South Carolina Personal Injury Law Blog

Medical Errors are Fifth-Leading Cause of Death

Millennium Research Group, an authority on medical technology market intelligence, has conducted a detailed and thorough analysis of the acute care clinical information systems market, and it found that a major driver in the United States is the demand for improvement in patient safety.  Medical errors are the fifth-leading cause of deaths in the United States, with up to 98,000 deaths annually. According to the new report entitled U.S. Markets for Acute Care Clinical Information Systems, hospitals are adopting clinical information systems to help them provide adequate, timely care and reduce the frequency of preventable errors.

Source:  "Medical Error is the Fifth-Leading Cause of Death in the U.S." published by CBS-3 in Springfield, MA.

Jurors to Decide if Hospital Checked Doctor’s Credentials

A trial being held in West Virginia will decide whether Putnam General Hospital properly investigated the credentials of Dr. John King, who has been named in more than 120 medical malpractice lawsuits.  Patients contend that the doctor often performed substandard and unnecessary surgeries.  Attorneys for the hospital have said the hospital did all it could to check the doctor’s background. 

Source:  "King Credentialing Trial Begins in Putnam County" by Chris Dickerson, published in The West Virginia Record.

Study Shows that Worker Background Checks Help Protect Elderly

According to research conducted by the Senate Committee on Aging, background checks prevented 5,000 applicants from receiving jobs caring for the elderly. Some legislators are pointing to these figures as justification for federally standardized procedures to prevent people with criminal records or a history of abusive behavior from preying on the elderly. Currently, each state maintains its own system and procedures for conducting background checks. 

Source:  "Background Checks Reduce Abuse of Elderly, Panel Says" by  Kevin Freking, published in the Houston Chronicle.

Commission to Strengthen Consumer Safety Regulations

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced proposed plans last week to strengthen government regulation on products imported into the United States, to broaden safety standards across the board, and to impose stiffer penalties for ignoring safety rules. The proposed regulations follow widespread uproar over imports from China and other consumer safety issues. 

Source:  "Tougher Safety Rules Are Prepared for Imports" by Eric Lipton, published at The New York Times.

Government Renews Hospital Rankings

A new government report ranking 5,000 of the nation’s hospitals has sent a shock to some healthcare administrators. The list, collected by the Department of Health and Human Services, identifies 42 hospitals where heart patients are most likely to die. The government has reinstituted the ranking system, last used during the Clinton administration, in effort to increase accountability among healthcare providers.

Source:  "Report Rates Hospitals on Their Heart Treatment" by Gardiner Harris, published in The New York Times.

Toxic Torts

A toxic tort the legal term for the harm that results from wrongful exposure of a harmful chemical or biological substance through ingestion, inhalation, skin contact, or skin absorption. Examples of toxic tort litigation include but are not limited to cases concerning, lead paint (causes brain damage, especially in children), asbestos (causes lung cancer, restrictive lung disease), pesticides   (causes birth injuries), toxic molds (causes various symptoms), and electro-magnetic fields from utility wires or major appliances (suspected to cause cancer), and toxic landfill/spill waste (causes leukemia, and other syndromes).

Toxic substances are regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The TSCA was enacted in 1976 to give Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the ability to track the 75,000 industrial chemicals currently produced or imported into the United States. The EPA repeatedly screens these chemicals and can require reporting or testing of those that may pose an environmental or human-health hazard. EPA can ban the manufacture and import of those chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk. Despite government efforts to protect your health, millions of people at home, at work, and during their leisure time are being exposed to and injured by toxic substances every day.

Due to the nature of toxic substance accidents and long latency periods, many cases are often not brought until many years after victims discover they were exposed to the toxins. Exposure to toxic substances is particularly harmful for industrial workers who may have been exposed to high levels of toxins over a long period of time. Exposure to toxic substances is also particularly harmful to children who are generally more sensitive to toxic agents and who have a greater likelihood of exposure as a result of play habits and behavior patterns.

It is rare for toxic exposure to affect just one person, especially in cases of environmental contamination. It is very common for groups of people who have all been exposed to the same toxin because of the same event (for instance, an accidental release of radiation from a nuclear power plant) or because of the same occupation (for instance, repeated exposure to dry cleaning fluid by people in the cleaning industry) to bring legal claims as a group in order to seek redress for wrongful toxic exposure. As a result, toxic tort cases are often brought as class actions.

There are many different legal theories, including negligence, premises liability, breach of warranty, misrepresentation, and strict products liability that are used to establish liability. Proving that a toxic substance has injured a person, however, requires hard work and experience.

At Stevens - MacPhail, P.A., we strive to obtain fair and just compensation for our clients' injuries.  Using our experience and the extensive resources available to us, we focus on achieving the best possible recovery for our clients.  In all matters involving personal injury it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, investigate the accident in question, and to file a lawsuit prior to the deadline imposed by the statute of limitations.

If you or a loved one has been injured, you can call Stevens - MacPhail, P.A. at (800) 897-8856 or (864) 598-9172 or e-mail us to schedule a meeting.  The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds.  Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.

More Kids Rolling to the Emergency Room from Wheeled Shoe Accidents

Wheeled sneakers, a popular trend among children, are landing a growing number of kids in the hospital, say doctors. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, one death and at least 64 roller-shoe-related injuries were reported to the agency between 2005 and 2006. The most popular brand of the shoe, Heelys, was recently named to the list of fastest growing companies by Business Week. 

Source: "Doctors Say Roller Shoes Injuring Kids" by Lindsay Tanner, published in The Washington Post.

Tainted Toothpaste Discovered in United States

The Food and Drug Administration advised consumers Friday to discard all toothpaste made in China after inspectors discovered toothpaste tainted with an industrial chemical in Miami, the Port of Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico. While there have been no reports of anyone being harmed by the toothpaste, FDA officials said the product posed a meaningful risk to children and persons with kidney or liver disease. In recent weeks, six other countries have discovered the toxic toothpaste within their borders. 

Source:  "Toxic Toothpaste Made in China Is Found in U.S." by Walt Bogdanich, published in The New York Times.

Children Affected by Chemotherapy Errors in Majority of Cases

A new study has found that the vast majority of potentially harmful errors in pediatric chemotherapy are not spotted until they have, in some way, affected the child. According to the research conducted by a member of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, healthcare workers failed to identify errors in dosage or administration of drugs 85 percent of the time. Errors in the prescription of medication accounted for only 10 percent of cases. 

Source:  "Most Errors in Pediatric Chemo Make It to Patients" by Jeffrey Perkel, published in The Washington Post.

OxyContin Manufacturer and Executives Plead Guilty to Criminal Charges

The company that makes the painkiller OxyContin and three of its current and former executives recently plead guilty in federal court to criminal charges that it misled doctors and patients when it claimed that the drug was less likely to be abused than traditional narcotics.

The company, Purdue Pharma, agreed to pay $600 million in fines and other payments to resolve the criminal charge of ‘misbranding’ the product.  This is one of the largest amounts ever paid by a drug company in such a case. The three executives, including its president and its top lawyer, also plead guilty to misdemeanor charges of misbranding the drug. Together, they agreed to pay $34.5 million in fines.

Source:  "Narcotic Maker Guilty of Deceit Over Marketing" by Barry Meier, published in The New York Times.