Anesthesia is given to patients in various types of medical care situations (including dental care) in order to help them remain as calm, comfortable, and as safe as possible. Administering anesthesia places the individual into a state of either semi-consciousness or total unconsciousness. It allows medical professionals to perform procedures that would otherwise bring significant [...]
Harvard Business Review (HBR) recently profiled how surgical checklists are making a difference in reducing mistakes and improving medical outcomes. The HBR report profiled a surgical team at a South Carolina medical facility which reduced its mortality rate by a third, increased productivity, and saved more than $4 million a year since instituting the use [...]
In 2015, a Miami woman with macular degeneration, an incurable disease leading to permanent vision loss, visited a clinic which promised the extraordinary: a treatment designed to slow down, or even stop, the progression of the disease. The treatment would use stem cells from the patient’s own belly fat. Instead of gaining her vision back, [...]
Paulson & Nace, PLLC is proud to announce that attorney Matthew Nace has recently been elected Treasurer-Elect of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. Mr. Nace was sworn in on June 19, 2019, along with the new members of the Executive Committee. Paulson & Nace would like to commend Allen Grunes who served [...]
In May 2019, Medical Economics reported that there is a rise in medical liability claims involving electronic heath records (EHR). An EHR system should help keep patients’ information current and readily accessible, thus helping to avoid mistakes. While these databases have numerous benefits, electronic health record systems only work as well as the software that [...]
A major USA TODAY study found that hospitals are performing much too may episiotomies despite nationwide guidelines that call for the procedure to only be used in the case of emergencies. Since 2006, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has advised performing the procedure sparingly. “Mothers who receive episiotomies – an incision at the [...]
California Congresswoman Jackie Speier has proposed a new bill that would give soldiers the right to sue the federal government for medical malpractice. Currently, federal law prohibits servicepeople from suing the federal government for medical malpractice. The “SFC Richard Stayskal Military Medical Accountability” bill is named after Army Sgt. First Class Richard Stavaskal, who is [...]
It seems simple enough: take diagnostic images and an oral history. Conduct a physical exam. Read the reports of the treating doctors and nurses. There shouldn’t be any reason then for operating on the wrong part of someone’s body, removing an incorrect organ, or even operating on the wrong patient. And yet, this particularly egregious [...]
Most doctors and the public think that the FDA’s database on defective medical devices should be current and complete. If a product malfunctions, the reasonable expectation is that the doctor can research the device to learn what complaints have been filed and whether it is safe for future surgeries. What doctors also expect is that [...]
It is no secret that the hospitals in D.C. need some work. According to Hospital Safety Grade, an initiative launched by the nonprofit Leapfrog Group, out of the six hospitals located in Washington, D.C. proper, half have earned a “D” rating. The hospitals were evaluated in the following categories: Infections Problems with surgery Practice to [...]
