This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a 114-page report that finally quantifies how many Americans are sickened or killed by antibiotic-resistant infections such as MRSA and CRE (a drug-resistant bacterium related to E. coli). Tragically, while the agency intentionally reported the most conservative number, it found that at least two million people fall ill from...
Read MoreWhen it comes to our nation’s veterans, nothing but the best medical care will do. Unfortunately, we don’t always live up to our values. According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, the Department of Veterans Affairs paid out $91.7 million in medical malpractice claims last year — a frightening, substantial jump. While claims naturally vary from...
Read MoreWith college football season in full swing, there are many fans across Missouri who will be heading out to games and tuning in to watch them on TV. Football fans want to see big plays and hard hits, but it is important to keep in mind that these players can get seriously injured on the field. Keeping them safe...
Read MoreA participant in a National Institutes of Health-funded study at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics was hoping she could obtain some relief from a bowel condition while helping the advancement of science, but she ended up with a brain injury that left most of her face paralyzed. When she sought treatment for the paralysis the day after...
Read MoreA new study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics this week found a substantial association between women having their labor induced or sped up and the incidence of autism. While researchers stress they did not find a cause-and-effect connection, the study strongly reaffirmed medical consensus that autism is developed during pregnancy or during birth, not later in life. Could...
Read MoreIn a case that was resolved through a highly unusual process, a jury in Florida has awarded the estate of a 69-year-old woman $110 million in damages and a staggering $1 billion in punitive damages in response to allegations that the nursing home she lived in failed to supervise her adequately enough to prevent her from repeatedly falling and...
Read MoreConsumers Union, the nonprofit group that publishes Consumer Reports magazine, has just published a ratings review of some 2,463 U.S. hospitals across the nation that specifically measures the quality of the surgical care they offer. The ratings, which are the first of their kind, were based on a survey of the records of Medicaid patients. The survey considered how...
Read MoreYou don’t have to be a parent to understand how devastating birth injuries can be to a child and his or her family. Moving forward after complications from a birth can be incredibly scary, especially without knowing the long-term prognosis. It can take years to discover and understand the full extent of a birth injury and all of its...
Read MoreA new study by researchers in Norway has found a statistically significant association that may indicate that premature and small babies have a greater risk of cerebral palsy if their mothers experience preeclampsia while pregnant. Preeclampsia, an often dangerous pregnancy complication signified by high blood pressure and increased protein in the mother’s urine, is not known to cause cerebral...
Read MoreIn one of the most tragic examples of medical malpractice reported recently, a 4-year-old girl with a heart defect was suffocated by cold medication at a Washington hospital in 2008, causing her a devastating brain injury. After nearly five years of litigation, a judge has ordered the hospital an unprecedented $15.2 million in damages to the now 8-year-old girl...
Read More