Hospitals in Arizona and across the country have high standards for patient safety as public reporting and financial incentives for quality patient care help hospitals offer the best care to patients. However, there could be as many as 400,000 premature deaths...
Medical Malpractice
Poor communication the cause of surgical errors
Arizona patients may have justifiable concerns about medical errors occurring during surgeries. Although mistakes like operating on the wrong side of the body remain rare, a recently-published study found that insufficient communication among health care workers...
Never events caused by human behaviors
Arizona patients may know there are certain types of surgical errors that are seemingly avoidable but that unfortunately occur. These errors are referred to as "never events", because they are incidents that should not happen. In order to determine why these mistakes...
Research on the genetic causes of cerebral palsy
Arizona parents may be interested in a recent study published in the Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology" that researched the causes of cerebral palsy. According to the study, up to 45 percent of cerebral palsy cases are caused by genetics. The review was based on...
The increasing use of electronic health records
In Arizona and around the country, the use of electronic health records has become increasingly popular with doctors and other health care practitioners. They have also had an effect in the courtroom as well, as EHRs are often introduced to demonstrate negligence in...
The failure to educate surgery patients
Patients in Arizona and around the country who are about to have a surgical procedure performed often fail to be properly informed about what to expect both during the operation as well as afterwards. Health care providers and medical professionals that do not...
More about medical malpractice settlements
Arizona patients may benefit from learning more about a study that recently reviewed existing trends among medical malpractice lawsuits. Researchers discovered that the majority of the settlements included various nondisclosure provisions, some which actually impose...
Lack of communication by hospital staff hurts patients
Patients in Arizona hospitals are at a serious risk of injury when nurses and doctors have poor communication skills. Each year, 200,000 people are killed as a result of medical errors. Many people believe that these errors would be less likely to occur if hospital...
Risks of lung cancer screenings
Arizona residents may be interested in how some physicians have become more hesitant to screen smokers for lung cancer. A study published in 2011 revealed that spiral CT scans may have the ability to help lower the rate of lung cancer fatalities by 20 percent. As of...
Problems with breast cancer misdiagnoses
Many women in Arizona undergo breast cancer biopsies every year. Some receive an incorrect diagnosis of cancer, while others suffer while the disease remains untreated. This particular problem is one of almost epic scope, as a recent study pointed out. According to...