The Medical Negligence Blog
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U.S. to take steps to tackle the opioid crisis – will U.K. follow suit on medication problems?
The U.S. has reportedly acknowledged the problem of quadrupling opioid-related deaths, as well as the fact they now account for the majority of fatal overdoses. It’s been declared as a national public health emergency.
Various federal institutions are to be involved in taking measures to combat the problem. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will require pharmaceutical drug companies that make prescription opioids to “provide more training to prescriber’s”.
As Britain faces its own battles with the overuse of prescription medication – including opioids – will we see similar action here?
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NHS pushed into upgrading its monitoring system following avoidable death
A 42-year-old woman was admitted to East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust hospital on a Friday evening with a liver abscess and sepsis. Her condition rapidly deteriorated over the weekend and she tragically died two days later of multiple organ failure.
This death was confirmed to have been entirely preventable.
This incident was apparently the last straw for the Trust’s critical-care lead, Dr Kate Murray. Prior to this incident, Murray was unhappy with an abundance of problems with how the hospital take patient observations, and as a result of the incident, she sought to do something about it.
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Weight loss detox teas reportedly contain laxatives that can lead to heart and kidney problems
Popular social media platforms like Instagram are full to the brim with perfectly sculpted bodies, specifically angled to show toned arms, perky bums and flat stomachs. Some Instagram models and celebrities swear by drinking detox teas to help them get rid of water weight and achieve that “impossibly flat” stomach.
However, when things look too good to be true, it’s because they normally are…
In the firing line are weight loss detox teas that have been reported as being bad for you. Here’s why…
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Antidepressant side effects may increase risk of suicide by triggering “akathisia”
Mental health care has gained more recognition and dedication of resources to help those who suffer from mental illness over the last few decades. Antidepressants can be used to treat symptoms of depression and can help the body to produce hormones that promote positive mood-levels and emotions and can even reduce pain. However, as with many drugs, this kind of medication can have potentially dangerous side effects such as “akathisia”.
Although the drug carries warnings of potentially increasing the risk of depression and suicidal thoughts in people under the age of 25, recent developments suggest that it could also impact those over 25 as well…
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Medical Negligence: Misdiagnosis compensation claims
“Because someone is in a white coat and uses big medical instruments, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re right” – this is what Kylie Minogue said about her misdiagnosis experience. The Australian celebrity singer was told by her doctor that everything was fine, but her own “gut feeling” led her to being retested, and in 2009, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
It can happen to anyone, and it does happen. It’s real, and the problems that can be caused can lead to serious health complications, and even death.
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A reported 22% increase in fatal drug overdoses involving Fentanyl in just one year
Plagued by a reported opioid crisis, the U.S. has released national statistics on drug-related deaths, revealing staggering results that reflect the country’s problems.
In the last year alone, the U.S reports a death toll of 64,000 for people who suffered fatal overdoses.
Here in the U.K., the Office for National Statistics puts the figure for deaths involving substance abuse at 952, which is a significant increase from 579 just five years ago. Irrelevant of whether our death-rates are nowhere near as bad as the U.S. or not, the issue is that the U.K. could be headed in a similar direction to the U.S. when it comes to medicinal drug overuse and problems, and this cannot be ignored.
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When failure and delays in providing treatment is a cause for medical negligence
We all know that our National Health Service (NHS) is extremely busy. The mainstream media inform us about the constant shortages of nurses and hospital beds all the time. With so many patients and so little staff, sometimes it feels like the quality of care the NHS provides has significantly dropped. In their busy and long shifts, doctors and nurses are arguably susceptible to making mistakes more than we would like to think about.
Research states that around 15% of patients suffer a misdiagnosis or mistreatment because of mistakes. In the worst of these scenarios, people can be left suffering with serious problems.
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How does a medical negligence claim for compensation work?
Doctors and nurses in the medical profession are absolutely vital in society. They’re highly regarded and respected for their ability to help us with all sorts of ailments: from broken bones to the rarest of diseases.
We trust them to look after our bodies and minds. We put our faith in them that they will do their very best to help us. But, unfortunately, mistakes can happen; Doctors are human after all. When a medical professional has been negligent, it can be very stressful and cause the victim a lot of problems, which is why there is the need to make claims for medical negligence where applicable.
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Gallstones are small stones that form in the gallbladder. While gallstones can generally be harmless, and do not always need to be treated, they can become trapped in a duct inside the gallbladder which can lead to serious abdominal pain.
Gallstones can be a serious medical emergency and in the worst case scenario, if not dealt with, can be fatal. As such, it’s important that gallstones are identified and dealt with when the need arises for the sake of the patient’s health and well-being. A failure by medical professionals to deal with gallstones, or where routine surgery to resolve the problems goes wrong, is where a patient may have a gallstone medical negligence compensation claim.
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Authorities cracking down on unapproved stem cell “miracle” treatments
Authorities have reportedly been conducting investigations and raiding health clinics that purport to offer “miracle treatments” using stem cells.
Since the discovery of stem cell techniques, doctors and researchers have been overjoyed to use such procedures for regenerative medicine, with stem cells often extracted from bone marrow, blood and fat. However, there are reportedly a small number of institutions who have taken the opportunity to allegedly exploit eager patients by offering “unproven and potentially dangerous treatments” involving stem cell techniques.
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Pregnancy and childbirth injury compensation claims
The birth of a new baby is often very exciting. However, while the arrival of a new baby is meant to bring joy and happiness, pregnancy and childbirth can be a very difficult time for all involved, and there are many complications that can arise.
During child birth, both the mother and the baby can suffer severe trauma which can be caused by medical negligence. If the pregnancy, child birth and the aftercare are not properly managed by medical staff, there may be detrimental consequences.
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Diabetes: diagnosis and treatment failures
Diabetes is a lifelong condition that reportedly affects 3.5 million people in the U.K. alone.
Type one diabetes is where the body is unable to produce any insulin and so the cells are unable to use the blood sugar for energy which creates a build-up of sugar in your blood stream; and Type two diabetes is where either not enough insulin is produced or the insulin is not working properly so the cells can only get access to certain amounts of sugar, meaning that blood sugar levels can build-up.
When effectively managed, people are fine to live a relatively normal life when suffering with diabetes, but diagnosis and treatment is key. As such, any failures to treat or diagnosis the condition can be catastrophic.
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