A 17-year-old girl recently won more than $100 million in damages against the hospital where she was born. Because the hospital has since gone bankrupt, the teen will only recover a fraction of the damages award, about $16 million. Either figure may initially seem lofty, but it must be put into context.
Not all hospitals administer antibiotics before performing a c-section, but a recent medical study suggests they should be. A doctor known as an infectious disease specialist helped track caesarean-section infection rates at his hospital and discovered that mothers fare better when they receive a strategic dose of antibiotics before the
John Hopkins University School of Medicine recently studied the rate of deadly diagnosis errors in intensive care units (ICUs) and made some alarming discoveries. The research revealed that ICU patients were 50 percent more likely to suffer a serious misdiagnosis than patients in other units of the hospital. This study
Tight budgets have prompted many Ohio hospitals to either slash their nursing staffs or to cease new hires, even as their need for nurses rises. This causes nurses to suffer unnecessary job-related stress and burnout, which has a devastating impact on patients. University of Pennsylvania researchers recently studied the understaffed
A new psychiatric study believes that premature birth may be associated with mental disorders later in life. The research, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, took a different angle from prior studies linking mental problems and early birth because it examined the manifestation of psychiatric disorders during adulthood. The
An Ohio hospital must pay $8.5 million after a jury concluded that hospital staff caused severe brain injuries to a newborn baby girl. The hospital failed to properly ensure that the infant was breathing. The lack of oxygen in her brain resulted in permanent brain injuries. The girl’s injuries left
Heart surgery is not a procedure to be taken lightly. Although it’s a relatively common operation, it is major surgery and comes with risks. Amazingly, a recent investigation uncovered a heart surgeon’s unscrupulous practice of performing unnecessary heart surgery on patients. Why? To rake in profits. The heart surgeon’s egregious
Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, attacks 500,000 Americans every year, killing an estimated 30,000 hospital patients. Because of the deadly bacteria’s ability to quickly kill people, you’d think extreme precautions would be in place to curb its spread. Instead, the presence of C. diff in hospitals and nursing homes has
Numerous medical studies have concluded that minority patients receive substandard medical treatment compared to Caucasians. Sadly, a new study shows that the racial discrimination of patients extends to young children who have suffered head injuries. The medical study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, concluded that minority
The brain damage resulting from a stroke can have a devastating impact on the victim. Historically, there has been little the medical community could do to help patients recover from strokes. Fortunately, a new study provides optimism for stroke victims and their families. University of Queensland researchers discovered that Quantitative