An article in AARP the Magazine listed several common surgeries that studies have shown to not only be ineffective as treatments, but may actually put a patient at risk.

According to the article, there are several reasons these procedures are performed on a routine basis. Most are “moneymakers” for the physicians who perform them and for the hospitals where they take place. Some of the procedures appear to work in the short-term, but have very little benefits for the long-term outlook of the patient and may actually cause more harm.

Stents for Stable Angina: If a person is having a heart attack, a stent may actually save their life. However, if the person is having chest pains that have been caused by stress or exertion (called stable angina), inserting a stent offers the same value of treatment as exercise or eating a diet that will lower cholesterol. But even though stents have been shown to be an ineffective treatment for this particular heart disease, there are almost half a million stents implanted in stable angina patients annually.

Complex Spinal Fusion for Stenosis: Spinal Stenosis is a very painful condition where soft tissue between vertebrae becomes flat, offering no buffer and creating pressure on the spinal cord and nerves running from it to the neck, shoulder, and extremities. The number one treatment for this condition is to fuse vertebrae together to limit mobility and decrease pain. The surgery can be dangerous. Studies have shown that patients who have a spinal fusion have triple the risk of developing serious complications than other surgeries. And most patients do not get any pain relief from the surgery. Yet in a five year period, there was a 1,400 percent increase in Medicaid patients having the procedure.

Hysterectomy for Uterine Fibroids: Every year, 600,000 women have hysterectomies. Most of those procedures are unnecessary. When a diagnosis of cancer has been made, a hysterectomy should be performed. However, many doctors are performing this procedure in women who have complications from uterine fibroids, which are benign. Complications from this surgery are common and include perforations of the colon or bowel, due to the location of the uterus.

If you have suffered injury or other medical side effects from a medical procedure, contact an experienced Westport medical malpractice attorney to find out what compensation you may be entitled to for pain and loss.

There are three types of medical malpractice that can be addressed in a medical malpractice suit, as noted by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys (ABPLA). Medical malpractice is generally defined as an act of negligence on the part of a doctor or medical professional that results in harm, a failure to heal, or in extreme cases the death of a patient. For it to be considered for a liability suit, the incident must include the following three attributes:

•      The standard of care was not met. An example of a standard care violation could include a professional’s failure to wear gloves or wash his hands;
•      A patient was injured in the course of negligent care. It is not enough for a patient to claim that the professional did not provide care that met his or her expectations, but the he or she suffered at the hands of a professional;
•      The injury sustained in the course of care must have significant detriments or lasting effects. The ABPLA notes that patients would do well to remember that if the injury sustained was somewhat insignificant, it could end up costing more to pursue the suit than care for the injury itself.

The ABPLA lists several examples of medical malpractice. Failure to diagnosis, misreading lab results, poor aftercare, improper medication or dosage, and a failure to either order proper testing or recognize symptoms are all examples of medical malpractice.

According to Medical News Today, the most common form of medical malpractice is misdiagnosis. In fact, a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University reported in 2013 that “diagnosis errors cause up to 160,000 deaths annually in the USA.” This cost doctors nationwide a staggering $38.8 billion in payments to patients between 1986 and 2010.

Medication errors are also a common form of medical malpractice. A University of Illinois report stated that blood thinners are the most common type of medication errors—accounting for seven percent of such cases for all hospitalized patients.

If you or someone you know suspects you have been the victim of medical malpractice in Connecticut, the most important step is to seek legal counsel. Contact Richard H. Raphael, Attorney at Law today.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic, and the University of Pennsylvania Health System have been added to the growing list of prominent hospitals who have suspended the use of a surgical device used in hysterectomies because it can cause the spread of cancer.

Forty percent of hysterectomies are done because of the presence of painful fibroid tumors. The device that these hospitals have banned is a power morcellator, which is used to help remove fibroid tumors during hysterectomies.

The use of a morcellator involves making a small incision near the belly button to remove the uterus. Recovery time is three to five days, compared to four to six weeks when the uterus is removed via conventional surgery.

Surgeons use the morcellator to slice up the fibroids or the entire uterus, thus allowing the tissue to be removed through the tiny incision that was made.

But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced the dangers associated with morcellation because the procedure can spread any cancer cells that may be present in the fibroids or the uterus, leaving them behind in the abdomen and pelvic area.

According to the FDA, one in every 350 women who undergo the procedure has uterine cancer which goes undetectable in any pre-operative testing. The spreading of these cancer cells by this procedure significantly decreases rates of long-term survival.

A solution to the issue is to put a bag around the device while the procedure is being performed in order to catch any of that tissue. However, adding the bag would require additional training for surgeons and this could drive up the cost of the procedure.

Studies revealing the dangers of the procedure spreading cancer cells have been around for several years. In 2011, researchers from South Korea presented at a medical conference in Florida their findings of a study they did comparing morcellating tumors or removing them whole. In the group of patients whose tumors were removed whole, 19 percent died within five years. In the group of patients whose tumors were morcellated, 44 percent died within three years. There have been similar results in studies done by studies done in Boston and in Germany.

If you have been left struggling with serious health problems after having a hysterectomy done, contact an experienced Connecticut medical malpractice attorney to find out what compensation you may be entitled to for pain and loss.