Medical Malpractice

There is a documented history of problems at VA hospitals throughout the country (the 2007 Walter Reed scandal actually has its own Wikipedia page). South Carolina’s William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia, and the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, are no exceptions; in fact, if you do a quick…

For some people, just the word “colonoscopy” is enough to make them shudder. We understand. At first thought, it can seem like a rather uncomfortable procedure. The truth is that for men and women or of a certain age, it is a very necessary procedure – one that can save your life, if performed correctly…

On the heels of the big news that medical errors are now the third leading cause of the death in the United States, we thought it might be appropriate to write about the information available to you when choosing a doctor. Unfortunately, the type of information that patients have access to concerning healthcare providers boils…

More than half of Americans have at least one of the three key risk factors for heart disease, it comes as no surprise then that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the country. About 610,000 people succumb to the disease every year. Cancer isn’t far behind, with 591,699 attributed deaths in 2014.…

If you are admitted to the hospital and you end up contracting an infection that you did not have when you came, you have a hospital-acquired infection (HAI). Also called a healthcare-associated infection, or a “nosocomial” infection, these infections are the most frequent adverse event in health care delivery worldwide according to the World Health…

In early March, we wrote about the incredible prevalence of medical errors in the United States. Medical errors are the third leading cause of the death in the country. With our growing population and the increasing ease of access to healthcare, the potential for medical errors grows every year. Conversely, it appears that the number…

Is there a professional that you trust more than your doctor? You rely on your doctor to be well-informed, to treat you when you are sick and to not cause you any harm. Unfortunately, preventable medical errors made by doctors and other medical professionals are a leading cause of death and injury in the United…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains a list of the leading causes of death in the United States. Their FastStats pages provide quick information on diseases and conditions that threaten the health of our nation. However, their list doesn’t contain what is arguably the most devastating threat to life in the United States.…

A new study published in the December issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology has found that a common prostate cancer treatment increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, contributes important information for men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer and are considering types of…

Elective surgery carries a lot of negative weight in our society, but the term doesn’t mean what you think it means. Any non-urgent or non-emergency surgery is considered elective. To use a simple example, let’s say you find a mole on your shoulder. You can elect to have it removed – a minimally invasive procedure…