Police investigators have likely not had enough time to pull together all the information they need to reach solid conclusions about the cause of a deadly two-vehicle crash that claimed the lives of two Kansas City area men early Thursday morning. Officials say possible alcohol impairment has not been ruled out as a contributing factor. The Kansas Highway Patrol...
Read MoreDoctors are scientists. At least most claim to be. That suggests that their practices are guided by standards that have been established by having gone through the rigors of scientific study and research. But, as many medical professionals argue, health care is also something of an art. That’s convenient on one level. It means that standards of care and...
Read MoreBack in 2001, an Ohio woman gave birth to a son. He may have had all his fingers and toes, but she claims he suffered birth defects due to the fact that she had been prescribed the anti-depressant Paxil during her pregnancy. She is now suing the drug’s maker, GlaxxoSmithKline, saying that the birth injuries her son suffered were...
Read MoreBreak a bone and chances are that the doctor setting it for a cast has seen something like it before. Contract some sort of bug, and it’s just as likely the doctor knows what sort of treatment will get you over it. The same cannot be said about a brain injury. Each one is unique. As the head of...
Read MoreOn Dec. 1, the Kansas City Chiefs were playing the Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium. Kyle Van Winkle was among those who went to the game. Unfortunately, the 30-year-old husband and father of a 7-week-old baby boy never made it home. He died after allegedly suffering a brutal beating at the hands of a man he didn’t even know....
Read MoreAll too often we hear stories about the horrors of doctors failing to diagnose a disease resulting in the death of a patient. This can be particularly devastating in cases where cancer is the culprit, but doesn’t get caught in time. Such instances, if negligence can be shown, may represent situations in which a medical malpractice claim may be...
Read MoreIn 2007, Maribeth Chase underwent what was supposed to be a relatively routine bit of brain surgery — if any brain surgery can be called routine. The neurosurgeon was supposed to go in and drain blood that had accumulated on the surface of her brain. A mistake during the surgery, however, resulted in Chase suffering a brain injury that...
Read MoreThere is no substitute for good communication. It doesn’t matter what the context is, if solid communication is lacking, the chances increase that something will go wrong. In a hospital setting, the risks of failing to communicate often result in a patient’s condition getting worse or death. Considering that such failures are often due to negligence on the part...
Read MoreThe importance of having a thick skin in the medical profession is something that is probably widely understood. Certainly anyone who has pushed through medical school and endured residency training knows it can be a brutal run. But medical training that involves berating, bothering and bullying has also been a staple context of TV medical dramas for years, making...
Read MoreA lot of people around Kansas City may be seeing red in February. It’s not because they are unusually angry. It so happens that February is designated as American Heart Month and red is the color associated with the initiative intended to raise awareness about heart disease. According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the number one...
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