Medical Malpractice

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Diagnostic errors are an understandable patient concern in any clinical setting. But just how often do they actually occur, particularly in emergency rooms?

That is what the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) set out to determine, conducting a systematic review of nearly 300 studies published between January 2000 and September 2021.

On December 15, 2022, AHRQ published a report of its findings—some of which are exceptionally alarming.…

Continue Reading New Study Finds Alarming Numbers of Emergency Room Misdiagnoses

On Wednesday April 28, the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed a bill that would allow qualified associates/staff to obtain informed consent from patients prior to medical procedures. Traditionally, doctors were the only individuals who had the sole, non-delegable responsibility of obtaining the Consent Forms. The unanimous vote amends the state’s Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Act (MCARE Act) to clarify that not only a treating physician but any “qualified practitioner” would be able to obtain a patient’s informed consent.
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Continue Reading Pennsylvania Senate Approves Bill Allowing Delegation of A Doctor’s Informed Consent Duties

According to recent reports, the FDA is investigating cases where patients have died due to contamination issues with medical devices. Specifically, the infections are apparently stemming from “the patient-to-patient transfer of pathogens from devices used to view and access the urinary tract, bladder, and kidneys, including cystoscopes, ureteroscopes, and cystourethroscopes.”
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Continue Reading Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Discover Infections Linked to Reusable Urological Endoscopes

Did you know that lung cancer killed more than 135,000 people in the United States in 2020? The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force believes that increasing the number of eligible Americans for free lung cancer screenings will save more lives, including those of women and people of color.
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Continue Reading Federally Appointed Task Force Recommends Increase in Number of Americans Eligible for Lung Cancer Screenings

According to the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH), over 3,000 patients may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C at the HealthPlus Surgery Center in Saddle Brook, New Jersey.

The DOH released a new statement with the HealthPlus Surgery Center requesting that any patients who received a procedure at the surgery center between January and September 2018 to get a blood test for hepatitis and HIV. According to the statement, there have been no reported incidences of infection or illness relating to the investigation to date.…

Continue Reading Over 3,000 Patients Believed to be Exposed to HIV, Hepatitis at Surgery Center

At least 35 people have been infected with the adenovirus, the majority of them children, at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. The outbreak first began in late September, according to the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH), and since then 11 children have died.

On November 20, it was announced that a student at the University of Maryland died after contracting the adenovirus. The university learned of the first case on November 1, and since then have confirmed five more cases of the virus.…

Continue Reading First Lawsuit Filed in Adenovirus Outbreak at Wanaque Facility, New Outbreak Announced at Maryland University

A new board chairwoman has been appointed and a state-ordered infectious disease specialist has been hired in response to a bacterial outbreak that occurred at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey.

The outbreak occurred in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and as a result four infants contracted an infection caused by the Acinetobacter baumannii bacteria and one infant has died.…

Continue Reading Newark Hospital Appointed a New Board Chair after Bacterial Outbreak

A second outbreak of the adenovirus has been reported and confirmed at a long-term care facility for children in Voorhees, New Jersey. This strain of adenovirus has been identified as Type 3, different than the Type 7 strain that has infected 30 patients and killed 10 at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation.

The New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) announced on November 5th that the adenovirus was found at the Voorhees Pediatric Facility, and four children have contracted the illness. Two inspectors from the DOH’s Division of Health Facility Survey and Field Operations visited the facility on October 30, and their preliminary findings revealed no infection control issues and no citations were issued.…

Continue Reading Second Adenovirus Outbreak Confirmed at Voorhees, NJ Facility

The New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) has reported that seven children have died and twelve more remain infected as a result of an adenovirus outbreak in a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Wanaque.

The facility is the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, and first notified the DOH of a respiratory illness outbreak on October 9. On October 19, the center sent out letters to parents of children at the facility informing them of the outbreak.…

Continue Reading Seven Children Die After Outbreak in New Jersey Facility