Until the day medical malpractice and other such information is widely available to consumers of healthcare, it is best to do everything possible to do research on a potential healthcare professional. It is important to find out when the doctor started practicing, where they went to school and how many surgeries they have performed (if that is the treatment sought). Ask for referrals from friends and call a local Medical Board. Ask the hospital or medical center where the doctor practices if any complaints or medical malpractice has been previously committed. In today’s atmosphere of distrust and potential tort reform it is imperative to cover all bases before undergoing the care of a medical professional because the healthcare consumer’s choices are being limited

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Seven weeks into the Salmonella Outbreak investigation and federal health officials are still finding it difficult to pinpoint the method of delivery. Cilantro and jalapenos are now under the same suspicious umbrella as tomatoes. Many find it is easy to fault the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control for their inability to zero in on the source and food type of contamination.

“This has gone on longer and has been more complicated than anything I've worked on at FDA,” expressed Dr. David Acheson the FDA’s food safety chief told AP Television. Many are comparing the spinach E.coli outbreak from 2006, but officials say this is different. The spinach affected was packaged with a barcode, the cilantro, tomatoes and jalapenos are sold as fresh produce with no barcode. “We really, really got spoiled, if you will, with the spinach outbreak,” Dr. Robert Tauxe, food safety chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Associated Press. In the spinach outbreak victims could remember what they ate, but in this episode the stricken have difficulty remembering as well as differing food items. They say, "'Well, I'm not sure, I may have had guacamole, or a garnish," Tauxe said.

Continue reading "Largest Salmonella Outbreak in History Still Mystery" »

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Over the past 20 years science has been able to get a handle on the visual effects of traumatic brain injury through refined and improved neuroimaging techniques. Even though many believe “information is power”, the gap between knowledge and treatment is increasing. Tens of thousands of Americans lie in nursing homes in comas and other diminished states resulting from traumatic brain injury. Thousands more will join them each year. Unfortunately the majority are at the mercy of a medical establishment ill equipped to assess their needs and provide treatment, according to several recent studies. Although there are many potential treatments in trials and studies globally, a paltry few are used as an established treatment measure. In the last decade scientists have learned that the brain doesn’t stop growing and can repair itself in a process that is still barely understood. This is why, with good therapy, people can learn to speak, eat and walk again. “The brain isn't a black box anymore - we know a lot about what's going on now with head injuries in patients who are comatose for days or weeks,” said Dalton Dietrich, a neurologist and scientific director at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. “We're way past the dark ages of brain and spinal cord injury [of] 20 years ago.” Doctors hold on to the promise that every brain is as unique as its injury. Scientists at the University of Miami and elsewhere are looking for new breakthrough treatments such as: stem cell treatment, deep brain stimulators used in Parkinson’s, artificial blood and hypothermia to retard trauma. Funding remains a problem, but it is an epidemic whose numbers have exceeded those of HIV/AIDS and breast cancer.

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Drug makers are starting to feel the pinch from the removal of their defective drugs from the market. It is cutting into their profits and delaying their chances of making money on new blockbuster treatments. Big Pharma is blaming the fact that it is taking longer for the Food and Drug Administration to approve their new drugs. For example Merck & Co executives, the recalled http://www.burgsimpson.com/vioxx.html manufactures, say they are facing a tough new regulatory climate that is delaying drug development. Over the last 16 months, Schering-Plough Corp. has pulled the plug on two drug development projects, one for obesity and the other for cholesterol, and considering pulling a third project. Chief Executive Fred Hassan believes the reason lies in the intensified focus on safety and the diminished tolerance for side effects. With the diabetes drug Avandia causing an increase of heart failure in some patients and the Ortho Evra birth-control patch causing blood clots and in some cases death, is it a wonder the FDA is taking longer? Drug companies are required to clear their new drugs with the FDA. If they want their products to come to market faster they need to focus their attention on screening their own products so that there is assurance that good and safe drugs are being released to the industry rather than making money.

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In a recent Psychiatric Times article, Dr. Ricardo E, Jorge professor of psychiatry at the University of Iowa, illuminated the impact of reintegrating Traumatic Brain Injury patients back into society. Consideration needs to be taken concerning their cognition and behavioral changes which constitutes the majority of TBI disabilities. In a control group of 939 TBI patients and 2,817 doctors a comparison was made between the effects of mental illnesses in those with moderate to severe and mild TBI. It was found that the prevalence of psychiatric illness in the first year following a moderate to severe TBI was 49 percent and those with a mild TBI experienced mental illness 34 percent of the time. What this means is that patients with moderate to severe TBI are 4 times more likely than the general population to develop a psychiatric illness in the six months following their injury. A discouraging 61 percent of those evaluated eight years after sustaining a TBI suffered from major depression and anxiety disorders, a significant amount more than those in the control group. Along with the increased number of mood disorders in TBI patients, researchers also found structural and/or functional alternations in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, indicating that structural brain damage plays a large part in psychiatric illness. Furthermore, not only does the TBI-caused damage to the prefrontal regions and limbic structures initiate mood disorders, but the disturbed neural circuits often continue to wreak havoc in the brain causing the illness to progress and evolve over time. As discouraging as this information is it helps create an increased awareness of the severity of this nationwide epidemic and will perhaps save a number of potential victims who instead chose to wear something as simple as a helmet.

Posted by Kerry N. Jardine at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

http://www.burgsimpson.com/digitek.htmlIn what may be the first Digitek product liability lawsuit has been filed in the Michigan Supreme Court. The class action drug product liability suit is seeking damages in excess of $75,000 from Digitek manufacturers the Activis Group. Digitek is the brand name for the heart drug digitalis. During the manufacturing process the tablets were created double strength. There was an Food and Drug Administration recall shortly thereafter. An overdose of digitalis can result in death from ventricular arrhythmia, or heart block. Non-fatal complications include nausea, vomiting, severe weight loss, diarrhea, mental confusion, vision changes and elevated blood pressure, which can lead to cerebral strokes.

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Earlier in the year Utah legislators approved House Bill 174 establishing a Traumatic Brain Injury Trust Fund. The trust fund begins with a one-time allocation of $50,000 intended to train medical personnel in treatment and recognition of traumatic brain injuries. The program will also help uninsured patients cover medical expenses not covered by Medicaid. “This fund could really open up the door for people who have been shut out of services in the past,” said Ron Roskos, director of the Brain Injury Association of Utah. “We hope this will be another avenue that individuals can use to access services.” More than 2,500 traumatic brain injuries occur a year and the number is increasing due to our returning war veterans. Only a handful of states have similar funds set aside for traumatic brain injuries. Once the distribution process has been finalized Rep. James Gowans – D, sponsor of the bill, will return to the legislature in the next session requesting long-term funding.

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Orange County California will be at the center of a new clinical trial using a hypertonic saline solution by emergency workers and medical doctors in the treatment and resuscitation method for victims of severe traumatic brain injury. The group labeled The Orange County Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium includes hospitals, healthcare agencies and fire departments. The ROC group’s effort will attempt to substantiate previous studies that have shown that hypertonic saline safely and effectively decreases inflammation in brain traumas. A similar approach was used with considerable success with the Buffalo Bill’s Tight End Kevin Everett after he suffered a spinal cord injury during a football game. The Orange County ROC trial will differ from other clinical trials because many of its participants will not be able to give consent or have family nearby to do so. Consent is required for all clinical studies, although federal law allows for exceptions if the safety of the product to be used has been proven in previous trials and if study leaders conduct community outreach discussions and opt-out measures for those who do not want to participate.

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Massachusetts tri-athlete Kenneth L. McDonnell, 58, was struck by a woman straying into the breakdown lane by her car while bicycling last fall, leaving him seriously injured. The woman was sentenced to one year probation, $350 in court fees and 100 hours of community service in a hospital or nursing home after her negligence caused a traumatic brain injury in the bicyclist. What makes this case interesting is that she must also complete the Brains at Risk program which is an “awareness and prevention court referral program that links dangerous driving behaviors to the devastating effects of traumatic brain injury,” according to the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts’ website. McDonnell who is biking again was initially given a 1-in 4 chance of survival. He said doctors credit the fact that he was in good physical condition at the time of the accident which probably saved his life. McDonnell said he was wearing a helmet at the time, but it was smashed when he flew off his bike and onto the car. He said the brain injury has left him with short-term memory problems and personality changes. The court ruling is disappointing because he has little financial support while seeking a full-time position that allows for the uniqueness of his injury.

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