A new survey “finds that many American physicians fail to report troubled colleagues to authorities, believing that someone else will take care of it, that nothing will happen if they act or that they could be targeted for retribution.” (Chicago Tribune, Carla K. Johnson, 7/13). The results are based on a 2009 survey of 1,891 practicing physicians in the United States.
A mind blowing 17 percent of the doctors surveyed had direct, personal knowledge of an impaired or incompetent physician in their workplaces. A third of those doctors had not reported their knowledge to either the hospital board or the medical board of the state, leaving many dangerous physicians still practicing.

The American Medical Association and other professional groups say “doctors have an ethical obligation to make such reports. And many states require doctors to tell authorities about colleagues who endanger patients because of alcoholism, drug abuse or mental illness.” Despite ethical and statutory requirements, far too many incidents go unreported.

Some studies suggest that maintaining appropriate exercise levels and exposure to vitamin D may lower your chances of developing Alzheimer's. For example, one study shows that people who get intense or moderately intense exercise are half as likely to suffer from dementia as less active people are.

However, researchers are cautiously optimistic for a drug to slow or stop the disease, as current drugs only treat symptoms.

In an analysis of five previous studies of approximately 60,000 patients, “experts found a link between people taking medicines known as angiotensin-receptor blockers, or ARBs, and cancer.” The drugs are consumed by millions of people globally for medical problems such as diabetic kidney disease, high blood pressure, and heart problems.

The study concluded that people who consumed these drugs had “about a 1 percent higher risk of getting cancer than people who weren't on the drugs.” Cancers included in the study include: prostate, breast and a noticeable spike in lung cancer.

Though a single percentage of increased risk seems minimal, as a medical negligence lawyer I am hopeful that this study is considered seriously and investigated further.

The diabetes drug has been the subject of controversy for three years, “since a review of dozens of studies suggested it may raise the risk of heart attacks and heart-related deaths” In response, warnings were placed on the drug label, but the drug has remained on the market and is currently used by hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Meningitis is highly contagious and even when caught early, up to 10 percent of patients die within 2 days. Thus, it is particularly problematic in developing nations where treatment is difficult to mobilize, which allows the disease to spread rapidly.

The new vaccine, which was approved by the World Health Organization last week, is particularly promising in developing countries because prior vaccines did not last long enough to prevent outbreaks. Additionally, the vaccine can be used to immunize infants who tend to be the most vulnerable to the disease.

The new vaccine allows for planning ahead to prevent outbreaks, not just responding to outbreaks that have already begun. As a medical malpractice attorney in Chicago, I believe that the advantages of this new vaccine cannot be overstated and am hopeful that the necessary funding and continued research will safe many lives in developing countries.

The family of a “28-year-old British woman who was a cystic fibrosis sufferer and unknowingly received a lung transplant from a smoker says she would have been "horrified" and have lodged a complaint.” (London AP, 6/15). Unfortunately, she passed of pneumonia just a few months after the faulty transplant.

Britain's top transplant official Chris Rudge even defended the transplant asserting that patients know they are not getting “brand new” lungs. He further asserted on the BBC that "lungs from a smoker can be working perfectly normally." While it is true that transplanted organs are obviously not new, transplanting lungs into a cystic fibrosis patient from a long time smoker is absurd.

The victims family is not lobbying for patients to be more thoroughly informed about organ donors before accepting a transplant.

Although Doctor’s cannot be expected to predict how soon a patient will die with certainty, they are generally able to recognize when a disease has become incurable. When medical efforts become futile, it is best to allow patients to leave the confines of medical care and expire with their families.

As a medical malpractice attorney, I am hopeful that medical guidelines will be amended to remove exhaustive medicine from medical protocol and allow patients to enjoy their last days with the people they love, rather than the hospital that has, ultimately, failed to cure them.

As a products liability and medical malpractice lawyer, I am stunned by the BP oil spill and the magnitude of health and environmental problems it may cause. Hopefully the upcoming meeting with provide some insight into the battle that lies ahead.

The statement in March was prompted by the Food and Drug Administration’s urging pediatritions to stop using the vaccine. However, the FDA cleared the vaccine for use earlier this month.

As a medical malpractice attorney, I am hopeful that the agencies in the U.S. and Europe have carefully examined the vaccine to ensure its safety.

It's "a different way of looking at mental illnesses, including substance abuse disorders," says National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Dr. Nora Volkow, who on Monday urged researchers at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting to get more creative in the quest for brain-changing therapies for addiction.

The idea behind the treatment is controlling one’s brain to overcome substance abuse. Although the treatment is in early stages of research, as a medical malpractice attorney, I am intrigued by this promising study.

However, the academy also emphasizes that parents who feel their children are not ready for swimming lessons should not enroll them. Moreover, parents should choose classes that “emphasize water safety and require a parent or other adult to be in the water with the child.”

The updated policy recommends additional safety precautions including “fences around all pools, even popular inflatable ones. Kids can drown by leaning over the soft sides and falling in. And the group warns that children can drown when their hair or hands get sucked into the drains of pools or spas without drain covers or proper filter-pump equipment.”

As a personal injury lawyer in Chicago, I join the academy in cautioning parents to vigilantly supervise young children swimming and encourage parents to take the necessary precautions to ensure their children are swimmingly in safe environments.

Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio, “said it was recalling romaine lettuce sold under the Freshway and Imperial Sysco brands because of a possible link to the E. coli outbreak.” Although the source of the outbreak is unclear at this time, the FDA is concentrating its investigation on lettuce grown in Arizona.

The lettuce was sold in Alabama, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin and has a use by date of May 12.

Many are frustrated with the political roadblocks that reforming food standards had faced, as “the House passed a bill last year that would give the agency much more authority to police food production, but the Senate has not acted on it.”

As a products liability attorney, I am hopeful that Congress will act quickly to give the FDA greater policing power over food production as is necessary to ensure the food that is sold is safe.

Of course, pregnant women should never change their vitamin intake without consulting their physicians. One potential shortcoming is that the study looked only at women in their second trimester and beyond, and since organs are formed in the first trimester, it is not clear if higher dosages of Vitamin D would be dangerous at earlier stages. Although this research is not conclusively established yet, new guidelines regarding Vitamin D intake during pregnancy are expected to be announced this summer. As a medical malpractice attorney, I am intrigued by the results of this study, but feel as though further study is likely warranted before any drastic changes to pregnancy guidelines are promulgated.

The reason for the recall, according to McNeil Consumer Healthcare is, “some products in the recall may have a higher concentration of active ingredient than specified while other may have inactive ingredients that don’t meet testing requirements.” The recall is not being taken as a result of adverse medical effects. The company said these products should not be administered to children.

The affected brands include: Tylenol Infants' Drops, Children's Tylenol Suspensions, Children's Tylenol Plus Suspensions, Motrin Infant Drops, Children's Motrin Suspensions, Children's Zyrtec Liquids in Bottles and Children's Benadryl Allergy Liquids in Bottles. More information can be found here.

Both drugs are already in use for different ailments: Tamoxifen is commonly used to treat breast cancer, and Evista used to treat osteoporosis. Doctors are hopeful the new study results will lead to wider usage of the drugs to prevent breast cancer in high risk patients.