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Recent Blog Posts
Teenage Drivers: A Factor In Many Car Accidents
Did you know that teen drivers have the highest crash rate of any age group? It's true, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Additionally, car accidents continue to be the leading cause of death for teens in our country. In fact, teen driving is a factor in many collisions for the following five reasons:
- Teens lack wisdom and experience. Young drivers don't have previous knowledge and experience to draw from when they are faced with unsafe conditions on the road. In fact, they often underestimate dangerous conditions or they cannot recognize hazardous situations. Because they are new to driving and have spent fewer hours in the driver's seat than any other age group, they often make poor decisions that can increase their risk of crashing. Even though Virginia has license regulations designed to reduce teen crashes, a teen's crash risk is very high during the first several months after getting a driver's license, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Diagnosing Errors Involving Children May Be Reason Enough For A Medical Malpractice Claim
Diagnosing errors continue to be a problem in this nation. They are even a huge concern in pediatric wards. Such medical negligence has caused kids harm and has even led to adverse events, hospital admission, surgery, and even the loss of innocent lives. The truth is that pediatric diagnosing errors occur far more often than they should. Even one case involving a diagnosis error is one too many, because a precious child ends up suffering the consequences of a medical professional's mistake.
How Often Do Pediatric Diagnosing Errors Happen?
A 2010 survey-for which pediatricians voluntarily contributed information anonymously-found that 54 percent of participating pediatricians admitted to making one or two diagnosing errors in a month, and nearly half of the respondents said their error in diagnosing patients actually caused patients harm at least once or twice a year.
Sadly, it is likely that pediatric diagnosis errors occur much more often than the survey indicates. There is no requirement that diagnosis errors be compiled, so the scanty data available comes from self-reporting in surveys like this one. While there is not much known about pediatric diagnosing errors, errors in diagnosis are the most commonly reported claim (32%) in pediatric malpractice lawsuits, according to the survey.
Does Wrong-Side Surgery Really Happen In Virginia?
Doctors have to undergo extensive training before getting their medical licenses. Years of residency, continuing education courses and daily clinical experience all ensure that medical professionals are the best they can possibly be.
Unfortunately, they may still have trouble telling left from right.
Mistakes Can Happen - Even After Decades of Training
Wrong-side surgery is a common surgical error in Virginia. A patient may awaken after surgery thankful to be alive, only to find out that the wrong side of their body was operated on. At best, it means another procedure-at worst, the loss of a perfectly healthy body part.
Common Wrong-side Surgeries
The most common wrong-side surgeries in Virginia:
- Brain surgery. Operating on the wrong side of a person's brain can have a number of consequences, including speech difficulties, neurological damage, or permanent paralysis.
- Kidneys. When a doctor removes the wrong kidney from a patient, the victim will inevitably need the damaged one removed as well, leaving him to suffer dialysis for the rest of his life.
Eye Surgery Mistakes Are A Common Cause Of Blindness In Virginia
Even in cases involving drastic surgical errors, patients can take some small comfort that the error can be corrected. Victims whose right leg was removed instead of their left certainly have a case for medical malpractice-and while a prosthetic limb will never feel the same as a real foot, technology can still allow them to run, jump, and even swim.
But what about body parts that technology cannot replace?
Learn how to handle your surgical error case in our FREE book:
Do I Have A Case? A Patient's Guide to Virginia Medical Negligence Law
Unfortunately, this question plagues hundreds of eye surgery mistake victims in Virginia. When a surgeon's negligence has led to the loss of vision, no amount of technology-or apologies-will be able to restore your eyesight.
Here are just a few ways a surgical team's mistakes can lead to blindness in DC patients:
- Performing the intended procedure on the wrong eye
TBI Survivors Frequently Feel Frustrated
Following a traumatic brain injury (TBI), victims will generally experience a range of emotional and behavioral problems. While the effects can vary greatly, most brain injury survivors experience frustration on a daily basis.
The Cause of Frustration
Because TBI survivors are generally aware that their lives have changed for the worse and they aren't able to live the lives they once loved, they feel frustrated. In addition, job loss and the loss of independence as a result of a brain injury can also cause someone to feel discouraged and defeated.
TBI victims often feel isolated, depressed, misunderstood, and tired. They may experience difficulty concentrating, remembering things, communicating, expressing themselves and following conversations, which can all contribute to feelings of extreme frustration.
Dealing With Frustration
Because those living with head injuries often feel frustrated, families of TBI survivors need to learn what to do and how to communicate with their loved ones when they are irritable. The most important thing families can do is to make sure their injured loved one is being seen by a neuropsychologist. Additionally, families of those affected by brain injuries need to try to stay calm and not engage in arguments with the victim. Attending therapy sessions can help family members learn techniques for coping with the frustration, anger, and irritability that can result from TBI.
The Impact Of A Brain Injury On A Marriage
How Traumatic Brain Injuries Affect Relationships
For better or for worse. In sickness and in health. Your wedding vows may never be put to a greater test than that of one partner suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Because a TBI can affect the way a person communicates, behaves, and responds, marriages can become strained and require a lot of work following a brain injury. As a result, marriages are generally impacted in the following ways:
- Relationship changes. Because brain injuries often cause victims to suffer personality and behavioral changes, marriages can seriously be affected due to a victim's wide range of emotions, angry outbursts, and mood swings. In addition, traumatic brain injury survivors often feel depressed, irritable, and argumentative. As a result, the other spouse may feel like he or she is married to a different person.
- Unemployment and finance changes. Traumatic brain injury victims may not be able to hold down a job and make a living. Additionally, certain therapies might not be covered by insurance. With less money coming in and more money going out for brain injury therapies, it can cause a couple to be financially stressed.
Highlighting The Different Forms Of Aphasia For National Aphasia Awareness Month
Did you know that about one million people live with aphasia in our nation, but that most people have never heard of it? Because of this, it is important to spread awareness of this communication disorder, especially since June is National Aphasia Awareness Month.
What is Aphasia?
Aphasia is caused by a stroke or traumatic brain injury where the part of the brain that controls language and speech is affected. Although people with aphasia might not be able to speak or process language correctly, it doesn't mean they are any less intelligent than they were prior to the injury. Aphasia does not affect intelligence, just the ability to communicate.
People with aphasia don't have intellectual deficits, but they can struggle with reading, writing, and expressing themselves. They may insert words into speech that don't make sense, use grammatically incorrect sentences, or have a difficult time making sense of what is being said. There are several types of aphasia, each with unique symptoms:
Do More Medical Errors Happen In Virginia Clinics Or In Hospitals?
Many people are nervous about hospital visits. Their hearts race, they have trouble breathing-some even have panic attacks at the thought of seeing a doctor. It happens so often, it has a name: "white coat syndrome."
But maybe these people have a reason to fear white coats after all.
Get the facts about medical malpractice case in DC with our FREE book:Do I Have A Case? A Patient's Guide to Virginia Medical Negligence Law.
A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association compared the high number of surgical errors in medical malpractice with the errors common to ambulatory or outpatient care. What should have been a significant contrast turned out to be a shocking similarity, since roughly the same number of medical malpractice claims occurred in clinics as they did in hospital stays.
The study made some interesting discoveries about clinical medical malpractice:
- There were 10,739 medical malpractice claims paid by physicians and hospitals in 2009.
When Patients Receive The Wrong Medication, Medical Negligence Is To Blame
It's scary to think about, but mistakes do happen in hospitals-including at Inova and many other hospital systems throughout our state. While any number of things can go wrong with a patient's healthcare during a hospital visit or stay, one of the most common mistakes made in hospitals involves medication. In fact, according to the journal of the American Nurses Association, medication mistakes are a very common healthcare error that increases hospital stays, inpatient expenses, and deaths.
Who Is at Risk?
Almost every patient who visits the emergency room or stays at a hospital is given some type of medication-whether it is to reduce pain or for life-saving measures. This means that anyone who receives any type of medicine during a hospital stay is at risk for being a victim of a medication error.
How Do Medication Mistakes in Hospitals Occur?
Medication errors occur in hospitals for many reasons. One problem that leads to this kind of mistake is the fact that many drugs have similar names. Doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and pharmacists need to be extra careful when dealing with medications that sound similar to other drugs. Another reason for medication mistakes is that there are many people involved in the process, from prescribing a medication to dispensing it and administering it. Unfortunately, things can and do go wrong along the way.
How A Serious Brain Injury Can Impact Someone For Life
Whether you or someone you love suffered a serious brain injury in an auto accident, sports accident, slip and fall accident, or work accident, you may want to know what you can expect and how a serious brain injury will impact you or your loved one. Unfortunately, the effects of a serious brain injury are often associated with impairment, long-term disability, and an entire lifestyle change.
Some victims living with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can no longer care for themselves, do the kinds of jobs they once did, or participate in the hobbies or other activities they once loved. People living with serious brain injuries can be impacted in the following ways:
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From our office in Fairfax, Shevlin Smith, P.C. serves clients throughout Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., including Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Ashburn, Burke, Centreville, Dale City, Fair Oaks, Leesburg, Manassas, McLean, Oakton, Reston, Springfield, and Woodbridge, as well as Fairfax County, Arlington County, Fauquier County, Loudoun County, and Prince William County.
Results listed are not a guarantee or indication of future case results.
