Debate Over Docs Working Long Hours Questions Quality of Care
In 2011, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education banned 30-hour work shifts for all trainees and limited first-year physicians to no more 16 consecutive work hours. This ruling was the result of over two decades of controversy touched off by the accidental death of Libby Zion in 1984 at the hands of an over-worked…
Read MoreTruck Crashes: What to Expect After Your Truck Accident
We have talked about why big rigs are so dangerous before, and with good reason. Truck crashes are terrifying. When accidents happen involving tractor-trailers or semi trucks, the injuries can be severe – or even worse, fatal. Proving fault can require meticulous and thorough documentation; truck companies deal with accidents all the time, and consequentially…
Read MoreDoctors Say Kids Have Higher Cancer Risk from Mobile Device Radiation
The American Academy of Pediatrics wrote a letter in late August addressing both the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, urging both agencies to adopt new standards regarding cell phone radiation. The letter highlights some shocking facts about cell phone radiation and what that means for our children. Today reports, “Earlier…
Read MoreFirefighters Rescue Cat, Spur Donations of CPR Kits for Four-Legged Friends
News coverage of a house fire in Olympia recently went viral. The video shows Columbia firefighters battling a raging house fire in nearly 100-degree weather. After the conflagration was doused, firefighters combed through the wreckage looking for survivors; that was when they found Soldier, the homeowner’s gray and white tabby cat. Solider was unresponsive, but…
Read MoreInvokana and Invokamet Linked to Serious Side Effects
Invokana is a prescription medicine used to lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. According to the FDA, “It belongs to a class of drugs called sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors… Canagliflozin lowers blood sugar by causing the kidneys to remove sugar from the body through the urine. It is available as a single-ingredient…
Read MoreSouth Carolina Has More Trucks on the Road than Ever
South Carolina is booming. The population increased by 35% between 1990 and 2012. The state’s GDP increased by 53% in the same period. While this is great news for residents, it comes at a high cost. Total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the state have increased by 43%, totaling 49 billion miles in 2012. According…
Read MoreSurgical “Black Box” Could Prevent Medical Malpractice
In 2014, CNN reported that researchers in Canada were developing a surgical “black box” that could record procedures in an operating room. The device was envisioned to work proactively, providing real-time feedback to surgeons and using error-analysis software to tell them if a procedure is being done incorrectly. During the initial stage, researchers used multiple…
Read MoreQuadriplegic Man Dances With Wife 6 Years After Tragic Accident
In 2009, Joel Jackson was in a horrific car accident in Anderson, SC that left a young girl dead and others with serious injuries. During the accident, Joel was thrown from the car. His spine was separated from his skull, resulting in an “internal decapitation.” Few survive this type of injury. Joel did, though it…
Read MoreUnderstanding the Truth about Traumatic Brain Injuries
The brain is a bit of a mystery, even after all these years of studying it. Because science and medicine discover new things every day, we don’t always know why one person might be affected by a particular injury more than another. What we do know, however, is that traumatic brain injuries can have life-altering…
Read MoreNeurosurgical Errors and Medical Malpractice
Neurosurgery is one of the most delicate and difficult forms of surgery there is. Because so much is unknown about the brain, even an easily fixed error during the procedure could lead to irreparable damage in one person but not in another. It is one of the reasons why neurosurgeons are sued for malpractice more…
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