Franklin Gray and White Blog

Patients Often Left Confused After Emergency Room Visits

This article from the New York Times highlights the confusion often experienced by patients who have made emergency room visits.  The article is concerned with a recent study that followed a group of E.R. patients and measured their understanding of 1.) their diagnosis 2.) their E.R. treatment 3.) their home care instructions and 4.) the warning signs signaling a need to return to the hospital.  

The results of the study are unfortunate.  Of the surveyed patients, 78% did not understand at least one of those areas and about half did not understand two or more areas.  This is especially concerning as failure to understand these areas could lead to further and potentially life-threatening injuries for patients.  Hospitals and their staff need to take special notice of the results of this study, and need to redouble their efforts to ensure that all patients not only get the necessary medical information critical to their further care and treatment but understand it as well.

The law firm of Franklin Gray & White represents victims of medical malpractice.  If you or a loved one believe that you have not been given adequate instructions following an emergency room visit, or have any other questions regarding medical malpractice, http://www.franklingrayandwhite.com/contact.cfm#mce_temp_url# the attorneys of Franklin Gray & White for a free consultation.

Medicare to Stop Paying Hospital for Added Cost of Hospital Errors

From the New York Times:  Medicare recently began applying a congressional mandate that it will no longer pay hospitals for the added costs of treating patients who are injured in the hospital's care.

An initial list of incidents that Medicare deemed "reasonably preventable" and will not pay hospitals for these occurrences includes; incompatible blood transfusions, sponges left in after procedures, serious bed sores, hospital falls, and urinary tract infections caused by catheters.

The Times article adds that other insurers have enacted similar provisions, such as Medicaid denying payment for so-called "never events", events that are never supposed to happen under a hospital's care.

Implicit in this article is the unfortunate reality that day-to-day many of these events that should not occur when medical facilities provide proper care and ensure compliance with health and safety standards, do in fact occur.  If you or a loved one have been a victim of medical malpractice, while a patient of a hospital or another medical provider, the please call the medical malpractice attorneys at Franklin Gray & White.  The attorneys at Franklin Gray & White have experience in many areas of medical malpractice litigation.  If you have any questions, please contact us for a free consultation.

Doctor Continuing to Practice After Being Linked to Several Deaths Causes Nevada Lawmakers to Rethink Regulations

From the Las-Vegas Sun:  A doctor linked to the deaths of three patients and numerous allegations of medical malpractice, is continuing to practice.  This has led to many in the medical community as well as several lawmakers to question the state of medical regulations in the state of Nevada. 

Among the areas of concern are regulations that prevent pharmacists from refusing to fill suspicious prescriptions.  Others were concerned with the state medical board's lack of action, and a process that seems to be overly lax in its oversight of medical professionals.

For more information on this story, see here.

Although this might be an extreme example of medical malpractice, one must still remain vigilant towards the care they receive from their medical providers.  The law firm of Franklin Gray & White has years of experience in medical malpractice litigation.  If you or a loved one believe that you have been the victim of medical malpractice, please contact one of the attorneys at Franklin Gray & White for a free consultation.

Similar Drug Names Often Cause Medical Mixups

From the Louisville Courier-Journal:  As the prescription drug market has grown through recent years, a number of such drugs bear similar names while treating vastly different ailments.

According to the article, 1.5 million Americans are harmed each year from medication errors and that name mix-ups are responsible for approximately a quarter of such injuries. 

It is noted that poor penmanship is often responsible for the mixups, but notes other possibilities, including:

• A physician intends to prescribe a new drug but spells out a similar sounding old drug out of habit.

• A pharmacist is hurried and doesn't take time to call a physician to clarify an unclear prescription.

• A hurried pharmacist using alphabetized bottles on a shelf grabs the wrong one. Adding to the possibility of error is that some drugs may come in lookalike packaging. Antimisiaris said the drugs metronidazole, an antibiotic, and metformin hydrochloride, an antidiabetic drug, come in lookalike red, white and blue bottles, for example.

• A faxed prescription that is blurred or smudged.

• A phoned prescription that is hard to make out because of a poor connection.

As noted, prescription drug mixups can cause serious health problems.  If you or a loved one believe that you have been harmed by a prescription drug mixup, or other medical malpractice, please contact the attorneys at medical malpractice attorneys at Franklin Gray & White for a free consultation.

Pfizer to Pay $894 Million to Settle Celebrex, Bextra Lawsuits

From Bloomberg.com, Pfizer has agreed to settle many of the the pending lawsuits against the company claiming injuries from the use of its products, Celebrex and Bextra.  Although this settlement agreement has yet to be approved by any Court, Pfizer announced that it is prepared to pay approximately $894 million to resolve over 90% of the pending lawsuits regarding these products.

The lawsuits alleged that painkillers Celebrex and Bextra caused heart attacks and strokes. 

The law firm of Franklin Gray & White has experience in the litigation of national class actions, like the one described above.  For more information on class action litigation, please see here.  If you or a loved one believe that you have been injured by the use of a prescription, over-the-counter, or otherwise recalled medication, please contact one of the attorneys at Franklin Gray & White for a free consultation.