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Horrible mistakes can happen in emergency rooms, during surgery, or during routine medical procedures. These mistakes have been labeled as “never events”, because they are things that should never happen, but do happen in the medical community routinely. It’s been estimated that never events happen an average of 80 times a week in the U.S. The most often discussed never events are surgical events, and can include operating on the wrong person or body part, leaving a foreign object inside a patient, performing the wrong operation, or the death of a healthy patient from anesthesia. All of those occurrences should …

Yes, you may be able to make a claim against the manufacturer if you have been harmed because of a defect with your automobile. Unfortunately, automobile companies often cut corners on safety in order to increase their profitability. In many cases, those risks that they choose to take affect the lives of their customers. If you have been involved in an automobile accident and you suspect the accident was caused by a problem with your vehicle, you must be able to prove that the cause of the accident was the result of the manufacturer’s negligence. You may be able to …

I’m sorry to hear that you feel uncomfortable at work because of the Confederate flag. As you probably know, racial discrimination and harassment in the workplace are illegal under both federal and state law. If your boss or anyone else at work discriminates against you or harasses you because of your race, that conduct is illegal and you can pursue damages. However, it’s unclear whether or not simply displaying a Confederate flag, by itself, would be considered discrimination or harassment. Several courts have weighed in on the issue, and most of them have found that displaying a Confederate flag, when …

Somatosensory evoked potentials are brain waves that are used during surgery to assess the function of a patient’s spinal cord during surgery. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) can be valuable in alerting the surgeon to any problems with a patient’s spinal cord before it becomes too late. SSEP tests measure the electrical activity of the brain that results from the stimulation of touch. SSEPs are recorded by stimulating peripheral nerves, such as the ulnar nerve, the median nerve, or the tibial nerve, often with an electrical stimulus. The patient’s response is then recorded from the patient’s scalp. Those responses can provide, …

I am so sorry to hear about your amputation, and that medical treatment that you believe may have helped you was not available because of insurance reasons. Effective transplants of entire limbs, hands, or feet are rare but have been done effectively. Transplants normally involve a lifetime of immunosuppressive medications, which can cause However, there are other, more common transplants which are effective for some amputees. Nerves can in many cases be successfully transplanted, which can help amputees who have nerve injuries. Skin, muscles and tendons can also be successfully transplanted in some cases in order to help amputees. There …

Burns are not only one of the most painful injuries a person can have, but they can leave behind emotional and physical scars. If you have been the victim of a burn injury in the Los Angeles area as a result of a car accident, a dangerous product, a workplace accident, or a home fire, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. A personal injury attorney can help you prove your claim and can fight against the insurance companies involved. After a painful burn, you will need to determine whether or not your burn was the fault of …

There are less trains in operation now than there were decades ago, but trains are still a very vital part of our economy. Most trains pass through fairly rural, unpopulated parts of the country, but many pass through cities and towns. Train safety can be a major concern at intersections. It has been estimated that a person or a vehicle is hit by a train every three hours in the United States. If a person is in an accident with a train, he or she is almost 20 times more likely to be killed than if he or she was …

Transcranial Doppler Imaging (TCDI) is a type of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM). It is commonly used during vascular surgery. TCDI is a type of ultrasound that measures the velocity of blood flow through the brain’s blood vessels by measuring the echoes of ultrasound waves moving through the brain. TCDI is often used in conjunction with other tests. TCDI uses one or two probes that display images of the skull, brain, and blood vessels. The probe emits a sound wave that bounces off substances in the body. The probes can measure whether blood is moving towards or away from the probe. …

Labeling on medications is absolutely critical and has got to be right. The information labels on medications indicate the proper dosage, how often it is to be taken, how it is to be taken, and any interactions the medications could have. If a prescription medication is mislabeled, that mistake could post serious harm for the consumer. There has been an increase in recent years in the number of compounding pharmacies, which are pharmacies that produce and dispense small amounts of medications. Compounding pharmacies can be prone to mistakes, as can standard pharmacies, all of which can endanger the health of …

I’m so sorry to hear about your child’s accident. Although that type of incident is extremely rare, it does happen. Late last year, a playground equipment manufacturer issued a recall for hundreds of slides after reports of amputations involving children. If your child has suffered serious injuries because of a defect with a piece of playground equipment, you have legal options. Normally, you would pursue a product liability case against the manufacturer of the defective equipment. Product liability cases can be handled in a number of ways. The type of product, as well as the date it was designed or …

More people are cycling today than ever before. Many cities, including Los Angeles, have put in more bicycle lanes on the roads, as well as bicycle paths. These bicycle lanes are designed to increase safety, but bicyclists and automobile drivers are always at risk of accidents when sharing the roadways. Bicycle lanes are definitely a safer alternative to bicycles directly sharing lanes with automobiles, but they are not without risk. The bicycle lanes are normally directly beside roads, so there is still a high risk of accidents. Motorists may fail to see bicyclists in bike lanes, which can be particularly …

That’s a very good question. Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring involves the use of electrodes during surgery to gauge how the body’s nervous system is responding during surgery. It has been shown to help reduce, in most cases, the incidence of problems during the surgery. In order to sue a doctor for medical malpractice, you must be able to show that a doctor-patient relationship existed, the doctor was negligent, and you were harmed as a result of that negligence. To find a doctor negligent, it must be shown that his or her conduct fell below a generally accepted standard of medical care. …