When a woman becomes pregnant, her doctor will detail a number of activities, elements and behaviors to avoid in order to protect herself -- and her unborn child -- from dangerous factors. The goal is to eliminate as many dangerous things as possible to maximize the...
Woman expects ovaries to be removed, learns she is pregnant
A 25-year-old woman who had suffered painful stomach cramps for months was scheduled to have her ovaries removed. However, during her surgery, doctors found shocking news that essentially accounted for why she had endured so much pain in the preceding months. She was...
How will the Affordable Care Act affect medical malpractice?
Ask anyone in New Mexico what they think of the Affordable Care Act, and you are likely to get some strong opinions on one side or the other of the divisive legislation. Some love it, some hate it, and still others feel ambivalent or indifferent. But whatever your...
Hospital finds way to reduce medication errors by 60 percent
Medication errors can cause serious illnesses and injuries. There are many things that can go wrong to result in a dangerous medication error in New Mexico hospitals. A nurse that is administering a medication might not be able to properly make out a doctor's...
Timely diabetes diagnosis imperative for patient health
When a loved one has a medical emergency, we expect doctors and hospital staff to properly diagnose what happened and what caused it. With this expectation, we put a lot of trust and confidence in our doctors to run the right tests and make the right calls when it...
Simple fix could greatly reduce prescription errors
Continuing our theme from our last post about medication errors, it appears that a new tactic for fighting serious and possibly fatal prescription mistakes could save thousands of lives -- if only it were widely used. Unlike the medication error that we talked about...
Antibiotic prescription for acute bronchitis unnecessary
Imagine for a moment that you go into the doctor's office with acute bronchitis -- a very specific set of circumstances, mind you, but stick with us on this one. Your doctor checks on you and concludes that you do indeed have acute bronchitis, and that the way to...
Healthy kidney tossed in botched transplant case
A recent case of medical malpractice shows the unfortunate roadblocks that are placed in front of victims of poor medical care. We are talking about medical malpractice caps, which limit the amount of money a plaintiff can earn in their lawsuit. The case isn't from...