Informed Consent; "How Much Do You Know Before Your Surgery?"

John was having significant belly pain. He was doubled over. He couldn't go to the bathroom, thinking it was gas. His pain was getting worse. Still he thought it was gas pain. Finally, he decided it was wise to go to the emergency room. He was going to drive himself but realized that would be impossible.

Hernia Operations and Pain

The Wall Street Journal this week reported on a little-discussed effect of hernia operations: chronic pain.

How Not to Die From Gall Bladder Surgery; Miami Medical Malpractice Lawyer Explains

Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy, or "Lap Choly," is a procedure performed to treat patients who may have a gallstone in the gallbladder, bile duct or inflammation

Medical Malpractice: Wrong Surgeries Program Indicates Success

A pilot project to reduce wrong procedures and wrong-site surgeries is citing progress, as of early last month.

Medical Malpractice: Does Teamwork Cause or Contribute to It?

A piece in the NY Times questions a long-held assumption that physician fatigue contributes to medical error. Instead, the article advances the theory that the

292 Foreign Objects Left Inside of Patients 2008-2009 in New York

You might be wondering how it’s possible for a doctor to leave a surgical instrument inside your body and not realize it.

Surgical Instruments (plural) Left Inside Patient During Surgery

These were not small instruments. These surgical instruments were no supposed to be left inside the patient. Yet for some unknown reason, SIX surgical forceps (clamps) were left INSIDE this hapless patient. A Phillipino man had been a gunshot victim during a robbery in the Phillipines and underwent corrective surgery. He survived and was left with an open wound that was being monitored. Two days later, he was dead.

Sepsis can impact the elderly-Newsday reports

By its very nature, sepsis is an overwhelming infection that occurs throughout the body. If unrecognized and untreated, it can lead to death. Today's Newsday report discusses research published for the first time saying that sepsis patients had a threefold higher risk for developing cognitive problems such as forgetfulness, new physical limitations and often persistent disability. The article correctly points out that “Unless antibiotics and life support are delivered quickly, the condition can lead to organ failure and death."

Unnecessary Nasal Operations

Patients routinely rely on their doctors. When a doctor says that surgery is needed to correct a medical condition, that is usually all someone needs to become convinced to undergo the procedure. When doctors betray that trust for their own advantage, not only are patients ripped off, but they also suffer an unnecessary surgery. That is what one nose doctor was doing with his patients. He would tell patients that they needed to have procedures performed for their health, meanwhile the procedures were often unnecessary causing nothing but trauma for the patients.

Spinal Injection Causes Paralysis

One of the few comforts that a patient can rely on when undergoing a major procedure is that they usually get to meet and talk to the doctor who will be performing their operation. When that trust is betrayed, patients have a right to be upset. For example, a man was admitted to a hospital to receive an acrylic injection to his spinal column. The procedure was supposed to help the man with his back pain. The man decided to undergo the procedure after discussing the risks with his doctor. After the procedure, the patient was paralyzed. Apparently the injection was performed incorrectly and the inserted fluid spread to inappropriate parts of the spine. Additionally, the patient found out that the doctor who performed the operation was not the one that he consulted with.

Falling Off an Operating Table

Many say the best place to sustain an injury is in a hospital because then immediate care can be provided. However, it is unlikely these people would suggest that falling off an operating room table is a good thing. For a man in Minnesota this is what happened.

Improperly Performed Sinus Surgery: Permanent Injury

The intricacies of the human body are complicated. One of the most perplexing areas of the human body is the human head which houses the ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. Each body part is as important as the sensory ability they enable. That is why a mistake during a medical procedure on one of these areas can be tragic. That is what happened to a woman in New Jersey who suffered permanent and debilitating eye damage while undergoing a "routine" sinus operation.

Death From A Ruptured Shunt-NY Medical Malpractice Lawyer Explains

Today's video tip is is about a man who bled to death after undergoing dialysis. This man had been receiving dialysis for about a year or two. And in the week before the fateful day he had been complaining to the nurse and the technician who set up the dialysis equipment that he was having pain in his arm where the equipment would be attached. Dialysis patients have something called an AV shunt, which is a connection between the artery and the vein that resides in the arm. And the nurse or the technician attaches the needle into that shunt in order to filter the patient's blood.

Retained Lap Pad-Patient Needs 2nd Surgery To Remove

I questioned a nurse last week in a case where a sponge was left inside a patient during gynecologic surgery. She was a "scrub nurse" who assisted the doctor with instruments. It was her obligation, together with the "circulating nurse" to keep track of how many instruments were used; how many needles were used, and how many sponges or lap pads were used.