We have previously discussed the prevalence of medication errors in the U.S. Some of these errors occur in pharmacies, some occur when physicians are writing out prescriptions and some occur when medications are being administered. For example, in hospital settings it can be all too easy to accidentally give a patient an incorrect dose of a medication, to miss a dose, or to administer the wrong medication altogether. Healthcare providers are human and will therefore make mistakes from time to time. If these mistakes are made while adhering to standards of care mandated by law, they may be somewhat understandable. If mistakes are made due to [...]

Over the past several years, numerous media outlets have begun reporting extensively on the causes of traumatic brain injury. A great deal of this reporting has focused on sports-related brain injury cases, for a number of reasons. First, high-profile organizations like the National Football League and the National Hockey League have been accused by their own players of withholding valuable information about the prevalence of brain injuries within their player populations. Second, a staggering number of child, teen and amateur athletes have sustained these kinds of injuries over the past several years. However, it is important to understand that significant rates of brain injury do not [...]

New parents begin to experience both hope and fear about their children’s lives before they are even born. Unfortunately, some of the events one is often most hopeful about in regards to a child’s experience become those that are marked by fear, pain and doubt. For example, many parents anxiously await the arrival of their children, sure that while the birthing process can be unquestionably painful it is ultimately a joyous event. However, when infants suffer injurious, debilitating and even fatal birth injuries, the birthing process can turn into a nightmare. The range of birth-related injuries that infants may suffer varies significantly. Infants can suffer bruising [...]

If you have suffered an illness or injury which requires medical care, you may already be feeling understandably disoriented as a result of your medical condition. If you have experienced an adverse event during the course of your medical care, you may be feeling even more dazed than you otherwise might. When the trust between medical professionals and patients is broken due to mistakes on the part of medical personnel, the fallout can be uniquely jarring. As a result, you may not feel qualified to make certain decisions about how you will ultimately respond to the harm that you are now suffering as a result of [...]