Oregon psychiatrist Daniel E. Casey headed a study in 2003 that supposedly found Depakote to be effective in the treatment of schizophrenia. It was later determined that the study did not find scientific evidence to support that claim and that the study could have been interpreted as misleading. At the time, though, the study and Abbott’s marketing of the drug made it a very popular treatment for schizophrenia. Sales in 2007 alone reached $1.6 billion.

After a study in 2004 concluded that the 2003 study had been incorrect, and that Depakote was not effective in treating schizophrenia, Abbott continued to market it as such and did not release the 2004 study until late 2008. State investigators contend Casey was paid by Abbott to promote Depakote to doctors.

Federal investigators were tipped off to problems with Depakote by whistleblowers at Abbott. In 1999 a clinical trial in which Depakote was used to treat agitation related to dementia had to be discontinued due to a host of negative side effects. Despite this, Abbott continued to promote sales of Depakote to nursing homes until 2006.

For more on this story, see this article.

The original post is titled One pill doesn’t cure all , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

The tool in question was a small screwdriver that the dentist, Dr. W. B. Galbreath, was using the tool while working on the patient’s dental implants. The plaintiff, 71-year-old Lena David, has dentures, and the implants hold them in place. The dentist dropped the implant screwdriver, and David swallowed it. The tool was lodged in David’s throat, but she was unable to get rid of it. Dr. Galbreath told her to visit a nearby chiropractor to get X-rays, and the dentist read the films. He informed her that the tool was in her stomach and that it should pass through her system naturally. He suggested she consume a high-fiber diet to help. Unfortunately, David did not pass the screwdriver naturally, and she ended up in the hospital to have it removed.

For more on this story, see this article.

The original post is titled Dental distress , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

There are people who choose to drink raw milk, though, despite the possible dangers. The sale of raw milk is prohibited in twenty states. In Oregon, retail outlets can’t sell it, but farms can sell raw milk directly to consumers if they follow some guidelines, such as having no more than two cows that produce milk.

The family-run Foundation Farm in Wilsonville, OR, is one such farm. They have a CSA-type of program in which families can purchase shares of a cow and thus receive deliveries of raw milk. Unfortunately, some of this milk appears to have been infected by E. coli 0157, and so far three children have been hospitalized as a result. The farm has stopped production and instructed its members not to drink any remaining milk.

For more on this story, see this article.

The original post is titled Raw milk woes , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

The Levys contended that Legacy made errors in the tests and that the defect should have been discovered. Down syndrome is caused by a chromosomal abnormality that can be spotted during prenatal tests. Levy had a CVS test done, which is supposed to test fetal tissue. The test came back normal. The Levys now believe the test was incorrectly done and used maternal tissue rather than fetal tissue. Levy had followup ultrasounds that raised some concerns, but she was assured that the baby was fine and would not have Down, and so she did not get an amniocentesis, which would have tested for Down.

The Levys asked for $3 million to help pay for their child’s care, care she will likely need for the rest of her life. Whether the tests were done incorrectly or not will probably never really be known. What is known, though, is everyone will live with the consequences.

For more on this story, see this article.

The original post is titled Getting Down with It , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

Tabitha Mullings visited the emergency room at Brooklyn Hospital Center in the fall of 2008 with severe pain. They told her she had a kidney stone and sent her home with some painkillers. That didn’t work, so the following day she called 911 on two occasions but for whatever reason responders chose not to take her to the hospital. Mullings’ pain did not improve, so the next day her fiancé took her to the hospital.

Mullings woke up from a coma and discovered her feet and hands had been amputated due to gangrene. Her body had been ravaged by an infection. She sued Brooklyn Hospital Center and the city right away, and recently they came to a settlement. The hospital stands by its care but felt Mullings would garner too much sympathy with a jury so decided it’d be wisest to settle. The city will pay Mullings $8.5 million, and the hospital and two doctors will pay $9.4 million.

For more on this story, see this article.

The original post is titled Mismanaged care leads to amputation , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

The theft was a wakeup call in many ways, and there are more privacy laws and procedures in place to protect consumers. Still, some people wanted Providence to pay for their mistake and filed a lawsuit for negligence in 2007. The lawsuit was dismissed due to lack of supporting evidence, and just recently the state’s Supreme Court upheld the decision. Back in 2007 a judge ruled that the patients had already been fairly compensated and that there was no evidence the stole information had been used.

Providence compensated those affected by offering credit protection services. They also paid state and federal fines for breach of security.

For more on this story, see this article.

The original post is titled Medical records theft = no lawsuit , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

An elderly woman in Louisville, Kentucky, may have died because she received the wrong medication at her Walgreens. She suffered from high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, and kidney failure. She was filling her prescription for a high blood pressure medication, Hydralazine, but the pharmacy made an error and gave her an antihistamine called Hydroxyzine. She allegedly did not receive any counseling from the pharmacist.

After two weeks of being off of blood pressure medication, the patient received the correct medication. She was soon hospitalized and died, however, and her family blames the pharmacy. It has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Walgreens.

For more on this story, see this article, and be sure to double-check your prescriptions!

The original post is titled Reading skills matter, especially with prescriptions , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

Attorney Gregory Kafoury, who represents six of the victims, indicated in court filings that the hospital knew about the misconduct months prior to notifying the authorities. In addition, a complaint about abuse from as early as 2007 was found. Nurses allegedly knew of Field’s inappropriate behavior and made a point of not being left alone with him. One nurse filed a complaint against Field in May 2010 for inappropriately touching her. Many of the patients who filed complaints against Field were abused while they were incapacitated and thus unable to defend themselves.

Dr. Field was arrested in the summer of 2011 and was released pending trial in December. He has yet to enter a plea.

For more information, see this article.

The original post is titled Dr. Feelbad , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

The patient, Lisa Nasseff, was in the treatment center for 15 months and believes her psychologist was involved in the hypnosis. She also believes the motive for the hypnosis may have been partly financial, a ploy to keep her in treatment to extract medical insurance reimbursements for as long as possible. Nasseff also says the center used psychotropic drugs in addition to hypnosis to “treat” her anorexia.

Castlewood Treatment Center plans to fight the lawsuit and denies Nasseff’s allegations. The psychologist named in the lawsuit, Mark Schwartz, says hypnosis was not used in Nasseff’s treatment. Hypnosis is not a recognized form of treatment for eating disorders.

For more information, see this article.

The original post is titled I’ve been hyp-no-tized , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

In 2000 a committee with the American Heart Association made a blanket recommendation that hospitals should equip themselves with AEDs. It turns out this wasn’t really based on any actual evidence or research but just a general belief that, well, OF COURSE lives will be saved if new defibrillators that more people can operate are on hand. one estimate suggests, though, that nearly a thousand patients die each year because of the equipment.

Back in the day, when hospitals had the traditional defibrillators, only a small percentage of hospital staff, namely doctors and critical care nurses, could run the equipment. Many hospital nurses did not have the knowledge to use the defibrillators. The new defibrillators, on the other hand, actually provided verbal instructions. Also, AEDs had proven useful in other environments, such as airports.

Among the problems with the AEDs in hospitals are equipment failure (many of the AEDs have been recalled by manufacturers) and inappropriate use. Hospital patients who go into cardiac arrest tend to be in poor health to begin with and may have cardiac arrests that are non-shockable; in other words, the electrical shock from a defibrillator doesn’t help. Another issue is that though the AEDs are more user friendly, many of the potential users shy away from them, so response is still impeded.

For more information, see this article.

The original post is titled Be still my not-beating heart , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .