DC Metro Area Medical Malpractice Law Blog

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

ABC World News recently reported on how some drug bottles look alike and how the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "said it gets thousands of reports of such mix-ups every year." The FDA's Dr. Gerald Pan said, "Today's near-miss, today's medication error that doesn't cause harm to somebody could cause harm to someone tomorrow." ABC noted the name-change for Kapidex (dexlansoprazole) last week, but "that still leaves several hundred sound-alike and lookalike drug combinations to go."

Many scholars believe drug companies mirror other companies' products in an effort to fool customers into purchasing their products.  Here's what is important:  never buy a drug unless you are absolutely sure you know what you are purchasing.  Also, doctors and medical staff should never provide drugs to patients without understanding all risks and benefits of the drug and without first confirming that the drug provided to the patient is what the doctor has in fact prescribed.

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Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

In the Wall Street Journal, Laura Landro writes that the April edition of the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety includes an analysis of a fatal medical error that occurred when a nurse accidentally penicillin for an epidural. In doing so, according to the report, the nurse circumvented several safety procedures.  The review further determined that flaws in the hospital's system of delivering care contributed to the error.  Landro notes, however, that some hospitals are now trying to improve safety by establishing procedures for handling staff members who make errors.

It is disturbing to learn time and again how staff members ignore safety procedures.  Such conduct injures and often kills patients.  What's more disturbing, though, is learning that some staff members are permitted to be repeat offenders--people who habitually bypass safety procedures. 

Landro's report that some hospitals are trying to better monitor their staff members is refreshing news.  I hope other hospitals follow their lead.  Good leadership from hospital administrations will lead to better health-care.

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Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

According to the Chicago Tribune, Baxter International Inc. announced a recall of its "in-home dialysis device that has been linked to serious injury reports and at least one death in the last two years." In addition, the "Food and Drug Administration has classified the action as a Class I recall, the agency's most serious, for the Baxter's HomeChoice and HomeChoice Pro peritoneal dialysis cyclers, because the device is causing an 'overfill' of fluid in the patient's stomach," states the Tribune report.

A Class I recall applies to problems that can cause serious adverse health consequences or death. According to an AP report, "Baxter said it is still investigating the source of the problems and is working on changes to labeling and software to prevent patient errors."  The company nevertheless claims that the "machines do not need to be physically returned to the company and can still be used."

Dow Jones Newswire reported on the recall as well.

If using a Baxter device, we urge you to speak with your doctor immediately to determine if it is safe for you to continue using it.  Your doctor should be aware of the problems and the consequential risks to be able to provide you with the information you need to make the best decision possible for your health.

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Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

As you know, President Obama has called a summit to address the issue of healthcare reform.  The insurance industry, Big Business, the pharmaceutical industry, the American Medical Association (the doctor lobbying group), and other corporate industries have been shouting for limits on patients' rights.  The inescapable truth, however, is that capping damages and otherwise limiting the ability victims of medical errors have to obtain justice will have no appreciable impact on overall health costs.  Medical Malpractice litigation accounts for merely 1/2% to 1% of overall healthcare costs according to the Congressional Budget Office.

During the summit, Senator Dick Durbin (IL) delivered an impassioned defense of the civil justice system. I recommend taking the time to watch this terrific clip by clicking here.

The president of the American Association for Justice recently appeared on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 to discuss this issue. That clip is available by clicking here and using the password "justice".

Nearly 100,000 people die every year in America due to preventable medical errors--that's like two 747 airplanes fully loaded crashing to the ground every single day.  The last thing the government anyone should ever seek to do is limit these innocent victims' ability to seek justice.  What the medical and business industries should be focusing on is improving medical care to avoid the medical errors that are seriously injuring and killing Americans.

I represent people who have been devastatingly injured due to preventable medical errors, as well as families of those who have been killed due to medical negligence.  If you have any questions about our civil justice system and its impact on overall healthcare costs, please feel free to give me a call.

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Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

The New York Times, in a front-page report, announced, "To help ensure that medical radiation is safe, Medicare insists that certain highly technical cancer treatments be administered only when a patient's radiation oncologist is present or nearby." Federal officials say physicians who fail to adequately supervise technicians during radiotherapy risk patient safety. But, the issue also "raises questions about financial incentives and the overuse of high-tech, and highly reimbursed, treatments" when "less advanced and cheaper ones would have served just as well."

As a result, "Congress passed an antikickback law designed to stop doctors from" unnecessarily ordering "tests or procedures in which they have a financial interest," according to the report.  In addition, "radiation safety will be the subject of a Congressional hearing Friday." For its part, "the American College of Radiology has said that self-referral endangers patients because doctors tend to order more tests."

Before undergoing any diagnostic test or invasive procedure, your doctor should describe all benefits and  risks of the procedure and he or she should explain all alternative options as well.

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 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

The AP reported that "Drugmaker KV Pharmaceutical Co. says it will shut down its Ethex generic division, plead guilty to criminal charges" that the company failed to immediately notify "regulators of safety hazards."  The embattled company will "pay $27.6 million to resolve government investigations," according to the report.

The settlement requires Ethex to "plead guilty to two felony counts for failing to file 'field alerts' for two drugs, dextroamphetamine and propafenone," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. In addition, "KV was ordered to stop making some time-release cough, cold, and gastrointestinal drugs in 2008," but despite that order, "the FDA said KV continued to make the drugs."

This smacks as another instance in which a big company decided to mock the law and put profits over safety.  There is no place for such greed in this country.  I hope the criminal consequences send a message to all greedy executives that they better change the way they do business and start putting people over profits.  Americans shouldn't be seriously injured or killed just so executives can pad their pockets.

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 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

The front page of the New York Times reported that "Hundreds of people taking Avandia [rosiglitazone], a controversial diabetes medicine, needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month, according to confidential government reports." A Senate Finance Committee review cites internal FDA documents that highlight a dispute among regulators that "has been brewing for years but has been brought to a head by disagreement over a new clinical trial."

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Senate committee concluded that Glaxo was aware of the risks, but minimized the issue and attempted to suppress concerned physicians. The FDA's documents also indicate that agency scientists said the drug should be pulled from the market in 2008, but FDA chiefs rejected the recommendations. Now, agency commissioner Margaret Hamburg is expected to meet "with FDA scientists and outside experts to gain a full understanding...of all of the data and issues involved," a spokeswoman said.

The AP reported that the Senate committee is asking the FDA "why it allowed a clinical trial of Avandia to continue even after the agency estimated that the drug caused 83,000 heart attacks between 1999 and 2007." Glaxo agreed to an FDA request for "a six-year study between its drug and" the Pfizer diabetes drug Actos [pioglitazone] "to give a definitive picture of Avandia's safety."

If the senate report proves to be accurate, this once again smacks of a company putting profits over patient safety, leading to serious injuries and death.

If prescribed Avandia, please contcat your doctor immediately.  Your doctor should not prescribe any medication without first warning you of all known risks, and only if the benefits of teh medication outweigh the risks.

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By Catherine D. Bertram                                                     

According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, a company called RF Surgical Systems of Bellevue, Wash., created the RF Surgical Detection System which is essentially a scanning wand that can be used by surgeons to find any tagged items remaining in a patient. Tags (or seeds) about the size of a rice grain are imbedded in gauze, sponges and the like. One wave of the wand over the patient will reveal if the coast is clear.

According to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, retained objects were reported "1 in 8,801 to 1 in 18,760 inpatient operations" which essentially is the equivalent of one case or more each year for a large hospital.  Unfortunately, this study was based on malpractice claims not just reported events,  so some experts say those numbers are most likely an underestimate. 

Does it work?  According to the article, more than 100 hospitals are using the system at a cost of about $15 per surgery.

Our firm has extensive experience with local cases involving surgical errors, including local hospitals where retained objects caused patient death. If you have any questions about this type of case feel free to email me at cbertram@reganfirm.com or call me at 202-822-1875.

 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

The AP (1/27, Perrone) reports, "Federal health officials announced the recall of two million medical needles Tuesday because of a risk they can push bits of silicone into patients' bodies." The FDA "said Japanese manufacturer Nipro Medical Corp. has voluntarily recalled its Exel/Exelint Huber needles manufactured between January 2007 and August 2009."   Doctors, nurses, and patients should not be using these needles under any circumstances.

Bloomberg News (1/27, Peterson) reports that the "defect...might lead to fatal blockages of the main artery of the lung, the [FDA] said." The needles, which are intended "to give food and medicine to chronically ill patients," can "dislodge 'cores,' or slivers of silicon, from 'ports' under the skin and release the material into the bloodstream, FDA officials said." Jon Casamento, deputy director of the Solid and Fluid Mechanics Division at the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said the "defective needles...may cause tissue damage and inadequate drug delivery."

Regulators have not received reports that the needles released silicon or other foreign chemicals into patients, but the defect is difficult for doctors to detect, Dow Jones Newswire (1/27, Favole) reports.

CNN (1/27, Young) reports that the FDA "said anyone using the products should stop immediately and return any unused needles to Exelint." The agency indicated that it is conducting investigations "of needles from 20 companies," of which 10 have already been completed. "The FDA said it has sent letters to all Huber manufacturers asking them to address any design or manufacturing problems."

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 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

ev3 Endovascular, Inc. and FDA notified healthcare professionals of a Class I Recall of the Trailblazer Support Catheter. According to the recall, "This device may crack near the radiopaque marker band. This may result in serious patient injury, including insufficient oxygen supply to the tissues, damage to blood vessels, heart attack, limb amputation, unplanned surgery, and/or death."

If using a catheter, please contact your doctor immediately to be sure it is not part of the recall.  If you know you are using a Trailblazer Support Catheter, please stop using it right away, and obtain an alternative product.

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 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

In a blog at the California Progress Report (1/6), J.G. Preston wrote, "One of the arguments the 'tort reform' crowd uses to justify putting a cap on the amount of money a jury can award to a victim of medical negligence is their assertion that increases in the cost of malpractice insurance are driving doctors out of the business." But "there are more doctors per capita in states that don't limit the amount that can be awarded to victims of negligence than there are in states that have implemented caps. The American Association for Justice broke down the numbers and found there are 21% more doctors per capita in states that don't restrict compensation that there are in states with caps." 

And there are more doctors than ever in America.   Take a look at the most recent data published by the American Medical Association, which confirms this fact.  The publication considers data through 2008.  There were 309 doctors for every 100,000 people that year.   Compared to the 1960s, that's twice as many.  So, not only are there more doctors per capita in states without damages caps, there are also more doctors everywhere in this nation.

The lesson:  Don't let the corporate greed of certain special interest groups convince you that you need to abandon your constitutional rights to pad their pockets.  Victims of the carelessness of others need their rights. 

Be safe, and don't be fooled by well-worn rhetoric.

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 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

The AP reports that officials with the Food and Drug Administration warned doctors recently that "about 11 recalled lots of an intravenous hypertension drug made by the Medicines Co. are contaminated with bits of steel." According to the agency, the particles "could potentially disrupt blood flow to the brain, kidney, liver heart and lungs." Medicines Co. recalled the affected lots of Cleviprex (clevidipine butyrate).

If you believe you have been prescribed this drug, contact your doctor immediately.

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 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

Bloomberg News (12/16, O'Reilly, Feeley) reports, "Pfizer Inc. asked a judge to order the removal of an Internet video about its menopause medicines that the company says is misleading and aimed at swaying potential jurors in future trials over the pills." The video, called "Prempro News Segment," was posted on YouTube.com by "plaintiffs' lawyers who recently won more than $78 million in damages in a Pennsylvania trial over Pfizer's Prempro hormone-replacement drug."

At issue in that case was whether the "menopause drugs helped cause" the plaintiff's breast cancer. In the video, "breast-cancer victims discuss their cases," while the attorneys "accuse Wyeth of minimizing the risks of Prempro." According to Pfizer's lawyers, "Pennsylvania rules governing lawyer ethics prohibit lawyers from making pre-trial statements to the press that could 'prejudice' an upcoming case."

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 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

A massive recall of swine flu vaccine doses drew national attention recently when it was announced by the Center for Disease Control.  ABC World News (12/15, story 6, 0:20, Gibson) reports that federal health officials "are recalling 800,000 children doses of swine flu vaccine...made by Sanofi Pasteur." NBC Nightly News (12/15, story 2, 0:35, Williams) reported that the doses "are less potent than they should have been."

The Los Angeles Times (12/16, Maugh) reports that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Anne Schuchat said the recall was "non-safety-related," and was "part of a routine quality assurance program." Schuchat emphasized that "children who received the vaccine do not need to be re-immunized," but the agency "wanted to make sure that doses that weren't already given won't be." The Washington Post (12/16, Stein, Laris) reports that "most of the vaccine, which was distributed nationwide in November, has probably already been used."

Bloomberg News (12/16, Randall) reports that Sanofi "began delivering swine flu vaccine in the US in September, with the bulk of deliveries expected in the fourth quarter." The United States "has ordered 75 million doses from the Paris- based company." CQ HealthBeat (12/16, Norman) reports that the problem was identified during "ongoing quality assessments" made by the drugmaker. The New York Times (12/16, A28, Mcneil) reports that Dr. Schuchat "said the vaccine was fully potent at release but dropped by about 12 percent in follow-up tests." In a story appearing in some form on over 320 news websites, the AP (12/16, Stobbe) reports that Jesse Goodman, the FDA's deputy commissioner for science and public health, said the problem may be related to the antigen sticking to the walls of children's pre-filled syringes.

USA Today (12/16, Sternberg) reports that the affected vaccine, "packaged in half-dose amounts meant for children 6 months to nearly 3 years old, represents about 1% of the nation's H1N1 vaccine supply." Sanofi spokesman Len Lavenda said the doses comprise roughly "18% of the 4.5 million doses in prefilled syringes made by Sanofi for children in that age group." Lavenda commented that officials were "baffled" by the weakened vaccine, adding "we can't remember a time when flu vaccine lost potency." The Wall Street Journal (12/16, Dooren) reports that Sanofi will be notifying providers to return any unused doses.

Reuters (12/16, Fox) also reported on this story, while Time (12/16, O'Callaghan) mentioned the recall in their "Wellness" blog.

Please be careful when taking a vaccine or allowing a loved one to be injected.  We urge you to speak with your doctor about all pros and cons of any drug before ingesting it.

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 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

The CBS Evening News reported, "The problem of too much radiation during CT scans may be more widespread than anyone thought." CBS further confirmed that "new research...found a wide variation in radiation dose for the most common CT scan like abdomen, pelvis, and chest. A survey of four hospitals found some patients received 13 times more radiation than others for the same type of scan."   Over-radiation can be very dangerous.

NBC Nightly News, referring to a study, stated that "researchers calculated that 72 million CT scans are performed in this country a year and concluded that could lead to 29,000 excess cancers and 15,000 excess deaths a year in the future."  The study NBC cited was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. 

A second study, in the same journal, of over 1,000 patients at four hospitals, showed that 1 out of 270 women and 1 out of 600 men suffer from cancer as a result of undergoing a single heart scan at age 40, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the report, researchers who performed the study noted that the differences in radiation doses may be a result of the difference in technology from one medical provider to another as well as a lack of standardized settings.

Bloomberg News reports that in the National Cancer Institute study, "the authors predicted that lung cancer will be the most common radiation-related cancer followed by colon cancer and leukemia." In response to these study, the FDA has "issued interim regulations Dec. 7 requiring closer monitoring of CT scans after more than 250 cases of exposure to excess radiation were reported since October."

Before undergoing a CT scan, you should get sound medical advice from an experienced physician who is familiar with the risks and benefits of the procedure.  If undergoing a scan, be sure the facility has technologically advanced equipment, so your exposure to radiation is minimized to the extent possible.  Your doctors should be advising you of all risks associated with the procedure, as well as all options available to you, so you can make the best health decision you can.  Your doctors should also be using equipment that is safe and in excellent working condition.

I wish you good health and happiness.

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Each year in the U.S., 22 million patients are treated by Doctors of Chiropractic,more commonly called chiropractors, or "chiropractic physicians" in some states. It is estimated that there are 52,000 chiropractors currently performing such treatment.  The average chiropractor in private practice performs as many as 50-100 manual vertebral manipulations a day, at a cost of $25 to $40 each.

The goal of chiropractic is the diagnosis and correction by manual spinal manipulation or adjustment of a chiropractic condition called "vertebral subluxation."  Although most chiropractors claim they perform thousands of manipulations annually without any serious complications, malpractice suits have been successfully brought against chiropractors for injuries sustained as a result of improper manipulative technique and/or performance of spinal manipulation where it is contraindicated.  Patient injuries can range from headaches and post-treatment soreness to permanent complications of stroke, including left or right side paralysis, loss of bowel and bladder function,  vertebral fracture; disc herniation; rib fracture; and other serious neurologic syndromes.

According to medical chiropractic experts I have spoken with, inexperienced, or poorly trained chiropractors have performed the spinal manipulation in a disproportionate number of cases where serious injuries have occurred.  As an experienced malpractice attorney, and a member of the AAJ national Chiropractic Litigation Group, I have experience with this type of case and have access to experts for review of these cases.  If you would like to talk to me about your situation you can call me (202) 463-3030 or email me directly.

About the author:

Catherine Bertram is board certified in civil trials and was recently nominated as a 2010 Super Lawyer for Washington, D.C.  Ms. Bertram has 20 years of trial experience and is unique in that she was formerly the Director of Risk Management for Georgetown University Hospital so she brings a wealth of knowledge to her practice including how hospitals should be run and what doctors and nurses can do to protect patients.   She is a partner with the firm and devotes her practice to the representation of patients and families of loved ones who have been injured or lost due to medical errors.  She is a member of the AAJ Chiropractic Litigation Group and she lectures regularly to lawyers and health care providers, nationally and locally,  regarding patient safety, medical negligence and other related issues. She has also recently published a chapter in a medical textbook.   She can be reached by email at cbertram@reganfirm.com or by phone 202-822-1875 in her office in Washington, D.C.

 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

Bloomberg.com reports that GlaxoSmithKline "has settled 450 suicide cases for about $390 million and 600 birth defect cases for unspecified amounts." According to the report, "The company has also paid out about $400 million in antitrust cases since 2003."

Many people who have taken Paxil have been subjected to an increased risk for suicide and birth defects.  The extent of the increased risk has never been disclosed. 

I represent victims of dangerous products.  Far too often companies put profits over people, placing into the marketplace drugs that have not been properly tested.  We hope that companies will put people over profits and be sure their products are safe before they are sold.

Before taking any medication, be sure to consult with a physician.  Your physician should also inform you of all risks and benefits of a medication before you ingest it, so that you can make the best health decisions you can.

About the author:

 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

The FDA has announced that a California-based company--organicgirl produce--has recalled 120 cartons of its 5.75 oz Berries & Balsamic Salad "because it may contain an incorrect condiment packet with an unlabeled allergen for walnuts."

"The product is packaged in plastic trays in a 6-count carton, UPC 895203-001332, product lot number 31B073830, with Use-By Date of December 16, 2009."  If you have an allergy to walnuts, do not eat this product.  Doing so would "run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction," says the FDA.

If you purchased the recalled product, you are urged to return it to the place you bought it from for a full refund. If you have any questions, you may also contact organicgirl produce at 1-831-758-7810.

It is common for people to have allergic reactions to all kinds of foods.  That is why it is critically important for all food suppliers to carefully label what the product contains.  Without appropriate warnings, public health is compromised. 

Many people die every year as a result of food allergies.  If you have an allergy to a food product, read labels carefully.  If eating at a restaurant, ask your server to confirm the absence of the product you are allergic to when ordering.

Enjoy your meals, but please be careful to ingest only what you know is safe.

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Posted by Catherine Bertram, Partner                                     

In a recent opinion piece in Salon, Dr. Rahul Parikh summarized the tort "reformers" arguments which have been in the news lately. These argument about the so called lawsuit crisis are being put forth by insurance companies and the American Medical Association.  Dr. Parikh carefully refutes each one by using the real facts.   He then challenges physicians to focus on the real priority, patient safety. Instead of attacking lawyers who advocate for patients harmed by preventable errors, the resources should be focused on preventing the patient injuries in the first place.   Here is the bottom line directly from his piece:

"Tort reformers neglect the fact that malpractice reform won't save one extra life. To make that difference, insurers, doctors and their lobbyists like the AMA need to find ways to improve patient safety. So for those who push tort reform as a panacea for a sick health care system, working to prevent injuries is a much more noble pursuit than writing up baseless arguments for the back pages of a newspaper."

Instead of focusing on limiting the rights of citizens who have valid claims for harm as a result of preventable errors in health care, we need to focus on how to stop the patients from being injured in the first place.  This involves daily focus by doctors, nurses and most of all the support and resources from hospital leadership.  

I would love nothing more than to come to my office and have no calls from patients or their families after devastating medical errors.   However, that is not the case.  We are seeing more errors and more obvious preventable errors because the system is broken and there is often not accountability.

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."  Helen Keller

By Catherine D. Bertram, Partner                                           

"No adverse event should ever occur anywhere in the world if the knowledge exists to prevent it from happening."   That is a direct quote from the Joint Commission, a national organization that accredits more than 16,000 health care organizations around the country.  In fact it  is the first sentence in their introduction to what they have dubbed "9 key patient safety solutions" for health care providers in order to prevent inevitable human errors from actually reaching patients and thus prevent patient injuries and death from preventable errors.  

Having worked as Director of Risk Management in a major teaching hospital and having studied patient safety, I can verify that harm to patients and "near miss'' incidents often involve the issues listed by the Joint Commission below.  Those 9 solutions were developed from the data the Joint Commission has regarding patient injuries, deaths and near misses.  

Unfortunately, in the recent past I have represented families and patients in the DC area who have been harmed or lost their lives at local hospitals as a result of medical errors from situations that would fall into the categories listed below. (Also, see the links for translations of the 9 patient safety solutions for many other languages at the end of the article.)

"1.  Look-alike, Sound-alike medication names
Confusing drug names is one of the most common reasons for medication errors. With tens of thousands of drugs currently on the market, the potential for error created by confusing brand and generic drug names is a recognized risk that has not been solved.

 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

Posted by Catherine Bertram, Partner                                          

There is a national epidemic of hospital acquired infections.  To combat this situation, the entity that accredits hospital in the United States, the Joint Commission, announced this fall a national plan of attack that includes the very simple act of requiring all members of the hospital health care team to wash their hands between patients. Where do our local hospital's stand on this?

Over the last 30 years, poor hand hygiene has continued to contribute to the high rates of infections acquired in hospitals, clinics and other health care settings.  According to a patient safety report by the World Health Organization, these infections affect as many as 1.7 million patients in the United States each year, racking up an annual cost of $6.5 billion and contributing to more than 90,000 deaths annually.

According to Dr. Mark Chassin of the Joint Commission, hand-washing failures contribute to infections linked to health care that kill almost 100,000 Americans a year and cost U.S. hospitals $4 billion to $29 billion a year to combat.   Dr. Chassin's announcement came this fall after Hearst Newspapers published the results of an investigation, "Dead by Mistake," which reported that 247 people die every day in the United States from infections contracted in hospitals.

The Joint Commission's new program, the Center for Transforming Health Care, is funded by hospitals and other large health care entities. 

What are our local hospitals in our community doing about this problem?  That is the question we need to be asking.  What are the infection rates at our local hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers?  The public has a right to know this information.

About the author:

Catherine Bertram is board certified in civil trials and was recently nominated as a 2010 Super Lawyer for Washington, D.C.  Ms. Bertram has 20 years of trial experience and is unique in that she was formerly the Director of Risk Management for Georgetown University Hospital so she brings a wealth of knowledge to her practice including how hospitals should be run and what doctors and nurses can do to protect patients.   She is a partner with the firm and devotes her practice to the representation of patients and families of loved ones who have been injured or lost due to medical errors.  Ms. Bertram lectures regularly to lawyers and health care providers, nationally and locally,  regarding patient safety, medical negligence and other related issues. She has also recently published a chapter in a medical textbook.   She can be reached by email at cbertram@reganfirm.com or by phone 202-822-1875 in her office in Washington, D.C.

 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

The AP (12/11, Tanner) reports that "in 2005, Illinois legislators...passed a measure requiring hospitals to report the deadliest kind" of medical errors, but "the law has yet to be implemented -- and it likely won't be for at least another year." Illinois "budget woes and foot-dragging by special interests are among reasons cited for the long delay." However, "there are finally glimmers of progress. That includes the recent launch of a related state website that tracks hospital infection rates and staff levels, and the imminent start of a search for a vendor to help put the law in place."

Ten years ago, a landmark report proved that medical mistakes kill up to 98,000 Americans yearly. Only a handful of states have decided to do something about it, Minnesota being the first in 2003.  In 2005, Illinois modeled a law after Minnesota's.  Four years later, the law has still not been implemented.  Why?  Foot-dragging by special interest groups.  Finally, though, some progress is being made, including " the recent launch of a related state Web site that tracks hospital infection rates and staff levels, and the imminent start of a search for a vendor to help put the law in place."

According to the AP report, "The law will require hospitals to publicly report so-called "never" mistakes. These are mostly preventable errors with potentially life-threatening consequences -- like the wrong-knee surgery Krzysztof Kordes says Chicago-area doctors performed on him last year or the forgotten sponge left inside a Plainfield woman during breast tumor surgery."

A few things the law requires:

• hospitals required to report major medical errors within 30 days to the state's public health department
• list of hospitals and mistakes will be posted online
• hospitals required to determine cause of errors and to develop corrective plan

These kinds of laws should be in every state in our country.  Medical providers should not bow to special interest groups.  Sharing more, not less, following an adverse event is the only way to truly minimize future medical errors. 

Encourage your legislators to work hard to implement strong laws that clearly work to open communication and spur better, safer health practices.

About the author:

 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

Dow Jones Newswires (12/8, Dooren) reported that Thomas Laughren, the director of FDA's division of psychiatric products, said Tuesday that the agency is weighing tougher warning labels for antipsychotics that might cause weight gain and diabetes.  According to the report, "the agency has asked manufacturers of drugs like Seroquel, Abilify and Zyprexa for all of the information they have on metabolic side effects such as increases in blood glucose" to determine whether warnings need to be improved.  This comes in the wake of concerns of how antipsychotic medication has been effecting children in particular.

Like all drugs, antipsychotic medication should never be taken without a doctor's prescription, and a physician should never prescribe this medication unless it is in the best interest of the patient and only after the patient has been fully informed of all of the risks and benefits of the drug. 

About the author:

 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

As a consumer justice attorney, I have the privilege of representing and helping people through difficult times every day. Oftentimes, my clients are horrifically and permanently injured due to no fault of their own. Other times, I represent families of those who have died as a result of someone else's carelessness.

This may surprise you, but it is widely accepted that approximately 98,000 Americans die each year as a result of medical negligence, more than deaths caused by guns and automobile collisions.  The yearly death toll from medical errors equates to the number of deaths that would result from two 747 airplanes crashing to the ground every day.  This alarming statistic does not even include those who have not died, but have nevertheless suffered serious permanent injuries due to a lack of appropriate medical care.

I have published a paper that addresses some fundamental, but extraordinarily important, steps necessary to properly and thoroughly evaluate a potential medical malpractice claim. By no means does the article include all investigative efforts required to analyze a case, as every claim is different and deserves special attention. 

To read my article, entitled "Evaluating a Medical Malpractice Case", please click here.

About the author:

 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

The American Association for Justice has published a primer on the medical malpractice debate.  It comprehensively shows how special interest groups have perpetuated myths in an effort to strip Americans of their rights in order to pad their profits.  Here are some of the findings:

• Myth #1: There are too many “frivolous” malpractice lawsuits
  

• Myth #2: Malpractice claims drive up health care costs.

• Myth #3: Doctors are fleeing.

• Myth #4: Malpractice claims drive up doctors’ premiums.

• Myth #5: Tort reform will lower insurance rates.

It is widely accepted that approximately 98,000 Americans die every year as a result of medical errors.  That's like two 747 airplanes full of passengers crashing to the ground every day for a year.  Yet, some legislators want to strip innocent victims of their constitutional rights, including limiting their recoveries, instead of focusing on preventing future errors. 

Our leaders should be fighting for safer drugs, safer hospitals, better medical practices, and a safer American health system.  We must put people over profits.

To read the publication, please click here.

About the author:

 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

The Associated Press has reported today that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "still hasn't restructured its staff to better monitor drug safety, more than three years after experts recommended key changes in the wake of the Vioxx scandal."  According to the report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will release a report today indicating that FDA officials "have made some changes to drug oversight," although the agency "continues to give the bulk of its decision-making power to scientists who approve new drugs, rather than those who monitor the side effects of drugs on the market."  Consequently, the GAO "calls on the FDA to set a timetable for transferring new responsibilities to the surveillance office."

In response, the FDA "said major decisions about drug safety are delegated to the new drugs division because that is 'where staff with the broadest expertise and experience' on product safety issues reside," according to the AP report.

We urge the FDA to ramp up its surveillance of drugs, and we implore pharmaceutical companies to be sure their products are safe before placing them into the marketplace.  Drugs are obviously important, but manufacturers need to put people over profits.  No drug should enter the marketplace until it has been thoroughly tested and until its side-effects are fully understood.

Before taking any medication, please confer with your doctor.  Know all risks and benefits of a drug before taking it.

We wish you good health.

About the author:

 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

The Los Angeles Times reports that "Bayer Healthcare is recalling 100,000 packages of Alka-Seltzer cold capsules because some do not properly display warning information about drowsiness."  The recalls pertains to packages of Alka-Seltzer Plus Day & Night Liquid Gels, according to the report.

"Company spokeswoman Tricia McKernan said the problem was caused by human error during the printing process. McKernan said the machinery used to make the labeling had to be shut down and manually restarted during the production for the affected lot."

If you have purchased these medications from lot 296939L--a lot that was distributed nationwide--please stop using the product and contact Bayer .  The manufacturer's phone number is (800) 986-3307, and they will provide a refund.

Be sure never to operate heavy machinery, drive a car, or engage in any dangerous activity while taking medication that has the potential to make you drowsy.

About the author:

Posted by Catherine D. Bertram, Partner                                         

As a former Director of Risk Management at a local hospital, I know the importance of input about patient safety from patients and their families. It is a critical step in making our hospitals, and in turn our communities, safer places to work and live.   Having said that, being in the hospital or having a family member in the hospital is a stress filled time.   When something goes wrong it is hard to know where to turn for help.  The first thing on your mind, of course, is the safety and well-being of your loved one and that is where your focus should be.   However, after the immediate situation is resolved you may feel the need to get assurances that this will never happen again to your family or anyone else.

If you, or your family member, has experienced what you believe is an unsafe condition or an unsafe practice in a local hospital you can do something about that right away.  In addition to reporting your concerns to the Patient Advocate at the hospital, as well as hospital administration when necessary,  you can also make your voice heard at independent agencies.   There are two entities that you can report your concerns to.  One is right here in DC, the Department of Health.  The D.C. Department of Health has oversight and licensing authority over all the of the hospitals in D.C.   You can click here to file a complaint about a DC Hospital or you can call DC's hot line 202-442-5833.  D.C. has teams of nurses and other professionals who regularly inspect the hospitals and investigate patient concerns and adverse outcomes.  

In addition, there is a national organization that accredits hospitals called the Joint Commission.  They also regularly audit local hospitals and have a specific procedure for investigation of patient concerns.  You can click here and go to their website and follow the procedure after you click "file a complaint", or you can call their office of quality monitoring,  630-792-5636,  or call their toll free number,  800-994-6610,  on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., central time.  Please note that the Joint Commission does not address individual billing issues, payment disputes, labor relations issues or individual clinical management of patients.

About the author:

Catherine Bertram is board certified in civil trials.  Ms. Bertram has 20 years of trial experience and is unique in that she was formerly the Director of Risk Management for Georgetown University Hospital so she brings a wealth of knowledge to her practice including how hospitals should be run and what doctors and nurses can do to protect patients.   She is a partner with the firm and devotes her practice to the representation of patients and families of loved ones who have been injured or lost due to medical errors.  Ms. Bertram lectures regularly to lawyers and health care providers, nationally and locally,  regarding patient safety, medical negligence and other related issues. She has also recently published a chapter in a medical textbook.   She can be reached by email at cbertram@reganfirm.com or by phone 202-822-1875 in her office in Washington, D.C.

 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner     

The American Association for Justice has published a paper that concisely and clearly debunked the myths about medical malpractice which has been spread by business interest groups aimed at putting profits over people.  In the first of a series of papers, Public Citizen debunks the following "five myths: 

• Myth #1: There are too many “frivolous” malpractice lawsuits.

Fact: There’s an epidemic of medical negligence, not lawsuits.  Only one in eight people injured by medical negligence ever file suit.  Civil filings have declined eight percent over the last decade, and are less than one percent of the whole civil docket.  A 2006 Harvard study found that 97 percent of claims were meritorious, stating, “portraits of a malpractice system that is stricken with frivolous litigation are overblown.”

• Myth #2: Malpractice claims drive up health care costs.

Fact: According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the total spent defending claims and compensating victims of medical negligence was just 0.3% of health care costs, and the Congressional Budget Office and Government Accountability Office have made similar findings.

• Myth #3: Doctors are fleeing.

Fact: Then where are they going?  According to the American Medical Association’s own data, the number of practicing physicians in the United States has been growing steadily for decades. Not only are there more doctors, but the number of doctors is increasing faster than population growth.  Despite the cries of physicians fleeing multiple states, the number of physicians increased in every state, and only four states saw growth slower than population growth; these four states all have medical malpractice caps.

• Myth #4: Malpractice claims drive up doctors’ premiums.

Fact: Empirical research has found that there is little correlation between malpractice payouts and malpractice premiums paid by doctors. A study of the leading medical malpractice insurance companies’ financial statements by former Missouri Insurance Commissioner Jay Angoff found that these insurers artificially raised doctors’ premiums and misled the public about the nature of medical negligence claims.  A previous AAJ report on malpractice insurers found they had earnings higher than 99% of Fortune 500 companies.

• Myth #5: Tort reform will lower insurance rates.

Fact:  Tort reforms are passed under the guise that they will lower physicians’ liability premiums. This does not happen. While insurers do pay out less money when damages awards are capped, they do not pass the savings along to doctors by lowering premiums. Even the most ardent tort reformers have been caught stating that tort reform will have no effect on insurance rates."

It is widely accepted that approximately 98,000 Americans die every year as a result of medical errors.  That's like two 747 airplanes full of passengers crashing to the ground every day for a year.  Yet, some legislators want to strip innocent victims of their constitutional rights, including limitibg their recoveries, instead of focusing on preventing future errors. 

Don't let your legislative representatives takes your rights away just so some special interest groups can pad their profits.  Fight for safer hospitals, better medical practices, and a safer American health system.  We must put people over profits.

About the author:

 Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding senior partner     

The AP recently reported,  "A consumer advocacy group is petitioning the government to ban the weight loss pill Meridia [sibutramine] because a recent study suggests it increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death." In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the consumer watch-dog--Public Citizen--calls on the agency "to pull Abbott Laboratories' drug from the US market," citing results from "a 10,000-patient study" that "showed a slightly higher risk of heart-related problems in patients taking Meridia...compared with a dummy pill."

The FDA, however, "said it was 'making no conclusions about the preliminary findings' when they were released last month." The agency "previously rejected a 2002 petition from Public Citizen to withdraw Meridia," saying "it wanted to wait for the findings of the 10,000-patient study."

We will soon see how the FDA responds to the study. In the meantime, please be very careful when taking any medication.  You should always get competent, expert medical advice for ingesting any medication.  Be sure, too, that your doctor fully explains all risks associated with certain medications so that you can make a wise decision about what's best for you and your body.
      

About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

A recent federal task force's study that discourages routine mammograms for most women below the age of 50 has sparked a major political debate.  As a Washington Post article puts it, "The findings underscore a decades-long debate in the medical community about the benefits and risks of routine breast cancer screening for younger women."

In response to the study, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) "announced that his House health subcommittee will hold hearings on the mammogram issue next month," according to the Post report.  And legislators from both political parties are suggesting that "the task force had been swayed by insurance companies that stand to save money if fewer screenings are performed."

Certainly, insurance companies' greed should not dictate what treatments are best for patients.  Those decisions should be left to medical experts who know what they are talking about, who are responsible for making sound decisions and informing their patients of all attendant risks and benefits.  As it stands, the  American Cancer Society has reiterated that it will continue to recommend regular mammograms for women age 40 and above. 

About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

As reported in the Washington Post, a federal task force has concluded, "Women in their 40s should stop routinely getting annual mammograms, and older women should cut back to one scheduled exam every other year." 

The report notes that higher than "182,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the United States, and the disease kills more than 40,000, making it the second most common cancer after skin cancer and the second leading cause of death from cancer among women after lung cancer."  Consequently, challenging the usefulness of a long-used screening procedure--mammogram--has spurred heated debate among, physicians and academics.

The task force cites evidence that harms attendant to annual exams beginning at age 40 outweigh the potential benefits.  As the Post report states, mammograms "produce false-positive results in about 10 percent of cases, causing anxiety and often prompting women to undergo unnecessary follow-up tests, sometimes-disfiguring biopsies, and unneeded treatment, including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy."  Having said that, the American Cancer Society, the American College of Radiology, and others assert that the benefits greatly outweigh the potential dangers. 

According to the report, the American Cancer Society has not indicated a desire to change its guidelines, but the National Cancer Institute said it would re-evaluate its recommendations.

We urge our readers to speak with their doctors and make individual decisions about what is best for your health.  It may be appropriate if not necessary for some women to have annual mammograms in light of their family history, for instance.  Others may be doing more harm than good by exposing themselves to annual mammograms.  Doctors should know what is best for each individual and should advise their patients accordingly so that women can make the best decisions that they can, and so their long-term health can be promoted.

To read the full Post article, please click here.

About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

The New York Times reported that according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), "Vials of five different Genzyme drugs for rare diseases may be contaminated with tiny particles of steel, rubber or fiber that could potentially harm patients."  However, "the FDA and Genzyme said that there had been no reports of patients being harmed by particles and that the problem affected less than one percent of the vials."  Although Dr. Jason Woo, an FDA official, stated, "We do not believe this is a wide-scale problem, but we do not have information that fully defines the scope," patients and doctors are concerned.

According to the report, the FDA has confirmed that "the products would remain on the market, because there are few alternative treatments," the AP (11/14, Perrone) reported. The agency has strongly advised physicians to "closely inspect vials for particles before injecting them into patients."  If exposed to contaminated vials, patients may experience "potential allergic reactions, blood clots, and other problems," states the report. 

 About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

The Associated Press (AP) recently reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "says it confirmed three new cases of a potentially lethal brain inflammation linked to the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri [natalizumab]."  According to the FDA, the reports "are the first confirmed new cases since June."  The condition is known as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML.  The report states that the FDA has confirmed that since mid-2006 there have been 13 reported cases of PML.  The AP adds that "the FDA says the risk appears to increase as patients remain on Tysabri" and all "the PML cases are linked to its use in multiple sclerosis," although the drug is also marketed to treat Chron's disease as well.

According to the AP report, Tysabri  "was approved in November 2004 and pulled from the market the next year due to PML reports. It was reintroduced in July 2006, and Biogen said it is used by 43,000 patients."

Like all drugs, Tysabri, which is marketed by Biogen Idec Inc. and Elan Corp. PLC, should never be taken without a doctor's prescription, and a physician should never prescribe this medication unless it is in the best interest of the patient and only after the patient has been fully informed of all of the risks and benefits of the drug.
 

About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

According to a Bloomberg report, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive testified under oath that the drug company knew as early as 2001 that its anti-depressant drug--Paxil--could cause birth defects in the fetuses of pregnant women.  It has been alleged that this information was withheld from the public so the company could maximize profits at teh expense of public health.  The reports notes that in a videotaped deposition, former Glaxo drug-safety executive Jane Nieman stated that the company was “almost certain” by 2001 that Paxil was to blame for a certain heart defect that caused women to abort their fetuses. 

The drug generated about $942 million in sales last year alone.   We have no problem with companies making money--that's America.  What's un-American is putting profits over people.  No company should ever risk public health in a greedy effort to pad profits.  Many lawsuits against the drug manufacturer are pending, and we expect that the truth will be revealed and that the victims' suits will help protect all Americans from corporate greed. 

 About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

According to the AP (9/18), the Obama Administration "announced $25 million in grants for states and health care systems to experiment with alternatives to costly medical malpractice lawsuits." The report states that the grants will amount to "up to $3 million each for three years," and can be allocated for "a range of ideas, including programs in which doctors and hospitals quickly acknowledge a mistake, offer an apology and restitution, and pledge to take corrective action."        

NPR (9/17, James), on its  "Two-Way" blog, reports that although "a lot of people believe . . . [that] medical malpractice is a major contributor to healthcare inflation. . . the available evidence is with the president"--that it has little impact on healthcare costs.  NPR noted what others, including the Congressional Budget Office (under the direction of former President George W. Bush), have determined, which is that "perhaps one percent or less of healthcare's high costs has been attributed in many studies to malpractice lawsuits."

I think it is good that the American people are starting to learn the truth about medical malpractice litigation and victims' rights to obtain justice.  For far too long, special interest groups, like the insurance and medical industries, have spread myths about "frivolous" lawsuits and the impact malpractice claims have on overall healthcare costs.  These special interest groups have relied on rhetoric and anecdotes in an effort to fool the American people into giving up their rights--specifically their right to obtain justice through a civil justice systemaccess to justice.  There is no place for scare-tactics and myth-dissemination in American politics.  Hopefully, the present discourse about medical malpractice litigation will reveal the truth so that Americans can see that certain industries are willing to put profits over people at almost any cost. 

About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

The AP (9/17, Johnson) reports that the FDA has determined that "[m]akers of injected promethazine, a sedative also used to treat nausea and vomiting, are being required to put the strongest warning possible on the product because it can cause tissue damage leading to amputation." FDA regulators said that "makers of generic promethazine will have to put a 'black box' warning at the top of the detailed package insert explaining that when the drug is administered incorrectly, it can damage skin severely, including causing gangrene."

We urge our readers to be very careful when taking this drug.  It is vitally important that you refrain from using it unless directed by a doctor, who is responsible for understanding all of the risks and benefits of the drug.  The risks should be communicated to you by your doctor before the physician prescribes the medication.
 

About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

In a segment on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" (9/15), the immediate past-president of the American Association of Justice, Les Weisbrod, and another past-president, Todd Smith, addressed the notion of placing artificial caps on medical malpractice claims.  Weisbrod declared such a cap to be unconstitutional and made the well-known point that there is no evidence to show that such a cap would lower health-care spending.  Smith countered the notion that frivolous cases are brought by trial attorneys by stating the obvious--that lawyers have no logical reason whatsoever to take a case with no chance of winning.

Medical malpractice cases are extraordinarily expenses to litigate.  As a medical malpractice lawyer, I routinely advance hundreds of thousands of dollars on my clients' behalf, knowing that if the case fails, I lose all of that money since I never allow my clients to pay me back my advanced expenses in the absence of a favorable resolution.  To bring a frivolous suit would not only lead to financial ruin, but it exposes a lawyer to serious sanctions that can be imposed by the presiding judge and the Office of Bar Counsel that oversees attorney conduct.  Simply put, the idea that doctors face a barrage of frivolous suits is a myth.

Those with special interests need to recognize that too many Americans are killed or severely and permanently injured as a result of medical errors every year.  We need to focus on reducing medical mistakes.  The rights of victims of wrongdoing, often the most vulnerable in our nation, should never be stripped or capped.

About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

According to an AP (9/16) report, Pharmacia and Upjohn, a subsidiary of Pfizer, "has pleaded guilty to illegally promoting the pain killer Bextra [valdecoxib]" as part of "a settlement agreement announced earlier this month, when prosecutors slapped" Pfizer "with a record-breaking $2.3 billion in fines for illegal drug promotions."  In addition, Bloomberg News (9/16, O'Reilly) reports that, according to the United States Department of Justice, "US District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock in Boston took the plea...but deferred a decision on formally accepting it until a sentencing hearing on Oct. 16."

All too often we hear about drug companies, insurers, and other entities that put profits over people.  Innovation is essential, but no company should ever seek money at the expense of public health and well-being.  Such conduct is reprehensible and dangerous.  Access to justice through the civil jury system is what allows for proper checks and balances.  If gives people a fair voice to speak out against corporate corruption, and it allows the innocent victims of corporate greed to obtain fair and just compensation for all of their harms and losses.

About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

The highest court in the state of Georgia will determine whether a 2005 law that capped medical malpractice awards violates the state's constitution.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (9/16, Rankin) reports that a 75-year-old Marietta, Georgia, woman was "permanently disfigured" after complications from facial surgery.  The report also notes that the woman's "case is now before the Georgia Supreme Court, which on Tuesday considered for the first time the constitutionality of the centerpiece of the state's sweeping 2005 tort reform law - caps on jury awards in medical malpractice cases." The article indicates that the surgeon's attorneys argued that the "Legislature properly imposed the caps to keep doctors from leaving the state in droves because their malpractice insurance premiums were too high," while the attorney for the plaintiff argued that "the law punishes those who suffer the greatest malpractice injuries to the benefit of those who caused the most harm."

The AP (9/15, Walker) reports that Georgia state law caps damages in medical malpractice lawsuits at $350,000, and that the case centers on a Georgia tort "reform" law that arbitrarily caps the amount a jury can award for malpractice victims' pain and suffering.  According to this report, the plaintiff's attorneys "said the law overturns a jury's centuries-old right to determine how much to compensate a victim."

The Atlanta Business Chronicle (9/16, Williams) adds that the woman's lawyer told the court that "The liability cap was a key provision in a tort reform bill Republicans made their top priority after taking full control of the legislature in the 2004 elections for the first time since the 19th century. Lawmakers in Georgia and other states have embraced restrictions on jury awards as a way to curb rising medical malpractice insurance premiums that have long been a chief source of complaint among doctors. Despite the cap, a Fulton County jury awarded $1,265,000 to Betty Nestlehutt, 71, in 2007 after she was left with permanent scars and discoloration from a facelift that went wrong."

The truth of the matter is that there is a medical malpractice crisis in this country.  The myths are that there are too many cases and that lawsuits are the cause of high insurance premiums doctors must pay.  Nearly 100,000 people die every year as a result of medical errors, and 90% of the victims of medical errors never bring a suit.  We need better medical care.  Also, the number of suits throughout  the country have gone done, as have payouts by insurers, yet the insures have been raising premiums.  We need better insurance regulation.

The District of Columbia government has enacted insurance reform recently, and its impact has been already felt.  We hope other states follow the District's lead.

Those that are catastrophically injured due to medical wrongdoing need help.  They should not be victims twice--once by egregious medical care and again by artificial caps that prohibit victims from obtaining justice.

About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

President Obama's approach to medical malpractice laws is seen as "differing fundamentally" from idea of limiting awards, according to The Washington Post (9/11, Goldstein).  "When President Obama broached medical malpractice laws in his speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, it was one of the few times that Republican lawmakers stood to applaud. But the ideas the president embraced stopped considerably short of the federal limits on awards in malpractice lawsuits that the GOP and the nation's physicians have sought for years." The examples "the White House gave of state experiments are among a constellation of ideas that have been advocated by the Institute of Medicine, some members of Congress and a growing number of states to reduce the number of malpractice cases that reach the courts. These ideas differ fundamentally from the main way that Republicans want to revise the malpractice system: creating federal caps on the amount of money that juries and judges can award patients who win lawsuits." The Congressional Budget Office and the Government Accountability Office "have examined whether medical malpractice issues add to health-care spending and concluded in recent years that the link is tenuous."

We believe that the rights of Americans to equal justice, including the right to have access to the court system, should not be stifled by politicians who are tied to interests groups that put profits over people.  Those that have been injured due to the carelessness of others and no wrongdoing of their own need our help the most. 

About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

The FDA has warned consumers not to buy or use Hardcore Energize Bullet or New Whey liquid products sold in test tube-like vials, as a result of suspected product tampering. The products are being recalled.

According to the FDA, "The suspected tampering involved a utility knife blade found in one vial of Hardcore Energize Bullet drink, manufactured in the United States and sold in Canada, and another blade in one vial of New Whey liquid products, manufactured and sold in the United States."

Both of the products--Hardcore Energize Bullet and New Whey liquid products--are manufactured by Protica Inc., of Whitehall, Pa. The company is investigating this incident.

To read the entire warning, click here.

Do not use or purchase these items.  To do so would expose you to serious health risks.  Be safe.

About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

Doctors fail to report clinically significant findings to their patients in more than seven percent (7%) of the cases, according to the Associated Press, relying on a new study published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.  Physicians' use of electronic medical records tended to lower instances of failures to inform.  The frequency of errors is higher in practices that used a combination of electronic and paper records, as opposed to practices that relied on only paper or only electronic records, reports Nicholas Bakalar of the New York Times.    

We encourage doctors to utilize the electronic technology now available to better communicate with patients and other physicians regarding a patient's symptoms and conditions.  Reckless record-keeping leads to needless deaths and injuries.  There is a crisis in this country--too many Americans die each year as a result of hospital and doctor errors.  Nearly 100,000 people die every year as a result of hospital mistakes alone.  Safety needs to be a priority as we move forward.

About the author:

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire

Shannon Pettypiece reports for Bloomberg that Matrixx Initiatives Inc. announced that it failed to turn over to U.S. regulators about 800 consumer complaints concerning serious side-effects linked to its Zicam nasal spray and swabs, which have been withdrawn.

According to the report, "Matrixx, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, stopped selling the cold remedies on June 16 after the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers the treatments may cause a loss of smell. Matrixx today defended its products and called the FDA warning 'a surprise,' during a conference call with analysts."

The 800 complaints were unearthed only after the FDA performed a routine inspection found 800 reports of consumer concerns this past May.  William Hemelt, acting president and chief operating officer of Matrixx, said that he was informed that  his compnay did not need to report the complaints despite a 2007 regulation requiring companies to turn over reports of serious side effects, arguing that the regulation didn't apply. 

“We have complaints but we weren’t required to send them,” Hemelt said. “At least we didn’t believe we were required to send them and we based that on an opinion of counsel who looked at the FDA regulation and said no, it doesn’t fit.”

The FDA reported that doctors and consumers have linked a permanent loss of smell to the us of the medications.

When companies withhold critically important information it smacks of putting profits over people.  Safety and public health should always be the paramount concern of drug companies. 

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication errors,  pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please contact Mr. Zambri at 202-822-1899 or email him at szambri@reganfirm.com.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire 

According to a Reuters article, reported by James Pethkoukis, experts have determined that the FDA's approval process needs to be improved to better protect patients from dangerous risks.

At a congressional hearing, Representative Frank Pallone, who chairs a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, stated, "There is evidence of an approval system that is broken -- that its standards, its procedures and its rules don't meet modern needs of getting medical devices to those in need with confidence in their safety." The article further comments that "Marcia Crosse, healthcare director for the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, said various shortcomings 'raise concerns' about the FDA's pre-approval reviews and post-approval monitoring 'that are necessary for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of medical devices.'"

Although Americans benefit greatly from new products, the FDA must do more to protect those who will be using the products in the end--the patients. Without serious oversight, great harm can result.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication errors, pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability  authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact Mr. Zambri at 202-822-1899.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

Recently, MedPage Today reported that "The FDA issued an alert regarding the risk of increased mortality in stable liver transplant patients who switch from a calcineurin inhibitor-based (CNI) immunosuppressive regimen to sirolimus (Rapamune)."  It was noted, however, "that a causal relationship has not been established and that" the FDA "is not recommending discontinuation of the drug, which is indicated for prevention of organ rejection in kidney transplant recipients older than 12."

The label for the drug "already carries a boxed warning of excess mortality and graft loss associated with the use of" sirolimus "in combination with tacrolimus (Prograf) in de novo liver and lung transplant recipients."  And it also warns that it is not clear that the drug is safe for liver or lung transplant patients.  Doctors, therefore, should heed those warnings, comments the FDA.  Prescribing medication in a way that is contrary to the labeling may lead to serious permanent injury or death.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication errors,  pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030. 

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

Medical News Today recently reported that a certain kind of cholesterol--known as lipoprotein (a)--may increase the risk of heart attack (medically referred to as myocardial infarction, or MI).  This type of cholesterol, says the article, has been screened little.  Historically, doctors ahve been screening patients for low-denisty lipoproteins, commonly called "bad protein".  Nevertheless, MI has continued to be a leading cause of death.  As a result, scientists have been looking at other caused of heart disease.

The theory about lipoprotein (a) leading to heart disease stems from a study of people living in Denmark, who had higher levels of lipoprotein (a) due to genetic reasons, and who were at a higher risk of heart attack.  The article comments that the "researchers suggested that although their findings were strong enough to support the idea that higher levels of lipoprotein (a) due to genetic reasons very probably cause higher risk of heart attack, only randomized clinical trials that show fewer heart attacks occur when lipoprotein (a) is reduced through therapy can prove it."  So, expect more studies.

According to the report, representatives of "the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study commented that although Kamstrup and colleagues revealed some 'interesting mechanistic insights' into the biological link between lipoprotein (a) and MI, and put forward evidence that there might be potential benefit in reducing lipoprotein (a) early in life, the 'clinical implications are quite limited.'"

Before taking any medication, we encourage you to seek the advice of competent physicians. 

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involvee tragic medication errors,  pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

The World Health Organization today raised its alert level for swine flu (Influenza A - H1N1)to Phase 6, announcing the first influenza pandemic since 1968 as the virus continued to spread around the globe. WHO considers the overall severity to be moderate, according to the announcement by WHO Director General Manager Margaret Chan.  "We have good reason to believe that this pandemic will be of moderate severity, and we know from experience that severity can vary on many factors from one country to another."

Although the current swine flu strain is not considered especially deadly, its ability to spread rapidly to different communities met WHO's criteria for a pandemic.  The alert is related to the geographic spread of the virus, not its severity.

Member countries received notice ahead of its formal announcement of the Phase 6 alert, recommending that nations not close borders or restrict travel and trade. The advance notice indicated the agency remains "in close dialogue with influenza vaccine manufacturers."

By Victor E. Long, Esq.

Research  is changing the way urologists view enlargements of the prostate, known as benign prostate hypertrophy or  BPH. Recent findings suggest that the condition is more complex than originally thought, and these insights are pointing the way to promising new strategies for diagnosis and treatment.  BPH should be distinguished from prostate cancer which has been the subject of a previous blog on this site.
Until recently, BPH was considered to be a single disease responsible for a variety of lower urinary tract symptoms, ranging from discomfort while urinating to the inability to urinate at all. But a new discovery by Johns Hopkins researchers challenges that view. The Hopkins team, lead by Robert Getzenberg, Ph.D.,  suggest that there may be at least two forms of BPH: one type with mild symptoms that are unlikely to cause urinary tract complications and another, more severe form that can lead to irreversible bladder damage. Knowing which form of BPH a man has at diagnosis could help guide treatment choices. The Team also developed a blood test that detects JM-27 protein found in men with severe symptoms. The JM-27 diagnostic test, if eventually approved by the FDA, could be used to identify men with this highly symptomatic form of the disease early, before there is any damage to the bladder or urinary tract.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

The AP recently reported that  "The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers Monday not to use skin products made by Clarcon." This warning followed a recent inspection which revealed high levels of disease-causing bacteria in the products.  According to the report, the FDA has said that the findings are "particularly concerning because the products are promoted as antimicrobial agents that claim to treat open wounds and damaged skin and protect against various infectious diseases."  Yet, according to the report, some of the bacteria found in the products "can cause opportunistic infections of the skin and underlying tissues and could result in medical or surgical attention as well as permanent damage," the report comments.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication errors,  pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

Natalie Fullerton's father feels like he is responsible for the death of his child, but he's not.  After a successful lung transplant, Natalie was thriving.  Her loving father tirelessly cared for her post-surgery, administering medication with the use of syringes.  The syringes, however, were manufactured at a factory owned by a Lake Zurich businessman.  And they were contaminated.  Natalie died.  She was 2 1/2 years old.

The tainted syringes from the plant are now "linked to four deaths and 162 illnesses nationwide, including 22 in Illinois", according to ChicagoTribune.com.  The report comments that "an examination of inspection reports and other documents shows that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration missed several chances to stop the tainted syringes from being used by patients."

According to the article, just three months before the contaminated syringes were shipped (in October 2007), "an FDA inspector visited the plant in North Carolina where they were made. She investigated reports of red, brown and black particles in syringes and reported that managers had a plan to deal with rust."  Those plans were either faulty or non-existent, and teh FDA did not follow-up sufficiently it is suggested.

"A week later, when the FDA learned a distributor was recalling 1.3 million of the syringes, the agency should have launched a thorough inspection, according to its operations manual. That didn't happen, an FDA spokeswoman now says, because the agency is so understaffed it no longer follows the policy unless the recalled product poses a reasonable probability of serious injuries or deaths."

The bacteria on the syringes never should have entered the marketplace.  And, unfortunately, there is plenty of blame to go around.  The owner of the plant is now a fugitive of law.  He fled the country and is trying to evade charges that could land him 95 years on prison.

When dispensing medical devices, medical providers must be sure they are sterilized.  Manufacturers and distributors must do the same.  Natalie may not be the last victim of corporate greed and carelessness, but the FDA must do more to protect Americans of all ages.  That's what we pay them to do.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication or other medical errors.   If you think your providers have ignored your symptoms, we encourage you to read an article regarding medical malpractice authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association has established a new guideline, based on European studies,  concerning when a clot-busting drug known as tPA can be given intravenously to stroke victims. Previously, the guideline in America was to provide the drug only within three hours of the onset of symptoms,; otherwise, it could do more harm than good.  This posed a problem to patients who, for one reason or another, could not get to a hospital quickly enough following the start of stroke symptoms.  The new guideline extends the time in which the drug can be administered to four and one-half hours after symptoms begin.

It is important, however, to recognize that the widening of the window does not mean that doctors should act slowly when treating patients with stroke symptoms. The faster the clot in the brain is relieved, thereby restoring normal blood flow, the greater the likelihood of recovery.

The following is the American Stroke Association's list of "warning signs of stroke:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause"

If experiencing any of the warning signs of stroke, seek immediate medical attention, as time is of the essence.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication or other medical errors.   If you think your providers have ignored your symptoms, we encourage you to read an article regarding medical malpractice authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

According to the The Wall Street Journal, staff from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) indicate that three medications "currently approved to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in adults were effective at treating the disorders in children and adolescents, but carry significant risks." As a result, the FDA is now "considering applications for AstraZeneca PLC's Seroquel [quetiapine] and Eli Lilly and Co.'s Zyprexa [olanzapine] to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in children and adolescents, and Pfizer, Inc.'s Geodon [ziprasidone] to treat bipolar disorder in children 10 to 17," comments the report.  In fact, "an FDA panel of outside medical experts is scheduled to meet to discuss" these atypical antipsychotic medications, and will be "asked to vote on whether each product is safe and effective for children ages 10 to 17."  The report goes on the add that the FDA and the drug-makers announced that "studies showed the products were effective at treating the symptoms of bipolar and schizophrenia," but also warned that "all had side effects."  These sides effects include "sedation and weight gain."

We encourage our readers to speak with their doctors before taking any medication.  Mixing drugs can be particularly dangerous.  Some drugs pose greater health risks than others.  Relying, too, on what the FDA reports and what the drug-makers themselves state about their own medications may not be sufficient.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication errors,  pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

An U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report confirms that, two days ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "warned health care professionals about the risk of serious liver injury associated with the use of the anti-thyroid drug propylthiouracil for the treatment of Graves' disease."  Citing the FDA, HHS reports that: "After analyzing adverse event reports, the FDA has identified an increased risk of liver injury with propylthiouracil when compared to an alternative treatment for Graves' disease, methimazole," said Amy Egan, M.D., deputy director for safety, Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products, in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Health care professionals should carefully consider which drug to initiate in a patient recently diagnosed with Graves' disease. If propylthiouracil therapy is chosen, the patient should be closely monitored for symptoms and signs of liver injury, especially during the first six months after initiating therapy."

Graves' disease is an autoimmune disorder which causes the thyroid gland to be overactive. The thyroid gland releases hormones that regulate the rate of the body’s metabolism.  These hormones "are critical for body temperature control, energy, weight, mood, and blood calcium levels."

Medications can have serious side-effects, especially if warnings and precautions are not taken seriously. Doctors should fully inform patients of all risks associated with prescribed medications and patients should never hesitate to ask their doctors for more information if they are confused about the risks of certian medications.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication errors,  pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

We recently posted a blog informing our readers that a Bloomberg report announced that  researches have determined that certain antidepressants may increase the recurrence  of breast cancer among women who have already survived the disease.  The study reports that drugs including Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft "significantly decrease the effectiveness of a drug [tamoxifen] used to reduce the chances of breast cancer recurrence". 

A new Bloomberg report of yesterday confirms that "US regulators may warn patients taking tamoxifen, a breast cancer medicine...not to use certain types of antidepressants because they block the tumor-fighting drug's effectiveness." Karen Riley, a spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration, commented that the agency is considering "'adding new information to the tamoxifen label to advise women taking the cancer drug against using some antidepressants."

Ms. Riley's comments are welcomed, but action is what is needed.  The public must be warned of the harmful effects of mixing these drugs.  It could be a matter of life and death.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication errors,  pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

According to a recent Bloomberg report, researches have determined that certain antidepressants may increase the recurrence  of breast cancer among women who have already survived the disease.  The study reports that drugs including Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft "significantly decrease the effectiveness of a drug [tamoxifen] used to reduce the chances of breast cancer recurrence", states the article. 

Notably, the study revealed that tumors were more than twice as likely to return after two years in women taking the antidepressants cited above while on the anti-cancer drug tamoxifen, as compared with those taking tamoxifen alone. The research was conducted by Medco Health Solutions Inc., and was presented at a meeting of researchers at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando.

To read the entire article, please click here.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication errors,  pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

The Washington Post reports that Congress plans to question officials with the Department of Veteran Affairs concerning events that have potentially exposed more than 10,000 former VA patients to blood borne illnesses, including HIV.  The purpose of the U.S. House Committee on Veterans' Affairs' investigation is to determine whether the exposure came from improper medical procedures and, if so, what the VA has done to address the problems.  

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medical errors.  If you think you have been injured as a result of medical negligence, we encourage you to read an article regarding medical malpractices cases authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

According to a recent study summarized in the Journal of the American Medical Association, use of acid-suppressive medications is associated with increased risk for hospital-acquired pneumonia.  For this study, researchers examined electronic medical data for nearly 64,000 adults hospitalized at one medical center for at least three days over a four-year period.  About half of the patients were prescribed proton-pump inhibitors or histamine-2-receptor antagonists during their hospital stays.  Their conclusion was that "further scrutiny is warranted regarding inpatient prescribing practices" of acid-suppressive drugs.

Below is an abstract of the research, as it appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association:

"Authors: Shoshana J. Herzig, MD; Michael D. Howell, MD, MPH; Long H. Ngo, PhD; Edward R. Marcantonio, MD, SM

JAMA. 2009;301(20):2120-2128.

Context: The use of acid-suppressive medication has been steadily increasing, particularly in the inpatient setting, despite lack of an accepted indication in the majority of these patients.

Objective: To examine the association between acid-suppressive medication and hospital-acquired pneumonia.

Design, Setting, and Patients: Prospective pharmacoepidemiologic cohort study. All patients who were admitted to a large, urban, academic medical center in Boston, Massachusetts, from January 2004 through December 2007; at least 18 years of age; and hospitalized for 3 or more days were eligible for inclusion. Admissions with time spent in the intensive care unit were excluded. Acid-suppressive medication use was defined as any order for a proton-pump inhibitor or histamine2 receptor antagonist. Traditional and propensity-matched multivariable logistic regression were used to control for confounders.

Main Outcome Measure: Incidence of hospital-acquired pneumonia, defined via codes from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM), in patients exposed and unexposed to acid-suppressive medication.

Results: The final cohort comprised 63 878 admissions. Acid-suppressive medication was ordered in 52% of admissions and hospital-acquired pneumonia occurred in 2219 admissions (3.5%). The unadjusted incidence of hospital-acquired pneumonia was higher in the group exposed to acid-suppressive medication than in the unexposed group (4.9% vs 2.0%; odds ratio [OR], 2.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3-2.8). Using multivariable logistic regression, the adjusted OR of hospital-acquired pneumonia in the group exposed to acid-suppressive medication was 1.3 (95% CI, 1.1-1.4). The matched propensity-score analyses yielded identical results. The association was significant for proton-pump inhibitors (OR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.4) but not for histamine2 receptor antagonists (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 0.98-1.4).

Conclusions: In this large, hospital-based pharmacoepidemiologic cohort, acid-suppressive medication use was associated with 30% increased odds of hospital-acquired pneumonia. In subset analyses, statistically significant risk was demonstrated only for proton-pump inhibitor use.

Author Affiliations: Divisions of General Medicine and Primary Care (Drs Herzig, Ngo, and Marcantonio), Pulmonary and Critical Care (Dr Howell), and Gerontology (Dr Marcantonio), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts; and Harvard Medical School, Boston (Drs Herzig, Howell, Ngo, and Marcantonio)."

CNN published an interesting article on the hot topic of health insurance for college graduates.  A college graduate's health insurance often expires within six months of graduation and due to the harsh economy, many graduates are having difficulties finding a job.  CNN reports that "34 percent of college graduates will spend some time uninsured in the year after graduation."   Unfortunately, it appears that "two-thirds of young adults ages 19 to 29 who spent time without insurance coverage in the past year had gone without needed medical care because it cost too much."  

Here are some tips discussed in the article:

1. Know your rights;
2. Consider COBRA;
3. Be wary of short-term policies;
4. Shop around for a policy;
5. Consider graduate school.

 For additional information on this topic, please click here. 

Posted by Jacqueline Colclough, Esquire

As the official beginning of summer approaches with Memorial Day Weekend, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and other health organizations are undertaking efforts to education the public about skin cancer risks and prevention.

According to the American Cancer Society, over one million people across the United States are currently affected by skin cancer. This year alone, more than 68,700 new cases of melanoma, the most serious of skin cancers, are expected nationally. Precautions such as avoiding sun exposure during midday hours (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), using sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher, and avoiding tanning beds and sun lamps are all important measures in the prevention of skin cancer.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that an "investigation by Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington found 'a number of serious questions' about a study by a former surgeon at the hospital evaluating the use of a bone-growth protein in soldiers with leg fractures."  The product at the center of the study, Infuse, is a bone-growth drug that is widely used in hospitals and by physicians to treat broken bones. The report goes on to state that the former Walter Reed surgeon "forged his purported co-authors' signatures on the study and that the number of injured soldiers differs from the Army's records of its wartime casualties. Hospital officials said the study was based on 'falsified information.'"

WSJ was not the only periodical to challenge the study by Timothy R. Kuklo. The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported that  the surgeon "published a study that reported a bone growth drug sold by Medtronic Inc. had a higher success rate than Walter Reed doctors could verify."  Medtronic has confirmed that he "was a paid consultant, but that Medtronic did not review or finance the study."

If the study was indeed falsified, it woul dbe another example of putting profits over people.  Patients rely on drug and device manufacturers conducting ethical and reliable studies.  Pushing drugs and devices into teh marketplace and disseminating promotional materials that are false or misleading can cause serious and potentially deadly consequences.  

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication errors,  pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Elizabeth Cohen, of CNN, authored an interesting article on the difficult task of receiving insurance coverage for a pre-existing condition.  This problem often occurs when a child, who has a serious health condition, becomes too old to be covered by her parent's health plan.  Cohen writes: "According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 21 percent of people who apply for health insurance on their own get turned down, charged a higher price or offered a plan that excludes coverage for their pre-existing condition."  Cohen lists five tips to obtaining coverage for a pre-existing condition:

1. Become a group of one.
2. If you've been laid off, get COBRA.
3. When you lose your employer-related insurance, apply for new insurance within 63 days.
4. Find out whether your state has a high-risk pool.
5. See whether your professional organization offers group insurance.

For more help in finding insurance when you have a pre-existing condition, you can contact the Cover Me Foundation at 877-678-7631 or Coverage For All at 800-234-1317.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

Dow Jones Newswires  reports that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has urged Sanofi-Aventis SA, a drug manufacturer, "to stop distributing certain promotional material for its breast cancer drug, Taxotere [docetaxel], saying the material misleadingly claims the medicine is more effective than proven."  According to the report, the FDA has indicated that "binders with reprinted medical studies claim Sanofi's Taxotere is better than other medicines to treat patients with breast cancer after prior chemotherapy treatments failed," yet the "FDA is unaware of substantial evidence to support these claims."

We encourage our readers to be very careful when reading or listening to promotional materials disseminated by drug companies.  All too often these materials are misleading and are driven by the drug companies' desire to maximize its profits.   We believe that people should be above profits and that promotional materials must be accurate and properly informative.  If profits are put above people, public health will be compromised.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication errors,  pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

According to a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a new limited study questions whether aspirin is actually any better than a placebo in preventing cardiovascular events for patients with peripheral arterial disease.

"Despite being recommended in current guidelines, aspirin seems no better than placebo in preventing cardiovascular events in patients with peripheral arterial disease, according to a JAMA meta-analysis. However, editorialists (and the analysts themselves) question the study's power to detect a true difference.

The analysis included nearly 5300 patients in 18 controlled trials examining the effect of aspirin (some used aspirin plus dipyridamole) versus placebo on the occurrence of cardiovascular events. The primary composite endpoint (nonfatal MI, nonfatal stroke, and cardiovascular death) did not occur significantly less often among drug recipients than among controls. However, treatment was associated with a significant decrease in nonfatal stroke alone.
Both the authors and editorialists point to the lack of data underlying evidence-based guidelines, and they argue for the performance of larger, higher-quality trials."

Click here to read the fee abstract fo the JAMA article.

Elizabeth Landau, of CNN, has published a fascinating article concerning new methods of preventing and treating blindness.  Ms. Landau discusses numerous topics, including, stem cell research as well as technological advancements used to assist persons suffering from blindness.

The article states that "a new study in the Journal of Archives of Ophthalmology shows that a single serving of fish per week is associated with a reduced risk of incident early age-related macular degeneration, a disease that is the leading cause of severe vision loss in people older than 60."  

The article then highlights the interesting advancements in technology which have served to assist persons suffering from blindness.  For instance, blind persons are now able to use speech access software to browse the Internet.   Moreover, some movie theaters are now providing special earpieces that have voice commentary describing what's on screen. In addition, visually impaired individuals can choose to use a device that takes a picture of text, such as a menu, and reads it back.

For more information, please review the entire article. 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently filed a lawsuit stating that patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer are unconstitutional and invalid.  The patents are owned by Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah Research Foundation.  The ACLU is arguing that patenting the genes limits valuable research on this important health issue. 

More than 192,000 U.S. women receive breast cancer diagnoses every year, and about 5 to 10 percent of those cases are a hereditary form of the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute. Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 -- short for breast cancer 1 and breast cancer 2 -- are involved in many cases of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, the institute said.  BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the genes patented by Myriad and others. 

The ACLU states that "Myriad's monopoly on the BRCA genes makes it impossible for women to access other tests or get a second opinion about their results, and allows Myriad to charge a high rate for their tests – over $3,000, which is too expensive for some women to afford."

For more information on this topic, please review the following articles published by CNN and the ACLU. 

During the Heart Rhythm Society's Annual Meeting, the first comprehensive guidance on implantable cadioverter defibrillators (ICD) lead performance has been released.  The emphasis of the guidance "promotes confidence, trust and transparency in the surveillance, analysis and reporting of lead performance information."

The press release issued by the Heart Rhythm Society includes the following recommendations for clinicians on various issues:

• Informed consent
• Monitoring of device performance
• Clinical presentation of abnormal lead performance
• Clinical management when abnormal lead performance is suspected
• Special considerations for pediatric patients
• Clinician responsibilities for reporting suspected or definite lead related problems

Reuters News details highlights of the meeting in the following report:

"A cardiologists group called for closer monitoring of the performance of wire leads that connect implanted defibrillators and pacemakers to the heart in the wake of malfunctions that led to patient deaths and product recalls in 2007.

The Heart Rhythm Society, which represents doctors who treat cardiac arrhythmias, issued recommendations on Wednesday at its annual meeting in Boston. Among other things, it called for greater visibility of data collected on product performance.

"The measurement and reporting of lead performance are important for clinical decision making, for setting realistic expectations for patients and physicians, for transparency, and for monitoring and improving performance," said Dr. William Maisel, cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and co-chair of the group's task force on lead performance.

The guidelines cover pre-market evaluation and post-market monitoring of the devices, the threshold for action and communication after abnormal lead performance is identified, and clinical recommendations for physicians.

Recommendations include use of remote monitoring and a patient registry as surveillance tools.

The group encouraged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to provide guidance on when and how manufacturers can legally use terms other than "recall" in their product advisory notifications.

"When lead malfunctions are communicated to physicians, patients and the public, the language should be crafted to avoid unnecessary anxiety or inappropriate interventions," said task force co-chair Dr. Robert Hauser, of the Minneapolis Heart Institute. "For example, the term 'recall' should not be used because it falsely implies that the lead should be removed and returned to the manufacturer."

Medtronic halted sales of its Sprint Fidelis lead in 2007 after five patients died, possibly because their leads had fractured. The company is the largest maker of implantable cardioverter defibrillators, or ICDs, that treat abnormally rapid heartbeats.

Besides the guidelines on performance of the devices, the group also set standards to guide physicians who extract leads from patients when the devices wear down.

Among the recommendations are thresholds for the number of lead removal procedures that doctors should perform in training and on an annual basis.

"There were perceptions that things have changed about lead performance," said Dr. Bruce Wilkoff of the Cleveland Clinic.

"Lead performance, if anything, has improved over the years," he said.

But as the volume of procedures has risen into the millions, Wilkoff said, the risk of failure has increased."

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with manufacturers OSI and Genentech, notified healthcare professionals of new safety information that has been added to the " WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS" sections of the prescribing information for Tarceva.  The FDA reports that "[g]astrointestinal perforation (including fatalities), bullous, blistering and exfoliative skin conditions including cases suggestive of Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis, in some cases fatal, and ocular disorders, including corneal perforation or ulceration have been reported during use of Tarceva." (emphasis added).  Tarceva has been used to treat patients with certain kinds of lung cancer after at least one prior chemotherapy regimen proved to be unsuccessful.  It has also been prescribed to treat patients with pancreatic cancer.

To read the entire FDA report, please click here.

Medications can have serious side-effects, especially if warnings and precautions are not taken seriously. Doctors should fully inform patients of all risks associated with prescribed medications and patients should never hesitate to ask their doctors for more information if they are confused about the risks of certian medications.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication errors,  pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in America. It doesn't have to be that way, though.  Recognizing the early signs of stroke and receiving appropriate treatment in a timely manner is essential.

We encourage our readers to learn and share with family and friends the following main symptoms of stroke as defined by the American Stroke Association:

• "Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause"

We also encourage you to be aware of the hospitals in your area that have advanced stroke treatment staff and equipment.  These facilities should have a multi-disciplinary team of physicians, including neurosurgeons and endovascular therapists, ready to promptly treat stroke victims.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medical errors, including the failure to properly treat stroke.  If you need a patient advocate, we recommend that you read an article about medical malpractice claims authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Cholesterol can be a confusing topic to many people.  Cholesterol is a type of fat called a lipid.  The body uses it for many things, such as making new cells. Your liver makes the cholesterol that your body needs. You also get cholesterol from the foods you eat. Your body needs some cholesterol. But if you have too much, it starts to build up in your arteries and can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

A recent article on Health.com sheds light on five popular myths, which are:

1. Americans have the highest cholesterol in the world
2. Eggs are evil
3. Kids can't have high cholesterol
4. Food is heart-healthy if it says "0 mg cholesterol"
   
5. Cholesterol is always a bad thing

For more information on this important issue, please click here. 

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports that Biosite and the FDA have notified medical professionals of a Class 1 recall of the Biosite-brand Triage Cardiac Panel.  This particular panel is a test used by healthcare specialists to diagnose a heart attack (myocardial infarction).  However, according to the FDA, the "use of the affected lot may lead to false negative results with patient samples containing troponin I at very low levels, with CK-MB, and with myoglobin, possibly resulting in missed or incorrect diagnosis. A false negative test result would indicate that a person has not had a heart attack or heart muscle injury when in fact they have."

All Biosite customers must stop using all Biosite-brand Triage Cardiac Panels immediately.  Reliance upon these defective tests can lead to mistreatment of people with otherwise treatable heart conditions.

To read the entire recall, please click here.

Our firm has experience pursing cases for patients that involve tragic medication errors,  pharmacy mix ups and unsafe medications.  If you think you have been injured by a defective product, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

Former patients at several Veterans Administration Hospitals have been tested positive for HIV or hepatitis following exposure to dirty medical equipment.  According to a recent report at Chron.com, "[f]ive patients have tested positive for HIV and 33 have tested positive for hepatitis since February, when the VA started notifying more than 11,000 people treated at three VA medical centers to get follow-up blood checks because they could have been exposed to infectious body fluids." The specific VA hospitals involved are located in Miami, Fla., Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga.

The VA determined last December that its equipment used for colonoscopies and ear, nose and throat procedures "was either not properly cleaned or set up", states the report.  Despite the medical errors, Dr. Jim Bagian, the VA's chief patient safety officer, boldly proclaimed that patients will never be able to prove that they were infected by the tainted equipment, the report comments. Congress is not satisfied with this statement and wants more information.

Senior partner Salvatore Zambri has handled many cases involving patients becoming infected with HIV as a result of medical errors.  There are clear standards that apply to hospitals governing the sterilization of medical devices and products.  If these procedures are not followed, the consequences can be severe.

If you think you have been injured by a defective or unclean device, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

The Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing tomorrow regarding The Medical Device Safety Act of 2009.   This is an important piece of legislation that should become law.  We encourage our readers to contact their representatives in Congress and urge them to vote in favor of the bill.

The Medical Device Safety Act of 2009 is important for two principal reasons.  First, it will allow every American patient to hold manufacturers of defective medical devices accountable for injuries and deaths caused by unsafe products.  It will also prevent the manufacturers of defective devices from receiving total immunity from any claims simply because the devices were previously approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

On March 19, 2009, the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine endorsed the Medical Device Safety Act. They stated:

"Patients and physicians deserve to be fully informed about the benefits and risks of medical devices, and the companies making the devices should be held accountable if they fail to achieve this standard. We urge Congress to swiftly pass this legislation and to allow lawsuits by injured patients, which have been an important part of the regulatory framework and very effective in keeping medical devices safe, to proceed in the courts."

The New York Times has also endorsed the bill.

Medical devices can be extremely dangerous, and the FDA often does a poor job screening defective products from the public.  If your doctor wants to insert a medical device into your body, ask questions to be sure your physician has sufficiently investigated the device's safety and effectiveness.

If you think you have been injured by a defective device, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

An editorial from yesterday's New York Times challenges the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) , suggesting that the agency has been too lenient in approving medical devices.  The article notes that a “vaginal sling,” used to control urinary leaks, that was previously sold by the Mentor Corporation,  a company that was acquired by Johnson & Johnson, has caused serious medical problems for many women throughout the country. In one instance, a woman's "surgeon inserted a strip of synthetic mesh — Mentor’s ObTape vaginal sling — under her urethra. It stopped the leakage but soon caused pain and bleeding as pieces of the sling worked their way through her vaginal wall. The woman has had five operations to remove bits of the sling, and another is scheduled."

Last year, the FDA received more than 1,000 reports directly from manufacturers about complications with "vaginal-sling"-like devices, according to the report.  About one-fourth of the complaints concerned "ObTape" specifically.  "The injuries may stem from the fact that far too many medical devices are cleared for sale without undergoing rigorous clinical trials for safety and efficacy."

To read the entire article, please click here.

Medical devices can be extremely dangerous, and the FDA often does a poor job screenign defective products from the public.  If your doctor wants to insert a medical device into your body, ask questions to be sure your physician has sufficiently investigated the device's safety and effectiveness.

If you think you have been injured by a defective device, we encourage you to read a portion of a book regarding products liability authored by senior partner Salvatore Zambri.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

In a recent health blog appearing in the New York Times, seven common sense suggestions are provided.  "Every year, there are 36,000 deaths due to flu, mostly among the elderly, very young children and those with compromised immune systems. In the United States, the new swine flu, officially called A(H1N1), does not appear to be more dangerous than the seasonal flu, but experts are uncertain as to its future course."

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found that more than 70 weight-loss products contain prescription drugs, including four illegal drugs that have not approved by the FDA for sale in the United States, according to Public Citizen, citing its Worst Pills, Best Pills News article released last week on WorstPills.org, the organization’s drug safety website.

The FDA has announced what is obvious--that adding active prescription drug ingredients to otherwise ineffective weight-loss supplements is not only illegal, but can be extremely dangerous.  "For instance, sibutramine (brand name Meridia, an appetite suppressant available by prescription only and a controlled substance) and fluoxetine (brand names Prozac and Serafem, an antidepressant available by prescription only) were among the drugs found in the supplements", states Public Citizen. 

Although the FDA is seeking a voluntary recall of the illegal products, some say the FDA is not acting strong enough.  "The FDA’s response has been inadequate,” said Sidney M. Wolfe, M.D., director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group and acting Public Citizen president. “Some of the drugs found in these supplements are dangerous and are putting people at an unacceptable risk of injury. To protect citizens, the agency needs to go further and seize these products.”

To read the entire article, please click here.

We encourage our readers to be very careful about what medications they ingest.  All medications should be supervised by a physician.  Don't become a victim of others' greed.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have warned the public to be wary of entities selling products through the internet "that claim to diagnose, prevent, mitigate, treat or cure the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus"--the swine flu.  According to the FDA, many of the products are fraudulently advertised, and officials are going after the perpetrators, who face serious consequences if found guilty of fraud.

“The last thing any consumer needs right now is to be conned by someone selling fraudulent flu remedies,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz.  “The FTC will act swiftly against companies that resort to deceptive advertising.”

To read the FDA press release, please click here.

We encourage our readers to be very careful about what medications they ingest.  All medications should be supervised by a physician.  Don't become a victim of others' greed.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

Approximately 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). According to Medical News Today, three studies compared all of the DNA of people with ASD with that of people who do not, and small genetic differences were discovered that impact the manner in which brain cells connect to make the circuitry of a child's brain. The largest of the three studies evaluated the DNA of over 10,000 people, states the report.

These finding suggest that "genetic differences in how cells in the brain link together could influence susceptibility to ASD on a large scale," states the report.  Scientists are now "starting to see genetic pathways in ASD that make sense."

According to the report, scientists plan to do a more extensive genome-wide association study to discover more pieces of the complex ASD genetics puzzle.

To read the entire article, please click here.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

For nearly thirty years, in-vitro fertilization (IVF) has been consider relatively safe.  A recent report in the New York Times, however, reports that new epidemiological studies and scientific techniques have revealed findings that suggest that "there may be some abnormal patterns of gene expression associated with IVF and a possible increase in rare but devastating genetic disorders that appear to be directly linked to those unusual gene expression patterns."  The report also states that, with IVF, there "appears to be an increased risk of premature birth and of babies with low birth weight for their gestational age."

To read the entire article, please click here.

If you are considering an IVF procedure, we encourage you to speak with your doctors about all potential risks and benefits, so that you can make fully informed decisions.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

The economy is forcing twenty percent (20%) of Americans to delay or avoid needed medical care, according to a recent Thomson Reuters survey. The survey also reports that more than 20% of Americans believe they will have difficulty paying for health insurance or health services over the next three months.

"We are seeing a positive correlation between Americans losing their access to employer-sponsored health insurance and deferral of healthcare," said Gary Pickens, of Reuters' health-care division, who led the study.  "if this trend continues, it will ultimately have an impact on our collective well-being."

If you are having difficulty affording health coverage, we urge you to contact local and state agencies to see if you qualify for Medicaid or other benefits.  Certain private companies, like Walgreens, provide programs for the unemployed and uninsured, as well.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

According to MercuryNews.com, technologists monitoring the threat have determined that hundreds of medical devices used at hospitals throughout the country are infected by the computer worm known as "Conficker".  The infected devices include MRI machines and hundreds, if not thousands, of other medical devices.  Manufacturer of the devices told investigators that "none of the machines were supposed to be connected to the Internet — and yet they were. And because the machines were running an unpatched version of Microsoft's operating system used in embedded devices they were vulnerable," states the report.

The report explains that "Conficker spreads by copying itself onto machines running Microsoft's Windows operating system that lack the security patch from October. Conficker installs itself and periodically reaches out for directions from its maker that cause it to rewrite its code, increasing its capabilities for malicious action and decreasing its chance of detection."  Apparently, patients have not yet been harmed, but it is clear that these infected devices place patients at risk.

To read the entire article, please click here.

Many Americans are injured or killed each year due to defective products.  For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030. 

According to a recent investigation by the Associated Press, "U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water - contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked."

Posted by Jacqueline Colclough

On April 27, 2009, the American Urological Association (AUA) issued new guidelines on prostate cancer screening for men. Contrary to recent advice of other groups, AHA recommends that well informed men aged 40 and over who have a life expectancy of at least 10 years should be offered the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test in order to establish a baseline reading and that PSA testing should be individualized rather than a blanket annual test for any man aged 50 and over. These guidelines have been issued amid growing recent controversy regarding when men should start regular PSA screening, how often, and at what point a biopsy is indicated.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

The Washington Post reported moments ago that Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley has stated that there are now six "probable" cases of the swine flu in the state.  According to the report, of the six cases, three live in Anne Arundel and three reside in Baltimore County.  Each case is linked to individuals who have traveled out of the country to areas where swine flu has been present, including Mexico and the Caribbean, states the report.

"Maryland officials said they expect there will be additional cases in the state,"  according to the report.  "O'Malley (D) said the state will maintain close contact with local health departments and is working to build a stockpile of anti-viral medication."  So far, there are no reported cases of swine flu in either the District of Columbia or Virginia.

To read the entire article, please click here.

Previously on the DC Medical Malpractice Law Blog, we have posted the following articles:

• Swine Flu Raising More Questions Than Answers While the U.S. Sees Its First Fatality;
• World Health Organization Raises Swine Flu Pandemic Alert to Phase 4
• CDC Provides Swine Flu Questions and Answers.

If you have been in contact with anyone who has traveled to parts of the world where swine flu has been detected, we encourage you to seek a medical evaluation.  Obviously, if you suffer any symptoms associated with swine flu, please seek medical attention immediately.

For information, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

The New York Times reported recently that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will conduct a rare meeting to discuss its device division, which is responsible for, among other things, evaluating, monitoring, and regulating medical devices.  According to the report, Dr. Donna-Bea Tillman, the agency's director of device evaluation, called an "all-hands" meeting.  This comes in response to a letter from nine scientists who have written President Obama, charging that some in the agency have acted illegally, exposing the public to harmful, even deadly, products.  

In the letter to President Obama, the scientists claimed that the device center inappropriately approved imaging studies designed to detect breast cancer and also allowed hospitals to wash and reuse device that were designed as single-use products, among other things.  Congress instituted an investigation into the charges. In January, the Government Accountability Office released a report that criticized the device center.

To read the entire Times article, please click here.

We hope that the FDA will seriously evaluate its deficiencies and make the changes that are necessary to protect the public from dangerous devices.

For information about defective devices and your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by Victor E. Long, Esq.

More than 10,000 veterans who were exposed to the endoscopic equipment--which wasn't sterilized properly--are all being tested. The problem would be unpleasant, enough no matter how the three got infected, but what arguably makes it worse is that each were infected at different hospitals, one at a VA facility in Murfreesboro, TN, one at a facility in Augusta, GA, and a third in Miami. Not only that, there have been six positive hepatitis B tests and 19 positive hepatitis C results at the three facilities.

An orthopaedist  who worked in two different hospitals during 25 years in practice before retiring was confronted with three different spikes in acute infections of Total Joint Reconstruction over a 25 year career. In all three episodes, the hospital's response always was that it was a surgeon problem related to my technique (you must be doing something different that is causing your patients' infections, as the hospital has not changed any of its techniques or personnel).

Based on his experience, there are common problems that need to be addressed.

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, Esquire and Catherine Bertram, Esquire

Each year in America there are approximately 16,000 new diagnoses of esphogeal cancer, reports an article in Medical New Today.  Unfortunately, according to the report, only 10% of those diagnosed survive the disease.  The principal reason for this alarming statistic is the lack of early detection.

It is widely recognized that smokers are predisposed to esophageal cancer.  However, as the article points out, there are several other contributing factors, including:

• Excessive alcohol consumption;
• Obesity;
• Lye ingestion; and,
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), also known as acid reflux or heartburn.

To read the entire article, please click here.

We encourage our readers to speak with their doctors about their health risks.  Physicians should know to check for illnesses when their patients manifest certain health risks. 

For information about your legal rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Posted by:  Salvatore J. Zambri and Catherine Bertram

Not even the inventors of Botox could have anticipated how widely used the drug has become.  Once thought to be the answer to wrinkles, Botox is now being administered to treat all kinds of  ailments, including,  migraines, speech impediments, skin disorders, muscle and gland problems, and much more, according to a recent publication in the New York Times. 

The Times report quotes Dr. Mitchell F. Brin, a neurologist who is the chief scientific officer for Botox at Allergan, the drug’s maker, who stated, “We see it as a molecule that keeps on giving.  As we understand it more, it gives us new ideas of how to use it." But not everyone agrees.  “It’s trial and error with a nerve poison,” says Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, the director of the health research group at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group. 

To read the entire Times article, please click here.

Botox is a nerve poison produced by the bacteria that cause botulism, a disease that paralyzes muscles and can be fatal. Before taking any medication, please be sure you are evaluated by your physician.  The wrongful administration of medication can cause serious permanent injury or death. 

For information about defective medications and your rights, please click here or contact us at Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Common ultrasound imaging may be able to reveal which patients face a particularly high risk for heart attack or other heart-related illnesses, according to research recently published in the journal Radiology -- official journal of the Radiological Society of North America.

Rotavirus cases in the current 2007-2008 season showed up much later than usual and have been less severe, overall, than during any previous season on record, according to an interim report issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A six-fold increase in the number of liver cancer patients receiving transplants has been linked to a method of donor organ allocation which was initiated in early 2002.  The research finding was recently published in Gastroenterology, official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.

Whole milk is as effective as diluted barium when used as an oral contrast agent for patients undergoing a gastrointestinal CT scan.  It's cheaper and safer for patients, according to a new study published in a recent edition of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) -- a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recently launched an educational campaign to encourage patients (particularly those 50 years of age or older) to speak openly with their primary care providers about complementary and alternative medicines.  The campaign, known as Time to Talk, focuses on medical practices and products that aren't presently considered to be conventional medicine -- items such as herbal supplements, meditation and acupuncture.

The Houston Chronicle reports that more than 700,000 Americans suffer strokes each year and more than one-third will develop depression in the next two years.  Previous research indicates that stroke patients with depression recover more slowly and are more likely to die.  However, new research suggests that doctors may want to give stroke victims antidepressants right away instead of waiting until they develop depression. 

Patients who suffer a heart attack often subsequently develop acute kidney injury, a complication significantly increases a patient's risk of death.  The finding is the result of new research published in a recent edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

According to statistics reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost one in three Americans will develop shingles (herpes zoster) during their lifetime.  The disease is particularly dangerous to people over age 60 and those who are immunocompromised.  Fortunately, there is a way to reduce the risk of developing shingles and the long-term pain that often follows an outbreak of the disease.

The 2008 edition of the schedule of recommended immunizations for people 18 years of age and younger has been posted by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) -- a division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  The advisory committee releases new recommendations annually to reflect changes in vaccine formulations and current recommendations for the use of licensed vaccines. 

This summer, don't wait until the last few busy weeks before fall school registration begins to make your child's vaccination appointment -- schedule an appointment now, and enjoy a safer summer. 

Changes from the 2007 immunization schedule are as follows:

Elevated levels of allergens in the home are associated with asthma symptoms in allergic individuals, and asthmatics who experience allergies may improve their health by reducing allergen exposures.  The findings are the result of new research published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and reported in a recent press release by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

A newly updated annual ranking of state medical boards by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen has revealed widespread discrepancies in both the numbers of disciplinary actions taken against physicians' licenses, and the rates of those disciplinary actions from state to state.  Though the specific numbers have changed again this year, a pronounced trend of significant discrepancies between individual states has held constant for years.  Unless geography influences a physician's competence, these state-by-state discrepancies point to a dangerously inadequate national system of physician oversight -- one that could conceivably allow dangerous, incompetent physicians to continue to practice medicine by moving from state to state.

Despite the rising costs of fuel this year, millions of Americans will be hitting the nation's roads and airports for a summer vacation -- and for those who suffer from seasonal allergies, summer traveling can pose some unique challenges.  The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), reminds travelers that the climate of your destination, rather than your home, determines the pollens and molds to which you'll be exposed on vacation, and that all seasonal allergy sufferers should take time to plan their clothing and needed medications appropriately. 

The academy offers the following additional allergy management tips for summer vacationers:

New hemoglobin-based artificial blood -- still unapproved for use in the U.S., but heavily studied -- appears to raise a patient's risk of heart attack and death according to an exhaustive review of clinical research data.  This latest research was published in a recent edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).  The findings have spurred critics to allege that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put clinical trial participants in imminent danger by failing to detect or act on research data illustrating significant increases in the rates of heart attack and death reported in trials of these blood substitutes.

Laser eye surgeries such as LASIK (Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) are quickly becoming some of the most common and technologically sophisticated procedures available for correcting relatively minor vision problems.  Generally performed on an out-patient basis with the aid of only anesthetic eye drops, LASIK procedures are usually quick and easy, and the results are often remarkable.  Unfortunately, however, the results can be underwhelming, too -- and occasionally even catastrophic. 

To help clear up some misconceptions and misinformation regarding LASIK procedures, and to help consumers better understand the risks of laser eye surgeries, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established a web page devoted specifically to patient education.  According to the agency, there are a few categories of people who should think twice before they attempt to resolve their vision problems with LASIK surgery.

Melanoma is one of the deadliest skin cancers, but new research demonstrates that melanomas located on the scalp or neck are even twice as deadly as those found on other parts of the body.  The finding is the result of a study published in a recent edition of the medical journal Archives of Dermatology. 

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) -- the sexually-transmitted virus responsible for cervical cancer in thousands of women -- has now been implicated in a rapidly increasing rate of mouth and throat cancers among young men.  Researchers are hoping that a recently-approved HPV vaccine will soon be approved for boys, and tested for its effectiveness in preventing head and neck cancers.  A news article in a recent edition of the Baltimore Sun features Dr. Maura Gillison, an oncologist at Johns Hopkins University's Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, whose research has been credited with linking the virus and tumors.

A Mumps comeback in the U.S. in 2006 was alarming in its severity, and the disease may now take several years to completely eradicate, according to federal public health experts.  Interestingly, the viral outbreak occurred despite the routine administration of a second dose of a mumps vaccine throughout the early 1990s.  These findings were reported in a recent edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).  Among other data presented in the article is the fact that 84% of people between 18 and 24 years of age who contracted Mumps during the outbreak had already been given the second recommended dose of MMR vaccine -- a dose that should have protected them from Mumps.

Physicians treating chest pain in patients who are young, or in those who have no obvious risk factors for heart disease, should ask those patients about their potential cocaine use.  The advice is a key recommendation by the American Heart Association (AHA), recently published in the medical journal Circulation. 

If you see someone suffer a heart attack and go unconscious, immediately dial 9-1-1 and begin pushing on his or her chest as hard and as often as you can -- don't stop until someone else can take over, or until paramedics arrive.  Those are the latest instructions from the American Heart Association (AHA), which is now confident that hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can be done in an emergency, even by people who have no CPR training.  Throat sweeping and mouth-to-mouth emergency breathing are still recommended, but not for bystanders -- those components are only encouraged for trained medical personnel.  The organization's new position appears in the March 29 issue of the medical journal Circulation.

Emergency Room patients treated for severe asthma often continue to have poorly controlled symptoms as much as one month afterward, according to new research published in a recent issue of  Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

West Nile virus infections can lead to significant long-term health problems, including mental and functional impairment and depression, according to data from an ongoing National Institutes of Health study recently presented at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, Georgia.  The research data collected thus far, as reported by Reuters Health, suggests that the most common long-term symptoms include fatigue, weakness, depression, personality changes, difficulty walking, memory loss and blurry vision.

An American woman's risk of developing particular skin cancers is influenced by where she lives, according to a new study published in a recent edition of Archives of Internal Medicine.

National survey findings released this month demonstrate that although most adults are aware of serious eye diseases commonly associated with visual impairment, they lack critical knowledge concerning how and when to seek timely detection and treatment of those diseases.  The Survey of Public Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Related to Eye Health and Disease, was jointly sponsored by the National Eye Institute (NEI), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF).  Conducted in 2005, the survey data was made available just this month. 

A diet rich in fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains is an excellent defense against many chronic diseases -- even some cancers -- but routinely including them in your diet can seem challenging.  University of Michigan dietary experts advise this approach:  Include them for just one day.  One day of healthy lifestyle choices, they reason, can give you the perspective and direction needed to stay the course.  Erica Wald, registered dietitian for the University of Michigan's health promotion division, provides the following suggestions for eating healthier and removing many processed foods from your diet:

As a hospital patient, you're significantly less likely to survive a heart attack on night and weekend shifts, according to a new study published in a recent edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). 

The earlier evenings and colder weather of winter are hardly as uplifting as a crisp, spring morning.  For people with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), however, the winter season can be dangerously depressing.  According to experts at the Mayo Clinic, SAD may be rooted in three components of patients' chemical makeup:

Abdominal obesity indices are a better predictor of heart disease than body mass index, according to a new study published in Circulation, the official journal of the American Heart Association.  According to the authors of the study, reliance on a waist-hip ratio, rather than a waist measurement alone, generates more accurate predictions of heart disease risk in both men and women.

The American College of Physicians (ACP) has issued clinical recommendations for the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The recommendations are published in the November 6, 2007 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine and include the use of spirometry to diagnose airflow obstruction as well as oxygen therapy in patients with resting hypoxemia. 

A new study of doctor-patient conversations regarding domestic violence reveals that cases of abuse are likely under-identified in U.S. Emergency Rooms, and that properly trained physicians can successfully convince the victims of domestic abuse to reveal the truth of their injuries, even in a hectic clinical environment.  The study, which helps to highlight the link between physical and social ills, was underwritten by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and published in the latest edition of Annals of Internal Medicine. 

Bayer Schering Pharma, the manufacturer of popular heart surgery drug Trasylol, will suspend all marketing of the drug until a review can be conducted of recent Canadian research which has implicated the drug in a higher risk of death for cardiac patients. 

There is an abundance of medical information on the Internet, but unfortunately, not all of it is accurate.  Previously on the DC Metro Area Medical Malpractice Law Blog, we've highlighted trustworthy sources of medical information on the web.  Distributors of drugs and dietary supplements sometimes use deliberately misleading marketing ploys to sell their products, though, and in those cases, knowing how to evaluate a website, itself, is a good way to safeguard against fraud.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), recently issued a 10-item advisory for hospitals and healthcare facilities designed to improve patient safety and reduce medical errors.  Though AHRQ primarily supports research designed to assist health administrators and medical personnel, this knowledge of best practices in patient safety can also benefit the public by enabling patients and their families to advocate for safer medical care.  Following are the 10 recommendations, re-posted in their entirety:

According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it appears that more people in the United State now die from Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) than from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). MRSA, which is typically hospital acquired, or nosocomial, was responsible for an estimated 94,000 life-threatening infections and 18,650 deaths in 2005, while, in that same year, approximately 16,000 deaths were attributable to AIDS. The report is set forth in the October 17, 2007 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Cholesterol-lowering drugs have long been employed to reduce the risk of heart disease, but they may also pose a risk of cancer, according to a new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.  According to research based on an evaluation of more than 41,000 cases, low levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol have been associated with an increased incidence of cancer, as well as liver and muscle toxicity.  The findings give rise to new concerns regarding the relative necessity and benefits of pharmaceutical cholesterol treatment.  Researchers note that the study is not definitive, and further research is warranted.  Specifically, it is not clearly understood whether the perceived cancer risk is related primarily to low LDL cholesterol levels, or to the statins prescribed in order to lower the LDL levels. 

You should always consult your physician before beginning or discontinuing any medical treatment. 

Previously on the D.C. Metro Area Medical Malpractice Law Blog, we posted an article concerning public health interventions that have lowered heart disease rates.

For information about your legal rights, please click here or call the law firm of Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.

Red yeast rice and red yeast rice supplements are often marketed as cholesterol-lowering alternatives to medication.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced, however, that some red yeast rice products may lower peoples' cholesterol because manufacturers have been illegally lacing them with lovastatin -- the active ingredient in Mevacor, a prescription cholesterol drug.  The FDA has issued warnings related to the following specific red yeast rice products:

• Red Yeast Rice and Red Yeast Rice/Policosonal Complex, sold by Swanson Healthcare Products, Inc. and manufactured by Nature’s Value Inc. and Kabco Inc., respectively

• Cholestrix, sold by Sunburst Biorganics.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs have long been employed to reduce the risk of heart disease, but they may also increase your risk of cancer, according to a new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.  According to research based on an evaluation of more than 41,000 cases, low levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol are associated with an increased incidence of cancer, as well as liver and muscle toxicity.

• "Tobacco Use:  Tobacco use increases the risk of heart disease and heart attack. Cigarette smoking promotes atherosclerosis and increases the levels of blood clotting factors, such as fibrinogen. Also, nicotine raises blood pressure, and carbon monoxide reduces the amount of oxygen that blood can carry. Exposure to other people's smoke can increase the risk of heart disease even for nonsmokers.

• Diet:  Several aspects of peoples' dietary patterns have been linked to heart disease and related conditions. These include diets high in saturated fats and cholesterol, which raise blood cholesterol levels and promote atherosclerosis. High salt or sodium in the diet causes raised blood pressure levels.

• Physical Inactivity:  Physical inactivity is related to the development of heart disease. It also can impact other risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, a low level of HDL (good) cholesterol, and diabetes. Regular physical activity can improve risk factor levels.

• Obesity:  Obesity is excess body fat. It is linked to higher LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglyceride levels and to lower HDL (good) cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

• Alcohol:  Excessive alcohol use leads to an increase in blood pressure, and increases the risk for heart disease. It also increases blood levels of triglycerides which contributes to atherosclerosis."

June is National Men's Health Awareness Month, and a good time to increase your awareness of some preventable health problems that men tend to face.  The most recent data made available by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) indicates that 80% of all male deaths in the U.S. can be attributed to one of only ten causes.  By avoiding the risks associated with these top ten, men can significantly improve their health and potentially extend their lives. 

Following are the current leading causes of death for men, regardless of race, along with some corresponding advice from experts at the Mayo Clinic about how to lessen the risk of each:

1.  Heart Disease:

• "Don't smoke or use other tobacco products.
• Eat a varied diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and avoid high-fat foods.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Get at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week.
• Have your cholesterol tested.
• If you have diabetes, keep your blood sugar under control.
• Get regular blood pressure checks.
• Take a daily dose of aspirin, if your doctor OKs it."

2.  Cancer:

• "Don't smoke or use other tobacco products.
• Eat a varied diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and avoid high-fat foods.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Get at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week.
• Limit your exposure to sun and use sunscreen.
• Drink alcohol only in moderation, if at all.
• Be aware of potential cancer-causing substances (carcinogens) in your home and workplace, and take steps to reduce your exposure to these substances.
• Have regular preventive health screenings.
• Know your family medical history and review it with your doctor."

3.  Unintentional Injuries:

• "Use your seat belt every time you drive.
• Don't exceed speed limits.
• Don't drive after drinking alcohol.
• Don't drive while sleepy or under the influence of drugs.
• Place carbon monoxide and smoke detectors near bedrooms in your house.
• Have fuel-burning appliances inspected each year.
• Store household products in their original containers.
• Read and follow label instructions for household products.
• Turn on a light when giving or taking medicine and follow label instructions.
• Ventilate areas in which you use chemical products.
• Post the poison control number, 800-222-1222, by each telephone in your home."

Call 202-741-3106 to schedule your free prostate testing and digital rectal exam offered by the GW Cancer Institute, GW Medical Faculty Associates, GW Hospital and the GW Medical Center.

Who:
• Men 45 and older
• African American Men 40 and older
• Not to be used for a second opinion

When:
• To schedule your free screening, please call 202-741-3106

Where:
• Ambulatory Care Center, 22nd and I Streets, NW, Washington, DC
  Second Floor
• Testing located one block from the Foggy Bottom Metro (Blue and Orange Line)
• Parking

What:
With the use of the Qualigen FastPack* blood-testing analyzer, men who participate in this GW program will get the results of their blood work and their exam as they leave the appointment. This is the first blood testing analyzer custom-designed to perform complex quantitative immunoassay tests. No need to take time off work, come during your lunch break to be tested—call 202-741-3106 to schedule an appointment today.

Consumers worry about the reliability of the medical information available online.  According to a recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 86 percent of Internet searchers sometimes doubt the reliability of what they find.  Frequently, online medical information is incorrect, based on outdated reports, or just the product of a charlatan.  The March & April, 2007 edition of AARP Magazine recommends some guidelines for consumers for up-to-date and accurate medical answers:

• Stick with credible medical search sites (list and links are provided at end of this article).
• Get an information prescription  for a credible medical site from your doctor.
• Consider the source:  .gov represents government, .edu means academic institution, .org means a non-profit organization.
• Check for timeliness of the article and check multiple sources.
• Seek seals of approval.  Health on the Net (www.hon.ch) and URAC (www.urac.org) are both credible groups that approve websites based on standards for privacy, security and responsibility.
• Follow the money - always check to see who is advertising or sponsoring a site.
• Guard your privacy.  Read a website's privacy policy before joining.  If there is no prominently displayed policy, don't register with a  medical website.

A recent study published in The Lancet, one of the world's foremost medical journals, reveals that the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest outside a hospital setting are twice as high if bystanders perform chest-compression-only resuscitation (CCR) instead of traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with mouth-to-mouth breathing.  The study analyzed the outcomes of resuscitation attempts performed by laypeople present at the scene after witnessing a collapse due to cardiac arrest.

"The report confirms that what we have learned in animal experiments applies to humans as well," says Gordon A. Ewy, MD, director of the Sarver Heart Center at The University of Arizona in Tucson where chest-compression-only resuscitation was developed. "Bystander-initiated continuous chest compressions without mouth-to-mouth breathing are the preferable approach for witnessed unexpected collapse, which is usually due to cardiac arrest."

Please see the Sarver Heart Center news release for more information about this study as well as CCR.  For information about CPR training and certification and other available health and safety services in your area, please see the American Red Cross website.

With a $6 million grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, there is a national campaign planned which calls for restrictions on the interactions between doctors and drug companies, and urges doctors to base their prescription writing on medical evidence not marketing.

“If you’ve been in the waiting room when these Chinese lunches are taken into the back office, it may raise the question whether the decisions are based on the best scientific evidence about medication or whether or not those Sichuan shrimp have something to do with the prescribing patterns,” said Jim O’Hara, the managing director of policy initiatives at Pew.

According to a recent updated release by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the adult immunization schedule has been modified.

•   Tetanus-Diphtheria Vaccine (all adults, every 10 years);
•   Influenza (Flu) Vaccine (adults 50 and older);
•   Pneumococcal Vaccine (adults 65 and older);
•   Hepatitis B Vaccine (adults at risk);
•   Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) Vaccine (susceptible adults);
•   Varicella (chickenpox) Vaccine (susceptible adults);
•   Vaccines for travelers (see CDC travel web site for specifics)."

Changes from last year’s recommendations include:

• Varicella (chicken pox) vaccine is now recommended across the board for some age groups.
• Meningococcal vaccine has been added to the list for when certain factors are present, and new recommendations have been added.

According to the CDC, all adults should be immunized against Hepatitis B, MMR, Tetanus-Diptheria, and Varicella.

As reported by the Reuters and other news repoting agencies, a new study shows that men tend to wait until after sporting events to go to the emergency room. As described in a new study recently presented at the American College of Physicians, Dr. David Jerrard an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, conducted a three year study at the Medical Center that examined 796 sporting events and the rates of men visiting the emergency room.

The study examined professional and college football, major league baseball, and college basketball. According to the study, there were approximately fifty percent more men in the emergency room after a professional football game than during the game and thirty to forty percent more after a baseball game.  

Previous studies by Dr. Jerrard showed a decline in men’s visits to the emergency room during games. However those studies examined playoff games, while Dr. Jerrard’s new study purposely used regular season games to control for the relative importance of the games. Dr. Jerrard suspects as his study indicates, regardless of relative importance, men are delaying their trips to the emergency room in favor of seeing the final score, a dangerous game when it comes to one’s health.

Close to 20,000 cases of kidney damage following bypass surgery occur in the U.S. every year, according to a study conducted at Duke University Medical Center.  While the rate of death from that complication has decreased over the past 16 years, the overall incidence of kidney damage has increased. Patients who develop kidney damage also experience much longer hospital stays.

The researchers noted that none of the prevention strategies for postoperative kidney damage seem to have had any effect on its incidence.

If you or a family member believes that you have a case involving surgery or complications from it, please contact us online at Regan Zambri & Long or call us at (202) 463-3030 for a free consultation. If you would like to receive our complementary electronic newsletter, please click here.

Patients who receive recommended antibiotics are less likely to die of the disease, according to a study published in the American Journal of Medicine. The risk of death declined by two-thirds for those given the recommended treatment within 48 hours of admission.

The study also found that those given the treatment were half as likely to die of pneumonia within 24 hours of admission.

If you or a family member believes that you have a case involving improper treatment for pneumonia, please contact us on-line at Regan Zambri & Long or call us at 202-463-3030 for a free consultation.  If you would like to receive our complimentary electronic newsletter, please click here.

Elderly people with diabetes are twice as likely to die of cardiovascular disease as those without diabetes, according to a study in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal. The findings contrast the declining rate of death from cardiovascular disease in the overall population.

The study also found that women being treated with insulin were more likely to die than men being treated with insulin.

According to a recent study, men may benefit far more than women from early colonoscopy screening for cancer.  Current guidelines call for average-risk men and women to begin colorectal cancer screening at age 50.  But the new findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest there is a big difference in risk between the sexes at the recommended age.  The researchers concluded that to maximize the cost effectiveness of screening, men may need to be screened earlier, or women later, than current guidelines suggest. 

If you have questions concerning this topic, please call Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC  at 202-463-3030. 

A 2002 study found that for each additional patient assigned to a nurse, patients saw a 7 percent increase in the chances they would die within 30 days of admission.

The original study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, has been confirmed by a study performed by the British Royal College of Nursing, which found that patients in hospitals with poor patient-nurse ratios were up to 26 percent more likely to die than patients in hospitals with lower patient-nurse ratios.

The studies also tracked nurse job satisfaction and burnout, and found that overworked nurses were much less satisfied and more susceptible to burnout than their counterparts at hospitals with lower patient-nurse ratios.

If you or a family member believes that you have a case involving improper nursing care, please contact us on-line at Regan Zambri & Long or call us at 202-463-3030 for a free consultation.  If you would like to receive our complimentary electronic newsletter, please click here.

As reported by Medical News Today, a recent Duke University report has found that diabetics are not receiving cutting edge treatment due to physician resistance to them.

The researchers found that empirical evidence supports several new treatments on the market such as, insulin pumps and blood glucose monitoring devices allow diabetics to better manage their disease and stick with prescribed treatment regimens. These treatments not only result in lesser pain than older treatments but also prevent or delay the complications to diabetes, including, hypertension, blindness, and end-stage renal disease, among other debilitating outcomes.

As reported by Medical News Today, a new study suggests that health care providers should be more aware of possible Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in patients at risk for lung cancer.  As defined by the American Academy of Family Physicians, COPD is an incurable, chronic lung disease that includes two main illnesses - chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

According to the Seattle Times, “the increasingly common practice of preventing strokes by using wire-mesh stents to prop open neck arteries is much riskier than the traditional method of surgically removing plaque and should be curtailed, according to two large European studies.”  The American studies, however, seem to suggest that stents are safer than surgery. 

Gastric Bypass surgery is becoming more and more popular for obese patients who suffer a multitude of health problems related to their weight. The surgery is complicated, but basically it involves making your stomach smaller by bypassing part of your stomach and your small intestines so that fewer calories are absorbed. Unfortunately, this surgery is not without serious risks including complications from lack of proper nutrition after the surgery. For a detailed explanation of the surgery, indications, risks and expectations after the surgery, including diagrams, please go to MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Gastric bypass. 

Most programs require a full and complete medical evaluation, followed by psychological testing and nutritional counseling before and after the surgery.

According to the American Academy of Bariatric Surgeons, hospitals need to make certain the following requirements are in place before qualified surgeons are given privileges to perform gastric bypass surgery:

• "Have credentials at an accredited facility to perform gastrointestinal and biliary surgery.
• Document that he or she is working within an integrated program for the care of the morbidly obese patient that provides ancillary services such as specialized nursing care, dietary instruction, counseling, support groups, exercise training, and psychological assistance as needed.
• Document that there is a program in place to prevent, monitor and manage short-term and long-term complications.
• Document that there is a system in place to provide and encourage follow-up for all patients. Follow-up visits should either be directly supervised by the Bariatric surgeon of record or other health care professionals who are appropriately trained in perioperative management of bariatric patients and part of an integrated program. While applicants can not guarantee patient compliance with follow-up recommendations, they should demonstrate evidence of adequate patient education regarding the importance of follow-up as well as adequate access to follow-up."

If you have legal questions about a possible case involving gastric bypass surgery, please click here to contact Regan Zambri & Long or call (202) 463-3030.

According to a recent issue of UVa Today, the online University of Virginia news service, there are now five possible cases of mumps among students on the University of Virginia campus.  All the students were vaccinated against the disease.

UVA is now focusing on its vaccination campaign, by contacting students not in compliance with both UVA and Virginia vaccination requirements. The university is also offering free vaccines to anyone who had close contact with the students.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms of mumps include fatigue, fever, headache, and swollen glands, especially around the jaw.

A study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that more than half of the American men who have their prostate cancer treated with surgery or radiation might have been just as well off using a “wait and see” program. As reported by Forbes, the researchers are now looking for a method to best determine which patients should be in which treatment group.

• Chest discomfort.
  
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body.
  
• Shortness of breath.
• Other signs, such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or lightheadedness.

Stroke Warning Signs:    

• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
  
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.   
  
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.   
  
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.

• Sudden loss of responsiveness (no response to tapping on shoulders).
• No normal breathing (the victim does not take a normal breath when you tilt the head up and check for at least five seconds).
  

New Medicaid standards which require that patients show primary documentation of American citizenship before receiving benefits are under fire from hospitals and other healthcare providers.  The law took effect on July 1, 2006, and arguments for a temporary restraining order will be heard on July 7, 2006, in the U.S. District Court in Chicago.

In a joint letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals and several other entities expressed their concern, “that states will be overly cautious in interpreting (government regulations) and err on the side of not enrolling eligible individuals.” The legislation providing the new standards is linked to state receipt of federal funding, so if a state violates the regulation, the federal government can withhold money. 

• their medical condition
• the consequences of remaining untreated
• the material risks of proposed treatment, and
  
• the recognized alternative treatments, if any

"National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) is an annual campaign produced by the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA-US) to encourage at-risk individuals to receive voluntary HIV counseling and testing. NAPWA distributes campaign kits to community groups and health departments of all sizes to help create NHTD campaigns and events targeting their local communities." For further information about HIV counseling and testing, please visit National Association of People With AIDS.  This year's National HIV Testing Day is June 27, 2006. 

It has been twenty-five years since the discovery of AIDS.   Today, Washington, D.C. leads the country in the number of new AIDS cases, which are disproportionately high among black women.  Health officials are recommending that all D.C. residents between the ages of 14 and 84 obtain the HIV test.  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that approximately 40,000 persons become infected with  HIV each year.  NHTD events will include health fairs, community and media outreach, and extended hours for testing facilities.  To learn more about National HIV Testing Day and locate an HIV testing site, visit the CDC website.

In the current issue of Morbidity and Mortality, a weekly publication from the CDC, results from the Advancing HIV Prevention initiative of 2003 to reduce the number of individuals with undiagnosed HIV infection were published.  According to these results, many more people were able to be screened because of greater availability of the tests and same day results.  Conventional HIV testing requires clients to return two weeks later to obtain test results, close to one-third of whom never return for results or to begin treatment.  Researchers from the CDC concluded that, "The findings in this report suggest that HIV testing might be increased by using rapid tests and that RTDP might have enabled diagnosis of HIV infection in persons who would not have known their HIV status otherwise."

The 2006 edition of Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Facts & Figures, issued by the America Cancer Society estimates that sreening and lifestyle changes "could in principle" avoid at least half of all cancer deaths. Below are the top seven suggestions: * Don't smoke. If you smoke now, quit, and don't hesitate to seek help with the effort. * Lose extra weight. * Get regular physical activity. * Eat healthfully. * Limit unprotected time in the sun. * Follow recommendations for cancer screening. * Start as soon as possible. The American Cancer Society's report states, "Tobacco use, physical inactivity, obesity, and poor nutirtion are major preventable causes of cancer and other diseases in the United States." For the full report, along with other cancer detection and screening recommendations, please visit the American Cancer Society's website.

If you or your family member experienced a delay in the emergency room that adversely affected the outcome, you may have legal rights that should be investigated. There are some emergency medical conditions where every minute counts. Delays in getting the proper treatment can make a difference between life and death or between a full recovery and living with permanent debilitating injuries.

Two such conditions are heart attacks and strokes. Sometimes adults have classic symptoms, and sometimes the symptoms can be harder to describe and more subtle. In any event, prompt emergency care is essential for a good outcome.

Each year, 7,000 to 8,000 new cases of testicular cancer will occur in the U.S., leading to approximately 400 deaths. Doctors do not know the exact cause of testicular cancer, but a number of risk factors for development of this disease have been identified. Young men between the ages of 15 and 39 are most often affected. White men are affected more than men of other races, although the disease can occur in men of any age and race, including children.

Testicular cancer is highly curable when detected early, and 95% of patients with testicular cancer are alive after a five-year period. However, about half of men with testicular cancer do not seek treatment until the cancer has spread beyond the testicles to other locations in the body (as in the case of seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong).

Most testicular cancers are found by men themselves. Doctors recommend that men perform an examination of their testicles once a month to facilitate detection of testicular cancer in its early, treatable stage.

As reported by Reuters, a recent study headed by Dr. Scott D. Ramsey of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle indicates there is no consensus for the decision-making process for localized prostate cancer treatment. The results reveal that the advice given by physicians varies and usually does not include enough information for patients to make informed decisions. Although doctor recommendation is the major factor that patients consider in making their decisions regarding treatment, these decisions frequently do not even reflect patient preferences. Dr. Ramsey and his associates recommend "future prospective studies aimed at examining how patient values evolve throughout the period of time from their first being diagnosed with prostate cancer until completion of treatment." Full results of the study are to be published in a future issue of Cancer. If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, carefully explore the treatment options with your treating physician. If you still have questions, consider a second opinion from a comprehensive cancer center, designated by the American Cancer Society. The Comprehensive Cancer Centers are designated by the National Cancer Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. All the centers, by state, are listed there.

The American Cancer Society's (ACS) annual guidelines for the early detection of cancer have been updated and are published in the January/February issue of CA: Cancer Journal Clinic. These guidelines summarize recommendations for early cancer detection, emerging issues for cancer screening, and data on cancer screening rates for adults in the United States. No new updates were published in 2005.

The American Cancer Society provides testing guidelines for several specific cancers, including breast cancer, colon and rectal cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial (uterine) cancer and prostate cancer.

Foodborne illness, an underreported and preventable disease, is a public health and economic challenge affecting both general and at-risk populations. More than 200 known diseases are transmitted through food, the causes of which include organisms, such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites, as well as toxins and other substances. The signs and symptoms of foodborne illness range from mild gastrointestinal problems to serious life-threatening conditions affecting the liver, kidneys, and neurological system. In the United States alone, foodborne diseases have historically been estimated to cause illness in millions of Americans and thousands of deaths each year.

In 1998, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's National Retail Food Team launched a long-term study investigating food preparation handling and practices most commonly reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as contributing factors in foodborne illness outbreaks. Specifically, this study involves inspection of foodservice and retail food establishments in order to observe and document the occurrence "foodborne illness risk factors," such as food from unsafe sources, inadequate cooking, poor personal hygiene, and equipment contamination. The study is intended to continue through the year 2008.

To view a complete report on this ongoing study, please click here. For important information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding food safety education, including online question and answer sessions, please click here.

Each year in the United States, nearly one million people suffer from heart attacks. Mended Hearts is a nationwide heart patient support group affiliated with the American Heart Association. Its mission is to inspire "hope in heart disease patients and their families." In its December 8, 2005 news release, Mended Hearts announced "Heartfelt Wake-Up Call," a multi-phased initiative for heart attack survivors and their families designed to educate and empower them to prevent future heart attacks. This initiative follows a recent survey conducted by Mended Hearts which revealed that 80% of heart attack survivors said they needed more information to manage their heart health and 40% admit they are not doing everything they can to avoid another heart attack. Guidelines for managing heart health are available at the American Heart Association website, along with a link to Mended Hearts.

According to a December 2005 report by Reuters Health, a recent study suggests that, from 1990 to 2002, the increased use of chemotherapy with surgery coincides with improved survival for advanced colon cancer patients. In fact, the use of adjuvant chemotherapy for these cancer patients rose from 39 to 64 percent during this interval, while the number of patients surviving for five years increased by 16 percent. The study, conducted by J. Milburn Jessup, M.D. and others from the National Cancer Institute, involved data from nearly 86,000 patients in 560 hospital cancer registries. During the study period, "the difference in survival between surgery alone and surgery plus chemotherapy increased," Dr. Jessup told Reuters Health. Moreover, Dr. Jessup suggested that present-day survival rates may be even better, noting that the data used in the study predated the development and use of newer and perhaps more effective chemotherapy agents.
For the complete Reuters Health report, please click here.

There are a number of routine tests that physicans should recommend for their mature male patients. These tests are intended to detect warning signals for serious health problems. Early diagnosis is often the key to the improved chances of survival and improved quality of life. According to Philip Hagen, M.D., a specialist in preventive medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, "You need to get the appropriate screening done. Each visit gives you an opportunity to talk with your doctor about your health behaviors � and about life in general. It's important for you to establish a working relationship with a doctor in the event something is found." For additional information regarding men's health screening issues, the Mayo Clinic provides recommendations for specific tests. For the complete article, visit Mayo Clinic.