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Important News You Need to Know About Medical Malpractice, Motor Vehicle Accidents and Serious Injuries in Virginia and Washington D.C.

Important summaries of news stories about medical malpractice, birth injuries, car and truck accidents, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and other catastrophic injuries in Northern Virginia and Washington D.C.

Medical Malpractice

• 9 Out of 10 People Believe Medical Malpractice Information Should Be Public
  Dec 15, 2011

  DC medical malpractice cases may get harder to prove. The recent disclosure of a doctor’s medical malpractice history could make physicians’ work histories unavailable to the public. 

  In September 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services came under fire after a doctor’s history of malpractice claims was published in a newspaper article. The reporter of the story had come by the information legally, using the doctor’s court records and information on the National Practitioners Data Bank, a public use file available through the HHS. The doctor sent a complaint to the HHS—and in response, the Department revoked public access to the NPDB. 

  When public access to the database was restored last week, HHS had placed new limitations on the use of the information, including mandatory consent that information from the National Practitioners Data Bank will not be used to identify doctors who have a history of disciplinary actions or malpractice claims. 

  Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project, believes these restrictions are trying to undermine the purpose of “public information.” 

  “When information held by the government is declared ‘public’ there should be no strings attached to the use of that data,” McGiffert said. 

  Many Americans would seem to agree with McGiffert. A Consumer Reports National Research Center poll found that 88% of respondents support public access to federal information about a doctor’s care history, including any disciplinary action or medical malpractice suits. 

  “The public should have the same access to this information as hospitals and state licensing boards,” said McGiffert. “It’s time to provide the public full access to this critical information, including the names of doctors who have been disciplined by state licensing boards or sued for failing to provide safe care.”

• Speed and Negligence Cause Increase in Wrong-Site Surgeries
  Sep 20, 2011

  The main cause behind the rising number of wrong-site surgeries in DC may be as simple as rushing to complete the job, says the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
  
  Dennis O'Leary, leader of the non-profit Joint Commission, received 84 reports of operations on the wrong person or body part last year. O'Leary believes that this number is drastically underestimated, since there are a number of hospitals that are not required to report these types of mistakes.
  
  "This is just the tip of the iceberg," O'Leary commented. "Some hospitals are reporting everything and some hospitals don't report anything at all."
  
  Of these cases, the biggest reason for the error was a lack of safety protocol.
  
  Surgeons have been instructed on proper marking techniques to ensure the correct body part is prepped for surgery. This has been a compulsory safety procedure since 2004, but many patients are unaware that their surgeon is required to consult with them, including marking the site in their conscious presence.
  
  Another failsafe is the "time out" before a procedure. Nurses are required to stop all action in the room, stand back and conduct a final safety check before the operation begins.
  
  However, many surgeons skip this step, believing the safety procedure unnecessary and a waste of time-particularly if they have a full schedule of surgeries that day. Doctors are paid based on the number of patients they see-making their incentive to process patients quickly, rather than safely.
  
  Surgery Chair Glenn Rothman took note of this misplaced priority, stating that speed as a measure of operating-room performance is "dangerous."
  

• Misdiagnosed HIV Case Could Cost DC Hospital Millions
  Jul 27, 2011

  After Terry Hedgepeth tested HIV positive at Whitman Walker Health five years ago, he was devastated by the news. He took drugs, engaged in sexual behavior with HIV-positive women, and eventually checked into a mental health facility to deal with the emotional pain of his positive status.
  
  But Terry Hedgepeth didn't have HIV-his condition had been misdiagnosed.
  
  Hedgepeth discovered the error after being tested at another clinic. Upon learning his true diagnosis, he filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court against the clinic and the doctor responsible for the test-but he was told he could not sue because the clinic had not put him in a "zone of danger."
  
  According to a 1990 decision, patients in DC can only hold caregivers responsible for malpractice if they have placed the victims in a "zone of danger"-in Hedgepeth's case, this would mean administering HIV medication, or another action that would have caused direct harm.
  
  But the D.C. Court of Appeals disagrees. Last week, the appeals court decided that the 1990 ruling is not sufficient to dismiss Hedgepeth's case, because the misdiagnosis had caused him both emotional and physical trauma.
  
  According to the court opinion, "Because care for the body and the emotions are so interlinked, [patients] are susceptible to suffer emotionally as well as physically as a result of their physicians' negligence."
  
  Hedgepeth is seeking $20 million in damages for the clinic's negligence. The court date has yet been set.
  

• New Sponges May Reduce the Number of Retained Objects from Surgery
  Jul 25, 2011

  Innovative use of wireless technology may reduce the amount of retained sponges during surgery in DC.
  
  Sponges are the most common foreign objects left inside patients. In emergency situations, doctors and nurses may lose count of the sponges if they are needed quickly-and once they have been used to staunch blood flow, they are often confused with the tissues of the body.
  
  ClearCount Medical Solutions believes that its SmartSponge System-which comes with radio frequency-enabled sponges, a wireless detection device and a collection bucket which keeps accurate count of the sponges placed inside it-will enable surgical teams to keep an accurate count of sponges during procedures.
  
  The key to the system is in the sponges themselves, which are encoded with serial numbers that can be read wirelessly using the SmartWand detector. Using radio waves, the SmartWand can detect sponges both outside and deep inside of a human body, ensuring all sponges are removed before a wound is closed.
  
  Several failsafe procedures are recommended when using the SmartSponges: The package is first scanned with the ID reader, and the sponges are then read and listed by serial number. As the discard sponges are placed in the SmartBucket, the container reads the sponge count again.
  
  Even if the numbers match, surgeons can still use the SmartWand to scan the patient as a final precaution before they leave the operating room.
  

• Diagnostic Errors Are the Biggest Cause of Outpatient Malpractice in Virginia
  Jul 18, 2011

  According to new research, a yearly physical is just as likely to result in medical malpractice in Virginia as a hospital stay.
  
  A recent study in a June issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that roughly half of malpractice claims in 2009 were a result of errors in outpatient facilities-and the number of reported outpatient malpractice cases in the past five years was increasing.
  
  The results are worrying for many reasons. One is the risk factor to a greater population: while there are 34 million patients seen per year in hospital settings, over 950 million patients will be seen in outpatient facilities.
  
  Another is the trend seen among the outpatient injuries: the most common reason malpractice suits were filed was diagnostic error, or a failure to diagnose a patient correctly. Surgical problems, such as retained instruments or infection, were the leading cause of hospital-related malpractice claims.
  
  The study suggests a number of reasons clinic environments see so many claims. They are often understaffed, or do not have as many experienced specialists on hand as hospitals do. With smaller budgets, they often lack the resources for proper safety training or quality control. Also, patients often see many different health care providers, meaning any one clinic may not have a complete picture of the patient's health record.
  
  But the main diagnostic problem may be an assumption that a patient in an outpatient clinic is well, as opposed to an inpatient who is assumed to be sick.
  
  Partners HealthCare chief quality and safety officer Tejal Gandhi affirmed that differentiating serious diagnoses from common symptoms, such as a heart attack from heartburn, is a challenge. "It's like finding a needle in a haystack," Gandhi says.
  
  Lead author Tara Bishop, an internist at the Department of Public Health, commented that in the cases of malpractice in the outpatient setting "the outcomes weren't trivial," most often resulting in permanent injury or death of the patient.
  

• Clean Medical Malpractice Record no Guarantee of Safety
  Sep 24, 2010

  On Monday September 13 the results of a RAND study were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study found that while many patients spend time researching a physician’s medical malpractice history, the history that is publicly available is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Specifically, the researchers found that there was no consistent correlation between malpractice payments and disciplinary actions against doctors and the quality of care that those doctors provided.
  
  Prior Medical Malpractice Claims, Experience and Board Certification are Not Always Relevant to Future Care
  
  Years of practice, like previous medical malpractice claims, were also not a reliable measure of future quality of care. Board certification showed only a small correlation to future quality care and was not deemed to be significant by the study authors.
  
  What Can Be Done?
  
  One of the study’s authors, Rachel Reid, says that the conclusions reached in this study should lead to more information being made public. She claims that the detailed information made available to health plans could provide patients with more reliable information about their prospective doctors.
  
  Patients are reminded that medical malpractice can be committed by any doctor. If you have been the victim of medical malpractice in Virginia or Washington D.C. then contact a Northern Virginia medical injury lawyer today for a free consultation.
  

• New FDA Study Suggests Misuse of Medical Devices
  Aug 04, 2010

  New FDA Study Suggests Misuse of Medical Devices Leads to Injuries for Children and Teens

  A recent FDA study estimates that 70,000 children and teenagers go to the emergency room each year because of physical problems created by medical devices. Approximately 6 percent of those 70,000 children required hospitalization. The rest were able to be treated in the emergency room.

  The study found that while malfunctioning medical devices are one reason for emergency room visits, misuse of medical devices by medical professionals is another cause of serious injuries to children and teens.

  Misuse of medical devices and failure to diagnose problems are matters that can be identified and may be preventable. A doctor from Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital, who was not involved in the study, suggests that health-care providers need to be more aware of the possibility that infection and other injuries may be caused by treating chronically ill children at home. Awareness can lead to faster diagnoses and fewer problems.

  Additionally, health care professionals need to be aware that many of the devices they are using were intended for adult use, and may therefore be unsafe for children or teens.

  The FDA is reviewing the study to determine if additional warnings should be required on FDA-approved devices to prevent serious injuries and infections in children and teenagers.

  Read More About New FDA Study Suggests Misuse of Medical Devices Leads to Injuries for Children and Teens

• New Study Finds that Doctors Do Not Always Report Incompetent Colleagu
  Jul 24, 2010

  The results of a study conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital were made public earlier this month. The study looked at whether doctors report other doctors who are incompetent or impaired by substance abuse.
  
  The study found that more than 30 percent of the two thousand physicians who responded to the survey did not believe that they should have a responsibility to report incompetent or impaired doctors, despite the fact that most professional medical organizations require doctors to do so, and despite the fact that patients’ safety may be at risk.
  
  The study also found that 17 percent of the doctors surveyed had encountered an impaired or incompetent doctor during the last three years, but only two thirds of them actually turned the doctor in.
  
  The three most commonly stated reasons for failure to report an incompetent doctor were: (1) a belief that someone else would take care of the problem; (2) a belief that nothing would happen if the doctor were reported; and (3) fear of retribution.
  
  Doctors did indicate that they were more likely to report impaired doctors than incompetent doctors because incompetence is a subjective judgment. Medical organizations are now encouraging doctors to report both impairment and incompetence in order to protect patients in the future.
  
  Read More About the New Study that Finds that Doctors Do Not Always Report Incompetent Colleagues

• White House Unveils Patients’ Bill of Rights
  Jul 09, 2010

  As part of the health-care reform package, President Obama recently announced a Patients’ Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights will take effect later this summer. Some of the key provisions of the new rules include:
  
  

  • Children can’t be denied health insurance coverage because of pre-existing conditions
  • No lifetime limit on insurance coverage
  • Encouragement of a patient’s choice of doctors; and
  • Removal of insurance company barriers to emergency care
  
  The goal of the Patients’ Bill of Rights is to create better medical outcomes for patients. Insurance companies should no longer be allowed to interfere with patients’ efforts to obtain reasonable medical care.
  
  It may take some time to see whether these changes result in better medical care. The rules will go into effect in late September, and some of them will take years to fully implement. The goal of the Bill of Rights, like the goal of the health-care reform law, is to provide better and more affordable health care.
  
  Of course, the care that individual patients get from their doctors is still the most important determinant of the outcome of health-care reform. We encourage patients to remain vigilant about the quality of care they are receiving from their physicians, and to report any perceived medical malpractice.
  
  Read More About White House Unveils Patients’ Bill of Rights
  
  

• Study: Major Infection Control Problem at Outpatient Surgical Centers
  Jun 25, 2010

  A new federal study released earlier this month and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that same-day surgery centers, also known as outpatient surgical centers or ambulatory surgical centers, have serious problems with infection control.
  
  Inspectors visited sixty-eight centers and told staff who they were and what they were doing. Yet, 67 percent of the centers had at least one mistake in infection control and 57 percent were cited for deficiencies during these visits. Some of the problems that researchers found were failure to wash hands before touching a patient, failure to wear gloves when working with a patient, failure to properly clean blood-glucose meters, and reusing single-use devices for multiple patients.
  
  Any of these breaches could have led to serious infections that would have endangered the lives of patients. It is estimated that approximately 6 million procedures are conducted annually in the United States at outpatient surgical centers.
  
  This study was conducted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services because little was known about how the more than 5,000 ambulatory surgical centers participating in the Medicare program adhered to important infection-control procedures. The study results appeared in the June 9, 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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