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Why nursing home policies and procedures are so important 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Why nursing home policies and procedures are so important

Have you every heard the phrase – honesty is the best policy? It is an ironic truism. True, because honesty is always preferable to the opposite, dishonesty, and yet ironic because why do we as humans need a policy (a written rule) encouraging honesty? Shouldn’t honesty be innate? Shouldn’t we know to tell the truth, without…

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Surgical complications – not always a result of human error 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Surgical complications – not always a result of human error

No such thing as a simple surgery.  Seriously. And no surgery is totally without risk.  We have had patients die during hip repairs, and suffer life changing injury after routine colonoscopies and or gallbladder surgeries. We have seen patients die during child delivery, cancer surgeries, and other ‘routine procedures.’ Sometimes, the health care providers do…

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Use of Haldol for dementia / Alzheimer’s patients in nursing homes 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Use of Haldol for dementia / Alzheimer’s patients in nursing homes

So the FDA says the following about using Haldol for a dementia / Alzheimer’s patient in a nursing home. Read it carefully, the language is not soft but very clear:  WARNING Increased Mortality in Elderly Patients with Dementia-Related Psychosis: Elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of death.…

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introductions: I’m Lauren Ellerman 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

introductions: I’m Lauren Ellerman

My name is Lauren Ellerman  I am a lawyer in Roanoke Virginia. Learn more about me here.   

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Who is to blame for any tragedy? 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Who is to blame for any tragedy?

I rarely claim Florida as home – but this week, I wear my Sunshine State flag with pride. My family is there. My brother and sister in law, often visit dine and enjoy what Orlando, Tampa and Miami nightlife have to offer.  My high-school friends are there – and many, I am confident, have been…

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Hair Club for Men – in the news again! 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Hair Club for Men – in the news again!

If you were an adolescent in the 1990s, there is no doubt you remember some of the classic Hair Club for Men commercials where men would smile while woman rubbed their hands across thick luscious clumps of natural looking hair on a man standing nearby. I recall friends reenacting the adds in middle school and…

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Thinking of calling a lawyer with your potential medical malpractice claim – how should you prepare? 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Thinking of calling a lawyer with your potential medical malpractice claim – how should you prepare?

I ask Google at least 3 or 4 questions a day. I ask for advice on pronunciation, recipes, geography and more. Last week my husband asked Google whether the new Jungle Book movie was appropriate for a 4 year old (the answer, in case you are wondering, is no. it is not.) It therefore occurs…

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Can a patient’s family call 911 in a nursing home? 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

Can a patient’s family call 911 in a nursing home?

We get questions like the following, all the time: “I am worried about my loved one in the nursing home. I asked the nurse to call the rescue squad and she said she couldn’t – waiting for a doctor’s order. What can I do?” or “I told the nurse I was so worried about my Mom…

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ERCPs, the CDC, the FDA, & You 150 150 Lauren Ellerman

ERCPs, the CDC, the FDA, & You

Before doing medical malpractice work, I took for granted that doctors and hospitals would only use clean instruments and tools on patients.  That naivete is long since gone, and FDA Safety Communications like this reaffirm why.   A bit of medical background: Gastroenterologists and their staff who help with procedures called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)…

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Non-Competes Are Bad For The Little Guy and Bad for the Larger Economy 150 150 Dan Frith
  • Dan Frith

Non-Competes Are Bad For The Little Guy and Bad for the Larger Economy

Not my title but my sentiments exactly.  This title comes from an article recently published in Fortune magazine. Non-competes are employment contracts that prevent a departing employee (departing voluntarily or involuntarily) from working for a competitor for one year…or two years…or even three years.  The agreements are not only bad for individual workers but they are bad…

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5 Ways to Make Hospitals Safer 150 150 Dan Frith
  • Dan Frith

5 Ways to Make Hospitals Safer

I read with interest an op-ed letter in this week’s Wall Street Journal (May 18, 2016). The letter was written by James Lieber, a lawyer in Pittsburgh.  He noted the recently released studies revealing an astonishingly high number of Americans lose their lives each year due to preventable medical negligence.  His suggestions to improve patient care include:…

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Medical Errors are now the third leading cause of death in America 150 150 Dan Frith
  • Dan Frith

Medical Errors are now the third leading cause of death in America

Johns Hopkins researchers estimate that medical error is now the third leading cause of death in America.  The numbers are shocking: 1.  Heart Disease kills 614,348 each year 2.  Cancer kills 591,699 each year 3.  Medical Errors kill 251,454 each year Do the math.  That translates to 689 people die every day (365 days a year)…

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