What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical Malpractice is, “bad, wrong, or injudicious treatment of a patient, professionally and in respect to the particular disease or injury, resulting. in injury, unnecessary suffering, or death to the patient, and proceeding from ignorance, carelessness, want of proper professional skill, disregard of established rules or principles, neglect, or a malicious or criminal intent .” (Black’s Law Dictionary 1111. 4th Ed. Rev. 1968). Like general malpractice, it refers to negligence in a professional setting. However, it is limited to healthcare providers, such as a doctor or hospital.
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider deviates from the applicable standard of care, intentionally or unintentionally, and harms a patient. Cases such as Napier v. Greenzweig show that medical malpractice can be as blatant as ignoring understood rules, or it can be a mistake like a severe surgical error or a misdiagnosis. Medical malpractice is considered to be a serious issue, and healthcare providers found liable for malpractice often pay extensive damages. Occasionally, a doctor may lose their license to practice medicine if malpractice is severe enough or repeated.
Fully understanding cases of medical malpractice often involves some level of medical knowledge. Because of this, it is difficult to prove medical malpractice in court, and expert witnesses are typically needed to testify about a healthcare provider’s negligence.
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PSP Release Car Accident Report From Easter Weekend
Pennsylvania State Police report there were 470 Pennsylvania automobile accidents during the long Easter weekend from Friday, April 6, through Sunday, April 8. Three people died and 196 were injured in the accidents.
Commissioner Frank Noonan reported the statistics Monday afternoon. He further reported that one of the persons that died in a car accident was not wearing a seat belt. In addition, 56 of the 470 crashes were alcohol-related with two of the fatalities being alcohol related.
The police were also out trying to limit accidents through enforcement events. According to the troop breakdown report, troopers charged 292 people with DUI, issued 4,723 speeding tickets, gave 529 seatbelt warnings and issued another 5,906 citations during the weekend.
In comparison to the 2011 Easter period, two people died and 196 were injured in 527 crashes investigated.
Our Pennsylvania car accident attorneys encourage all drivers to practice good defensive driving behaviors when taking to our highways. […]
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Robotic Drug Dispenser Found to Harbor Harmful Bacteria
Our Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyers issued a warning about widespread hospital infections from dirty surgical devices earlier this month. Now, a new report brings to light yet another medical safety issue – robotic drug dispensers that contain harmful bacteria.
A study that appeared in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology reports medical staff at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston Salem, NC discovered Bacillus cereus bacteria during a quality assurance test of drug samples dispensed by a robot. Specifically, the robot was being used to prepare intravenous medications in a sterile environment.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports Bacillus cereus is most often associated with food poisoning. Symptoms caused by the bacteria include watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and pain which occurs 6-15 hours after contamination. Nausea may accompany diarrhea, but vomiting rarely occurs. Symptoms persist for 24 hours in most instances. […]
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PA Drivers to Observe Distracted Driving Awareness Month
Pennsylvania just enacted its anti-texting law in March. Now, Pennsylvania drivers will get additional incentive to adhere to the law – April has been designated National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
“The traffic safety community has a simple message for drivers: One Text or Call could Wreck it All,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in his blog announcing National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
According to the National Safety Council (NSC), almost 25 percent of car crashes involve cell phone use. In addition, approximately 1.3 million auto accidents each year can be attributed to cell phone usage while driving. The NSC also points out that distractions now join alcohol and speeding as leading factors in all automobile accidents. In a press release announcing the distracted driving campaign, the NSC asks all drivers to pledge: “I will not use my cell phone while driving in any way.”
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that while cell phones are the primary cause of distracted driving, […]
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PA Woman Campaigns Against Texting While Driving
Even though Pennsylvania just enacted its anti-texting law, Jacy Good won’t stop spreading the word that texting and driving is a deadly combination. The Pennsylvania woman knows firsthand the devastation a distracted driver can cause. She is using her personal tragedy to urge Americans to put down their phones when driving.
Jacy and her parents were driving home after Jacy’s graduation ceremony at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA in May 2008, when an 18-year-old driver who was talking on his cellphone ran a red light, according to an article in the Reading Eagle. A tractor trailer had to swerve to avoid the teen, but then slammed head-on into Good’s car. Jacy’s parents both died instantly. Jacy ended up in the hospital with just a 10 percent chance of surviving. Jacy did survive, and she wants to make sure no one else suffers the way she has. […]
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Pennsylvania Makes it Illegal to Text While Driving
You better think twice before texting when behind the wheel in Pennsylvania or you will be ticketed. It is now a primary offense for texting while driving, thanks to the new anti-texting law that took effect on March 8.
The provisions of the law, according to a press release by the Pennsylvania State Police, are as follows:
- It is a primary offense to use an Interactive Wireless Communication Device (IWCD) to send, read or write a text-based message.
- Violators will be fined $50 for convictions.
- This law supersedes and preempts any local ordinances restricting the use of interactive wireless devices by drivers.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving is to blame for 3,092 fatalities in 2010. In Pennsylvania, there were nearly 14,000 automobile accidents where distracted driving played a role, […]
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