All medical procedures have some degree of inherent risk. When things go wrong, it is not always the fault of the medial professional who is handling the situation. Sometimes an amalgamation of unforeseen events causes a patient to suffer unexpected consequences. These are what are known as adverse events. According to a paper from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there is a big difference between such adverse events and negligence. Negligence implies that the less-than-great consequences of the medical procedure are the fault of the medical professional. Additionally, thousands of errors are made every year “resulting in injuries to patients who many deserve compensation.” Yet it can be challenging to determine what constitutes medical error and what is resultant from the standard risk inherent to medical procedures.

According to the NIH, a Harvard Public Health study found that roughly 27 percent of adverse effects from medical procedures occur because of negligence on the part of a medical professional. “Medicine is not an exact science,” the NIH states, “and complications are an inherent feature of any procedure or medical intervention.” Surgeries, across the board, typically carry a 3 to 4 percent risk of infection. While sterilizing equipment and ensuring that all professionals are held to the highest standard of cleanliness can help mitigate the risk of infection from unsterile objects during surgery, there is still this risk during a surgical procedure.

Another important distinction to make when determining medical negligence or error is that between system errors and negligence. A doctor is negligent, for example, if the patient is suffering kidney failure, needs dialysis, and the doctor fails to put the patient on dialysis. However, say the doctor does order dialysis but a nurse misunderstands and the patient does not receive dialysis. This is simple human error. A 1999 paper from the Institute of Medicine, “To Err is Human,” states that “most medical errors are the result of unavoidable human error, which can only be reduced through system changes.”

If you suspect that you have been the victim of medical error, the most important step is to seek legal counsel. Do not go through it alone. Contact an experienced Westport medical malpractice attorney today.

Gone are the days when you would go to the doctors and medical personal would write notes into your chart, which was usually a large manila folder with pages and pages of notes and test results. Today when you visit your doctor, there is typically a laptop or some kind of computer in the examining room where a nurse or doctor will enter in the same information that used to be written by hand. This system is supposed to be safer and more efficient. However, many in the medical field are beginning to question the safety of this system.

Electronic medical records (EMR) are supposed to provide a centralized location for all of a patient’s information and medical history, enabling all of the medical professionals who may be treating the patient to access the information quickly and easily. However, several recent studies have concluded that these records may be causing more harm to the patient than good.

One of the biggest issues uncovered is that doctors are spending so much time filling out the required areas of the online forms and studying the information that the quality and quantity of time actually spent on the patient is suffering. One study determined that doctors are now spending one-third of the time looking at the computer screen and reading the information online. Previously, doctors used to spend about 9 percent of their time with a patient and reading his or her medical chart, with the rest of the time engaging with the patient.

Another study revealed that the average time a doctor now spends talking to a patient is only eight minutes, because they are spending the rest of the time with the patient filling out the online forms. This is also causing physicians to “cut corners” and rushing through patient interviews, often omitting important questions.

Other studies have found that EMRs may lead to preventable errors, such as medication errors, as well as a decrease in the efficiency of the medical staff and facility. There is also a higher risk of incorrect billing to insurance companies, which can drive up healthcare cost.

If you have suffered permanent disabilities or illness due to a diagnostic error, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact an experienced Westport medical malpractice attorney to discuss your legal options.

A recent medical study reveals an alarming increase in the amount of narcotic painkillers that are being prescribed to pregnant women. Researchers involved with the study are calling for more research to be done to determine what health risks these strongly addictive drugs may have on the women’s unborn children.

The study was conducted at Harvard Medical School by analyzing the medical data of more than 500,000 pregnant women who had been prescribed opioids for pain and discomfort. This data came from a commercial insurance plan from which the women were enrolled. The average age of the women was 31 years old.

Some of the factors the research team looked at included the most common medications prescribed, the most frequent medical complaints for which the drugs were prescribed, and what, if any, difference did geographical location make.

The most common condition doctors prescribed these narcotics for was back pain—almost 40 percent. Other medical complaints that doctors felt necessitated opioids were joint pain, abdominal pain and fibromyalgia.

The most common drug prescribed was hydrocodone (Vicodin), which was given to 6.8 percent of the women. Six percent were given codeine, 2 percent were given oxycodone (Oxycodone), and propoxyphene (Darvon) was given to another 1.6 percent.

The heaviest concentration of prescriptions were given to women who lived in the southern part of the country, with Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi each having rates at 20 percent or more.

The lead researcher, Dr. Brian Bateman, wrote, “Nearly all women experience some pain during pregnancy. However, the safety of using opioids … remains unclear. Ultimately, we need more data to assess the risk/benefit ratio of prescribing these drugs to women and how it may affect their babies.”

If you have been prescribed medication that has caused serious side-effects, or a medication has caused your condition to worsen, contact an experienced Westport medical malpractice attorney to find out what compensation you may be entitled to for pain and loss.