San Diego Injury Law Blog

A new device that tracks and locates retained objects (surgical items left inside a patient after an operation) is getting attention. The RF Surgical Detection System uses a wand to scan the surgical area to find any tagged items that might have been left inside the patient. Tags are small seed-like items that are embedded in gauze and surgical sponges.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine a major hospital can expect to have one or more cases of retained objects per year. Those figures however, were based on actual medical malpractice claims, so the real number is probably higher. It is generally believed that an object is left in the body in 1 of every 8,000 surgeries, the most common item being the surgical sponge.

Most hospitals rely on a counting system. Nurses count the number of sponges that are being used in a procedure, and then make sure they have the same number of used sponges in sight before closing the patient. If the count doesn't match, then the patient cannot be closed. Sometimes, however, nurses count incorrectly (or forget).

"With this system, if that should ever happen and the count still comes out correct, you still are able to wand the patient," said Kim Stache, administrative director of surgical services at Edward Hospital in Naperville, Ill., which started using the system in December. Because of the RF seed, if there is still a sponge in the body or the opening, it would beep at us to let us know, hey, there's still something in the wound.“

Currently more than 100 hospitals are using the system, which costs about $15 per surgery. The results have been generally positive.

Source: Chicago Tribune

The accident and injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, worksite injuries, pedestrian injuries, construction accidents, property injuries, and malpractice matters. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

The California Department of Public Health fined three San Diego area hospitals for making mistakes that could cause "death or serious injury." The implicated hospitals are Grossmont Hospital, Sharp Memorial Hospital, and UCSD Medical Center.

According to the Union Tribune, Grossmont hospital received a $50,000 fine for marking the wrong side of the head of a 93 year old, who was undergoing brain surgery. Before the mistake was realized, part of the man's skull had been removed and the brain exposed. The mistake was corrected during surgery, and the surgery completed without further incident.

Sharp Memorial Hospital was also fined $50,000 for failing to follow surgical protocols. There, a sponge was left inside the body of a 69-year-old woman who underwent heart surgery. UCSD Medical Center was also fined for failing to follow surgical procedures, resulting in a second surgery on the patient to remove a foreign object. The UCSD surgery was performed by a first-year intern.

The DPH issued a statement: “Ensuring quality patient care is vital to protecting and promoting the health of all Californians. We will continue to work with California hospitals to attain our shared goal of excellence in patient care.”

Source: San Diego Union Tribune

The personal injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals throughout San Diego County who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, medical malpractice, injuries on the property of another, construction accidents, and elder abuse and neglect. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

CNN is out with a story about how to avoid medical mistakes. The story - which can be found by clicking here - highlights the story of a pregnant woman who is mistakenly given a CT scan of her abdomen, sites some startling statistics. For example, the Joint Commission, which grants accreditation to hospitals, reports that wrong-site, wrong-side, and wrong-patient procedures occurs more than 40 times every week in the United States.

In Rhode Island, state regulators ordered that video cameras be placed in all operating rooms after several medical errors, including an incident where doctors removed the tonsils of a child who was in the hospital for eye surgery. The hospital had at least six known surgical errors in the previous eight years.

Jim Conway from the Institute of Healthcare Improvements wants to empower patients to make sure they are not victims of medical malpractice. He is promoting a list of advice:

1. Say: "My name is ______________, my date of birth is _____________, and I'm here for an appendectomy.” You might feel like an idiot, says Conway, but say this to every doctor, nurse, and technician who takes care of you.

2. Say: "Please check my ID bracelet." Hospital staff is supposed to confirm your identity in at least two ways.

3. Say: "Please look in my chart and tell me what procedure I'm having." If the nurse gives you the right answer make sure she is looking at the chart.

4. Say: "I want to mark up my surgical site with the surgeon present."

5. Be impolite. Make sure you the information you are given is exactly correct.

Source: CNN.com

Walton Law Firm represents personal injury victims throughout San Diego County and has recovered millions of dollars for individuals involved car accidents, pedestrian accidents, medical malpractice, motorcycle accidents, uninsured motorist claims, defective products, construction accidents, slip and fall injuries, dog bites, and insurance disputes. Call (760) 607-1325 for a free consultation.

The medical spa (or medi-spa) industry is booming, but the growth hasn't been all good. With more customers seeking beauty treatments through medical treatments (such as laser hair and scar removal) more and more of these "patients" are suing for medical malpractice.

Lawyers who represent medical malpractice plaintiffs believe there is going to be a huge increase in malpractice cases arising from medi-spa care. One reason is the sheer number of these spas. In 2004 there were only 471 in the U.S., now there are almost two thousand. Another is that these medical facilities are lightly regulated.

For example, in Arizona, a woman recently sued Timeless Laser & Skin in Maricopa County alleging she was "severely burned and scarred" during laser hair removal procedure. And in another Arizona case, a man sued Neos Medspa over scarring, "extreme pain" and burning from a laser hair removal procedure done on his shoulders and back.

The plaintiff's bar is starting to see more and more of these cases.

"I believe we're seeing the beginning of this industry being targeted," san Jill Goldsmith, a Phoenix lawyer. "Both mom-and-pops and chain companies have sprung up around the country in the past few years, creating a new billion-dollar industry and litigation hot spot."

As expected, the spa industry has a different view. Lynne McNees, the president of an international spa trade organization says that medi-spas adhere to established policies and procedures. Patients should bear some of the responsibility. "It is important to be an advocate for yourself and do your homework before visiting any spa," she said.

Source: Law.com / The National Law Journal

The medical malpractice lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent individuals who have been victimized by medical negligence and other negligence related accidents. Cases are taken on a contingency fee, and all consultations are free and confidential.

It has been more than a decade since the National Institute of Medicine recommended that the health care industry stop blaming doctors and nurses for medical errors and start looking at prevention. An investigation by Hearst Newspapers has found that very little has changed since that time. A proposed mandatory nationwide system for reporting and analyzing medical mistakes was never created, while the rate of medical error is increasing.

The investigation by Hearst, which included a team of investigators and several hundred interviews, has resulted in the launching of a website called "Death by Mistake" which highlights the stories of people victimized of medical malpractice. Some studies estimate that 98,000 people die every year from medical mistakes that could have been prevent. That equates to more deaths each month than occurred in the 9/11 attacks. This figure does not include the estimated 99,000 people who die each year from hospital-acquired infections.

The website also has a hospital safety database for several states, and tells the story of many medical malpractice victims.

To visit Dead by Mistake click here.

The medical malpractice lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent individuals and families who have been impacted by medical negligence and other negligence related accidents. Cases are taken on a contingency fee, and all consultations are free and confidential.

This weekend the New York Times had two good opinion pieces about reform in the medical liability system. Both contributors agree that the real problem is medical errors, not medical malpractice lawsuits, and that arbitrary caps on damages do little or nothing to address the underlying problem of too many preventable medical mistakes.

Professor Tom Baker writes that medical liability actually improves patient safety, because it has led hospitals to hire risk managers and create policies and procedures that work to improve safety. He also mentions an important fact lost on many tort reform advocates, that most victims of medical malpractice to not file lawsuits. Ultimately, he says,

… the real problem is too much malpractice, not too many malpractice lawsuits. So medical providers should be required to disclose injuries, provide quicker compensation to deserving patients and — here’s the answer for doctors worried about their premiums — shift the responsibility for buying malpractice insurance to hospitals and other large medical institutions. Evidence-based liability reform would give these institutions the incentive they need to cut back on the most wasteful aspect of American health care: preventable medical injuries.

Professors Michelle Mello and Amitabh Chandra contend the medical liability system isn’t working. Both the doctors and victims are battered by it, the doctors always playing defense, worried about insurance costs, litigation, and their reputations. And the victims, embroiled in stressful litigation, have to wait up to five years, on average, to receive compensation.

Mello and Chandra propose two reforms: The first, where there is reliably scientific evidence of what constitutes optimal care, the doctors should be able to present that evidence in defense before a lawsuit is filed. Second, pull out of the liability system certain types of cases, such as birth injury cases, and move them into a no-fault system. They point out that other states have done this with some success, and conclude that their proposals would not do away with the malpractice system, but would curb the worst of it.

Both pieces and be found by clicking here and here.

The medical malpractice lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent individuals and families who have been impacted by medical negligence and other negligence related accidents. Cases are taken on a contingency fee, and all consultations are free and confidential.

Typically, active duty military personnel cannot bring a legal action against the military for injuries caused by military decisions, or other military-related activities. But the House Judiciary Committee is considering a bill that would allow military families hold the government accountable for non-combat related personal injuries.

Col. Adele Connell tried to bring a claim against Walter Reed Army Medical Center when her physician mistakenly operated on the wrong breast during a cancer surgery, and removed healthy tissue and lymph nodes. The negligent surgery caused her become disfigured. Her medical malpractice case was dismissed under the Feres Doctrine, which prohibits such claims. The congressional bill would change that.

"These last eight months have been unbelievably difficult," said Connell, who has served for more than 30 years. "The reason I am going public is that I want to try to improve the military for soldiers serving all over the world."

The legislation passes, it would be retroactive to 1997, potentially affecting the outcome of several pending lawsuits.

The malpractice lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent individuals and families who have been impacted by medical negligence and other negligence related accidents. Cases are taken on a contingency fee, and all consultations are free and confidential.

Ten Southern California hospitals have received penalties of $25,000 each after the California Department of Public Health determined that medical mistakes in care to patients caused, or was likely to cause, serious injuries or death. Los Angeles County had five hospitals on the list, Orange County three and San Diego County two.

The following hospitals were penalized:

1. Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, for failing to ensure the safe and effective administration of medications.

2. Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, for failing to accurately implement its blood transfusion policies and procedures.

3. Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, for failing to follow its surgical policies and procedures, resulting in a patient having to undergo a second surgery to remove a foreign object that was left inside the body.

4. Saint Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, for failing to ensure safe and effective use of medications.

5. Whittier Hospital Medical Center in Whittier, for failing to adequately identify a patient prior to a surgical procedure.

6. Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, for failing to follow its policies and procedures for the use and maintenance of respiratory equipment.

7. University of California, San Diego Medical Center in San Diego, for failing follow its surgical policies and procedures, resulting in a patient having to undergo a second surgery to remove a foreign object left in the body during surgery.

8. St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, Orange County, for failing follow its surgical policies and procedures, resulting in a patient having to undergo a second surgery to remove a foreign object left in the body during surgery.

9. University of California Irvine Medical Center in Irvine, for failing to prevent falls.

10. University of California Irvine Medical Center in Irvine, for compromising the safety of a patient by failing to timely to investigation of an assault on a patient.

Regulators issued the fines almost a month ago, but postponed making them public because of the Swine flu outbreak.

The malpractice lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent individuals and families throughout San Diego, Orange, and Los Angeles County who have been injured by medical mistakes, in accidents, and all other personal injury matters.

Every few years we hear about doctors fleeing states to get away from high malpractice insurance premiums. The medical malpractice insurers then claim they have to raise rates because of excessive malpractice lawsuits. Then the legislatures get nervous and enact laws that limit when and how victims of malpractice can sue, and how much they can collect in the form of caps. And guess what? It’s all a sham.

A study by the American Medical Association shows that doctors do not flee states without so-called tort reform measures, but that the numbers of doctors continues to climb in every state. Moreover, the number of doctors per capita is 13 percent higher in states without caps on recovery. That’s right, the states where there is no arbitrarily imposed ceiling on what a malpractice victim can collect actually has more doctors per capita than those with laws designed to retain doctors.

Next time you hear insurance company and state legislators that we need to impose limits on civil justice to prevent doctors from leaving California, be very wary. They did this in the early seventies and the effect has been devastating to those severely injured by medical malpractice.

The malpractice lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent clients who have been impacted by medical negligence and other negligence related accidents. Cases are taken on a contingency fee, and all consultations are free and confidential.

Scripps Mercy Chula Vista was one of 10 hospitals across California to receive a fine from Department of Public Health for conduct that injured or killed a patient. The Chula Vista hospital was fined $25,000 for the death of a female patient on February 29, 2008.

According to reports, the woman arrived in the Emergency Department on February 29th with high blood pressure and difficulty breathing. The E.R. doctor ordered saline solution for the patient more than 2 1/2 hours after lab results showed her sodium level was critically low. For reasons unknown, the hospital failed to quickly process the order, and the patient was transferred to the I.C.U approximately three hours after arrival never having received the saline solution.

An I.C.U. nursing realized that the saline had not been received, so another request was faxed to the pharmacy. The solution arrived about an hour later, but the nurse took a short break without administering it. The patient suffered heart failure about 10 minutes later, and died within a half hour.

The hospital's chief of staff admitted that the hospital needed "to do a better job of identifying who's in charge of the patient at any given point in time when they're in the hospital," but denied that quicker treatment would have saved the woman's life.

Walton Law Firm LLP represents individuals and families who have been impacted by medical negligence and other negligence related accidents. Cases are taken on a contingency fee, and all consultations are free and confidential.

Based in San Diego’s North County, Randy Walton and Scott Barber represent individuals all over San Diego County in matters of personal injury and wrongful death. Whether you live in Escondido or El Cajon or Chula Vista, or anywhere else, Randy and Scott can help you obtain monetary justice for the injuries you have suffered.

Personal injuries, or course, can arise in a variety of circumstances, but usually occur due to car accidents, construction mishaps, dog bites, slip-and-fall incidents, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, or assault and battery. For over a decade our attorneys have been handling claims on behalf of injured people, and all cases are taken on a contingency fee basis. That means that we do not earn a fee unless there is a monetary recovery.

For more about our firm visit our website at www.WaltonBarber.com.

Home and hospital visits are available, and consultations about cases are always free.

Four area hospitals have received $25,000 fines for serious mistakes that state investigators allege have caused serious injury and death. The mistakes include. (1) the use of a malfunctioning anesthesia machine at Pomerado Hospital, causing patients to be partially awake during surgery, (2) allowing a patient to fall off an operating room table during surgery at Scripps Green Hospital, (3) permitting an individual with a revoked nursing license to treat patients at Promise Hospital’s skilled nursing facility, and (4) the failure to turn on a ventilator at Sharp Grossmont, which caused a patient to die.

In the matter of the malfunctioning anesthesia machine, an injured patient told the San Diego Union Tribune that she “felt cutting, smelled burning, felt intense pulling down and towards (my) right side...I could feel the tears coming down my cheek . . . why didn't they see my tears? I tried to talk . . . the pain was horrendous.”

Of course, most people don't realize that few of the victims will receive justice for the medical negligence that caused their suffering. California's MICRA law restricts the recovery of non-economic damages (e.g. pain, suffering, disabling, embarrassment, etc.) to $250,000.00. Under no circumstances can any victim who is injured, maimed, or killed by a health care provider in California receive more.

Sharp Grossmont Hospital is under investigation after an anonymous tipster told officials that the recent death of a patient was not due to natural causes but because of medical malpractice. Harvey Houtkin, a successful author, died on July 25th after what was considered uneventful surgery on his tonsils. The cause of death was listed as natural until a physician anonymously told investigators that Mr. Houtkin died after his breathing tube became dislodged, blocked his airway, and no one noticed. The San Diego Union Tribune reported that:

No staff member had noticed quickly enough that Houtkin had turned blue, the doctor said, and efforts to save him came too late. What ensued was a very messy scene where the anesthesiologists could not reintubate the patient and the surgeon could not establish an opening in the windpipe, the physician said.

The hospital, of course, is denying this.

But recent events at this hospital make is sound more like some third-world health facility, not a state-of-the-art hospital in the orbit of America's Finest City. During two state inspections last spring investigators found numerous deficiencies, including poorly trained nurses, improper use of restraints, an old operating room mattress (held together with tape and glue), and other problems. They also discovered three deaths that they deemed were preventable.

Sharp Grossmont Hospital is now at risk of losing federal funding.

The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality announced the results of a study that finds preventable mistakes that occur during and after surgery would save countless lives, and save approximately $1.5 billion per year.

According to the study, medical insurance companies paid 52% more for surgical patients who suffered acute respiratory distress post-surgery, and 48% more for post-surgical infections, compared to patients who did not experience those complications. In addition, the study found that nursing care associated with medical errors, including bed sores and hip fractures, caused an increase in costs of 33%.

Most stunning is the study's finding that one of every 10 patients who died within 90 days of surgery did so as a result of medical malpractice.

Some tips to follow to avoid medical mistakes. If you have a choice in which hospital to have a procedure performed, choose one with a lot of experience with your condition. In addition, prior to surgery make sure that you, your doctor, and your surgeon are clear on exactly what procedure is going to be performed.

It's been a bad few weeks for the image of hospitals in America.

Two weeks ago, a woman died in the emergency room of a New York Hospital waiting for a bed. She apparently waited over 24 hours, and surveillance cameras show her lying on the floor of the ER for more than an hour before an employee came to check on her. Several staff members have been suspended or fired, including doctors and the family intends to file a lawsuit for malpractice.

Last Sunday, a 34-year-old woman died after getting stuck in the elevator of a Des Moines, Iowa hospital.

And just yesterday it was reported that 17 infants were given overdoses of Heparin, a blood thinner, when nurses accidentally gave the infants 10,000 units of blood thinner instead of 10, as called for. One of the infants has died.

Walton Law Firm LLP is a personal injury and malpractice law firm that represents individuals throughout San Diego County. The firm is always accepting new cases, and free consultations are available.