Lauren Ellerman

Ok friends – I will admit that many believe my line of work is not in any way, a service to mankind. You know, plaintiff attorneys file so many frivolous lawsuits…Well today I stand proud knowing I have never and will never file a frivlous lawsuit – unlike the attorney…

Check out this article in yesterday’s Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/10/AR2007061001148.html“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New tests involving blood and brain scans can detect symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, and brief appraisals of real-life functioning can predict who is likely to develop it, researchers saidSunday.The tests will be critical, experts told a meeting on Alzheimer’s…

I wonder if we will ever read a report like this one in SW Virginia – my guess is, we might someday. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060502558.html?hpid=topnews“From an emergency department with faulty monitors, IV pumps and broken stretchers to an operating room running part time for lack of staff, patient care is increasingly limited…

My friends at the Washington Post must have had access to the whole study on elderly patients with dementia, and psychotropic drugs – their very detailed article can be found:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060500572.html

Anyone with experience knows that dementia is a sad and scary disease. Typically physicians treat symptoms of dementia with antipsychotic medications to reduce some of the manifestations of the disease, like aggressiveness etc.A recent study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine this month, followed older adults with dementia between…

Health Management Associates, Naples, Fla., has agreed to sell 133-bed Mountain View Regional Medical Center, Norton, Va., and 50-bed Lee Regional Medical Center, Pennington Gap, Va., to Wellmont Health System, of Kingsport, Tenn.Although the terms were not disclosed, I imagine there is a pretty big pricetag.Read more – modernhealthcare.com.The purpose?…

Want to check on a certain nursing home? See how they have been doing?You can go to medicare’s website to look for citations – www.medicare.govYou can make a Freedom of Information Act request to your local state health authority (in Va. call 1-800-955-1819) and ask for the most recent state…

Wow! $1.3 million dollar sanction ordered against a hospital for misconduct in a pending malpractice lawsuit. Failing to answer discovery truthfully, tell the plaintiff’s family who individuals with knowledge were — and even after the $6 million dollar plaintiff’s verdict, now the hospital must pay $1.3 million in sanctions. Read…

This morning I read an abstract in the Journal of the American Geriactrics Society – June 2007 publication. While you cannot access the entire study without a subscription, it seems recent studies reflect older women with depression, have higher bone loss than woman who are not depressed. AND the study…

Grandma is in the local nursing home for rehab after she broke her hip. A pressure ulcer develops, or she gets a UTI, diabetes is uncontrolled or something else happens. Who is looking after her? WHO IS THE BOSS?Well, the Medical Director of the nursing home is – right? Maybe.…