Soon, your rush to a Pennsylvania hospital might be driverless. Possible? Not just possible, but likely, according to a Pittsburgh expert in emergency medicine. Autonomous Ambulances: Good for Patients? As Uber tests self-driving cars in Pittsburgh, this question comes up: If self-driving cars, what about self-driving ambulances? Dr. Paul Porter, Allegheny Health Network Emergency Medicine […]
There is reason to be optimistic in the field of medical malpractice. Check out this article in the Wall Street Journal, highlighting the fact that insurers and medical specialty groups are reviewing thousands of medical malpractice lawsuits that have either been tried or settled. One of the reasons for the review is to identify issues […]
According to a recent article published by the British Medical journal, medical malpractice is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Martin Makary and Michael Daniel assess its contribution to mortality and call for better reporting, because medical error is not included on death certificates or in rankings of cause of death. […]
The president’s stimulus has put taxpayers behind $30 billion in electronic medical records (EMR) expenses. The money in question and the technological disasters that were born out the EMR “upgrades” have many upset, and rightly so. But you shouldn’t expect to hear about these issues from doctors or the hospital administrators who employ them. This […]
Last time, we discussed how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was warning patients taking either Brintellix and Brilinta, the former an antidepressant and the latter a blood-thinner, to exercise caution as their similar-sounding names were creating confusion among both physicians and pharmacists. Indeed, the FDA indicated it had received reports of 50 medication errors […]
When you read the names Brintellix and Brilinta, it’s possible you think of computer software or some type of electronic product manufactured by the same company. As it turns out, however, these are the names of two very different prescription medications designed to treat two very different conditions, with the former designated as an antidepressant […]
Thanks to news stories highlighting military missions or trips to the local park, more people than ever are now familiar with drones. However, it’s important to understand that use of this technology — whether resembling a miniaturized plane or a so-called quadcopter — is not just limited to Air Force pilots, budding photographers and hobbyists. […]
Last time, we started delving into a fascinating — yet highly alarming — study undertaken by a group of researchers from the University of Illinois, Rush University Medical Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which uncovered an alarming number of complications and technical difficulties associated with robotic surgery. In today’s post, we’ll continue our […]
In last week’s posts discussing hernias and some of the potential dangers associated with laparoscopic surgery, one of the primary treatments for hernias, we briefly touched on the topic of robotic surgery. Specifically, we mentioned how use of this advanced equipment for the treatment of hernias was still relatively limited due to a variety of […]
Last time, we started discussing how consumers face something of an uphill battle when it comes to attempting to learn as much information as possible about physicians, particularly information that may cast them in an unfavorable light, or call their abilities or judgment into question. Specifically, we discussed how not only are databases run by […]
