Why don’t doctors think should tell us that when they aren’t very good?
I subscribe to several medical ethics feeds on twitter. Since doing so, I’ve often been surprised at how easy some of the... Read More
For the second time in its history, FDA bans a medical device (powdered gloves)
Once, in 1983, the FDA banned a medical device: prosthetic hair fibers. Since then despite all of the recalls, lawsuits, deaths, and... Read More
Class 1 Recall for Catheters Used to Sample Blood
FDA announced a Class 1 Recall (the most serious kind) today for for “single lumen” catheters made by Centurion Medical Products. Over... Read More
Great Freakonomics Series on Myths in Medicine
It’s always nice when you can get your patient safety information with your entertainment. The folks at Freakonomics have given us a... Read More
What Has Changed Since We Learned That We Suffer Enough Medical Error Deaths Each Week to Fill Four Jumbo Jets
In 2012, Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary wrote an essay in the Wall Street Journal about “the disturbing closed-door culture of American medicine.”... Read More
*Another* Class 1 Recall: What’s going on with PTFE coating?
For the second time in as many weeks, a manufacturer is issuing a Class 1 recall — the most serious kind —... Read More
Tip #2 for protecting yourself from harm from a medical device: Know the Learning Curve
Here is Tip #2 in for protecting yourself from the Five Dangers most people don’t know about medical devices. Today’s danger is... Read More
FindrWIRZ Guidewire system recalled: “may cause serious injuries or death”
Today the FDA announced a Class 1 recall — the most serious kind of recall — for a catheter guidance tool called... Read More
What will Trump and the Republican Congress mean for the FDA?
This article by Stat News takes on the question I’ve been wondering about since 11/8: are the already-thin protections offered by the... Read More
Tip #1 for protecting yourself from harm from a medical device: Ask MAUDE
(This is the first tip for protecting yourselves from the medical device dangers described in our recent animated “Five Dangers” video. The... Read More
Video: 5 Things to Know About Medical Devices Before Your Surgery
Here are five medical device dangers all patients should think about before their surgeries. In upcoming posts, we’ll also share five tips... Read More
Off Label: Should device makers be allowed to sell doctors on untested uses?
When the FDA allows a drug or device on the market, it is only for certain kinds uses that have been (to... Read More
17,000 Heart Patients Warned: Bacteria Possibly Sprayed into Open Chest Cavity
According to Consumer Reports, the Mayo Clinic has warned 17,000 of its patients about potentially serious bacteria they may... Read More
Chilling Account of a Doctor Watching His Mother Die Due to Substandard Care
Jonathan Welch was a 33 year old ER doctor in Boston when he got the call from an ER doctor in Wisconsin... Read More
Your doctor’s politics matter to your treatment.
According to a new study out of Yale and published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the advice you... Read More
What if we recorded our informed consent conversations so we’d have them later?
I’ve been thinking lately about ideas to give patients to help themselves avoid becoming some lawyer’s client someday. Better information is always... Read More
Willy Rusch Tracheostomy Tube Recalled
As if the parents of kids who need tracheostomy tubes don’t have enough to worry about. According to the FDA, device maker... Read More
What is your surgeon’s complication rate?
Information about complication rates of surgeons is only really useful to you before you have the surgery. One way to find that... Read More
Robotic Surgical Instruments ‘Virtually Impossible to Clean’
Our firm has four filed cases against Intuitive Surgical, the maker of the da Vinci surgical robot. But the revelation in this... Read More
Minnesota Newspaper uncovers Adverse Event dumping practice by medical device makers
Kudos to the Minnesota Star Tribune. The paper has uncovered a hidden practice that allows device companies to distort true number of... Read More
Introducing Safe Patient Advocate
Despite technological advances and increased efforts and coordination by government and patient advocacy groups, in some ways it is scarier to go... Read More