Lawsuits against the federal government are handled differently than civil personal injury claims. The process of suing the federal government is governed by the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which involves complex requirements that do not apply to other personal...
After an investigation uncovered 88 cases of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) surgeon’s errors causing harm to veterans, the U.S. Senate is taking action to improve provider accountabilityThe original investigation, conducted by USA Today in October 2017,...
Eighteen years ago, the Institute of Medicine shocked the nation with a report titled "To Err Is Human." The IOM said medical errors were a bigger problem than the health care industry acknowledged and that as many as 98,000 people died in U.S. hospitals per year...
Efforts are ongoing to hold doctors and pharmaceutical companies accountable for their respective roles in the opioid crisis in the United States.For years, over-prescription of painkillers has been a serious problem in medical facilities, including VA hospitals,...
Will the Department of Veterans Affairs finally get it right? Will the federal agency finally stop covering up medical mistakes and poor care? We don't yet know the answer to those questions, but the VA is pledging an overhaul of its reporting policies; an effort it...
Nearly 20 years have gone by since a doctor was called to the witness stand to testify about the surgical skills of his partner. The surgeon was asked in a medical malpractice trial if his partner's work had ever been substandard. "No, never," he replied.All these...
Studies show that medical errors are the third-leading cause of death in the United States, and medical errors take many forms.Unfortunately, failure to identify patient allergies and failure to act on test results are two of the most common.The family of an...
Over the past few years, the news media has come to understand that the federal government's Department of Veterans Affairs has more than its share of problems with patient care and safety. One of the VA's most problem-plagued hospitals can be found in Tomah,...
No one knows you better than you do. You know which kinds of movies you like, which foods taste good to you and which ones do not, and you know exactly what you look like first thing in the morning and last thing at night.So no one is more qualified than you to keep...
We all function at least a little bit like our own doctors and nurses. We do the same for our children, of course, especially when they are very young.Everyone is aware that elevated body temperatures can be strong signals that a person is ill. When the thermometer...
