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Detroit Medical Malpractice Blog

Transvaginal Mesh Has Caused Thousands Of Women To Suffer

For many years, surgical mesh was routinely implanted in women who underwent pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or stress urinary incontinence (SUI) surgery. Mesh manufacturers boasted that their products were wondrous: Improving the success of surgeries while reducing healing time - all without a threat of serious side effects. Some transvaginal mesh manufacturers funded medical studies to help support their claims in the medical community.

Unfortunately, doctors were largely convinced by the hype and surgeons began routinely implanting women with surgical mesh devices, or bladder slings. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) didn't scrutinize the products either, choosing to rely on mesh's past use in hernia repair operations as proof of its safety for vaginal use.

Debate Continues On, Which Is More Deadly: Warfarin or Pradaxa?

People who are at high risk for stroke are in a difficult situation. Strokes can be deadly, and even when victims survive they often suffer from partial paralysis, speech problems or brain damage. Yet, anti-stroke medications such as warfarin and Pradaxa present potentially fatal side effects of their own. Patients are often left with an incredibly difficult decision: Should they medicate - and if so, which drug is safest?

Medical experts recently warned patients of Pradaxa's propensity for causing brain bleeding, or intracranial hemorrhages. The warning was particularly disconcerting because patients were hoping for a safer alternative to an anticoagulant already in the U.S. market, warfarin - often known by its brand-name, Coumadin. Although a recent study suggests that Pradaxa presents a significantly lower risk of fatal bleeding than its competitor, warfarin, the debate continues on.

Da Vinci system proves dangerous in the hands of some surgeons

The da Vinci Surgical System is a robotic instrument that allows surgeons to create tiny incisions in their patients. The device purportedly allows surgeons to create incisions with a level of accuracy that cannot be achieved by the traditional tools of hands and a scalpel.

Because of its high potential for successful surgeries, the da Vinci system has quickly become in high demand across the nation. Unfortunately, the aggressive push for innovative surgery has pushed some doctors to use the da Vinci robot on patients without first attaining a proper amount of skill and experience. While the da Vinci device has the ability to benefit patients, it can easily hurt them through surgical mistakes made by an inexperienced surgeon.

Study: Electronic medical records surprisingly costly to patients

Electronic medical records have been touted as a tool to increase the quality of health care while decreasing the expense to the patient. This sensible proposition is facing an unexpected setback after a recent study published in the medical journal Health Affairs suggests that the cost of healthcare may increase when doctors use electronic records ("Health IT").

The popular belief is that Health IT provides physicians with easier access to a patient's medical history, allowing the doctor to make more-informed decisions on what laboratory tests may be useful. The comprehensive e-record system should reduce the number of unnecessary lab tests, according to theory; however, the new medical study hinted at the opposite.

Study: 15 percent of surgeons have drinking problems

A successful surgeon needs steady hands and good judgment, two things not commonly associated with doctors who have drug and alcohol problems. That makes the results of a recent medical study particularly unsettling for patients across the nation. According to University of Washington researchers, 15 percent of surgeons abuse alcohol or have dependency issues.

The study scrutinized the survey answers of 7,200 surgeons and uncovered many alcohol or drug problems through a series of questions about the participants' work, mood and lifestyle choices. Surgeons with drinking problems were 45 percent more likely to report making a major medical error in the past three months when compared to colleagues showing no signs of alcohol or drug dependency.

Pfizer recalls 1 million defective birth control pill packets

In a nearly-unbelievable mistake, Pfizer has issued over 1 million packets of birth control pills that may be ineffective. The pharmaceutical firm is scrambling to recall the drugs, but many women have unknowingly been exposed to an increased risk of pregnancy.

The mistake concerns Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and generic Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets. Women who use these products should check the expiration date of their meds: The recalled drugs have expiration dates spanning from July 31, 2013 to March 31, 2014.

Surgeon's delay caused woman lifelong disorder; jury awards $1.5M

After roughly eight years, an Indiana woman's medical malpractice claim has finally been resolved via a favorable jury verdict. The $1.5 million jury award is bittersweet; however, because the woman's suffering will continue throughout her lifetime.

In 2003, a 21-year-old woman visited the hospital with severe abdominal pain. She consulted a surgeon, who advised her to have part of her intestines removed the following day. The patient agreed and returned for her surgery, but the doctor changed his mind and said they could delay the procedure. The woman's condition worsened over several days and she ended up having emergency surgery performed by another surgeon.

New law: Drug manufacturers must disclose payments to doctors

Recent drug recalls and withdrawals of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval evidence serious safety concerns over many pharmaceutical drugs placed on the market. The pharmaceutical industry has grown tremendously over the past several decades and drug manufacturers have been reaping the benefits with record-setting profits.

In the drug industry, the medical needs and safety of consumers has often been placed at a lower priority than sales figures. Pharmaceutical companies routinely rush drugs onto the market without conducting medical studies that properly examine the side effects and effectiveness of the medication. The U.S. government is seeking ways to halt this dangerous practice and a soon-to-be-implemented rule is an important step toward this goal.

Zoloft Lawsuits

A number of Zoloft birth defect lawsuits have been filed recently across the country. The lawsuits have raised claims that Zoloft taken by pregnant mothers have caused severe birth defects, some fatal. The defects include persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPH), heart defects, lung defects, abdominal defects, cranial defects and other malformations. The lawsuits have alleged the manufacturer of Zoloft, Pfizer, intentionally covered up data for years that demonstrates Zoloft was dangerous to pregnant women and their unborn children. It is also alleged Pfizer knew of the risks from studies, did not properly study Zoloft, and did not properly publish the data which would have reflected the risk. Even today Pfizer continues to deny the dangers and has not revised its drug labeling.

Put a lid on it: Lidless toilets in hospitals spread dangerous infection

A newly published study in the International Journal of Hospital Infection concluded that bacteria that can cause a life threatening infection, Clostridium difficile, is spread when lidless toilets are flushed. The lack of a toilet lid allows bacteria-laden material into the air which can contaminate surrounding surfaces. The researchers found bacterial counts in the area near the toilet handle to be 12 times higher in a lidless toilet than one with a lid.

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