Plastic Surgeon Pays for ?High Profile?
Posted by: Linda Chalat
February 12, 2007

Botched plastic surgeries are not uncommon, nor is it uncommon for one to become the basis for a medical malpractice lawsuit. But one patient took the uncommon step of not only suing her plastic surgeon, but creating a website detailing her experience, http://www.mysurgerynightmare.com.

Continue Reading

Medical Liability Hoax
Posted by: Linda Chalat
February 08, 2007

In his 2006 State of the Union Address, President Bush called on Congress to restrict patient access to the courts, claiming that access to healthcare is threatened because "lawsuits are driving many good doctors out of practice." But, according to statistics published by the American Medical Association (AMA), the number of practicing physicians is growing faster than the population.

Continue Reading

FDA Returns to Its Roots
Posted by: Linda Chalat
February 05, 2007

Almost weekly, there is another report of previously unpublicized side effects of a prescription medicine currently being prescribed to American patients. . Most notably, in late 2004, Merck withdrew its arthritis drug, Vioxx, after a study was made public which showed that it doubled the risks of heart attack. About the same time, the Food and Drug Administration announced that antidepressants cause some teenagers to think more about suicide.

Continue Reading

Money Paid for Your Medical Data (but not to you!)
Posted by: Linda Chalat
February 01, 2007

According to the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, an Austin-based watchdog group, some 800,000 companies, government agencies and other organizations can tap into personal medical information almost at will. Pharmaceutical information is mined daily, your prescriptions, are an open book to all sorts of companies that don't have to tell you what they're doing with the information.

Continue Reading