NEWS STORY Jun 25, 2010
A doctor in the UK has admitted to helping 18 of his patients die using medication, including his own son. His name is Dr. Howard Martin, and he is now 75 years old. In at least two cases, he admitted to not having the consent of the patient. According to him, he helped the patients die to end their suffering.
As a result, he has been struck off by the General Medical Council.
Even though he was cleared of two murders in 2005, there is no law against double jeopardy in England and Wales. Police are now looking into whether to reopen the cases.
Read more at: Wales Online.
NEWS STORY Jun 21, 2010
A judge in San Francisco has temporarily barred around 11,000 nurses from striking. He did so on the basis that a strike would pose too much of a danger to public health.
A dispute is under way between the in the University of California medical system and the California Nurses Association regarding new contracts set to begin this September. The nurses had planned a walk-out on June 10, but was barred by the court. The dispute, however, remains ongoing.
Meanwhile, in Minnesota, a strike of about 12,000 nurses occurred on June 10, with additional strikes possible as the Minnesota Nurses Association resumes negotiation with hospitals there.
NEWS STORY Jun 17, 2010
Dr. Neelu Pal was a surgical resident at NYU Langone Medical Center where bariatric surgery, including the lap-band, was performed. During the course of her training, she became alarmed at how things were being done at the hospital.
After witnessing the death of a patient in 2006, Dr. Pal took it upon herself to be vigilent on behalf of future patients. On weekends when she had time, Dr. Pal would anonymously phone patients who were scheduled for lap-band surgery. Pretending to be someone else, such as an operating nurse, she would warn the patients that she “had watched many patients die from the procedure.”
She would go on to encourage the patients to get surgery elsewhere, insisting that “there were serious quality issues with the bariatric surgery program” at that hospital.
The patient who died in 2006 was Rhonda Frieberg. She had bariatric surgery followed immediately by plastic surgery. Just 36 hours after surgery, Rhonda died from cardiac arrest.
The New York Department of Health had reviewed and found that the hospital did not properly monitor Rhonda after surgery. In addition, one of the surgeons testified that some of the physicians hired by the hospital were unlicensed.
In Rhonda’s case, NYU settled for $973,000.
Not long after Dr. Pal started calling patients anonymously, an NYU investigation eventually pointed her to be the prime suspect. She confessed and was suspended and fired for making the calls. Her bosses called this an “egregious example of unprofessional and irresponsible behavior.”
Dr. Pal finished her training at University Medical Center at Princeton. She also sued NYU for whistleblower retaliation. Last month, Dr. Pal and NYU agreed to settle the case for an undisclosed sum.
NEWS STORY Jun 15, 2010
The Food and Drug Administration is seeking to disqualify Dr. Daniel Berger from any further drug research. They accuse Dr. Berger for faking a large portion of a clinical drug trial.
For example, many of the patient signatures were found to be forged, including forms indicating participants’ health for the clinical trial. Also, pre-study tests to determine the health of the subject, such as physical exams and electrocardiograms, were sometimes not even performed.
Dr. Berger is a long-established HIV doctor. In defense, Dr. Berger blames the problems with the study on a former coordinator, whom he claims was a convicted felon that he didn’t perform a background check on.
Read more at: Chicago Tribune.
NEWS STORY Jun 08, 2010
In 2008 on New Year’s Day, Reid Emery, a 61-year-old patient, asked to leave Down East Community Hospital. He had been rushed there five days earlier with stomach pains and was heavily medicated.
Unfortunately, a snow storm prevented his family from going to pick him up. Despite objections from other staff members, the nursing supervisor John Zablotny went ahead and discharged Reid into the freezing cold. Reid only had on light clothing and slippers. He died from hypothermia and opiate toxicity, 18 feet from the hospital walls.
Zablotny lost his nursing license and has to pay a $1,500 in fines plus the costs of the hearing. Needless to say, he also no longer works at the hospital.
Read more at: Bangor Daily News.
Jun 01, 2010 | 3 Comments
Case Synopsis
A Bit Too Young
Way back in 1979, Laura was a young 14 year-old girl who was admitted to a local hospital complaining of lower abdominal pain. Dr. Blum (then 50 years old) was one of many doctors that saw her. On around the second day of Laura’s hospitalization, Dr. Blum took her on a special tour of the hospital and then to his office. While in the office, Dr. Blum offered her some sherry.
One thing led to another, and soon she was sitting next to him on the couch. They began kissing, he fondled her, and then they had sex.
A few days later, while Laura was still in the hospital, this happened again.
NEWS STORY May 25, 2010
You may remember that back in February, the medical journal Lancet officially pulled a research article linking MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccines to autism in children. That study, led by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, caused parents all over the world to refuse the use of MMR vaccines on their children.
Since the study’s publication in 1998, it had been discredited by subsequent studies into the matter and renounced by 10 of the 13 original authors. In addition, it had been found that Dr. Wakefield engaged in highly unethical behavior during the course of the study.
Just yesterday, the General Medical Council barred Dr. Wakefield from practicing medicine in the UK, citing “serious professional misconduct” and repeatedly breaching “fundamental principles of research medicine.”
In a symbolic gesture, the disciplinary board also removed from the registry Dr. John Walker-Smith. Dr. Walker-Smith was the former head of the Pediatric Gastroenterology Department at the Royal Free Hospital in London, where Dr. Wakefield performed the study. Dr. Walker-Smith has been retired for 10 years.
Dr. Wakefield said that he would file for an appeal.
Read more at: The Independent.
