Medical Malpractice News and Research

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Researchers leverage machine-learning techniques to predict future risk of pressure injuries

Bedsores-;also known as pressure injuries-;are the fastest rising hospital-acquired condition, according to the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research in Quality, and as a result have become the second most common reason for medical malpractice suits in the United States.

9 Apr 2024

Medical malpractice incident severity found to be higher during daylight saving time

Medical malpractice incidents are more severe during the months of the year when daylight saving time is observed in the U.S., according to a new study that examined three decades of malpractice claims.

7 Mar 2024

Study finds suboptimal follow-up and fall prevention for older adults after fall-related head injury

Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries in the United States for adults ages 65 and older. With 1 in 4 older adults falling annually, 27,000 deaths, 8 million emergency department (ED) visits, and 800,000 hospitalizations have occurred.

20 Nov 2023

An Arm and a Leg: ‘Your Money or Your Life’: This doctor wrote the book on medical debt

In 2019, emergency medicine physician and historian Luke Messac was working as a medical resident.

9 Nov 2023

Malpractice lawsuits over denied abortion care may be on the horizon

A year after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, many physicians and hospitals in the states that have restricted abortion reportedly are refusing to end the pregnancies of women facing health-threatening complications out of fear they might face criminal prosecution or loss of their medical license.

23 Jun 2023

$Male geriatric patients at greater risk of skull fractures from falls than females$

Male geriatric patients at greater risk of skull fractures from falls than females

Each year, more than 3 million people ages 65 and older are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries. Head trauma is the leading cause of serious injury with skull fractures being reported as a serious outcome.

8 Mar 2023

When malpractice occurs at community health centers, taxpayers pay

Silvia Garcia's 14-year-old son was left permanently disabled and in a wheelchair after a community health center doctor in New Mexico failed to diagnose his appendicitis despite his complaint of severe stomach pain.

28 Nov 2022

Decreased hippocampal activity linked to worse PTSD symptoms

After a traumatic event, people with decreased activity in the hippocampus experience worse PTSD symptoms, according to new research published in JNeurosci.

25 Jul 2022

FAU team receives $1 million grant to identify effective fall prevention strategies for older adults

Every second, an older person in the United States falls and injures themselves, and every 20 minutes one of them dies from the fall. More than 30 percent of adults 65 and older fall every year and 25 percent of them have moderate to severe injuries.

26 May 2022

California's cap on noneconomic losses may be associated with increase in malpractice cases

A new analysis suggests California's cap on noneconomic losses in malpractice cases has fallen far behind present-day values, and may even be associated with an increase in malpractice cases over the past five decades.

9 May 2022

California ballot will be heavy on health care

When Californians go to the polls later this year, they will confront contentious health care choices.

7 Jan 2022

Laws shield hospitals from families who believe loved ones contracted covid as patients

After Amanda Wilson lost her son, Braden, 15, to covid-19 in early 2021, she tried to honor his memory. She put up a lending library box in his name. She plans to give the money she saved for his college education to other teens who love the arts and technology.

24 Dec 2021

Crash course: Injured patients who sign ‘letters of protection’ may face huge medical bills and risks

Jean Louis-Charles couldn't afford spine surgery to ease nagging neck and back pain after a car crash. So he signed a document, promising to pay the bill with money he hoped to get from a lawsuit against the driver who caused the collision.

21 Dec 2021

Brief interventions delivered in doctors' offices can lead to reductions in drinking

A new systematic review and meta-analysis has found that alcohol-targeted brief interventions (short, structured, one-to-one conversations about drinking designed to motivate changes in risky behavior) delivered in doctors' offices and similar medical settings can produce small but useful reductions in drinking.

14 Oct 2021

Injuries mount as sales reps for device makers cozy up to surgeons, even in operating rooms

Cristina Martinez's spinal operation in Houston was expected to be routine. But after destabilizing her spine, the surgeon discovered the implant he was ready to put in her back was larger than he wanted to use — and the device company’s sales rep didn’t have a smaller size on hand, according to a report he filed about the operation.

9 Aug 2021

Scientists seek Covid treatment answers in cheap, older drugs

Could a decades-old antidepressant be a secret weapon against covid? A few scientists think so, after two small studies showed that fluvoxamine, typically prescribed for obsessive-compulsive disorder, prevented serious illness in all participants who took the pills soon after developing symptoms.

29 Mar 2021

University of Missouri settles lawsuits over knee surgeries involving veterinarian

The University of Missouri has settled a collection of personal injury and false advertising claims over knee surgeries for $16.2 million, in what appears to be one of its largest public payouts in recent years.

12 Mar 2021

Woman’s right to disclosure of stillbirth could be achieved through a tort claim

As part of standard patient protocol, doctors inform women of the risks of pregnancy. But there is one exception to this standard: stillbirth.

29 Jan 2021

Study offers data related to physicians' potential liability to use AI in personalized medicine

Physicians who follow artificial intelligence (AI) advice may be considered less liable for medical malpractice than is commonly thought, according to a new study of potential jury candidates in the U.S.

11 Jan 2021

Study assesses risk factors for suicide among health care professionals

Health care professionals who die by suicide are more likely to be older and nearing the end of their careers, or be of Asian or Pacific Islander ancestry, or confronting physical, mental health or medical malpractice issues, according to a new study from Massachusetts General Hospital.

11 Jun 2020