A recent study published in the medical journal Pediatrics has pinpointed a common theme shared among the stories of doctors accused of committing medical errors. Of the physicians interviewed, approximately 40 percent attributed their lapses in judgment to emotional...
Survey shows that more doctors will cover up mistakes
A study was recently carried out to ask doctors if they thought it was fine to hide a mistake, even if they knew that the mistake could injure or harm the patient. A full 78 percent said that this was never acceptable to do so. With such a stark majority, why is this...
Rookie physicians could get 24-hour shifts
Right now, rookie physicians are only allowed to work for 16 hours in a row. After they get through that first year, they may be allowed to take longer shifts, such as 24-hour ones. However, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education just put forth a...
Doctors errors and lack of informed consent aren’t acceptable
When you are going to have a procedure done by your doctor, you should be told what the benefits and risks are for the procedure. This is known as informed consent. When you are harmed by a procedure in a manner that wasn't told to you beforehand, you might opt to...
Is the hospital responsible for your loss?
A patient goes into a hospital for planned surgery and while that initial treatment may go well, he ends up with a staph infection that nearly kills him. Another patient, scheduled for shoulder surgery, receives the planned operation on the wrong side of her body...
Misdiagnosis is top reason for medical malpractice lawsuits
New Mexico hospital patients can be seriously injured when they do not receive an accurate diagnosis for the condition that they have. In fact, problems with diagnoses are the most common reason patients file medical malpractice claims, according to a recent study by...
Dealing with the likelihood of errors in medical care
People in New Mexico expect their health care providers to deliver the best care possible. However, many factors could interfere with that goal. According to a recent study, medical errors may be one of the leading causes of death in the country. Researchers from...
Duty hour restrictions on residents negatively impact patients
Surgical residents training in New Mexico need to limit their duty hours based on regulations handed down by the American Council of Graduate Medical Education. Although educators designed these caps on working hours to reduce fatigue and medical errors, one 2012...
Researchers seek to refine error tracking for surgical students
Surgeons in New Mexico hospitals go through years of residency training in which their skills are constantly assessed. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have completed a small study meant to refine testing systems. After evaluating two...
Factors to weigh before filing a medical malpractice claim
When a person in New Mexico is the victim of a medical mistake and it leads to a worsening of the issue, long-term impact and even death, the initial response is to consider a legal filing for compensation. Beforehand, however, there are certain issues to take into...