Medical Malpractice

According to a 2006 Washington Post report, at least 1.5 million Americans are sickened, injured, or killed every year due to avoidable prescription medication errors. These often dangerous prescriptions errors can effect: product labeling and packaging; dispensing of medicine; education; monitoring and use; compounding; and prescribing.

In addition, mistakes in administering drugs are so common in hospitals that, on average, a patient may be subject to a medication error each day he or she is in a hospital bed.

Prescription/medicine errors can seriously endanger the life of a patient, but there are ways to protect yourself against a potentially life-threatening medical mistake. Medicinenet.com offers these tips:

• When a physician gives you a prescription, have them tell you the name of each drug and explain to you what it is used for and the correct dosage.
• Make sure you clearly understand the directions on how to take the medicine and how to properly store it.
• Each time you are given a new prescription, it is important to tell your doctor the names of any drugs you are currently taking, whether it is over the counter or an herbal supplement, to help avoid any dangerous drug interactions.
• Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask questions! Your health is one of the most important things you have, so asking questions if you’re unsure of something (like the directions) or if something seems suspicious (such as a pill looking different to you) may help prevent a major error later.

Being an empowered patient and taking an active role in your medical care by doing things such as asking questions and keeping track of important information can help prevent a serious prescription/medication error from occurring. However, you cannot always prevent a physician or healthcare provider from making a careless mistake that can endanger your health and well-being. The Maryland prescription error injury attorneys with the law firm of Alpert Schreyer can help anyone who has suffered any health problems or injury due to a prescription error. Please call (800) 489-1577 for a consultation with our law team.

A 17-year-old Maryland teen died in April from complications that occurred during a routine wisdom teeth removal, and now her parents are seeking to hold the medical professionals responsible for the devastating death of their daughter. According to the Daily Mail, the parents of the deceased teen have now filed a medical malpractice suit against the oral surgeon and anesthetist claiming they were negligent and failed to resuscitate the teen after her heart rate and blood oxygen level dropped.

The dental surgery for having wisdom teeth removed is performed on 5 million Americans each year, making the death of this young girl very surprising considering it is a very routine procedure. The cause of death was determined to be hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, while she was under anesthesia.

Medical malpractice is defined as an act of medical negligence that results in undue injury to the patient, and comes in a variety of forms, such as surgical errors, failure to monitor patient vital signs, or misdiagnosis. Dentistry is a very difficult profession with a typically high standard quality of care; however, negligence and malpractice can still occur like any other medical professions. In 2006, one out of every seven medical malpractice cases involved a dentist, according to data from the National Practitioner Data Bank.

Dental malpractice can be experienced in a number of ways, including:

• Wrongful death due to dental procedures or anesthetic;
• Personal injury to the oral cavity or the surrounding bone or tissue;
• Failure to suitably detect an oral disease;
• Installation of defective dental products; and
• Improper use of dental or surgical utensils.

When you experience any type of medical-related issue, you must entrust your health and well-being to a medical professional, but mistakes made in the healthcare industry can often lead to very serious injuries or possibly even death. If you have lost a loved one or endured a personal injury that you believe was caused by the negligence of a medical professional, the Waldorf medical malpractice attorneys of Alpert Schreyer can help you hold any at-fault parties responsible. For a free consultation with our legal team, call (800) 489-1577.

An Eastern Shore cardiologist convicted of healthcare fraud, among other charges, by a federal jury in July has been sentenced to 8 years in prison by a United States District Court. The now retired doctor was convicted for implanting needless cardiac stents in patients at Salisbury’s Peninsula Regional Medical Center, falsifying patient records, and then billing private and public insurers hundreds of thousands of dollars for the procedures.

This doctor is the second U.S. physician to receive federal prison time for inappropriate stent placement; a Louisiana doctor was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2009 for the same reasons.

A stent is a tiny mesh tube that can restore blood flow and potentially save the life of a person experiencing a heart attack, or it can improve the quality of life for an individual with symptoms of clogged arteries. Though they can be beneficial, stents can lead to serious complications such as blood clots, making this doctor’s unnecessary placement of these in patients a very dangerous and possibly life-threatening issue. The Eastern Shore doctor was found to have overestimated arterial blockage in patients and falsified medical records to justify the placement of the stents in a procedure that costs around $10,000.

Thousands of people everyday place their trust in medical professionals to provide excellent and reliable healthcare. However, when a doctor makes a medically-negligent mistake, it can result in undue injury to the patient, or may even cost a patient his or her life. The Maryland medical malpractice lawyers of Alpert Schreyer can help if you feel a doctor acted in a negligent manner which negatively impacted your health and well-being. Please call (800) 489-1577 for a complimentary consultation on your case.

Hospitals are a place of healing, but hospital errors sometimes lead to severe disfigurement, life-long complications, and even loss of life. Patients need to be careful in how they select a hospital, as the number of Maryland hospital errors may vary greatly from one facility to another. The Maryland Health Care Commission published the Maryland Hospital Performance Evaluation Guide to help patients and their families choose the best facilities for their needs. The Web-based guide allows readers to compare hospitals based on their quality in treating specific conditions such as heart and lung problems and also allows women to compare hospitals based on their quality of maternity care.

When using the guide, select a specific condition to reveal more choices for comparison. For example, when selecting the maternity care guide, you may compare hospitals based on repeat Cesarean deliveries, all vaginal deliveries, first-time Cesarean deliveries, and vaginal birth after Cesarean. Selecting an option allows you to compare the number of cases handled by each hospital and the average length of stay for each type of case and can help you determine if the staff members have enough experience to handle your condition or procedure.

Remember that it’s not always possible to compare two numbers side-by-side to make a decision. One hospital might have handled 3,000 cases in 2010 and the other hospital might have only handled 500. On first glance, it would seem that the first hospital has a lot more experience; however, the first hospital might be much larger than the second. The size of the facility and number of practitioners on staff make a difference.

Unfortunately, researching hospitals thoroughly is not always enough to prevent medical errors from occurring. If you or a loved one were the victim of a hospital error, it’s important that you seek legal advice. Having an experienced attorney on your side can mean the difference between receiving the compensation you deserve for your injuries and losing your case. The Maryland medical malpractice attorneys at Alpert Schreyer have the experience needed to help you make decisions throughout your case. Contact us at (301) 932-9997 to schedule a free consultation.