Posts Tagged ‘VA Malpractice’
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
A Veterans Affairs Medical Center developed a comprehensive process designed to proactively identify and remedy medical errors. Key elements of the process include widely publicizing the disclosure policy and process throughout the hospital, prompt reporting and investigation of potential errors, full disclosure of investigation results to the patient and/or family, and apology and fair remedy when an error has occurred, including appropriate compensation. The program led to liability claims costs that were the same or lower than those of a comparison group of similar Veterans Affairs hospitals that did not practice full disclosure.
According to recent government surveys:
Between 44,000 and 98,000 people die each year in hospitals because of medical errors [1] while an estimated 40,000 individuals suffer medical harm in the health care system each day…
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Tags: VA health care, VA hospital injuries, VA Malpractice, VA medicine, Veterans administration, Veterans Administration health care, Veterans administration medical malpractice, Veterans hospital, Veterans hospital malpractice
Posted in VA Healthcare Problems, VA Malpractice, VA Medical Malpractice | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
The government has agreed to pay $350,000 to the family of a Marine combat veteran who committed suicide after what his family alleged was negligent mental-health care at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities in Massachusetts.
Former Marine Reserve Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey hanged himself in the cellar of his family home cellar on June 22, 2004, two weeks after being turned away from the Northampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where he had gone for treatment after a combat tour in Iraq.
A spokeswoman for Michael Sullivan, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, verified Jan. 15 that both parties have reached a negotiated settlement but noted that the agreement must still be accepted by the court.
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Tags: VA care, VA Hospital, VA Malpractice, wrongful death and negligence
Posted in VA Malpractice | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
By MARY SHEDDEN
TAMPA – The area’s first known group outbreak of hepatitis C was isolated to mistakes made by an employee at a Brandon holistic medical clinic, public health officials say.
Up to eight patients at Wellness Works, 1209 Lakeside Drive, have tested positive for the blood-borne illness, which is most often transmitted by the improper sharing of needles or intravenous medical equipment. Since the Hillsborough County Health Department launched an investigation in July, nearly 130 patients have been tested.
No more patients tested positive since The Tampa Tribune first reported the outbreak in February.
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Tags: VA Malpractice, VA Medical Malpractice, Veteran's Affairs
Posted in VA Reports | 2 Comments »
Saturday, May 8th, 2010
PHOENIX – A federal agency that investigates whistle-blower complaints has closed its probe of the VA Medical Center in Prescott after concluding that medical errors had occurred and the facility had suffered from understaffing of nurses and housekeepers.
The Office of Special Counsel investigated problems in the hospital’s long-term care and hospice wards reported by a nurse who alleged that she was fired in 2008 because she complained that patients were suffering. The report found no evidence to support an illegal firing.
A full investigation by the Veterans Affairs Office of Medical Inspector – completed in September and released Thursday – concluded that some workers made medication errors, including overusing laxatives and misusing narcotics. More serious allegations of patient abuse could not be substantiated.
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Tags: VA Healthcare Problems, VA Hospital, VA Malpractice
Posted in VA Reports | No Comments »
Friday, May 7th, 2010
by David Schaper : May 6, 2010
The Department of Veterans Affairs is implementing a new rating system for its hospitals that at some facilities will limit the types of surgeries doctors can perform.
The changes come after several patients died because of surgical mistakes at one Illinois VA hospital.
VA officials acknowledge that at least nine patients died directly because of surgical mistakes by doctors at the Marion VA Medical Center in southern Illinois in 2006 and 2007. A VA investigation found that poor care at Marion contributed to the deaths of at least 10 other patients, and to the illness and injury of several more.
The investigation found doctors performing surgeries they were not qualified or trained to perform. It found the Marion VA hired one doctor in particular, thought to be responsible for many of the deaths, not knowing he was under investigation for malpractice in Massachusetts.
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Tags: VA, VA Malpractice, VA Medical Malpractice
Posted in VA Reports | No Comments »
Friday, January 29th, 2010
Tags: Clarksburg VA Medical Center, delayed dialysis, improper care at VA Medical Center, improperly documented patient care, Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center, VA Malpractice, VA malpractice claims, VA medical negligence
Posted in VA Malpractice, VA Reports | No Comments »
Monday, December 14th, 2009
A new report from the inspector general in the Department of Veterans Affairs finds that the VA Medical Center in Marion, Ill., continues to be plagued by quality management and patient care problems some two years after a suspicious spike in the number of post-surgical patient deaths there.
A 2008 investigation found that at least nine patients died because of surgical mistakes and poor post-surgical care at the VA hospital in Marion, which is in southern Illinois. That report made recommendations to improve conditions at the facility.
The new report finds poor quality management oversight, inconsistencies in the way patient deaths are reported and continuing problems with ensuring patient safety â including the discovery that surgeons were performing procedures they were not authorized to handle.
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Tags: Department of Veterans Affairs, Illionois, VA Hospital, VA Malpractice
Posted in VA Healthcare Problems, VA Malpractice | No Comments »
