How harmful is the hazard associated with the technology?
• How likely is the hazard?
• How widespread is it?
• Is it a high-profile problem?

1. Indiana medical malpractice lawyers will not be too surprised to find that alarm fatigue is ranked as the number one technology hazard in 2012. Alarm-related adverse events occur because of alarm fatigue when nurses and other staff become overexposed, and fatigued by the sheer numbers of alerts that they have to deal with everyday.

Continue reading "ECRI Releases List of Top 10 Health Technology Hazards" »

The Indiana State Department of Health has released its 2010 Medical Error Report. According to the report, Indiana University Health recorded some of the highest medical errors in 2010.

Indiana University Health recorded a total of 19 serious errors in 2010. Overall, 107 series medical errors were reported in Indiana hospitals and healthcare centers in 2010. That was an increase of at least 13 errors from 2009. In fact, the number of medical errors that were reported in 2010 is the highest since the state began collecting medical information 5 years ago.

Overall, according to the report, the Indiana State Department of Health issued 34 citations for serious bedsores and 33 for foreign objects left inside patients after surgeries. Stage III and stage IV bedsores have been the most frequent medical errors reported in for the last 5 years.

Continue reading "Indiana University Health Reports Highest Number of Medical Errors in 2010" »

The validity of the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act is being challenged, and the Indiana Court of Appeals’ latest ruling has bloggers and news agencies talking. The ruling reverses a lower court decision by Judge Lou Rosenberg of Marion Circuit Court. In Timothy W. Plank v. Community Hospitals of Indiana and State of Indiana, No. 49A04-1004-CT-254, the Indiana Court of Appeals determined that plaintiff Timothy Plank, whose wife died because of a missed medical diagnosis, is entitled to an evidentiary hearing as to the constitutionality of Indiana’s statutory cap on medical malpractice awards. Mr. Plank received an $8.5 million jury verdict in his initial trial.

Mr. Plank’s attorney is John Muller, Partner at Montross Miller Muller Mendelson & Kennedy.

As we reported earlier on this blog, Mr. Plank sued on behalf of his wife Debra. Ms. Plank experienced severe abdominal pain in November 2001 and presented to Community Hospital for care. Unfortunately, doctors failed to diagnosis a small bowel obstruction. As a result, Ms. Plank developed sepsis and subsequently died. Mr. Plank filed a complaint with the Indiana Department of Insurance against the hospital and three physicians. The doctors were dismissed before the trial began; the case went ahead against Community Hospital and in September of 2009 and the jury found in the favor of the plaintiff. The jury awarded $8.5 million in damages.

Continue reading "Indiana Medical Malpractice Damages Cap Challenged" »

While there has been some progress in the reduction of hospital-acquired infections, the increasing incidence of infections at outpatient clinics has been a source of concern to Indiana medical malpractice attorneys. Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a campaign to reduce infection rates at outpatient oncology clinics.

These outpatient clinics have become a much preferred source of healthcare for cancer patients, not just for diagnostics, but also for medical and surgical services. There are a number of advantages that outpatient oncology clinics offer. For one thing, they offer cheaper healthcare than hospitals. They are also much more convenient. However, in recent months, there have been a number of incidences of infection outbreaks in these outpatient oncology clinics.

Continue reading "CDC Launches Campaign to Prevent Infections in Outpatient Oncology Clinics" »

Hospital personnel, including doctors and nurses could be concealing infection-causing organisms in their uniforms. A study conducted by a group of Israeli researchers and published in the American Journal of Infection Control, found alarmingly high levels of disease-causing orgasms in doctors’ and nurses’ clothing.

The Israeli researchers tested swabs taken from 75 registered nurses and 60 doctors at a hospital in Jerusalem. What they found was shocking. At least 50% of the samples tested positive for pathogens. About 53% of the uniforms yielded dangerous infection-causing bacteria. What's worse 11% of the organisms that were found on the clothing, were the most dangerous kind - resistant to multiple antibiotics, like the MRSA bacterium.

Continue reading "Hospital Clothing Could Conceal Deadly Infection-Causing Bacteria" »

Last month, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that plaintiffs suing for medical malpractice are not eligible to bring a separate civil action for the loss of medical records. Claims of loss of medical records can be combined with a negligence lawsuit.

The decision comes in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a woman against the Howard Regional Health System in Kokomo. The woman had an emergency cesarean delivery in 1999, and her child suffered numerous neurological problems after the birth. She sued the hospital, but filed a separate lawsuit against the hospital for the loss of certain medical records relating to her son’s care, which, she claimed, prevented her from suing her obstetrician.

During discovery, files of the boy’s care between 2003 and 2005 were handed over, but the record was found to be incomplete. Missing records including those related to labor protocols and fetal monitoring strips. The woman filed another lawsuit, and alleged that the files had been removed from the records deliberately.

Continue reading "Indiana Court Rules Plaintiff Cannot Bring Separate Action for Loss of Medical Records" »

A group of social scientists and researchers from the US and the UK have conducted a study into why the checklist developed by Peter Pronovost is so effective in preventing hospital-acquired infections. Indiana medical malpractice lawyers believe that the results could offer answers to hospitals on how to further reduce their infection rates through the checklist.

The study involved researchers from the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Leicester. The researchers were not looking at whether the program worked. There is plenty of evidence to indicate that the checklist had been very successful in reducing hospital-acquired infection rates, especially the rates of deadly central line-associated bloodstream infections in intensive care units. The researchers were looking at why the checklist was so effective in reducing infections. They focused their efforts on how the program has fared in Michigan, where it is being used in more than 100 hospitals.

Continue reading "Why the List That Saves Lives, Works" »

Almost every human being will, by the end of his lifetime, experience a visit to an intensive care unit. In the United States, on any given day, you can find up to 90,000 people in intensive care units. Those staggering numbers demand fine-tuned and precise care from medical care professionals, who are often stressed to breaking point. In more and more hospitals around the country however, a simple checklist is helping deliver such care, saving lives.

The checklist is the brainchild of Dr. Peter Pronovost, and is familiar to Indiana medical malpractice attorneys, doctors and nurses everywhere. Several hospitals around the country have reported substantial success in reducing the number of medical errors made in intensive care units with the use of the checklist. However, for a very long time, it remained impractical to assume that a simple checklist could help reduce medical errors and actually save lives.

In 2001, Dr. Peter Pronovost, a critical care specialist at Johns Hopkins developed a checklist aimed at preventing central line-associated bloodstream infections. The checklist was simple.
• Wash hands with soap
• Clean skin with chlorhexidine
• Place a sterile drape over patient
• Wear sterile mask, gown, and gloves
• Place a sterile dressing over the site after a catheter has been inserted

Continue reading "The List That Saves Lives" »

Earlier this year, Johns Hopkins announced the establishment of a dedicated patient safety Institute thanks to a generous gift by Michael C. Armstrong, chairman of the Johns Hopkins Board of Trustees. Indiana medical malpractice attorneys are also pleased to note that renowned patient safety expert and checklist guru Peter Pronovost has been named director of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality at Johns Hopkins.

The need for a patient safety institute like this is dire. More than ten years ago, the Institute of Medicine published its groundbreaking To Err Is Human report, which indicated that as many as 98,000 Americans die in hospitals every year from medical errors. In the years since the publication of the report, little progress has been made in reducing the occurrence of medical errors, and preventing the number of people who die in hospitals every year from these errors. Approximately 100,000 deaths occur from hospital-acquired infections, while more than 800,000 die as a result of diagnostic errors. Thousands more die due to errors in communication and teamwork failures. These deaths are almost always preventable.

Continue reading "Safety Institute Established to Reduce Preventable Medical Errors" »

It’s not surprising to Indiana medical malpractice attorneys that so much effort is spent every year on enhancing inpatient safety. After all, tens of thousands of hospitalized patients are injured or contract deadly infections due to errors made in hospitals. However, all this focus on inpatient safety may have had a detrimental effect on outpatient safety. According to a new study, the proportion of outpatient injury-related medical malpractice claims has actually been increasing.

According to the study by the Journal of the American Medical Association, there were more than 10,739 paid medical malpractice claims in 2009, and out of these, 4,910 were for events that occurred in an inpatient setting, while 4,448 were for events that occurred in the outpatient setting. While there wasn't much difference in the number of medical malpractice claims involving inpatient and outpatient settings, there was a slight increase in the proportion of outpatient claims. The proportion of medical malpractice claim payouts for incidents that occurred in outpatient settings increased from 41.7% in 2005 to 43.1% in 2009.

Continue reading "Need to Focus Efforts on Outpatient Safety" »

Every year, there are about a million biopsies performed in the United States. For some of the men who undergo these biopsies, the procedure also means the introduction of dangerous bloodstream infections. According to specialists, the rates of bloodstream infections related to prostate biopsies have been increasing steadily over the past few years.

According to a study by researchers at the University of Toronto, there's been a steady increase in prostate biopsy-related infections that were serious enough to require hospitalization. Over a period of 10 years, the number of infections related to prostate biopsies went up from 1% to 4%. While those may not seem like very high numbers, it's important to remember that approximately 1 million men undergo prostate biopsies annually. That works out to about 40,000 men with prostate biopsy-related infections – not what Indiana medical malpractice lawyers would call a small number at all.

Continue reading "Increase in Prostate Biopsy Infections Is Very Concerning to Indiana Medical Malpractice Attorneys" »

Patients who are hospitalized for treatment are just as likely to die from preventable medical errors, as they were a few years ago. There has been little progress in preventing these errors and saving patient lives, in spite of education campaigns and other efforts. That information comes from a study conducted at several North Carolina hospitals.

The researchers reviewed 2,341 patient records in 10 hospitals in North Carolina. They used a list of 54 red flags to indicate a possible adverse event, including readmission to hospital within a period of 30 days and bed sores. The study found at least 588 instances in which patients were harmed by medical care. That works out to approximately 25.1 injuries for every 100 hospital admissions. Those are staggeringly high numbers for any Indiana medical malpractice attorney to stomach.

Continue reading "Study Shows No Decline in Deaths from Preventable Medical Errors" »

As we wrote earlier, Indiana patients now have a tool that will allow them to make more informed decisions about where they receive their care. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has added new search data to their Hospital Compare web site.

Indiana medical malpractice attorneys are encouraged by this updated information and believe it will make a positive difference in the care Indiana medical consumers receive. The ability to compare the outcomes of procedures, the quality of nursing care and patient satisfaction will influence area hospitals to invest more heavily in improvements in an effort to capture more of Indiana’s healthcare dollars.

Though limited to only a few specific areas of medical care, the site’s information illuminates frequently requested areas of service, including nursing care, bedsores, pulmonary care and pediatric diabetes. This information can assist patients by evaluating a hospital’s ability to provide adequate care. For example, the site provides encouraging information if you have any need for cardiac care in the Indianapolis metro area. On average, a central-Indiana resident will only wait seven minutes before they receive care in a cardiac specialty facility; this is compared to the national average wait time of 43 minutes.

Continue reading "Indianapolis Hospitals Self-Rate Care" »

Medical ethics dictate that doctors report colleagues who are intoxicated or incompetent. However, a new survey shows that far too many doctors are not interested in reporting drunk or incompetent fellow physicians.

The survey was conducted at the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital, and included the participation of 1,891 doctors. Out of the doctors in the survey, 69 % reported that they were prepared to deal with impaired colleagues, while 64 % reported they were prepared to deal with incompetent colleagues. 17% of the reporting doctors had direct personal knowledge of an incompetent colleague, but only 67 % reported this matter.

Continue reading "Too Many Doctors Balk at Reporting Intoxicated/Incompetent Colleagues " »

The Indiana medical malpractice attorneys at our firm have been following the progress made in reducing the incidence of deadly central line infections or catheter-related blood stream infections in hospitals. We’ve blogged on the subject in the past, including success stories from hospitals around the country that have been able to reduce the incidences of these infections merely by following simple steps, like checklists.

However, at far too many hospitals in the country, preventing these infections continues to be a challenge. According to a new survey conducted by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), these infections continue to be a major challenge in the facility where they work.

Continue reading "Rates of Central Line Infections in Hospitals Continue to Be Troubling" »

Black patients are not just more likely to contract severe sepsis in hospitals, but they're also more likely to die from these infections. Those results come from a study conducted by researchers at the University Of Pittsburgh.

The researchers found that a black person had a 67% higher chance of being hospitalized with severe sepsis, than a white person. Not only that, these severe infections also contributed to blacks having an 80% higher chance of dying from sepsis, than their white counterparts. Among black persons, the rate of severe sepsis that required hospitalization was 9.4 for every 1,000 population, while for white persons, it was 5.6 for every 1,000 population.

Continue reading "Study Shows Black People May Have Higher Sepsis Infection Risks " »

When a patient who has been injured as a result of negligent medical care or a procedural error contacts our office, we immediately go to work investigating the case with all available resources.

First, we collect and conduct a detailed review of the patient's medical records looking for information that will help us understand the nature of the claim and how it relates to your injuries. Should the case move forward, we continue with the same detailed tenacity, pulling together a highly qualified team of Medical/Legal nurses and Reviewing Physicians who assist us in understanding the details of the case and the possible implications of pursuing a claim on your behalf.

We are committed to serving your medical malpractice needs and have successfully pursued thousands of claims over the past three decades. We aggressively defend the rights of injured clients and their families.

If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of the inexperience or negligence of a physician, nurse, or medical care facility, we want to speak with you. Call our toll-free number as soon as possible: 888-599-2640.

There has been much focus on infection control in hospitals, but little has been done to cement the cracks at outpatient surgical centers, where infection rates continue to remain unacceptably high.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows high infection control deficiencies at these centers. The CDC surveyed 68 ambulatory surgical centers in three different states. The agency was basically looking at how these centers complied with hand hygiene, environmental cleaning standards and injection safety.

Continue reading "Infection Control Still a Problem at Outpatient Surgical Centers" »

For long now, doctors have noticed that the number of medical errors is constant for all months of the year, except in July when there is a noticeable spike in medication errors. It has been suspected that this spike is because more interns are coming in at teaching hospitals during this month. A study by researchers at UC San Diego, now confirms this.

The researchers have published the results of a study, that show that July is easily the worst month when it comes to medication errors. In fact, it's the worst month that you could choose to check into a hospital, simply because you're likely to be treated by inexperienced interns. The rate of medical errors in the month of July is 10% higher than in other months of the year.

Continue reading "July Is the Worst Month for Hospital Errors " »

The numbers of patients who contracted certain kinds of potentially deadly infections while in hospital, actually increased over last year. According to a study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, overall patient safety ratings have improved across the nation, but there has been an increase in blood stream infections and urinary tract infections.

According to the report,
• The rate of bloodstream infections increased at a rate of 8%.
• Urinary tract infections increased at a rate of 4%.
• There was no change in the rate of bloodstream infections caused through catheters placed in central veins.
• There was a 12% drop in the rates of postoperative pneumonia. This was the only good news on the list.

Continue reading "Increase in Hospital Infection Rates In Spite Of Control Measures" »

For the first time, Thompson Reuters has included hospital readmission rates as one of the criteria for inclusion in its annual Top 100 Hospitals list.

However, measuring post-discharge care and dealing with factors that can contribute to a person being re-admitted into a hospital, have proved to be very complex and challenging. Hospitals that have included post-discharge care as part of their overall patient safety efforts, have found that there are a range of factors responsible for readmissions. For instance, readmission rates may be higher when an elderly patient is living alone. Many readmissions every year are traced to medication errors. Besides, a person who suffers from multiple medical conditions, could be at a higher risk of readmission.

Continue reading "Post-Discharge Care Gains Prominence As a Measure of Patient Safety" »

The Georgia Supreme Court this week shot down a key provision of the state's 2005 tort reform laws capping noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits at $350,000. That comes just weeks after the Illinois Supreme Court declared that caps on medical malpractice damages violate separation of powers, by allowing lawmakers to interfere with judicial verdicts.

The Georgia Supreme Court decision involved an appeal by a hospital against a verdict awarding $1.15 million in non-economic damages to a patient. The patient had been severely scarred by a botched cosmetic surgery procedure performed at Atlanta Oculopasty Surgery. A jury awarded her $1.15 million in non-economic damages including pain and suffering, against a statutory cap of $350,000. The cap was part of sweeping tort reform laws passed in Georgia in 2005. The law’s proponents claimed these caps would reduce medical practice insurance premiums, and encourage more doctors to stay in the state.

Continue reading "Georgia SC Strikes Down Medical Malpractice Caps: Will Indiana Be Next? " »

Patients still struggle to determine a hospital’s safety based on its infection rates. However, things are slowly changing for the better. More and more hospitals are beginning to report their infection rates. Approximately, 1,500 hospitals report infection data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, these reports are strictly confidential. The Agency of Health Care Research and Quality also collects data from hospitals in 42 states, but these hospitals are not named.

The Leapfrog website reports patient safety ratings, allowing you to screen hospitals in any city in Indiana, and compare ratings. Simply enter your search preferences (city/state) and wait for the listings. Follow THIS LINK to see an example of hospitals in Indianapolis.

Continue reading "How Indiana Patients Can Prevent Central Line Infections" »

Every year, one particular type of medical infection kills approximately 30 percent of the estimated 99,000 people who died from hospital infections. Consumer Reports is discussing how hospitals around the country including Indiana hospitals, have been able bring down these infection rates through simple steps.

These infections are central line infections, and they are introduced through intravenous catheters that allow intensive care patients to receive medication, nutrients and fluids. The central lines have long catheters inserted into a large vein connected to the heart. These are different from regular IV lines, and can stay in place for months.

Continue reading "Indiana Hospitals Can Prevent Deadly Central Line Infections" »

Indiana medical malpractice cases involving radiation errors are extremely technical and complicated. One reason is because there isn’t just one way in which a radiation error can occur. With new medical technologies, using radioactive rays to diagnose and treat, and a continued paucity of training and oversight, the types and sources of these errors have increased.

The types of errors have been numerous.

Continue reading "Types and Causes of Radiation Errors " »

New radiation technologies are offering patients more focused and precise treatment, but as a series of investigative reports in the New York Times shows, lack of safeguards, software flaws, faulty programming, poor safety procedures or inadequate staffing and training are causing these technologies to harm the very patients they are meant to treat.

The New York Times profiles a series of radiation errors involving new, more advanced and highly sophisticated machines capable of delivering a treatment called Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). The errors have included overdoses caused by poorly configured systems, radiation that misses all or part of the target or is focused on the wrong part of the body and other errors. With these increasingly sophisticated radiation tools, you would think that the margin for errors would be virtually nil. In fact, as the NYT reports, the complexity of the machines that deliver the radiation, combined with the failure of hospitals to implement processes that catch errors in time and poorly trained staff, have all helped create a “crisis” situation.

Continue reading "Indianapolis Radiation Therapies Offer Hope, But Also Present Risk of Injuries " »

As Indiana medical malpractice lawyers, we are always looking for ways that patients can protect themselves from medication errors. We came across this simple checklist that a patient can use to take the right medication and the right dosage of medication.

The list outlines three “checkpoints” at which errors can be caught and rectified.

The first checkpoint is at the doctor’s office when you receive your prescription. Make sure that the doctor or nurse informs you of the:
• Drug name
• Strength
• Dosage
• Dosage procedure
• Why you need the medicine
• What the medication will do
• How quickly you will see results

Remember those drugs are going into your system, and ultimately will affect your health. You have every right as a patient to demand information, and your doctor has every duty to provide the information you need.

Continue reading "Indianapolis Patients Can Prevent Medication Errors" »

Approximately 1.3 million people in the country, including thousands in Indiana, are injured every year from medication errors. Of these:

* 41 percent of deaths were linked to improper dosage
* 16 percent involved distribution of the wrong medicine
* another 16 percent was attributed to the wrong route of medication administration

Now, a new national alert program is aiming to minimize the frequency of such medication errors.

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) have developed the National Alert Network for Serious Medication Errors. Actor Dennis Quaid recently announced the launch of the alert program. Quaid has some personal experience with the trauma that patients and families go through when they are injured by these preventable errors. In 2007, his twin boys were administered an excessive dose of the drug heparin. The event occurred at the Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

Continue reading "New Medication Error Alert System Promises to Reduce Frequency of Errors" »

Information released this week indicates that a request is before the Indiana Medical Licensing Board asking to consider extending a suspension for an Indiana physician.

The Indiana Medical Licensing Board met on October 27, 2009 and unanimously voted an emergency medical license suspension of an Indiana physician. Dr. Phillip D. Foley of Middletown, Indiana received a 90-day suspension after Indiana’s attorney general accused him of recklessly prescribing narcotics and sedatives. The state petition against Foley accuses him of at least nine overdose deaths.

Continue reading "Indiana Physician’s License Suspension May be Extended" »

The H1N1 virus is a big concern for Indiana residents, as it is for the rest of the country. Many local schools, day cares and churches are taking extra precautions in the fight against the growing virus threat.

Doctors’ offices have started to remove toys and magazines from their sitting areas. Churches are asking their ushers to wear gloves while collecting the morning offering. Schools are shutting their doors to prevent the spread of the virus. Indianapolis area hospitals are limiting the age of their visitors.

Continue reading "H1N1 Concerns Indiana Residents" »

Timothy Plank, the husband of the late Debbie Plank, has authorized his attorneys to file a challenge to Indiana's long-standing cap on medical malpractice injuries. Indiana's current medical malpractice law limits awards to $1.25 million. On September 3, 2009, a Marion County jury returned a verdict of $ 8.5 million against Community Hospital of Indianapolis. The Planks alleged that Community Hospital had misplaced an x-ray that showed that Mrs. Plank had a small bowel obstruction.

Continue reading "Indiana Medical Malpractice Cap Challenged" »

The Annual Indiana Medical Error Report outlines errors and events suffered by Indiana patients over the reported year. Its release provides Indiana patients an opportunity to scrutinize care they are receiving at local hospitals.

Continue reading "Indiana Medical Error Report Released" »

Whether debating the current healthcare system or working to keep the status quo, Indiana residents can find common ground when the conversation turns to the increasing cost of medical care. Even Indiana patients with full insurance coverage can find themselves responsible for co-payments, co-insurance, deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses that can add up very quickly. Patients unfortunate enough to have no insurance coverage pay an even higher price. For many, the financial burden of medical expenses can be the tipping point that leads to bankruptcy.

Continue reading "Indiana Medical Insurance Does Not Prevent Bankruptcy" »