Dan Frith

The Roanoke Times just published an article from “To Your Good Health.” An informative and educational column on infectious diseases and public health issue written by Dr. Keith Roach, a highly respected physician at Weill Cornell Medical College.  Today’s column was based upon a wife’s report of how her husband’s…

Sepsis.  What is it?  It is bad and it is life-threatening and it effects more than 1 million patients a year!  The Mayo Clinic defines sepsis as an infection in which the patient exhibits at least two of the following symptoms, plus a probable or confirmed infection:     1.  Body temperature…

We all rely upon “word of mouth” in locating a good building contractor, dentist, plumber, painter, doctor, or lawyer.  What about finding a good hospital?If word of mouth from patients who were treated in that hospital is considered, several Virginia hospitals would fare poorly.  Virginia Business magazine’s January issue contains…

This issue is not a Republican versus Democrat or Liberal versus Conservative matter.  You have probably heard or read the following:  The medical malpractice crisis is threatening U.S. health care.  Baloney:  Medical errors claim more than 250,000 lives each year and medical negligence is the third-leading cause of death in…

The only hospital in Danville, Virginia is getting a very poor report card from the Leapfrog Group,  a nonprofit organization committed to driving quality, safety, and transparency in the U.S. health system.  The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is becoming the gold standard measure of patient safety. Danville Regional Medical Center was…

Everyone has an opinion on the answer to this question.  However, some opinions should carry more weight than others – take the opinions from the Leapfrog Group,  a nonprofit organization committed to driving quality, safety, and transparency in the U.S. health system. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is becoming the…

My firm handles medical malpractice cases and it never ceases to amaze me how defense lawyers, hired by the medical malpractice insurance companies who insure the defendant doctor, always find some well-credentialed and well-educated doctor to come to trial and testify that the defendant did nothing wrong.  We have seen some…

If you need emergent surgery, there is no decision to make.  You take whomever the hospital assigns or whomever is available.But what about elective surgeries like hip or knee replacements… or a heart valve repair…or certain cancer surgeries?  For me, I would always choose the surgeon with the most experience. …