This fall a proviso of the Affordable Care Act goes into effect known as the Sunshine Act, which requires all medical device and pharmaceutical companies to report publicly all payments made to doctors over the amount of $10. This is meant to curb big pharma and device manufacturers from giving doctors and other medical professionals shady kickbacks for using their products, or at least to make the public aware of such practices. Charlie Ornstein, a senior editor for ProPublica, told CBS News that the practice of big corporations providing “pay to play” for doctors who use their medications or devices is nothing new. It has been in place for decades. Ornstein told CBS News that the promotion part “has gotten a lot of attention in recent years because drug companies have paid … billions of dollars to settle lawsuits that have accused them of improper marketing and giving kickbacks to doctors.”

It is an illegal practice for corporations to give kickbacks to doctors for prescribing their products, but it is not illegal for corporations to give doctors money for promoting their drug. This makes for a very grey line between legitimate and illegitimate relationships between drug manufacturers and the medical professional world. Ornstein told CBS News that it all boils down to trust. If your doctor recommends a certain drug to you, you should be able to assume that he is recommending that particular drug because it is what your body needs.

Ornstein said that it would make sense that a doctor would first prescribe a generic or cheaper alternative, as the cost of drugs continues to skyrocket. Another good example of a doctor doing what is best for his patient would be to recommend a non-medication alternative “to reach your goals perhaps first.”

According to ProPublica, the issue of doctors having to settle issues of marketing fraud is widespread. Since 2008, at least 15 manufacturers of drugs or medical devices have had to pay $6.5 billion collectively to settle such accusations. Yet no individual doctor has faced the same penalties, “despite allegations of fraud or of conduct that put patients at risk.”

If you or someone you know suspects that your doctor has illegally received kickbacks for prescribing medication, the most important step is to speak with a legal professional. Contact a Westport medical malpractice attorney today.

Post-hospital syndrome is quickly becoming a serious health risk that affects millions of people each year. Elderly patients are especially vulnerable to the syndrome, with one in five seniors Medicare patients needing to return to the hospital within 30 days of being charged. This represents almost 3 million patients per year.

But these returns to the hospital are not related to the patient’s original medical condition. Instead, patients develop a new medical problem that can be traced back to trauma from the original hospitalization.

According to a study done by professors from Yale Medical School, which looked at more than 3 million hospitalizations of Medicare patients, 90 percent of people who were initially admitted because of a heart attack return back to the hospital within 30 days after discharge with a different problem. For patients admitted with pneumonia, 78 percent returned. And 65 percent of patients who suffered from heart failure were back within a month.

Post-hospital illnesses often include infections, gastrointestinal conditions, heart failure, nutrition-related problems, imbalances of electrolytes, and trauma.

The lead researcher of the study, Dr. Harlan Krumholz, points out that instead of fostering a healing environment, hospitals instead expose the patients to a large amount of stressors which only may only weaken an already weak patient more. “The result is that hospitalized patients are often deconditioned, in pain, malnourished, stressed, with circadian disruptions,” he said. “And we ask why patients return to the hospital? Maybe it’s what we’ve done to them.”

Krumholz says there are things that hospitals should be doing to help promote healing in patients, such as eliminating unnecessary tests and procedures and making sure patients are getting enough rest and proper nutrition. He also recommends that both physicians and other hospital staff take a more pro-active approach in patient wellness and preventing these medical complications.

If you have suffered an injury or illness as a result of negligent medical care, contact an experienced Westport medical malpractice attorney to find out what compensation you may be entitled to for pain and loss.

Medical devices to help patients deal with incontinence have changed the lives of many for the better. At this level of surgery, however, complications can occur, and urethral sling surgeries for women often have severe side effects.

Bladder slings, or transvaginal mesh implants, are used to treat stress urinary incontinence in primarily post-menopausal women. According to WebMD.com, the implant of these slings requires deep incisions, meaning that it is an inpatient procedure. Usually patients are able to return home two to three days after the procedure, though the recovery period is usually two to four weeks after that. WebMD notes that while complications are common, the implementation of a bladder sling usually cures stress urinary incontinence in eight out of 10 women.

DrugWatch.com reports that there are commonly used types of bladder slings. The first is called a tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) sling, in which the patient’s tissue is used to hold the sling in place instead of stitches. The second is a transobturator tape sling (TOW or TVT-O), which is a tension-free surgery that “has less risk of bladder and bowel injury in comparison with the TVT sling.” The third is a mini-sling, which has the least risk of complications after surgery. This is also the newest form of bladder sling, having debuted in 2006.

When bladder slings first hit the medical market, the side effects were not as well known or publicized as they are today. MD-Health.com advises that side effects can include difficulty urinating, internal bleeding, and severe pain. Inflammation of the organs around the bladder is common, making sex difficult. Faulty mesh implants can result in the obstruction of the urethra, damage to the bowels, and injury to surrounding blood vessels and nerves. In September of 2013, according to Bloomberg News, the first wave of lawsuits against five makers of vaginal mesh implants went to court. “The total number of suits could swell to more than 50,000 as more claimants seek to join the potential settlement,” reported Bloomberg News.

If you or someone you know has suffered severe side effects because of a bladder sling operation in Connecticut, the most important step is to speak to an attorney. Contact Richard H. Raphael, Attorney at Law, for a free initial consultation today.