Lay persons — that is, members of the general public — are not often intimately familiar with important details relating to the medical profession. For obvious reasons, that is hardly surprising. The practice of medicine is complicated by any measure. Those who can lawfully engage in it do so only after they receive due credentials following many years of...
Read MoreFor many parents the day that they welcome a child into the world is one of the most exciting they will ever experience. That excitement can quickly change however in situations where following the birth it becomes apparent that there is something wrong with the baby. Fear and confusion can overtake the day and when the condition is permanent,...
Read MoreMany Kansas City residents who enjoyed Joan Rivers’ no-holds-barred attitude and sharp wit were deeply saddened to hear of the comedienne’s passing in early September. However, following an investigation by federal officials, many of Rivers’ fans turned from sad to outraged. Last week, an investigative report from the Department of Health and Human Services Center for Medicare and Medicaid...
Read MoreIt’s fortunate when an imaging scan picks up an adverse condition that was not on the radar of any health care professional. And once discovered, it’s obviously important to follow through on that so-called “incidental finding.” Incidental findings, notes a media article on that topic, “are abnormalities discovered unintentionally and not related to the medical condition that prompted the...
Read MoreAdverse patient outcomes at nursing homes in Missouri and nationally can cover a lot of territory. Bedsores — often referred to as pressure ulcers — are not an uncommon occurrence at nursing facilities. Stories from across the country chronicle with some regularity episodes of patient malnutrition and dehydration. Medication errors are an obvious source of concern in the industry....
Read MoreLyme disease, a tick-borne malady that can carry a real wallop for its flu-like and even more serious symptoms, is a concern in many states across the country, including Missouri. Here’s a particularly noteworthy problem associated with the ailment, as noted in a recent media article discussing it: The disease “can mimic dozens of other ailments,” which renders it...
Read MoreQuality of health care delivery proved to be a big issue in the just-ended off-year election. In some ways it might be considered a perennial favorite — one of those things that everyone talks about but which no one is quite sure how to resolve in order to improve conditions. While Missouri voters didn’t have anything on the ballot...
Read MoreEarly last month, the world lost a noted entertainer. Joan Rivers died. She was 81. Since then, there have been loads of questions about what exactly happened and whether medical error might have had something to do with the comedienne’s death. What’s known for sure is that Rivers went into a Manhattan clinic at the end of August for...
Read MoreNot all births go the way they are supposed to. Sometimes a baby presents in the breech position, feet or bottom first. Sometimes the baby’s head is a little too large for the mother’s birth canal. These may be instances in which the professional handling the delivery decides that the process needs an operative assist — that is, either...
Read MoreJust exactly how many people die as a result of mistakes in the hospital? It’s a hard figure to put your finger on. It seems to change every year — and not for the better. Back in 1999, the non-profit, non-government Institute of Medicine estimated that nearly 100,000 people were dying every year because of preventable errors in hospitals....
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