Hospitals Not Transparent about Mistakes

by Kevin Duffan

Kevin is a Virginia injury attorney who handles car accidents, medical malpractice, wrongful death, etc.

11/27/2011
Kevin Duffan
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Norfolk, VA Personal Injury Attorney Reports: Hospitals Not Transparent About Mistakes

Authors of an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2010 urged hospitals to have clear procedures for notifying the public and patients about errors, coordinating diagnostic testing and treatment and responding to regulatory bodies.

Even if this shift toward transparent health care is taking place elswhere, an investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution indicated that some hospital mistakes such as patient suicides, surgical errors and sexual assaults remain confidential.

Georgia (GA) hospitals are required notify the state of the unexpected deaths of patients, but the Department of Community Health's online database does not present full detils on causes or evdence that could be used to confirm or dscount uncorroborated wrongdoing charges for hospital errors that violate state or federal regulations.

According to the news article, while not disclosing unanticipated deaths can protect the privacy of hospital workers, it prevents patients from discovering if a hospital has a complaint history, which can establish a pattern of inadequate care. In addition, not disclosing hospital reports keeps taxpayers from evaluating the quality of state investigations into medical errors.

If you or a loved one suffers an injury due to inappropriate medical care, hold the responsible medical professionals accountable with the help of a medical malpractice attorney. To learn more about what to you or a loved one can recover in a medical negligence lawsuit, check out our case results.

LC

Category: Medical Malpractice/Doctor Mistakes

Labels: Attorney fatal drug overdose injured lawyer medical care medical malpractice NC North Carolina personal injury Shapiro Suicide surgery on wrong body part surgery on wrong patient

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have extensive experience handling medical malpractice and doctor mistake cases. Please take a few moments to review our medical malpractice case results. We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Suffolk, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by the carelessness of a doctor, surgeon, nurse or pharmacist.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been recognized as among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Also, Rick and Jim have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers are chosen for this professional honor.

Members of our VA personal injury law firm have also been selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our VA medical malpractice firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.

We offer free special reports on the Top 10 Tips from a Medical Malpractice Insider and the top five surgical errors you must know about.

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultation, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can return your call.

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Norfolk, VA Personal Injury Attorney Reports: Hospitals Not Transparent About Mistakes

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