A new study by Columbia University School of Nursing about hospital infection prevention policies has revealed some disturbing results – most hospitals fail to follow their own policies. The price of these infections is high, costing $33 billion annually for excess medical care and killing 100,000 people in this country every year.

Researchers studied the prevention policies of over 1600 intensive care units (ICU) at almost 1,000 hospitals located across the U.S. The team was especially interested in what kind of checklists were in place to prevent central line-associated bloodstream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia and catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

Of all the ICUs studied, one in 10 still did not have any kind of checklist in place to help deter bloodstream infections. The study also found that one in four ICUs had no checklists to help prevent patients developing pneumonia while on a ventilator.

For those units that did have checklists in place, these safeguards were only followed half the time.

Past research has shown that the use of electronic monitoring systems and staff that are trained and have infection control certification can significantly reduce the occurrence of these infections. But only one-third of the hospitals actually had some type of electronic monitoring system in place. And more than one-third of the hospitals studied had no staff trained in infection control.

The research was led by Dr. Patricia Stone, who has been involved in considerable research about hospital and health-care infections. In a statement, Dr. Stone said, “Hospitals aren’t following the rules they put in place themselves to keep patients safe. Rules don’t keep patients from dying unless they’re enforced.”

Dr. Stone also added, “Every hospital should see this research as a call to action – it’s just unconscionable that we’re not doing every single thing we can, every day, for every patient, to avoid preventable infections.”

If you have suffered from complications caused by negligent medical care, contact a Westport medical malpractice attorney to find out what compensation you may be entitled to for pain and loss.

The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) recently released their 2014 Emergency Room Report Card and the grade is not good – the national results were a D+. The study found that, nationally, the emergency care environment had actually gotten worse since the last report card was issued in 2009.

Four of the categories the study measured include:

Access to Emergency Care – The national grade for this category was a D-. There are many issues that emergency care environments cannot seem to overcome, including the amount of time patients have to wait for emergency room care, shortages in on-call specialists and other healthcare workforce members, and the increasing costs for care. Twenty-one states received F’s in this category.

Quality and Safety Patient Environment – This category received a C for its overall grade. The study points out that there have been new systems and protocols introduced to improve life-saving treatment and promote better functioning emergency rooms. Ten states received F’s in this category.

Public Health and Injury Prevention – The overall national grade for this category is a C. There has been no improvement in this section since 2009. It is the one category where states can take the initiatives to be pro-active in implementing programs to help reduce the need for emergency care. An example of this cited by the ACEP would be immunization programs for children and senior citizens. Ten states received F’s in this category.

Disaster Preparedness – This category saw a slight decrease since the last report card and has fallen to a C-. The ACEP contributes this decrease to disparities in each state’s hospital systems when it comes to the capacity of the hospitals and how prepared its personnel are for disasters. Thirteen states received F’s in this category.

If you have suffered permanent disabilities because of a physician’s error or misdiagnosis, you may be entitled to financial compensation for your pain and loss. Contact a Westport medical malpractice attorney to find out what legal options you may have.

Reuters is reporting that Biomet Inc. is going to pay $56 million to settle multiple lawsuits against them for the company’s defective metal hip replacements. Hundreds of plaintiffs across the country had filed lawsuits against Biomet for their metal-on-metal hip replacement devices known as M2a-38 and M2a-Magnum. These suits were all combined and an Indiana federal court heard the case against the company.  Biomet’s headquarters are located in Indiana.

According to the lawsuit, these metal-on-metal devices are made from cobalt and chromium alloy. As grinding of the ball and cup articular surfaces takes place, the defect in the device releases an excessive amount of these two metals. Plaintiffs in the case experienced early failure of the hip replacement devices and many suffered from metallosis – elevated metal ion poisoning. This led to often painful revisions and a long rehab process.

Biomet will put $50 million into an escrow account to pay all those plaintiffs who have been forced to have the revision surgery. Each claimant will receive a base $200,000, with any more funds being determined by clinical factors in each individual case. There are at least 200 claimants who have not had the surgery yet. They will not receive any funds as part of the settlement until, or if, they have the revision surgery.

The other $6 million will go towards attorney fees.

Despite the settlement agreement, Biomet maintains that their product were not responsible for any injuries or damages suffered by anyone who received those implants. However, it was revealed that shortly after Biomet introduced the devices in 2004, hundreds of complaints of the product failure began coming in to the company. Biomet didn’t act on those complaints.

Biomet isn’t the only hip replacement company facing litigation over defective metal hip replacement devices. Other companies include the Zimmer, Stryker, Biomet, Wright and DePuy.

If you received a defective hip replacement device, contact an experienced Westport medical malpractice attorney today to find out what compensation you may be entitled to for pain and loss.