Medical Malpractice

• FDA Announces Heparin Recall

  David Mittleman | March 08, 2008 5:01 PM | 0 CommentsLansing, MI

  Late last month the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the drug manufacturer Baxter International would be recalling all of its remaining Heparin products. Earlier in February, the FDA issued a Public Health Advisory warning doctors and other health care providers not to use Baxter Heparin products. According to the FDA, there have been hundreds of reports of serious side...

• Simple Michigan hospital program that saves lives and money shut down by federal government

  David Mittleman | February 14, 2008 3:16 PM | 0 CommentsLansing, MI

  A certain amount of government involvement in medical care is unavoidable, and is usually beneficial. You certainly don't want to undergo surgery by a doctor who is not licensed, or be prescribed medications that have not been tested on human beings. But there are times when the Federal Government goes from a friendly father figure to a crazy uncle, and the results can be deadly.On any given...

• Drug manufacturers pursue profit over innovation

  David Mittleman | February 05, 2008 8:25 AM | 0 CommentsLansing, MI

  Over the next few years, the cost of prescription medications for some of the most prescribed drugs will plummet. The pharmaceutical industry's biggest name drugs, including Fosamax, Risperdal, and Lipitor, will all lose patent protection and be available for generic reproduction. This is a tremendous benefit to the consumer. The pharmaceutical industry would like everyone to believe they...

• Vacuum extractor assisted vaginal delivery can cause birth trauma

  David Mittleman | January 29, 2008 8:31 AM | 0 CommentsLansing, MI

  A vacuum extractor may be used by a physician to enhance delivery of a baby's head in a vaginal delivery. However, the doctor attempting to use the extractor must be prepared to abandon the procedure when it is not working, according to operational guidelines for use as noted by the manufacturers instructions.The FDA in may of 1998 issued a public health advisory titled "Need For Caution When...

• Pharamcy error causes patient to receive wrong medication

  David Mittleman | January 22, 2008 4:32 PM | 0 CommentsLansing, MI

  Gregory Rossini had a liver transplant in 1996 and eventually developed Hepatitis C. He was prescribed Rebetol for his hepatitis C, but on January 15, 2005, he was given the wrong medication by his local pharmacy. Instead of receiving his Rebetol, he received Reyataz, an HIV medication.Mr. Rossini was initially suspicious of the pills he received on January 15, 2005, because they were...

• Doctors compound medical errors by not admitting mistakes

  David Mittleman | January 18, 2008 8:29 AM | 0 CommentsLansing, MI

  No one likes admitting they made a mistake, no matter what it is about. According to a recent study, doctors are just like everyone else in this regard. Except the problem is, when a doctor makes a mistake people can die. Mistakes in medical treatment by doctors are only serious when there is a failure to acknowledge that a mistake was made. This deprives the medical community of an...

• Faulty Defibrillators Recalled Due To Potentially Fatal Problem

  David Mittleman | January 04, 2008 9:35 AM | 0 CommentsLansing, MI

  On October 16, 2007, Medtronic issued a recall of approximately 268,000 Sprint Fidelis defibrillator leads. The reason for the recall is that after 30 months, the Sprint Fidelis leads had a fracture rate that was about twice as high as the previous model, the Sprint Quatro. Fractured leads can result in repeated unnecessary shocks, or worse -- failure to detect a potentially fatal Cardiac...

• Denial of transplant by health insurance company leads to death

  Devon Glass | December 21, 2007 4:37 PM | 0 CommentsLansing, MI

  Nataline Sarkisyan, a 17 year old California resident, passed away on December 20, 2007, due to liver failure. She developed liver complications while recovering from a bone marrow transplant. The most remarkable part of this story is that her health insurance company, CIGNA, reversed a decision to pay for a liver transplant only hours before she passed away.Nataline's doctors wrote to CIGNA...

• Cerebral palsy and it's relation to prenatal development and delivery complications

  David Mittleman | December 21, 2007 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsLansing, MI

  In the United States, it is estimated that 1.5 to 2 million people have cerebral palsy, with an annual diagnosis rate of approximately 10,000. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that causes a defect in the ability of a persons brain to control their muscle movement. There are three general categories of cerebral palsy: spastic, ataxic, and athetoid/dyskinetic. While there is no one...

• Busy Pharmacy and Over-Worked Pharmacist is Prescription for Error

  David Mittleman | December 07, 2007 8:25 AM | 0 CommentsLansing, MI

  Pharmacy error in both the local neighborhood stores and hospital setting is on the rise. The consequences of Pharmacy errors can range from harmless to fatal. More than 100,000 Americans die each year of adverse drug reactions, according to an article in the Journal of The American Medical Association. No one knows for sure how many of those deaths are the direct result of...