Medical Malpractice

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A doctor in Middlesex County has just had his licensed temporarily suspended for allegedly reusing disposable one-use anal catheters on dozens of patients. Dr. Sanjiv K. Patankar, a colon and rectal surgeon, is alleged to have washed and reused the catheters which are inserted in patients during medical procedures.

During the hearing, the state presented documented evidence that although the doctor performed over 80 procedures, which would each require new catheters, between January and November of 2017, only 5 catheters were order in that period of time.

Continue Reading New Jersey Doctor Alleged to Reuse One-Use Anal Catheters on Multiple Patients

A jury in New Jersey awarded $6 million against an advanced life support services provider after it determined that emergency medical technicians negligently treated a patient, leading to her death.

The Mercer County jury deliberated for several hours following a two-week trial before finding that a paramedic employed by Capital Health System Inc. failed to properly intubate the 20-year-old patient.

Continue Reading NJ Jury Awards $6M Against Advanced Life Support Services Provider

Paramjit Singh
Paramjit Singh, of Hackettstown, is charged with practicing medicine without a license. His medical license in New Jersey was suspended in 2004. (Courtesy photo)

Paramjit Singh faces criminal charges for practicing medicine in Warren and Morris counties even though his license was suspended in 2004, announced the Warren County prosecutor. Singh is charged with one count of practicing medicine without a valid license.

Parminderjeet Sandhu, founder of Medical Care Associates, the Warren and Morris county practices where Singh works is charged with one count of aiding or abetting another in practicing medicine without a valid license.

Continue Reading Were You a Patient of This Unlicensed Doctor? Patients Asked to Contact Prosecutor

Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States, according to a recent study (recent blog post about this topic). The researchers indicated that most medical errors represent systemic problems, including poorly coordinated care, fragmented insurance networks, the absence or underuse of safety nets, and other protocols, in addition to unwarranted variation in physician practice patterns. Patient misidentification can also be a contributing factor. When patients have the same or similar names, mix-ups in their medical care, procedures, and medication have occurred. Such a mix-up could lead to misdiagnosis, mistreatment, and unsafe outcomes.

Patients’ electronic health records are maintained in doctors’ offices, hospitals, and urgent care facilities, and it can be difficult to exchange protected health care information among providers. Creating a reliable patient identification system could improve medical care and prevent patient care mix-ups. To that end, New Jersey plans to implement a statewide database designed to improve patient care, reduce medical errors, and ensure that healthcare records are accessible to all of an individual’s healthcare providers. This effort strives to connect physicians, hospitals, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers with better access to patient data. The system, which will also link to public health databases, will help avoid a situation where two patients with the same name and identifying characteristics are confused by providers.

Continue Reading NJ Is Creating A “Master Person Index” to Counter Medical Errors

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a Medical Device Safety Communication update to provide new information about Mycobacterium chimaera infections associated with the use of the LivaNova/Sorin Stöckert 3T Heater-Cooler System during cardiothoracic surgery. The update includes recommendations and additional steps for health care facilities to take in order to mitigate the risk of infection associated with the use of these devices.

Continue Reading Update on Contamination of Heater-Cooler Devices

A recent database study conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that the rate of medical malpractice claims paid on behalf of physicians in the United States declined substantially from 1992 to 2014. The study analyzed data from the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), a centralized database of paid malpractice claims that was created by Congress in 1986. Researchers found an overall drop in the amount of paid claims across all specialties, but the extent of the decline was markedly different by specialty, according to Adam Schaffer, MD, lead author of the paper. The findings are published in the March 27, 2017 issue of the JAMA Internal Medicine journal.

Continue Reading Medical Malpractice Claims Paid on Behalf of Physicians Decrease

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) announced on March 10 that first-year doctors will be allowed to work 24-hour shifts in hospitals starting July 1. The cap currently limiting physicians to 16 consecutive hours of patient care will now be lifted. The new standards will allow four hours to transition patients from one doctor to the next, so first-year residents could work as long as 28 straight hours, the same as more senior medical residents.

Continue Reading First-Year Doctors to Begin Working 24-Hour Shifts

New Jersey health officials report that 31 patients developed infections after receiving injections to treat knee pain at the Osteo Relief Institute in Wall Township. The New Jersey Department of Health says the patients developed cases of septic arthritis, a painful infection surrounding their joints. The infections are all linked to the Osteo Relief Institute Jersey Shore.

Continue Reading Infections from Knee Injections – Osteo Relief Institute in Wall, NJ

Contaminated syringes have been blamed for a deadly outbreak of Burkholderia cepacia bacteria that has infected nearly 150 people since August, including 52 cases in New Jersey. According the CDC “the majority of these cases have occurred in patients residing at long-term care or rehabilitation facilities who were receiving intravenous (IV) fluids and/or antibiotics through central venous catheters.” The outbreak may be linked to the deaths of six people who contracted the bacteria in the states of New York and Pennsylvania. The locations and number of known infections are detailed in the chart below:

Continue Reading Nursing Home Patients Contract Deadly Bacteria from IV Syringes

Some hospitals in New Jersey are doing a good job at health and safety—but many are still struggling to create a safe environment for patients. The November release of the Leapfrog Group’s “hospital report card” shows New Jersey tied with Texas at #17 in rankings for public health and safety.

Even though 25% of the New Jersey hospitals scored an “A” grade, the bad news for New Jersey is that 47% of the 68 hospitals reviewed received a grade of “C” or below. Additionally only three of the five hospitals that previously delivered straight “A” marks in the report were able to maintain their “perfect” health and safety status. These are Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, Saint Barnabas Medical Center, and Jersey City Medical Center.

Continue Reading Are New Jersey Hospitals Safe?