"Where other indicators of medical malpractice claims have decreased over the years, the prevalence of diagnostic error has not changed, calling for more innovating thinking, introspection, and systematic approaches to prevention and shared learning," writes Brianne Goodwin, JD, RN.
"The expert concluded that… had a urologist been consulted, additional attempts at placing a Foley catheter using a guidewire would have been made in an effort to relieve the retention," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.
"The plaintiff claimed the decedent’s cancer should have been diagnosed by the original urologist at least 3 years before the actual diagnosis, and claimed that timely diagnosis and treatment would have prevented the spread of the cancer," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.
"A patient’s success on a claim of injury based on intraoperative positioning would likely be based on a negligence theory, or potentially a lack of informed consent theory," writes Brianne Goodwin, JD, RN.
A tumor in a stone patient results in a $4.5 million settlement.
"The factual question presented to the jury was whether the ER doctor breached the standard of care and whether that breach proximately caused the plaintiff’s injury," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.
Failure to provide an interpreter incurs legal and regulatory risk.
Here’s what to do when a patient disregards medical advice.
"In an Ohio medical malpractice claim, the plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence the existence of a standard of care within the medical community, a breach of that standard of care by the defendants, and proximate cause between the medical negligence and the injury sustained," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.
Optimize patient identification by following these steps.
"At trial, the urology expert testified that the defendant urologist failed to offer the patient alternative treatments before proceeding with the drastic option of removing the testicle," writes Dawn Collins, JD.
Optimize patient identification by following these steps.
The plaintiff claimed that the urologist should have performed TURP.
The urologist argued that he did obtain informed consent to the injection treatment, noting that the patient had signed a document that explained that scars were a possible outcome.
"Given the costs of defense and the challenge to defend lawsuits involving [retained surgical items], preventing them from occurring at all is the best solution," writes Brianne Goodwin, JD, RN.
The physician argued that the migration of the mesh is a known risk of the procedure and the patient had given informed consent for the operation.
Ranging from advice on telephone triage to reports on cases involving circumcision requiring revision surgery to a missed kidney cancer diagnosis, these were our most-read “Malpractice Consult” columns online from 2017.
In this "Malpractice Consult" column, Dawn Collins, JD, also discusses cases involving penile pain following cystoscopy, alleged failure to diagnose kidney obstruction, and death follow stent placement.
"Incidental radiology findings are low-hanging fruit that organizations should develop processes for handling proactively," writes Brianne Goodwin, JD, RN.
Informed consent in medicine generally refers to one of two things: the process by which a provider obtains consent through discussion of risks, benefits, and alternatives with patients, and the actual form that is signed by the physician and the patient. Both are critical pieces to any medical malpractice litigation where a claim for lack of informed consent has been pled.
Lawsuits involving telephone triage tend to allege failure in a physician’s duty to treat, abandonment of the patient, or provision of sub-standard care.
