Category: blog

Medical Malpractice News: WHO Tackles Surgical Deaths & Complications

The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken a stand this week against unnecessary medical complications that occur in the operating room.  In response to the increasing occurrence of medical mistakes and subsequent medical malpractice suits, the WHO has issued a list of simple safety checks aimed at reducing surgical death and complications.

An example of the recommendations issued by the WHO are as follows:

  1. All members of a surgical team are to identify themselves and state out loud exactly what type of surgery is to be preformed on the patient;
  2. Members of the surgical team should physically mark the site of surgery and incision to avoid operating on the wrong body part or patient;
  3. Administer antibiotics within 60 minutes of making an incision;
  4. Verify drug allergies before prescribing medication;
  5. Insert two intravenous lines for operations with substantial blood loss; and
  6. Count all sponges and needles to ensure surgical instruments are not left in the body.

The full article and complete list of recommendations can be found on the New York Time’s website.

Are your tires expired? The following information may save your life.

Aged tires have been linked to hundreds of vehicle deaths across the country.

You may be thinking, “My tires are brand new…this doesn’t apply to me.”

Unfortunately, that may not be the case.  Those “brand new” tires may have sat on the shelf for up to 10 years before they were put on your car.

However, for each year a tire sits on a shelf, it becomes less elastic and prone to tread separation on the road.  Tire experts claim that any tire over six years of age is expired and should not be sold to consumers. I always recommend these winter tires reviewed by carbibles. They are great.

A recent ABC investigative report shows the seriousness of this issue.  Major tire retailers such as Sears were caught selling tires up to 15 years old.  When questioned on the dangers of these tires, investigative reporters were assured they were safe and sent on their way.

This same report shows a professional driver attempting to control a vehicle with old tires after the tread separates from the wheel.  Not surprisingly, this condition resulted in a crash every single time.

Clearly, your “brand new” tires may be an accident waiting to happen.

How to Check the Age of a Tire Manufactured after 2000


To find the age of a tire made before the year 2000, you must first locate the “DOT” number on the sidewall.


In this picture, the last 4 digits represent the week the car was manufactured and the year.  So in this case, the last two digits are 00, which means the tire was manufactured in the year 2000.

How to Check the Age of a Tire Manufactured Before 2000
In the case of a tire manufactured before the year 2000, you will find only 3 digits at the end of the DOT number.  These three digets stand for the week and year that the tire was made.

In this case, the tire was made on the 40th week of the year 1998.

These numbers will only apply to the years 1990-1999, as tire age regulations did not exist before this time.
I was sold expired tires as new.  What should I do?

First and foremost, if your tires are still intact, I would ask the store to replace them as soon as possible.  Driving on these tires can be deadly and immediate action must be taken.

However, if you or a loved one has been injured as a result of aged tires, you may have a case against the manufacturer.  For further information or a free legal consultation, call (856) 833-0600 in NJ or (215) 567-2380 in PA.  You can also fill out the form on the left side of the page for immediate help.

Study Reveals Worst Insurance Companies for Consumers

The American Association for Justice issued a report this Wednesday naming the worst insurance companies for consumers in the US.  According to the report, “the rankings show a distinct pattern of insurance industry greed amongst 10 companies that refuse to pay just claims, employ hardball tactics against policyholders, reward executives with extravagant salaries, and raise premiums while hoarding excessive profits.”

The following companies were selected after a six-month review of information from court documents, SEC records, FBI records, state insurance department investigations/complaints, nationwide news accounts and testimony of former insurance agents.  Surprisingly, the companies in the “top five” are well-known and pretty popular choices among American consumers:

1. ALLSTATE – CEO, Thomas Wilson; 2007 compensation, $10.7 million; 2007 profits, $4.6 billion; assets: $156.4 billion. “According to investigations and documents Allstate was forced to make public, the company systematically placed profits over its own policyholders… The amount Allstate paid in claims dropped from 79 percent of its premium income in 1996 to just 58 percent 10 years later. In auto claims, payouts dropped from 63 percent to just 47 percent.

2. UNUM – CEO, Thomas Watjen; 2007 compensation, $7.3 million; 2007 profits, $679 million; assets, $52.4 billion. “Unum, one of the nation’s leading disability insurers, has long had a reputation for unfairly denying and delaying claims..”

3. AIG – CEO, Robert Willumstad; 2007 compensation for former CEO, 14.3 million; 2007 profits: $6.2 billion; assets, $1.06 trillion; “AIG executives have also come under fire for opportunistically seeking price increases during catastrophes. Now the company has been labeled ‘the new Enron’ because of charges of multibillion-dollar corporate fraud.”

4. STATE FARM – CEO: Edward B. Rust Jr.; 2007 compensation, $11.7 million; 2007 profits: $5.5 billion; assets, $181.4 billion. “In many cases, the company has gone to extreme lengths to avoid paying claims, including forging signatures on earthquake waivers after the deadly Northridge earthquake, and altering engineering reports regarding damage after Hurricane Katrina.”

5. CONSECO – CEO, C. James Prieur; 2007 compensation: $2.6 million; 2007 profits: $179.9 million; assets: $33.5 billion. “Conseco sells long-term-care policies, typically to the elderly. Unfortunately, Conseco uses the deteriorating health of its policyholders to its advantage because the company knows if it waits long enough to pay out claims, its customers will die.”

What’s not surprsing, however, is the fact that insurance representatives from the above mentioned companies have wasted no time attacking the trial lawyers behind the study.  A spokesman for Allstate told the press, “We’re not surprised we’re being targeted by the trial and personal injury lawyers because Allstate has always been at the forefront of the fight against insurance fraud and the effort to resist unreasonable demands made by lawyers.”

The sad part is that any person with insurance knows that you pay an arm and a leg for insurance “just incase,” but when an accident happens, its a nightmare to get what you deserve.  It doesn’t take a trial lawyer to point that out– although they are in the best position to make that allegation because they deal with insurance companies on a day to day basis.

I don’t think consumers are buying this argument either. After all, its awfully hard to feel sorry for a CEO (such as Allstate’s Thomas Wilson), who racks in $10.7 million a year, while most people struggle just to pay their bill.

Related Information:

New Jersey Personal Injury Attorney

From The Mayo Clinic: Symptoms of A Pressure Sore

Learning how to spot a bedsore is the best way to help a loved one living in an elder care or rehabilitation facility.  If not treated properly, bedsores can be fatal.  At the very least they are painful and may slow the patient’s recovery process by weeks, if not months.

Furthermore, bedsores are almost always an indication of neglect from the nursing home staff.  That is why you must familiarize your self with the signs and symptoms of a bedsore so you can take immediate action in the case of nursing home abuse.

The Mayo Clinic offers the following description of pressure sores, as well as prominent areas that a bedsore may form:

Bedsores fall into one of four stages based on their severity. The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, a professional organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of pressure sores, has defined each stage as follows:

  • Stage I. Initially, a pressure sore appears as a persistent area of red skin that may itch or hurt and feel warm and spongy or firm to the touch. In blacks, Hispanics and other people with darker skin, the mark may appear to have a blue or purple cast, or look flaky or ashen. Stage I wounds are superficial and go away shortly after the pressure is relieved.
  • Stage II. At this point, some skin loss has already occurred — either in the epidermis, the outermost layer of skin, in the dermis, the skin’s deeper layer, or in both. The wound is now an open sore that looks like a blister or an abrasion, and the surrounding tissues may show red or purple discoloration. If treated promptly, stage II sores usually heal fairly quickly.
  • Stage III. By the time a pressure ulcer reaches this stage, the damage has extended to the tissue below the skin, creating a deep, crater-like wound.
  • Stage IV. In the most serious and advanced stage, a large-scale loss of skin occurs, along with damage to muscle, bone, and even supporting structures such as tendons and joints. Stage IV wounds are extremely difficult to heal and can lead to lethal infections.

If you use a wheelchair, you’re most likely to develop a pressure sore on:

  • Your tailbone or buttocks
  • Your shoulder blades and spine
  • The backs of your arms and legs where they rest against the chair

When you’re bed-bound, pressure sores can occur in any of these areas:

  • The back or sides of your head
  • The rims of your ears
  • Your shoulders or shoulder blades
  • Your hipbones, lower back or tailbone
  • The backs or sides of your knees, heels, ankles and toes

Alternatively, if you have read the previous bedsore information and believe that you or a loved one may have been the victim of nursing home neglect, call (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey or (215) 567-2380 in the Philadelphia metro area.  You can also contact a nursing home abuse attorney by filing out the case evaluation form on the left side of the page. A legal professional will contact you within 12 hours to discuss your case.

FDA Alert: Risk of rhabdomyolysis when simvastatin is used with amiodarone

The FDA issued the following MedWatch Alert today regarding simvastatin used in combination with amiodarone.  The alert reads as follows:

FDA notified healthcare professionals of the risk of muscle injury, rhabdomyolysis, which can lead to kidney failure or death, when simvastatin is used with amiodarone. This risk is dose-related and increases when a dose of simvastatin greater than 20 mg per day is given with amiodarone. Although a revision of the simvastatin labeling in 2002 described an increased risk of rhabdomyolysis when amiodarone is taken with simvastatin doses greater than 20 mg daily, FDA continues to receive reports of rhabdomyolysis in patients treated concurrently with amiodarone and simvastatin. Prescribers should be aware of the increased risk of rhabdomyolysis when simvastatin is prescribed with amiodarone, and they should avoid doses of simvastatin greater than 20 mg per day in patients taking amiodarone.

Read the complete MedWatch safety summary, including links to the FDA Drug Information page, Information for Healthcare Professionals sheet, and labels (Prescribing Information) for simvastatin and amiodarone products, at
http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008/safety08.htm#Simvastatin

 

For further information on the latest drug recalls or for immediate legal help, click on the following links:

Contact a medical malpractice lawyer

Contact a personal injury attorney

Heart Device Makers Plan Enhanced Safety Reviews

In an attempt to improve patient safety, national heart device manufacturers have committed to better research and evaluation of their products before they hit the market.

This safety plan comes after the release of several defective heart products, ranging from difibulators to deadly St. Jude Silzone heart valves.

The decision was influenced by a Heart Rhythm Society report, which called on device makers to create, among other things, independent panels of doctors and other specialists to review product safety.

In response to the Heart Rhythm Society’s request, Medtronic Inc. and St. Jude both announced plans to involve a greater number of outside doctors in the product research and development phase.

The full article as reported in the New York Times can be found here.

Additional Resources:

New Jersey Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

Voluntary Recall of Viapro 375mg Capsules Due To A Potentially Harmful Analog Of Sildenafil

The FDA, in conjunction with EG Labs LLC has issued a voluntary recall of the popular erectile dysfunction drug, Viapro.  The MedWatch annoucment is as follows:

EG Labs, LLC, notified consumers and healthcare professionals not to buy or use Viapro 375mg Capsules because one lot of the product was found to contain a potentially harmful undeclared ingredient, thio-methisosildenafil, an analog of sildenafil, a FDA approved product used to treat erectile dysfunction in men to enhance sexual performance. The undeclared ingredient may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs (such as nitroglycerin) and can lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. Consumers with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease often take products containing nitrates. Consumers who have this product should discontinue using it and consult their healthcare professional if they experience any problems that may be related to taking Viapro.

Read the entire 2008 MedWatch Safety summary, including a link to the manufacturer’s Press Release regarding this issue at:
http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008/safety08.htm#Viapro

For further information on this recall or to speak to a defective drug attorney, call (856) 833-0600 in NJ or (215) 567-2380 in PA, or fill out the form on the left side of the page.

The “Dead Doctor” Scam: How Medicare and Medicaid Lost $70 Million In Fraudulent Claims

Most people envision Medicare or Medicaid fraud as a pharmacist billing for name brand prescriptions while dispersing the generic version, or a doctor inflating the cost of his services to bring in a few extra bucks.

Unfortunately, another type of Medicare and Medicaid fraud exists—and it’s one that took the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 7 years to put a stop to.

A subcommittee report issued by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Investigations Subcommittee on Tuesday revealed CMS has paid out more than $70 million between 2000 and 2007 for durable medical equipment that used the personal identification number of a deceased physician.

In response to the discovery, CMS deputy administrator, Herb Kuhn, assured government officials that the agency is working on a new system to stop fraudulent billing from “dead doctors”.  Apparently, the proposed system will require doctors to use a new National Provider Identifier, which will automatically cross check death records from the Social Security Administration database.

In addition, Kuhn told Subcommittee Chair Carl Levin (D-Mich.) that while the stolen funds have yet to be recovered, the agency plans to withhold future bonuses for companies found to be involved in the scam.

Withhold future bonuses?

I would hope that CMS would conduct an audit and prosecute every single company that participated in the dead doctor scam.  Patients are denied funding every day under Medicare and Medicaid because of budget constraints.  These scammers essentially stole from sick people who could have used that money to buy medicine, etc.

In addition, CMS should receive a complete administration overhaul for waiting so long to address this problem.  A few sources suggest that CMS may have known of the dead doctor scam as early as 2001—which is completely unacceptable in my opinion.

I think subcommittee ranking member Norm Colman (R-Minn) sums up the dead doctor scam the best: “We live in a high tech world…Surely we should have the capacity to figure out if doctors are dead.”

I totally agree.

Related Information:

New Jersey Whistleblower Attorneys

Support Public Disclosure of Preventable Errors in New Jersey Hospitals

A prominent elder advocacy group has come forward this week asking that specific data regarding preventable hospital errors be made available to the public.

According to the AARP, New Jersey residents have been kept in the dark as to the quality of their local healthcare providers. Current patient safety regulations (namely the Patient Safety Act), only requires the state to report errors as a whole, rather than specifically name the individual hospital offenders.

However, the AARP of New Jersey has called upon the department of Health and Senior Services to break this information down by hospital so patients can assess for themselves the quality of their local health care facilities.

Not surprisingly, the New Jersey Hospital Association opposes the release of such information.

Fortunately, the battle for specific disclosure has now made it’s way to the New Jersey state legislature.  Last session, a bill requiring the disclosure hospital-specific errors passed the Assembly but expired without gaining approval from the Senate.  Identical bills have been re-introduced to both chambers.

Why hospital-specific reporting matters in New Jersey

According to a recent HealthGrades study, New Jersey ranks 51st (fifty states and the District of Columbia) or dead last in patient safety incidents.  This same study also reveals that in 2004 alone, 195,000 patients in the US died as a result of a preventable medical error.

Clearly, these statistic show that the current reporting methods under the Patient Safety Act are not effective in deterring medical mistakes—especially in New Jersey.

However, hospital-specific reporting for medical mistakes will improve the overall quality of healthcare in New Jersey.  For example, residents of Camden County have over 5 hospitals to choose from for their care.  If one hospital is ranked far worse than the others, informed patients will choose to avoid the facility altogether.

Thus, hospitals that do not value patient safety will experience a major decline in revenue until they literally are forced to clean up their act.

While it is sad that better care comes down to a money game, a mass exodus of patients (or potential revenue) is the only way to get the attention of a hospital CEO with an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality.

How to Get Involved

Speak up!  Write or call your local congressman or congresswoman and let them know that you support hospital-specific reporting of medical mistakes (Bill A1264 or S807).

The local paper is another great way to spread the word on this issue.  Send letters to the editor, submit posts to the online forums/ blogs and leave comments on any relevant stories to express your support.

We, the public, deserve to know the quality of our local hospitals and healthcare facilities – and hospital-specific reporting of medical errors is the only way to achieve that goal.

Related Information

New Jersey medical malpractice attorney

Wallgreen’s Pays $35 Million For Medicaid Whistleblower Settlement

On June 4, 2008, Walgreen’s drug store agreed to pay $35 million to settle a Medicare whistleblower lawsuit. In the suit, retail giant Walgreen’s was accused of substituting more expensive versions of three prescription drugs between 2001 and 2005 in an attempt to defraud the medicare system.

Pharmacist Bernard Listiza was credited for blowing the whistle on the fraud scheme and will receive $5 million as a reward for his cooperation.  This same pharmacist brought a similar suit against CVS Caremark Corporation in late 2006.

In addition, individual states such as Indiana and Ohio have accused the pharmacy of making wholesale switches without physician involvement, which is a violation of numerous state regulations on pharmaceutical drugs.  The two states listed above recovered $161,000 and $28, 479 respectively from the Medicare settlement

Related Whistleblower and Medicaid Fraud Information:

New Jersey Whistleblower Attorneys and Lawsuit Information