Night Time Can Be A Scary Place at Many Hospitals

Scary statistics show that patients entering or staying in hospitals at night are victims of a little-known medical world where doctors, nurses and hospitals make mistakes that kill people.

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"The Night Shift" --- Not A Good Time To Get Sick

On Thursday, November 2, 2000, 15-year-old Lewis Blackman of Columbia, South Carolina underwent surgery to correct a relatively common birth defect called “pectus excavatum”, or “sunken chest,” at the Medical University of South Carolina Children's Hospital in Charleston. The condition is not life-threatening but can sometimes lead to respiratory difficulties, so Lewis and his parents decided to go for a minimally invasive surgical correction: inserting a metal strut to support the breastbone. The surgery was supposed to last only 45 minutes. Dr. Edward Tagge, who performed the surgery, promised that within 3 days, Lewis should be feeling better. But something went wrong … terribly wrong.

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Injured Patients Must Be Prepared to Fight for Justice

Those of us who handle medical malpractice cases for injured people could have told you this without a costly study: Research conducted by a University of Missouri law professor found that juries are more likely to side with doctors in medical negligence cases. The study indicated that juries tend to be skeptical of persons who sue their doctors and that most malpractice trials end in defense verdicts. Data for the study were collected from cases in New Jersey, North Carolina, Florida and Michigan. Learn more here.

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MRSA "Superbug" Infections A Problem in the Nation's Hospitals

Sometimes, being in the hospital can be hazardous to your health.

According to a recent article in the Washington Times, more than 2 million cases of hospital-acquired infections result in approximately 100,000 U. S. deaths each year.

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A Remedy for Sponges and Other Instruments Left in Body After Operation

Surgical staff leave behind a sponge or scalpel in one in 10,000 operations. By leave behind, we mean that the sponge or scalpel is left in the patient after the surgery!!!

Can new technology help?

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Wrong Site Surgery - Did They Really Cut Off the Wrong Leg?

I know --- it sounds so horrible! Wrong site surgery! A doctor amputating the wrong leg??? But surgery on the wrong body part --- or the wrong patient --- happens. Yes, it is rare. But it occurs far too often in a country that prides itself in having the best medical system in the world. We are talking about a doctor who might amputate the healthy right leg of a patient instead of the diseased left leg, or remove the healthy spleen of the patient in operating room A instead of the diseased gall bladder, and then remove the healthy gall bladder of the patient in operating room B instead of the diseased spleen.

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