Here’s a glimpse of whats been happening this week in the law:
Hospitals can do more to protect patients.
An article in the February issue of Washingtonian magazine (2/1, Vaida), entitled “Minor Mistakes, Deadly Results,” produced with Kaiser Health News, reports on causes and prevention methods for hospital malpractice. Citing federal estimates that in 2010, faulty medical care contributed to the deaths of 15,000 Medicare patients each month, it says the core reasons are that hospitals “are hierarchical organizations resistant to change, they haven’t done enough to create environments in which patient safety is a priority, and they’ve been reluctant to share patient-safety data with the public.” Examining the patient safety efforts of five Washington area hospitals, the author found them employing such strategies as using checklists, enforcing hand-washing rules, breaking down hierarchical communication barriers and moving to digital records. Checklist use can help prevent the estimated 40 “wrong-site” operations occur in the US each week, and Johns Hopkins cut ICU bloodstream infections by 90 percent by consistently using checklists.
BP seeks to exclude evidence, seal testimony in oil spill case.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune (1/31, Mowbray) reports that in the forthcoming trial over liability for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, “a central piece of BP’s defense strategy has become clear: seal testimony and strike evidence. Over the past few months, BP has filed motions to exclude a number of different pieces of information, including any evidence of prior criminal proceedings or run-ins with regulators, past safety debacles such as the deadly 2005 explosion of the company’s refinery in Texas City, Texas, evidence on how employee compensation was tied to cutting costs, and key portions of former BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward’s deposition testimony.” While companies are also trying to seal exhibits so that they would not be discussed in open court or made part of the record of the trial, scheduled to begin February 27, a federal magistrate ruled Monday that all exhibits will be in the public record unless a company can show “serious competitive harm.”
Judge rules BP contract shields Halliburton from paying oil spill costs. The AP (2/1) reports from New Orleans that US District Judge Carl Barbier “ruled Tuesday that Halliburton can avoid paying most of the pollution claims that resulted from the catastrophic 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill because it was shielded in a contract with well-owner BP.” Judge Barbier ruled, however, that Halliburton “is not exempt from paying punitive damages and civil penalties that arise from the April 20, 2010, blowout off the Louisiana coast. Those penalties could amount to billions of dollars. The judge also said Halliburton’s indemnity could be voided if the company is found to have defrauded BP.”
Military healthcare carrier fined $10 million for defrauding government.
USA Today (2/1, Kennedy) reports, “One of the Pentagon’s major health care contractors, which is fighting to keep its multibillion-dollar contract, recently paid a $10 million fine to the federal government to settle a Justice Department suit over claims the company failed to pass on savings to the military.” TriWest Healthcare Alliance, “a consortium of non-profit groups in the West, is one of three main contractors for Tricare, the Pentagon’s health care program. It paid the government in September to settle a case in which four employees claimed the company defrauded the government by keeping savings it generated while working on the contract.”
Researchers to study impact of BPA on children.
Cleveland Plain Dealer (2/1, Tribble) reports, “In 2008, the Food and Drug Administration advised that food packaging containing BPA was safe. Since then, additional research has raised issues — and the biggest concerns are about the chemical’s effect on our children.” For example, “Consumer-safety advocates and scientists fear that the chemical leaches into foods from can linings and rubs off on people’s hands when they touch thermal, or heat-activated, receipts.” The piece notes, “Frank Biro, director of adolescent medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, believes the impact can occur even after a baby leaves the womb. Biro and a team of researchers have a $4.6-million National Institutes of Health grant to follow 1,239 girls for five years.”
Pfizer recalls birth control pills.
The CBS Evening News (1/31, story 10, 0:25, Pelley) reported, “Pfizer is recalling about a million packets of birth control pills. The drug maker says a packaging problem may leave women with an inadequate dose. Pfizer says there’s no health risk, just a greater chance of unintended pregnancy. You can find the names of the recalled pills at CBSNews.com.”
Honda loses small-claims suit over Civic Hybrid fuel economy.
The Los Angeles Times (2/2, Hirsch, Times) reports, “The owner of a Honda Civic hybrid won an unusual Small Claims Court lawsuit Wednesday against the auto giant that some legal experts believe could change strategies for both Small Claims Court and class-action litigation. A Los Angeles County court commissioner ruled that American Honda Motor Co. negligently misled Civic owner Heather Peters when it claimed the hybrid could achieve as much as 50 miles per gallon:” The commissioner’s 26-page decision awarded Peters $9,867.19 in damages, nearly the maximum $10,000 allowed in Small Claims Court. The award provided, the Times says, “far greater than the damages she would have collected had she signed onto a class-action-lawsuit settlement over similar claims against Honda.” The car maker indicated that it would appeal the decision.
The AP (2/1, Deutsch) adds that the class-action settlement is offering a “couple hundred dollars.” It notes that the decision included “a long list of misleading representations by Honda,” including that the vehicle would consume “amazingly little fuel,” “provides plenty of horsepower while still sipping fuel,” and would “save plenty of money on fuel with up to 50 mpg during city driving.”
Study: Prescription errors drop when hospitals switch to e-prescribing.
In “Ezra Klein’s Wonkblog,” the Washington Post (2/2, Kliff) discusses a “study, published this week in the online journal PLoS One,” which “examined medical errors at two Australian hospitals before and after implementing an e-prescribing system, where doctors use a computer to assist with ordering medications. The computer system studied here reviewed the patient’s current medications, alerted the prescriber to any potential conflicts, and then sent the order off, electronically, to the pharmacy.” Notably, “when hospitals…switched to e-prescribing, the impact was pretty impressive. Error rates in prescriptions dropped by 60 percent, the researchers found.”
Female Wal-Mart workers file sex-bias claims.
The Los Angeles Times (2/3, Li) reports that over 500 current and former female Wal-Mart Stores “have filed discrimination claims against the retailer with the U.S. Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission after a national class-action lawsuit was blocked by the Supreme Court last year. The claims were filed to preserve the women’s rights to pursue individual and regional class-action suits against Wal-Mart over alleged discrimination on pay and promotions, their attorneys said.”
Survey finds drug shortages may be hastening cancer deaths.
Medscape (2/3, Mulcahy) reports, “Cancer drug shortages hastened the deaths of some patients in 2011, according to a small survey of American clinicians, conducted by a for-profit research firm with ties to drug companies, that was released this week.” What’s more, “it is projected that drug shortages will continue to hasten the deaths of cancer patients in the coming year, according to the survey.” According to Michael P. Link, MD, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), “economics are driving the problem. ‘There are numerous causes for the escalating drug shortage crisis, but in our view, none are as powerful as simple economics,’ write Dr. Link and 2 coauthors in an essay published online January 30 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.”
Over the past few years, medical malpractice has taken center stage in the news over so called “tort reform.” You may have heard a number of myths about doctors, medical malpractice and the civil justice system. Here are the facts:
