Category: Patient Safety | CHH Law

Most likely you or someone you know has had surgery. Some surgical  procedures are not necessary but can provide an enhanced quality of life. Other surgeries, however, are potentially life-saving or can prevent significant disability – some being emergency in nature. All surgical procedure carry the potential for doctor errors. But recent research shows some procedures […]
Doctor Errors + Patient Safety

Finding a good doctor is one of the most important things we do. Often our search begins by asking our friends, trusted family members, and even our co-workers for their thoughts. That is a great way to start, but our experience has shown that some additional research always yields better results. We are not talking […]
Patient Safety

Blood Clots: Risk Factors, Prevention and Treatment Have you ever wondered how a blood clot becomes dangerous? Generally speaking, the ability of your blood to clot is a good thing. When you get a cut, the reason you don’t keep bleeding and bleeding is that your blood contains platelets which make it thicken or “clot.” […]
Patient Safety

What is Informed Consent and How Can it Help Prevent Medical Malpractice? Informed consent is integral to the doctor-patient relationship. Patients need to trust and rely on their doctors to use their extensive training and experience to heal them. That does not mean you should be left in the dark when it comes to making […]
Medical Malpractice + Patient Safety

A study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that teaching hospitals experience an exponential rise in medication errors every July like clockwork – which just happens to coincide with the arrival of new residents and the departure of many of the seasoned staff members. You may want to ask “is July a […]
Medication Errors + Patient Safety

American College of Radiology cites facility’s practice posed a “serious risk to human health” SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) is urging patients of Hoffman MRI, also known as Hoffman Imaging and Medical Center, and formerly known as Hope Imaging, 2500 W. Higgins Road Suite 830 in Hoffman Estates, to consult their physician […]
Medical Devices + Medical Malpractice + Patient Safety

There’s nothing new about the idea that fatigue makes us more prone to mistakes. We know that when we’re exhausted, we lack focus and suffer from impaired judgment. For most people, fatigue-related errors have only minor consequences. But for those whose decision-making abilities determine the wellbeing of others, this is a potentially catastrophic problem. A […]
Doctor Errors + Medical Malpractice + Patient Safety

We hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day holiday weekend. Taking time to relax and enjoy the company of friends and family is an important part of our lives.  However, even under the best circumstances accidents happen. Accidents and illness, unfortunately, do not take holidays off and sometimes a trip to the hospital or […]
Patient Safety

  “What else could it be?” These are five powerful words that you should be ready to ask your doctor during a visit. If you are like most people you probably aren’t looking forward to a visit to see the doctor. As a patient, you don’t have the luxury of always knowing exactly why you […]
Misdiagnosis + Patient Safety

Avoiding doctor errors is something everyone wants to do.  After all, a visit to the doctor or a hospital is about feeling better, not worse.  Most of the time patient safety is a high priority for healthcare professionals. Unfortunately, there are times that mistakes are made and patients find themselves worse off than when they […]
Doctor Errors + Medical Error + Patient Safety

One thing you can always count on during a trip to the doctor’s office is signing some paperwork.  There will probably be an intake document that provides or confirms your information. It should also disclose the reason for your visit. You will also likely have a form explaining your HIPPA rights. Also among the forms you receive, […]
Patient Safety + Surgical Errors

There’s a lot of bad information about medical malpractice lawsuits. Some think it’s a “get rich” quick scheme and sadly too many lawyer advertisements make it seem that way, but it is not. Others think medical malpractice cases are a scourge that must be stopped. This thinking has caused legislators to pass tort reform laws that make […]
Civil Justice + Medical Error + Medical Malpractice + Patient Safety

Patient safety is always spoken of in terms of being the most important factor in healthcare. After all, if the healthcare system can’t keep its patients safe, any good individual doctors or nurses may have achieved is eliminated. Research on harm suffered by thousands of patients every year suggests the current system is far from […]
Patient Safety

The commercial aviation and the airline industry are subject to very strict government regulation. In the event of a crash, it is not the airline, nor the manufacturer that investigates what went wrong. No, a separate governmental agency, whose job is only to examine transportation disasters, handles the investigation. The accident or crash reports can […]
Patient Safety + Surgical Errors

Surgeons and patients are not thinking about fires when they enter a hospital operating room.  There are so many things that take priority at that moment. For the patient, this is an opportunity to improve their quality of life.  For a surgeon, this is what they are trained to do. Too often, unfortunately, they are […]
Hospital Negligence + Patient Safety + Surgical Errors

Surgical infections are a threat to patient safety for all who undergoes any surgery. The skin is marvelously effective at protecting us from infection, but once that seal is broken, things can go terribly wrong. With any surgery, the incision is necessary and the implement that may be used can itself carry an additional risk of […]
Patient Safety + Surgical Errors

It is very likely that you are not familiar with some rather important legislation being considered by Congress regarding the funding and approval for medication and medical device development. Unless you are in the medical field or involved in politics, you may have never even heard of the 21st Century Cures Act, much less how […]
Medical Research + Patient Safety

Patient safety should be the top priority of every hospital and medical professional. Unfortunately, it seems that when a procedure is not performed regularly by a surgeon the risk to their patient jumps significantly. For example, the national death rate from a knee replacement surgery is about 1 in 1000. Patients that have that surgery […]
Patient Safety + Surgical Errors

Doctors can make mistakes when calculating the proper dosage of a medication. They can fail to read a patient’s chart before prescribing a certain type of medication. In other cases, a patient’s chart may be missing information vital for a doctor to designate the appropriate course of treatment. These are just a couple examples of […]
Doctor Errors + Patient Safety

Leaving the hospital can be a sign that a person is on the road to recovery or has reached a point where his or her care can be managed at home. Many people look forward to this and often consider it the beginning of a new chapter. Unfortunately, there are some people who cannot move […]
Hospital Negligence + Patient Safety