Avoid Medical Malpractice by Being a Safer Patient

new jersey philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys negligence avoid being safer patient According to a study by Hearst Newspapers, medical malpractice claims the lives of approximately 200,000 people a year. The study also asserts that medical malpractice is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. It’s frightening to think that almost 200,000 people die each year from preventable mistakes.

It would be irresponsible, however, to assume that we, as patients, have no control over the outcome of a doctor’s visit or surgical procedure. By being pro-active with our own healthcare, and staying on top of our own treatment, we can work to avoid the potential mistakes that could change, or even end our lives.

Ask Questions!

Asking questions is key to understanding what is going on with your healthcare. Ask your provider all of the questions you can think of, and if you can’t think of any, bring someone with you who can. Ask about your prescriptions and procedures; what are they, what are they meant to treat, are there any alternative treatment options? Ask how often your provider performs the procedure you are about to undergo. What is the success rate? Failure rate? Ask about what you can do to prepare for a procedure. What can you expect doctors and nurses to do in preperation for your procedure? Ask what to expect from your recovery. What activities should you avoid in recovery? What can you do to assist your recovery? Ask your doctor when you should follow-up. If the follow-up plan changes, ask why!

Be Informed!

Use the sources available to you to research the doctor or hospital providing your medical care. Websites like Medicare’s Hospital Compare, The Joint Commission’s Quality Check, and The Leapfrog Group are all available to provide you with information regarding the history and safety of your medical institution.
Infection control is a major area of concern that you should pay close attention to. Your state health department website will also have pertinent information regarding health and safety records for hospitals and physicians.

You want to be informed about yourself as well. Know your past medical history. Bring lists of all of your medications and allergies. Keep test results in your own medical file. Always have copies of your hospital discharge papers sent to your primary care physician.
You may even request copies for your own medical file (This would come in handy should you ever find yourself in the unfortunate position of suing for medical malpractice).

Follow-Up!

Too many ailments go undiagnosed because both doctor and patient fail to follow-up. We assume that when we get tests done, we will be alerted of any undesirable results. That is not always the case. If we are sent to a specialist for those tests, many times the specialist assumes the doctor will follow-up, and vice versa. Be in charge of your own medical care, and personally follow-up!

NJ and PA Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Medical Malpractice, as the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., is far to prevalent. Precautions must be taken on the part of patient and provider in order to begin shrinking these numbers of medical malpractice related death and injury.
If you or a loved one have suffered due to Medical Malpractice, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free consultation or call at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.

Our hardworking and experienced medical malpractice attorneys are dedicated to earning victims of negligent medical care the compensation they deserve.

Medical Research Continues to Lose Integrity

Senator Charles E. Grassley has raised some serious concern over a recent article published in the Elsevier Medical Journal. The Senator has asked the publisher to investigate an article written on hormone replacement therapy, believing that it was improperly “ghostwritten” by a drug company promoting their products. The article was part of an editor’s choice section in Elsevier’s Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

In an article signed by Dr. John Eden of Australia, Senator Grassley has found unethical promotions lacking scientific evidence. At the heart of the controversy is the drug company Wyeth. Mr. Grassley, a member of the Senate Finance Committee who is investigating drug company influence on doctors, contends that Wyeth commissioned the articles and had them ghostwritten by a medical writing firm. Only after the articles were conceived and under way did the firm line up doctors to put their names on them, Mr. Grassley contends.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Drug companies have been forcing their will on medical research results for decades now, and the influence of corporate profit is on the rise. By 2006, Drug companies were spending nearly twice as much on advertising and marketing as they were on the research and testing needed to ensure the safety of a new product.

Mr. Grassley’s investigation shows how results of this corporate policy can be catastrophic. A landmark federal study has linked Wyeth’s Prempro hormone product to breast cancer in women. What does the expert testimony sponsored by Wyeth say about that taxpayer funded study? Dr. Eden’s controversial article states that, “there was no definitive evidence that the [Wyeth] hormones caused breast cancer.”

It seems the Wyeth Corporation and Dr. Eden have forgotten the meaning of the Hippocratic oath.

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The Secret Relationship of Medical Researchers and Pharmaceutical Companies

Finally, congress is investigating the giant pharmaceutical company’s corrupt research practices. In the drug business, promoting health and safety should be priority number one. Unfortunately, it is merely a distant second. In the pharmaceutical industry, making money supersedes science. Some even go as far as claiming that drug makers have become a billion dollar empire not because of research and science, but rather from slick marketing and deceit. This claim has some validity since the drug companies spend almost twice as much on the marketing of their drugs then on the development of their drugs.

Some also argue that many drugs are over-prescribed, and that drug companies’ huge profits are often spent developing and advertising expensive designer drugs (such as Viagra) instead of life-saving medications. But now, even the effectiveness of the drugs is being called in to question by the on going congressional inquiry. Presently, Congress is learning that the drug makers have paid millions of dollars in cash and other benefits to the very doctors who are supposed to be independently testing these drugs. Rarely will such a doctor bite the hand that feeds them. Even more insidious, the drug companies employ thousands of foreign-born chemists who are in the US on a work visa. Their career allows them and their family the right to live and work in the U.S. This demands allegiance to their employer and many suspect that end result of their research reflects this allegiance.

Perhaps the most alarming discovery of the investigation however points towards the work of Dr. Joseph Beiderman. Dr Beiderman, one of the world’s most renowned child psychologists at the Harvard Medical School, apparently failed to report to Harvard University that he had received at least $1.4 million in personal income from drug companies. It was also found that Dr. Biederman had asked a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary to provide him with almost $1 million to start a research center to, “move forward the commercial goals of J.& J.” As a front-runner in the field of psychology, Biederman was responsible for introducing a new era of using powerful, risky, and expensive antipsychotic medicines in young people.

Hopefully, the present congressional investigation will lead to reforms for the pharmaceutical industry. One reform would be to break the financial relationship and dependence of the medical profession to drug makers. Others would be to hold drug makers accountable in a court of law for false advertising and marketing of drugs that harm patients. The recent vioxx civil trials, which resulted in huge verdicts against the drug makers, is just one example of how effective this system works. After a few juries heard the truth about this drug maker, and awarded appropriate damages, the vioxx maker quickly settled all the claims against it. That result sent a strong message to the drug makers that they will be held accountable for deceit in the pursuit of profits. Hopefully, congress will enact stricter and further reforms as well. This will allow all of us to have confidence that the medicine we pay for and use has been fairly and legitimately tested by independent doctors and are benefiting our long term health.