Medical Malpractice

• This Prescription Error Is A Disaster

  Bob Carroll | December 22, 2006 8:02 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Misfilled prescriptions or prescription errors continue to occur at an alarming rate in Florida. And, sadly, they sometimes produce a devastating injury or death. The following news report shows the problem is not limited to our state. Pharmacy error nets $8 million jury awardLANCASTER, S.C. - A jury has awarded a Lancaster woman nearly $8 million after she lost the use of her only kidney...

• Fibromyalgia Is Real

  Bob Carroll | December 20, 2006 6:41 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  The pain of fibromyalgia is real, and doctors need to take patients' complaints seriously, concludes a review paper by University of Michigan Health System doctors.Evidence Shows Fibromyalgia Pain Is Real: Experts"It is time for us to move past the rhetoric about whether these conditions are real, and take these patients seriously as we endeavor to learn more about the causes and most effective...

• Benefits Of A Doctor Who Takes His Time To Do It Right

  Bob Carroll | December 18, 2006 6:54 AM | 1 CommentTampa Bay, FL

  Some medical malpractice occurs simply because the medical provider does not spend enough time doing the job at hand. It is identical to the plumber who does a poor job making his connections in the rush to get to the next job or on the way home. Or, to the home inspector who has twice as many homes to inspect as he should have in his work day. It is not a failure of training or experience. ...

• Injuries Continue To Flood Hospitals

  Bob Carroll | December 17, 2006 6:58 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Americans are injuring themselves and others at astounding rates. The latest figures and costs make you think about staying home - but, you would have to just sit on a couch and not take any medications. Injuries Cost Hospitals $20 BillionU.S. hospitals spend roughly $20 billion to treat the nearly 2 million Americans injured seriously enough each year to require inpatient care, according to a...

• Nobody Should Send An Impaired Driver Onto The Highway

  Bob Carroll | December 12, 2006 5:33 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  If an employer sends a drunk employee off the worksite knowing he would likely drive home, should the boss be liable if the drunk employee does what drunk drivers often do, crosses the center line and kills an oncoming motorist? My answer is yes. If a doctor discharges a hospital patient knowing that his medical condition and medications would make him an unsafe driver without warning the...

• Caps On Medical Malpractice Damages Produce Windfall Insurance Profits

  Bob Carroll | December 11, 2006 10:45 PM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  When the Florida Legislature was being pressured to place a cap on the damages in medical malpractice cases there were those who said doing so would only result in windfall profit for the medical malpractice insurance industry. They were right. Three years after the Legislature capped medical malpractice payouts, insurance company payouts have decreased dramatically, but not their...

• Hospitals May Soon Have Financial Incentives To Reduce Medication Errors

  Bob Carroll | December 11, 2006 5:49 PM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Maybe, just maybe, hospital medication errors will be reduced soon. Congress has tied Medicare reimbursements to a hospital's adoption of new quality standards related to medications. Congress Passes Legislation to Prevent Medication Errors U.S. Senators Evan Bayh and Richard Lugar today announced that the Senate passed legislation late last night that includes steps to prevent hospital...

• Pediatric Residents Working Fewer Hours

  Bob Carroll | December 05, 2006 5:15 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  It appears that pediatric residents are the same as the rest of us. Working fewer hours reduces fatigue and patient care errors. Pediatric Residency Duty Hours Before and After Limitations"Since the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education duty hour limits went into effect, pediatric residents report working fewer hours and making fewer patient care errors because of fatigue....

• Eye Exams For Infants And Children Are Critical

  Bob Carroll | December 05, 2006 3:58 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Infants and children should have more eye examinations. That is the word from the American Optometric Association. Its recommendations and my comments are below. Health Tip: Your Child Needs Regular Eye ExamsHealthDay News -- Regular eye checkups are important, especially for children, the American Optometric Association says.The newborn checkup at the hospital isn't enough, the group warns....

• Dogs, Infants And Wheezing

  Bob Carroll | December 04, 2006 6:41 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  I am a happy man today. My two grandchildren, apparently, can hope to avoid wheezing in their lives because their parents were smart enough to raise them with fur-shedding brothers. Now, what will help me get the fur out of my lungs?Infants Wheeze Less In Homes With Multiple DogsLiving in a home with multiple dogs may help reduce an infant's risk for developing wheezing in the first year of...