Weekend News
- MEDICAL MALPRACTICE PREMIUMS DOWN NATIONWIDE-Renal and Urology News reports that premiums have stabilized for most physicians, and that over 40% actually paid lower premiums over the last year. The report was based on a survey conducted by Medical Liability Monitor, which looked at three subspecialties: internists, general surgeons and OB/GYNS.
- WASHINGTON SHINES LIGHT ON COZINESS BETWEEN INDUSTRY AND PHYSICIANS-Barry Meier reports in today’s NY Times that concerns about conflicts of interest between drug and device manufacturers on the one hand, and doctors and hospitals on the other, have reached our nation’s capital. Two senators have introduced legislation that would require the manufacturers to disclose all financial ties to physicians on a federal website. The best part is the name of the bill: the Physician Payment Sunshine Act.
NEWS FLASH! FDA Involved in a Positive News Story!
According to today’s U.S. News & World Report, the FDA has approved the first human trial using embryonic stem cells. A California company, Geron Corp., will implant the stem cells in paraplegics. The hope is to ultimately be able to restore permanent organ and tissue function, the company’s president said.
Green Beret’s Death While Showering Tied to KBR’s Negligence
In one of the saddest, and most infuriating pieces of bad news to emerge from Iraq to date, it turns out that a highly decorated, 24-year-old Green Beret died after being eloctrocuted while showering at his base in Iraq, due to shoddy electrical work performed at the base by former Halliburton subsidiary KBR, according to reports from today’s CNN News and NY Times. KBR is the largest U.S. contractor in Iraq.
The Penatagon has reported that 18 service men and women have been electrocuted in Iraq since 2003 due to faulty wiring. Army investigators, who initially classified the Green Beret’s death as a mere “accident,” have now begun viewing it as a negligent homicide.
In a related story, we learn, courtesy of the Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog, that the VA just paid $350,000 to settle a Federal Tort Claims Act suit by the family of an Iraqi War veteran who returned to the U.S. with post traumatic stress disorder and suicidal ideations. The vet apparently received some psychiatric treatment at his local VA hospital, but was allegedly turned away at the time he needed help most–just before he hanged himself in his family’s garage.