Long Island, New York (JusticeNewsFlash.com) — “A definitive review and close reading of medical peer-review journals, and government health statistics shows that American medicine frequently causes more harm than good. The number of people having in-hospital, adverse drug reactions (ADR) to prescribed medicine is 2.2 million. Dr. Richard Besser, of the CDC, in 1995, said the number of unnecessary antibiotics prescribed annually for viral infections was 20 million. Dr. Besser, in 2003, now refers to tens of millions of unnecessary antibiotics. The number of unnecessary medical and surgical procedures performed annually is 7.5 million. The number of people exposed to unnecessary hospitalization annually is 8.9 million. The total number of iatrogenic deaths shown in the following table is 783,936. It is evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the United States. The 2001 heart disease annual death rate is 699,697; the annual cancer death rate, 553,251.”
An addition to the above statistics is felt in the wake of a doctor’s failure to diagnose the brain aneurysm of a lively, young 9th grade boy. His symptoms and signs all pointed to something more severe than the doctors believed it was. After track practice, the young boy had unexpectedly vomited and complained of a stiff neck. When his conditions worsened, he was brought to a doctor who admitted a rapid strep test, which came back positive. He then underwent a brain scan and a spinal tap, after which the physicians found blood in the fluid removed from the spine. The doctors dismissed this as a slight ‘nick’ during the procedure. After only monitoring the boy for a 24 hour period, he was discharged even though his neck was still very stiff. Two days later the boy died from an aneurysm – which if it had been detected earlier, could have been treated with emergency surgery.
The boy’s parent’s recently brought a wrongful death suit against the hospital and settled for a substantial sum. Cases such as these happen much too often, even in an age where our medical technology and skills constantly adapt for the better. It was completely unnecessary for this child to die. Doctors and medical practitioners should begin to pay more attention to detail, for the lives of our youth are in their hands.
New York Medical Malpractice News by New York City medical malpractice lawyer team
