April 20, 2010

Two Riverside County Hospitals Lose Medicare Funding

Rancho Springs Medical Center and Inland Valley Regional Medical Center were informed by Medicare last week that they will lose Federal Medicare funding because of their repeated failure to follow basic care standards. The hospitals were also hit with hefty fines for serious healthcare related deficiencies.

The decision by Medicare to end funding came after an inspection in January where officials found, among other things, that pharmacists failed to ensure that dangerous medications were used in a safe manner, and where physician assistants were not properly equipped to screen patients. The hospitals have been under the watchful eye of regulators since 2007, when they were first notified of the questionable care being provided to patients.

These two hospitals find themselves in small company. Since 2000, only 32 hospitals have lost Medicare funding. And, remarkably, despite the problems, the company CEO was rewarded with a $3.4 million bonus in March.

Source: California Watch

The personal 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.

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Professional Negligence , Riverside Personal Injury

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February 20, 2010

Avandia Causes Heart Damage Government Concludes

The New York Times has obtained a government report that concludes that the drug Avandia [aka Rosiglitazone], prescribed for diabetes, causes heart attacks and heart failure and should be removed from the market. According to the report, if every diabetic currently on Avandia were instead given Actos, an alternative drug, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be avoided every month.

Because of a multimillion dollar advertising blitz, Avandia was, at one time, one of the biggest selling drugs in the world. In 2006, sales of the drug totaled over $3 billion dollars. In 2007, however, a study by a Cleveland Clinic cardiologist suggested that the drug actually damaged the heart, and after a warning from the FDA, sales of the drug dropped dramatically. Despite the findings of heart damage, the drug stayed on the market when "an F.D.A. oversight board voted 8-7" too keep it on the market. (It would be interesting to know the politics at work behind that decision.)

“Rosiglitazone should be removed from the market,” concluded Dr. David Graham and Dr. Kate Gelperin of the FDA in the report obtained by the Times. GlaxoSmithKline, the drug's manufacturer, disagrees (of course). It has stated that Avandia has been thoroughly tested and that “scientific evidence simply does not establish that Avandia increases” the risk of heart attacks.

A bipartisan multiyear Senate investigation, which will release its report on Monday, will apparently harshly criticize GlaxoSmithKline for failing to warn patients years earlier that Avandia was potentially deadly. According to the forthcoming report from the Senate:

“[GlaxoSmithKline] executives attempted to intimidate independent physicians, focused on strategies to minimize or misrepresent findings that Avandia may increase cardiovascular risk, and sought ways to downplay findings that a competing drug might reduce cardiovascular risk.”

Ultimately, this will be a story about the quest for profits at the expense of human lives.

Source: New York Times

The lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals throughout San Diego County who have been injured in all types of incidents, including product defect claims, malpractice claims, car accidents, motorcycle accidents, an all other negligence induced incidents. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

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Posted In: Defective Products , General Legal , Product Liability , Professional Negligence

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November 13, 2009

Avoiding Medical Malpractice

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.

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Personal Injury , Professional Negligence

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August 13, 2009

"Dead by Mistake" Tracks Medical Malpractice Stories

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.

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Professional Negligence , San Diego Personal Injury

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June 28, 2009

Hospital Worker Accused of Sexual Assault Patient

A 31-year-old emergency room technician was arrested last week for raping a woman inside the emergency room at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. The woman was reportedly too intoxicated to resist.

According to reports, police received a 911 call from inside the hospital from the woman, who said she believed she had been raped. Police responded, and an examination produced DNA that was later linked to EMT Jesse Karin Pena, who lives in Winchester. Pena was arrested and is expected to appear in court Monday morning.

"This is a hideous crime," said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department. "One should expect to get treated and this is the last thing you have to worry about."

Pena worked only three times at Mission Hospital in October and November 2008, and also in February. Anyone with information, or who might also be a victim, is requested to contact Sheriff's officials at 866-847-6273.

The Orange County injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent individuals and families who have been victimized by the conduct of others. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free consultation.

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Posted In: Assault and Battery , Professional Negligence

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August 16, 2008

San Diego Hospitals Fined for Mistakes

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.

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Professional Negligence

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August 1, 2008

Medical Malpractice Alleged in Hospital Death

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.

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Professional Negligence

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July 9, 2008

Aren't Hospitals Where We Go To Get Well?

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.

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Professional Negligence

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