Today, our medical malpractice lawyers discuss hospital transparency: a proven to improve patient care. The ultimate test for transparency came in Massachusetts, where Paul Levy, the newly-appointed CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess (one of three Harvard University Teaching Hospitals) decided to go public with his hospitals failings. His simple decision to be open with the… Read More
‘Germ Cops’ Hired to Reduce Hospital-Acquired Infections
The Chicago medical malpractice attorneys of Passen & Powell have long maintained that preventing hospital-acquired infections is as much a matter of common sense as it is of expertise. Now, with pressure from the public and from Medicare mounting on hospitals to reduce infection rates, hospitals have decided to take action with a combination of… Read More
Hospitals use High-Tech Means to Improve Patient Safety
The experienced medical malpractice attorneys of Passen & Powell understand that improvements in safety procedures for dispensing medications to hospital patients is an issue of utmost importance. Indeed, some studies have shown that as many as 4% of hospitalized patients, or one out of every 25, is the victim of a medical error. This adds… Read More
Texas Proves that Tort Reform Harms Patients
The medical malpractice attorneys of Passen & Powell have often voiced our objection to so-called “tort reform”: legislation intended to reduce medical insurance companies’ liability exposure by reducing the amount of money that the victims of malpractice can recover. Such “reforms” are simply unjust. In effect, a legislature passing such “reforms” says to the victims… Read More
Doctors In the Drug Companies’ Pockets
The medical industry, like other industries, is a business. Our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys of Passen & Powell have become increasingly concerned with the practice of physicians accepting substantial compensation from pharmaceutical companies – a classic conflict of interest putting patients at risk. The practices involved in drug company compensation vary, but often take the… Read More
Hospitals Increasingly Fail to Report Medical Malpractice to National Data Bank
The Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Passen & Powell understand that hospitals work hard to protect their reputation in their community and their bottom lines. However, when that effort comes at the expense of the public health and safety of patients, something is wrong. Twenty-four years ago, Congress became concerned that unethical or substandard doctors… Read More
Heparin Overdose Injury and Wrongful Death in Infants and Children
Perhaps no greater loss can be suffered in the human experience than that of a parent losing a child. That loss is immeasurably compounded when the death of an infant or young child was preventable, as when the child’s wrongful death as the result of medical malpractice. One area in which there is an emerging… Read More
Wrong-Site Surgery: Hospital Ordered to Install Video Cameras in OR
Video cameras are becoming commonplace in our society inside and outside businesses and homes. Many intersections throughout Chicago are now equipped with red light cameras that take snap shots of motor vehicles running lights. And at Rhode Island Hospital, video cameras are now required in the operating room, in an effort to curb wrong-site surgery… Read More
Medical Malpractice Myths: Doctors are Fleeing (Part III)
Today is day three of our series on “Five Myths of Medical Malpractice,” presented by our Chicago injury and wrongful death attorneys. Time for Myth #3: Medical Negligence Myth #3: Doctors are Fleeing Numerous studies, including a recent study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research, has debunked the argument that doctors are “fleeing”… Read More
Myths of Medical Malpractice: Drives Up Health Care Costs (Part II)
As noted in yesterday’s post, each day this week our Chicago personal injury lawyers are addressing one of Five Myths of Medical Negligence, as reported earlier this month by the American Association for Justice. Here is Myth #2: Medical Negligence Myth #2: Malpractice Claims Drive Up Health Care Costs There is no question that the… Read More