On behalf of Chiariello & Chiariello on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Prescriptions and medications are one of the many tools that doctors and medical staff have at their disposal to help heal the sick or injured. But just like other treatments and procedures, physicians and prescribing professionals must adhere to a certain standard of care when dolling out medicine. Medication errors, whether wrong dosages or the wrong medicine entirely, can have dire consequences for patients.
A New York doctor from the Syracuse area is faced legal charges after a patient using psychiatric drugs died. A jury accused him of causing the patient to commit suicide because he overmedicated him with the drugs. Pharmaceutical companies apparently paid the doctor big money to promote these medications to other physicians.
On behalf of Chiariello & Chiariello posted in Nursing Home Neglect on Wednesday, January 2, 2013
The decision to send a loved one to a nursing home is never an easy one to make. Families agonize over the options: living alone, in-home care, living with a family member or moving into an assisted living facility or nursing home. These decisions may be made easier when families feel that their loved one will be cared for and receive the best treatment at a facility.
It is this trust that makes stories of nursing home neglect so difficult to hear. In New York, an 85-year-old man was recently found dead outside of a nursing home where he resided. Authorities are looking into the matter and investigating the man's death. Hypothermia was declared the preliminary cause of death.
On behalf of Chiariello & Chiariello posted in Failure to Diagnose on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
It's easy to envision the serious repercussions of doctor errors or medical mistakes when treating a patient. But what about the repercussions of no treatment? What happens when a doctor makes a misdiagnosis or simply fails to diagnose something entirely?
The family of a man recently won an award of $5.9 million in a medical malpractice suit against a New York VA hopsital. The man died from complications during a bariatric surgery. The surgery followed a inexcusable failure to diagnose a gastric lead in the patient.
On behalf of Chiariello & Chiariello posted in Doctors Errors on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Medical malpractice cases are not always cut and dry. Investigations into a patient's allegations may be necessary to determine whether the doctor or health care professional deviated from the accepted standard of care. New York patients might witness many forms of doctor error but for successful malpractice lawsuits, it is necessary to show that the patient's injury or harm occurred as the result of the medical professional's negligent care.
On the other hand, some cases are egregious instances of doctor error and go beyond the civil lawsuit and border criminal activity. A doctor in Mississippi recently received a 20 year prison sentence for fraudulent at a cancer clinic. The doctor was also order to pay $8.2 million to the cancer clinic. This summer she pleaded guilty to making false statements, as well as health care fraud.
On behalf of Chiariello & Chiariello posted in Surgical error on Monday, December 10, 2012
Medical professionals need to constantly be concerned with how to improve patient care and how to lessen the occurrence of medical mistakes. A common medical mistake and surgeon error is when items are left behind inside a patient. Left-behind items have the potential to create serious post-surgery complications.
There can be hundreds of instruments and utensils used during a single surgency and keeping track of every last one is a tedious and clearly imperfect task. But many New York hospitals, including one in the Bronx, are opting to use a new procedure to make sure nothing is left inside a patient.
On behalf of Chiariello & Chiariello posted in Doctors Errors on Monday, December 3, 2012
This blog previously commented on a pending medical malpractice lawsuit against a doctor in Long Island, New York. The claim stated that the doctor committed malpractice by having an affair with a patient. The doctor was treating the patient for anxiety and depressions.
Doctor negligence comes in many forms, but this case presents a unique angle. The New York Court of Appeals recently released its opinion on the matter. The court found that it was malpractice for the doctor to have an affair with the patient, who was married at the time, but also found that she shared some of the fault since she sought subsequent sexual encounters. The affair lasted less than a year. The woman's husband filed for divorce after she told him of the infidelity.
On behalf of Chiariello & Chiariello posted in Medication Errors on Friday, November 30, 2012
The New York State Comptroller's Office recently sent auditors to review and examine records for prescriptions dispensed in the state. The auditors looked at over 22 million prescriptions and unfortunately discovered medication errors on a substantial number of those prescriptions, roughly 1.5 percent of the review amount.
Auditors found different types of errors ranging from unlicensed prescriptions to fillings beyond the authorized amounts. Over 90,000 prescriptions were refilled 157,000 times above the refill quantities listed. Other prescriptions weren't even written by doctors with authentic medical licenses or did not contain a valid Drug Enforcement Registration number.
On behalf of Chiariello & Chiariello posted in Nursing Home Neglect on Wednesday, November 21, 2012
The recent hurricane that hit New York and other parts of the East Coast left widespread devastation. Many residents were able to evacuate and avoid the storm but some senior citizens living in nursing homes were not as lucky. One nursing home facility is now under investigation by the State Health Department for failing to provide even basic care to its residents during the storm.
The facility isn't to blame for the bad weather but the actions of the staff and management during the storm is being called into question and could be considered nursing home negligence. As patients were transported to emergency shelters, many were unaccompanied and traveled without their medical records or information, which violates state regulations.
On behalf of Chiariello & Chiariello posted in Failure to Diagnose on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Medical research today places a lot of focus on heart disease, namely how to prevent heart disease. Many studies show that the answer isn't in drug or supplements and this news can be disappointing for doctors and patients alike. But New Yorkers should take heed of a study that shows how a doctor's failure to diagnose may be part of the problem.
The study at issued should that many physicians overlook important opportunities to diagnose heart problems before they become fatal. Out of 14,000 medical records, many doctors failed to diagnose instances of high blood pressure. These diagnoses were missed even when the patient's pressure readings were recorded in the charts.
On behalf of Chiariello & Chiariello posted in Surgical error on Thursday, November 8, 2012
The scene is disturbing. A woman in New York endured a burn on her side after catching on fire in no other place but in the middle of surgery. An antiseptic applied to the woman's skin caused her seven-inch burn. The antiseptic was alcohol-based and started on fired by another medical device.
This traumatic surgical error could have been much worse but luckily the fire was extinguished quickly. Even scarier, the surgery was a cesarean section and doctors were delivering her baby. The baby was unharmed.
