Doctor Errors

Most New Mexico patients may have heard about having to consent to a treatment, procedure or surgery before doctors can take action. However, patients may not know or understand what informed consent actually means. By law, doctors and health care providers must give...

Although medical errors have become increasingly rare in the modern health care system, on the infrequent occasions when do occur in hospitals, they have the potential to be devastating and even life-threatening. Patients in New Mexico may be interested in reading...

Patients of doctors in New Mexico have traditionally received limited disclosure from doctors concerning medical errors. The reasons for this have included the doctor's general discomfort with the process of disclosure, embarrassment and also the fear of medical...

In New Mexico and every other state in the country, the adverse effects of hospital medical errors are a major problem. Each year, 400,000 people die as a result of hospital medical errors, making them the third-leading cause of death in the United States. Faced with...

New Mexico residents may have read the National Association for Healthcare Quality statement about how many malpractice awards can be prevented. On Aug. 25, the NAHQ said having targeted health care provider organization interventions can reduce patient safety risks...

New Mexico residents may be interested in some information on the state of patient incident reporting in the state. Some believe that these requirements are inadequate and represent the lack of an overall policy goal for patient safety. The New Mexico Administrative...

New Mexico residents who are planning to see a doctor soon may want to consider asking their physician a few questions in order to ensure that they are getting the best treatment possible. Patients may be unaware that they can advocate for their own care, and asking...

New Mexico residents should know that medical experts who testified on Capitol Hill on July 18 are worried about physician errors. They said that not enough is done to curb deaths and injuries that could have otherwise been prevented. One of the issues that the...

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...

One of the issues that someone needs to figure out when they have been traumatized by a medical error is their own anger about the situation. That is far more difficult than it sounds. Medical errors can ruin a person's life, and since they presumably occur at the...