Oregon residents who have or know someone with pancreatic cancer are probably aware of how serious this disease can be. Around 40,000 Americans will die from it in 2015, out of the nearly 50,000 who will be diagnosed with it this year. Patients have better luck if...
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Year: 2015
Hospitals make efforts to reduce medical malpractice lawsuits
Oregon residents may be surprised to learn that approximately 1 million medical injuries occur each year. Many of these injuries are caused by doctor or hospital negligence or mistakes, and health care facilities across the country are taking proactive steps to reduce...
Recording of surgery proposed
Some patients in Oregon and across the United States may have experienced adverse results following a surgery or other medical procedure. In response, some state legislatures have proposed that patients be able to record their surgeries. They believe that this may...
New standards for patient care at nursing homes
Families in Oregon that have loved ones who are living in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities may be interested to learn about a proposed rule that was recently issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. On July 16, CMS published a set of...
Do pharmaceutical payments compromise physician integrity? Part II
Earlier this week, we began a discussion about doctors who receive payments (cash and otherwise) from pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers. These for-profit companies are not buying lunch for physicians and paying them to speak on behalf of their...
Do pharmaceutical payments compromise physician integrity? Part I
Medicine is a science. And like all sciences, one of its most important aspects is objectivity. If a doctor prescribes a certain course of treatment or a certain medication, it should be because it has proven to be effective, it is reasonably safe and it will meet the...
Understanding medical malpractice statutes of limitation: Part II
Earlier this week, we began a discussion about the statutes of limitation in medical malpractice claims. Here in Oregon, patients have just two years after becoming aware of injury to file a lawsuit. However, no medical malpractice lawsuits can be filed more than five...
Understanding medical malpractice statutes of limitation: Part I
One of the most frustrating roadblocks for would-be plaintiffs in many civil lawsuits is the statute of limitations. These are laws that put a time limit on how long a plaintiff is allowed to file a lawsuit after the harm that prompted the suit. There are also...
Anesthesia used during surgery carries risks
Most forms of major surgery require the patient to be sedated, both for their own comfort and to make the operation easier for the surgical team. General anesthesia uses very powerful drugs, and administering anesthesia is a medical specialty in itself. As much as...
Database scores surgeons by rates of surgical complication
If you are a fan of any of the dozens of medical dramas on television, you have probably seen that surgeons are often portrayed as a distinct breed of physicians. Television tends to show surgeons as fiercely competitive, arrogant and focused on problem-solving rather...