Medical devices, from pacemakers to surgical instruments, play a significant role in patient care. While these devices often improve lives, not all are foolproof. Some carry hidden risks due to manufacturing defects or design flaws. In fact, a recent US Product Safety and Recall Index report states that manufacturing defects are the leading cause of …
Hospital-Acquired Infections: Holding Healthcare Facilities Accountable According to the Center for Disease Control, approximately one out of every 31 hospital patients suffers from an infection acquired in a healthcare facility.Hospital-acquired infections, also known as nosocomial infections, occur when patients contract an illness during their stay in a medical facility. Often, these infections result from lapses …
Oklahoma leads the nation in the number of medical negligence lawsuits per capita, based on a review of 30 years of U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources data. The analysis revealed over 1.41 million medical malpractice claims were filed nationwide, with 59,813 of these filed in 2019 alone. Oklahoma accounted for one lawsuit for …
Hospitals are entrusted with providing a safe and healthy environment for patients to receive medical care and improve their health. However, when hospitals fail to meet this obligation, patients may suffer harm through Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs). These infections can lead to severe illnesses, prolonged hospitalization, and even fatalities. According to the Centers for Disease Control …
In March 2022, RaDonda Vaught was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide for giving a patient the wrong drug. When she overrode a search function for the hospital’s electronic medication cabinet, she accidentally selected a strong paralytic medication instead of the prescribed sedative. Her patient died as a result. Similar hospital prescription medication errors have …
Unfortunately, emergency room errors occur all the time. Whether a patient was forgotten, prescribed the wrong medication, or mistreated for an entirely different illness, early discharge mistakes happen frequently. However, the hecticness of an emergency room may also prompt personnel to discharge a patient before receiving proper care. Mistakes happen, but they can also cause …
Hospitals should be seen as a community’s safe place – a place where people treat their ailments, recover, and heal. But too often, hospitals make matters worse. Instead of havens of health, these institutions can fester with infections and become centers for breeding bacteria and germs. In 2018, J.R. Baker was a nurse at Cherokee …
Medication errors can have a negative and lasting impact on a patient’s health and wellness. Typically referred to adverse drug events (ADE), an ADE occurs when a patient is exposed to a medication and is harmed from that exposure. Not all ADE’s occur because healthcare providers were negligent in their duties to prescribe or distribute …
According to a study conducted by Johns Hopkins patient safety experts, medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States. Approximately 17,000 medical malpractice claims are filed in the United States each year. What Is Medical Malpractice? Medical malpractice occurs when a physician, nurse, or other healthcare professional deviates from the …
