Philadelphia Injury Attorney Blog

On Monday, May 3, 2009 the Atlanta Journal Constitution featured an article noting that medical mistakes create unhappy realities. In the article, the following mistakes were highlighted: A surgical team at Northside Hospital was supposed to remove one of the patient’s breasts; however, performed a double mastectomy because of a mistake. At an Atlanta medical center, a surgeon drilled on the wrong side of a patient’s head before discovering the error. It also noted that at several Georgia Hospital’s doctors circumcised the wrong baby and doctors mistakenly operated on the wrong hand, knee, hip, leg and other body parts.

At the Philadelphia medical malpractice law firm of Reiff and Bily, we have noted that despite protocols and initiatives by a number of medical groups, we receive many calls to investigate and prosecute claims for wrong site surgeries, surgical sponges left inside individuals, as well as removal of body parts that were not intended to be removed. We have seen many cases where the doctor simply admits to the patient that he made an error but in many cases we see medical “cover-ups”. How often these incidences occur in hospitals in Pennsylvania and hospitals throughout the country is a well kept secret.

Last year there were 76 reports of wrong site incidences filed with statewide watchdogs in Pennsylvania. To the credit of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and as a result of the efforts of trial lawyers, an organization was formed focusing, collecting, analyzing and informing the public about patient safety issues. They suggested that patients take an active role to prevent medical errors and some tips to protect yourself are as follows:

1. Talk with doctors - Make sure you, your doctor and surgeon agree on what is to be done.

2. Read paperwork - When signing consent forms and working with schedulers make sure that they all have the correct information about the surgery, including which side is to be operated on.

Continue reading "Doctors Make Mistakes Increasingly Resulting In Unhappy Reality For Patients" »

Posted by Jeffrey M. Reiff | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Catastrophic loss , Medical Malpractice , Misdiagnosis , Negligence , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A recent study by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions has indicated that diagnostic misadventures represent a much larger source of preventable health problems and deaths than many of the more popular targets. If fact, David Newman-Toker, M.D., Ph.D. and Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D. reported that misdiagnosis accounts for an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 deaths per year and that legal claims for diagnostic errors defined as diagnoses that are missed, wrong or delayed are nearly twice as common as claims for medication errors. (news article)

Placing the focus on reducing diagnostic errors will emphasize the reduction of larger "system" failures that affect medical practices overall. What this means is that increased focus will move away from the model that chastises the malpractice for individual physicians to one that focuses on improving the medical system as a whole which should in the long run improve diagnostic accuracy, as well as the cost effectiveness of care.

The Philadelphia medical malpractice law firm of Reiff and Bily believe that a systematic approach and solutions adopted by hospitals and doctors requiring physicians to follow a procedural check list that emphasizes proper diagnosis will result in a decrease of catastrophic injuries and deaths.

Continue reading "Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Lawyer Notes That The New Focus Of Patient Safety Experts Is On Diagnostic Errors" »

Posted by Jeffrey M. Reiff | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Catastrophic loss , Medical Malpractice , Misdiagnosis

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Medical doctors are supposed to be the expert in their field of medicine. It is always possible that those experts are not nearly as qualified as they should be. Many of these professionals often turn out to be better marketers than practitioners. Medical misdiagnosis, especially missed cancer diagnosis, will likely lead to a missed cure and often results in untimely death. The key to proper treatment is to catch problems early, and missing it prevents proper treatment. The Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorneys at the Philadelphia law firm of Reiff and Bily have been researching and handling numerous misdiagnosis cases since 1979.

Medical misdiagnosis can occur from a failure to properly identify lumps, failure to order proper scans, failure to properly evaluate or handle test results or scans, failure to follow up on results or refer to a specialist for further testing, failure to order a biopsy, misclassifying the type of tumor, or mistaking a cancerous tumor as being benign (non-cancerous) or a non-cancerous tumor as being malignant (cancerous). When a patient complains about certain symptoms, it is possible that their doctor will ignore the complaint due to previous medical history (such as a history of a certain type of pain). Ignoring complaints could lead to a misdiagnosis since the doctor is quick to dismiss complaints and actually ignores the symptoms. Misdiagnosis and professional negligence can cause delayed treatment that can greatly impact the chances of survival and the quality of life of the patient.

Continue reading "Was My Medical Condition Diagnosed By A Marketing “Expert” Or A Doctor?" »

Posted by Jeffrey M. Reiff | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Misdiagnosis

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