Medical Malpractice

• Nevada Doctors Disciplined by Board

  Steve Klearman | December 28, 2007 10:28 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  In the most recent Nevada Board of State Medical Examiners meeting, seven medical doctors and one physician's assistant were disciplined. The Reno Gazette reports that this is the largest number of disciplinary actions at one meeting in several years.Professionals disciplined include: Gregory Bryan, M.D., Michael Sullivan, P.A., Gilles Desmaires, M.D., David Linden, M.D., Stuart Steel, M.D.,...

• Top 10 Questions to Ask Your Nevada Doctor

  Steve Klearman | December 18, 2007 7:17 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Here is a list of ten questions from MSN, commented on by John S. Ford, MD, MPH in his California Medicine Man blog dated December 13, 2007 1) Do I really need this test? Great question but the author is preaching not to the choir, but to the tree stump. It's pretty well documented that as far as the patient is concerned: "Nothing is too good for my health...as long as someone else is footing...

• Obesity Alters Immunity

  Steve Klearman | December 17, 2007 1:42 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Obesity makes it harder for some people to fight infections and heal wounds, according to a Yahoo! News Article dated December 12, 2007. This may be due to the tendency of obese people to have weakened immune responses.In a Boston University Research study, researchers tied silk threads laced with gum disease to the teeth of obese mice and mice of regular weight to compare the animals' response...

• More on Nevada's Mental Health Funding Problems

  Steve Klearman | December 12, 2007 9:36 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  According to a Reno Gazette Journal Article dated November 30, 2007, the new Reno triage center may have its budget cut after Governor Jim Gibbons ordered state agencies to submit lists for an 8% budget cut this month. This cut was an increase from an original 5% cut due to declining sales and gaming tax revenues.The triage center is a center to help homeless people with mental health or...

• Crucial Medical Tests Delayed

  Steve Klearman | December 11, 2007 9:29 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Thousands of patients are facing delays in crucial medical tests because of a shortage of a radioactive substance used in those examinations -- all because of the shutdown of one nuclear reactor in Canada. According to Associated Press writers Charmaine Noronha and Stephanie Nano, the substance is used in at least 15 million medical scans a year in the United States, by one estimate. Those scans...

• Nevada's Mental Health Funding Problems Continue

  Steve Klearman | December 07, 2007 2:45 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  As Nevada's population of those with mental heatlh problems grows, the state has determined that it cannot spend as much as it did previously.According to a Reno Gazette Journal Article dated November 30, 2007, the new Reno triage center may have its budget cut after Governor Jim Gibbons ordered state agencies to submit lists for an 8% budget cut this month. This cut was an increase from an...

• Lymph Node Assessments Skipped in Breast Cancer Cases

  Steve Klearman | December 05, 2007 9:02 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  A startling 11% of those in a 200,000-patient national sample did not receive a lymph node assessment while undergoing surgery for early-stage breast cancer. The recommended practice promotes disease staging and appropriate treatment selection. Garth Sullivan, Esq., at Indox Consulting (415-568-7116) reports that researchers explored the impact of patient race and ethnicity, insurance status,...

• Nearly Half of Doctors Fail to Report Incompent or Unethical Behavior

  Steve Klearman | December 03, 2007 12:51 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  In Nevada, as elsewhere, one has to look out of state to find a medical expert witness to testify. Nevada doctors do not testify against each other. Similarly, I suspect that a review of State Board of Medical Examiners complaints would reveal that the vast majority of such complaints come from patients.It comes as little surprise, therefore, that nearly half of all U.S. doctors fail to report...

• Court Examines Sovereign Immunity Protection for Doctors

  Steve Klearman | December 01, 2007 12:26 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  In Martinez v. Maruszczak, 123 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 43 (October 11, 2007), the Nevada Supreme Court considered " the extent to which sovereign immunity protects publicly employed physicians from common-law liability for medical malpractice."The Court's analysis turned "on Nevada's statutory waiver of sovereign immunity and a statutory exception to that waiver, which immunizes state actors from...

• Health Care Providers Do Not Need to "Line Up" to be Experts

  Steve Klearman | November 30, 2007 12:20 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  In Staccato v. Valley Hospital, 123 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 49 (November 8, 2007), the Nevada Supreme Court resolved the issue of whether a physician is qualified to testify as to the proper standard of care in a malpractice action against a nurse when the allegedly negligent act implicates the physician's realm of expertise. The Court concluded "that a physician or other medical care provider is...