Patient Safety Blog
Posts about events and conditions that have been spurring medical malpractice litigation.
Author: Patrick A. Malone practices at Patrick Malone & Associates in Washington, D.C. He also authors Child Safety Blog.
Blawg Related Categories: Tort Law • Medical Malpractice • Solo / Small Firm
Recent Posts from Patient Safety Blog
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Psychiatrists' Conflicts of Interest Taint Drug Recommendations for Kids
Nearly every week, we hear more evidence that American children are over-medicated, especially with drugs that affect mood and behavior. Most recently, a panel of experts has denounced the overuse of Risperdal, a powerful antipsychotic…
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Statins in Every Medicine Cabinet? Patients Need to Read the Numbers
Millions of people with normal cholesterol levels in their blood could be started on cholesterol-lowering statin drugs based on a new research study, but if patients understood the numbers behind the study, they might not…
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Legal Case Highlights Need for Annual Skin Checks to Prevent Deadly Cancer
A recent medical malpractice lawsuit prosecuted by Patrick Malone & Associates for the victim of a delayed diagnosis of skin cancer highlights the need for annual skin checks by a qualified doctor. Anyone who is…
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Deaths and Injuries from Prescription Drugs Reach Record Levels
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a watchdog group, points out that the number of deaths (4,825) and injuries (21,000) from prescription drugs have reached record levels in the first quarter of this year, representing…
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Image Quality of Scans: A Mystery?
Patients who go in for MRIs are often told nothing is wrong, when in fact the scan is of poor quality and so misses the problem, as Gina Kolata's story demonstrates. Doctors all agree that…
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Vaccine Recommended Specially for Adult Smokers
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel that advises the federal government, is recommending that adult smokers under 65 should get a pneumococcal vaccine that was previously only recommended for anyone 65 or older.…
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Online Anonymous Notification of Sex Partners For STDs
An online service called inSPOT allows patients who test positive for STDs to use a website to notify sexual partners, anonymously if they so choose, of the possibility that the partners were infected. A report…
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How to Cope With All Your Information
Tara Parker-Pope at the NY Times Well Blog has an article about how patients can cope with the vast flood of information (and misinformation) that is now available to them through the Internet. Nowadays, people…
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Review: Mainstream Media Doesn't Report Connections Between Drug Manufacturers and Pharmaceutical Studies
We have all looked at the newspaper and noted with interest that some new drug cures 75% of the people who take it. Some of us may have even based our medical decisions around information…
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Empathy and Time
Dr. Pauline Chen has an article about doctors, empathy and time crunches. She notes that many doctors would like to express empathy to patients when delivering terrible news, but due to the load of cases…