| Futterman, Sirotkin & Seinfeld, LLP

What bladder injuries may occur during labor and delivery?

On behalf of Futterman, Sirotkin & Seinfeld, LLP posted in Birth Injuries on Tuesday, October 9, 2018.

Pregnancy and childbirth are times of joy for parents in New York. Having a baby puts a lot of strain on your body. You may feel different. You may experience different things after the birth. However, not everything you go through is natural. While a loss of bladder control for a short time is okay, having prolonged issues is not normal. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the bladder and associated muscles and nerves may undergo damage during delivery. This damage may require medical intervention to correct it.

If you had forceps used during your delivery, they may have caused damage to the pelvic floor. When weakened, the pelvic floor cannot support the bladder properly, leading to incontinence. If your labor was long or you pushed for a long time, this, too, may lead to weakened muscles and nerve damage that has an effect on the ability to control the bladder.

What is a never event?

On behalf of Futterman, Sirotkin & Seinfeld, LLP posted in Surgical Errors on Tuesday, October 9, 2018.

When you go to a medical facility in New York, you have the right to expect them to care for you properly. It is your right to receive care that is correct and appropriate. Mistakes should never occur. However, they do. Some mistakes are minor in nature while others turn deadly. Never events are errors that should never happen, according to the Patient Safety Network.

A never event is a mistake that never should happen if all personnel is paying attention and doing their jobs properly. Essentially, these mistakes are avoidable. They are things that occur due to negligence. They may include incidents such as leaving an object in a patient during surgery, serious injury while in a care setting, patient dumping and loss of a blood sample. Never events may also include criminal activity, such as sexual assault of a patient under care.

How can I choose the right urgent care center?

On behalf of Futterman, Sirotkin & Seinfeld, LLP posted in Failure to Diagnose on Sunday, October 7, 2018.

More and more patients in New York are opting for urgent care. These clinics are suited to injuries and conditions that require immediate care but aren’t life-threatening, such as cold/flu symptoms or minor sprains. While many urgent care centers go above and beyond when treating their patients, it’s still important to choose a clinic wisely to prevent serious issues, such as misdiagnosis, from occurring. EverydayHealth.com recommends asking the following questions when looking for a suitable urgent care center for you and your family.

Are primary care services offered?

What are some signs of poor medical care?

On behalf of Futterman, Sirotkin & Seinfeld, LLP posted in Hospital Negligence on Saturday, October 6, 2018.

When you visit your doctor in Queens, you expect to receive quality care. However, this is not always the case, and poor medical care can lead to serious injuries or conditions that may be life-threatening for some patients. Being able to recognize these signs is crucial, which is why U.S. News & World Report offers the following information.

Lack of communication

Patient dumping endangers people, especially in winter

On behalf of Futterman, Sirotkin & Seinfeld, LLP on Thursday, September 27, 2018.

If one of your elderly parents visited the hospital for a medical emergency, you would hope he or she would receive the best of care and respect. Unfortunately for many residents of New York and elsewhere, they aren’t always treated the way they should be in hospitals. Some, especially the homeless and un/underinsured, are discharged after treatment in unsafe conditions or before they have fully recovered.

This practice is called patient dumping, and it is more common than you might assume. You may remember an incident that occurred last December in Baltimore, Maryland. A mentally ill woman who had been reported missing by her family was discharged from the hospital in freezing temperatures with only a hospital gown. Hospital security escorted the confused and incoherent woman to a nearby bus stop and left her there. A witness brought her back into the emergency room where she could stay warm and called authorities.

Report highlights staffing gaps in nursing homes

On behalf of Futterman, Sirotkin & Seinfeld, LLP posted in Nursing Home Neglect on Tuesday, September 25, 2018.

New York residents who must rely on nursing homes to help care for their elderly family members should be able to trust that the care provided will be consistent and high-quality. Sadly, this is not always the case and a lack of sufficient staffing may well be a contributing factor to this reality.

Nursing home neglect may take two forms - active or passive. Active neglect involves the knowing dismissal of caring for a person's needs. Passive neglect, on the other hand, may involve the lack of caring for those needs but without consciously intending to do so. A nursing home that does not have enough nurses or aides on staff may not be able to provide every resident with the level of care they deserve.

Radiological errors highlighted in study

On behalf of Futterman, Sirotkin & Seinfeld, LLP posted in Failure to Diagnose on Sunday, September 23, 2018.

Whether getting a routine screening, such as a mammogram, or undergoing an ultrasound to investigate a specific set of symptoms, people in New York deserve to know that their test results will be accurately read. This is an integral component to ensuring a diagnosis, if necessary, is accurate and made in a timely manner. This, in turn, ensures that the right treatment can be commenced as promptly as possible.

A new report issued by the insurer Coverys indicates that this sequence of events fails to happen all too often. As explained by Radiology Business, breast cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and ovarian cancer were among the top diseases that were subject to misread test results over a five-year period. The study reviewed 10,000 medical malpractice claims involving diagnostic errors from 2013 through 2017.

What is patient profiling?

On behalf of Futterman, Sirotkin & Seinfeld, LLP posted in Hospital Negligence on Tuesday, September 18, 2018.

When you go to see a doctor in New York, you likely expect that he or she will take you seriously and look at your symptoms to come to a diagnosis. However, if you become a victim of patient profiling, your symptoms and the results of testing or exams may not even play into the diagnosis the doctor gives you. This is what makes it such a dangerous thing.

According to MedPage Today, patient profiling is when a doctor or other medical professional determines may have an illness or behavior because of how you look, your age, race, or other visual or behavioral characteristics alone. A good example is a doctor determining you are addicted to pain medications because you have a history of seeking treatment for pain. While many times, this leads to an incorrect diagnosis or a doctor missing something that is really wrong, it can also lead to a doctor treating you better because of characteristics. For example, if you are a very attractive person, a doctor may give you pain medications even if you condition really does not require them simply because you asked for them.

Does a difficult label reduce the quality of your medical care?

On behalf of Futterman, Sirotkin & Seinfeld, LLP posted in Failure to Diagnose on Tuesday, September 18, 2018.

You may never know exactly what medical professionals in New York write in your medical charts, but you could reap the effects of what is written. If you get labeled as being difficult, it could greatly affect how you are treated and the level of care that you receive. According to Science Daily, a difficult patient often includes someone with disruptive behavior or alcohol or drug abuse issues or someone who is demanding, questions the doctor, acts helpless or doesn't take doctors advice or follow instructions.

Studies have shown that patients who are thought to be difficult often do not get the same level of care. This can lead to medical errors because doctors often respond to such patients differently and may not listen as well to them or take them as seriously. In addition, the difficult behavior may distract the doctor from important facts or from doing job correctly. It may also make the doctor act in discriminatory ways.

What behaviors are signs of elder abuse or neglect?

On behalf of Futterman, Sirotkin & Seinfeld, LLP posted in Nursing Home Neglect on Saturday, September 8, 2018.

Since you have helped your loved one settle into a local New York nursing home, you have heard a couple of people mention to stay alert and aware to signs of elder abuse or neglect. While you are confident that you have selected a trustworthy facility, you acknowledge that mistreatment could happen anywhere. Your vigilance in watching for signs that your loved one is being mistreated is important so you can be sure he or she is receiving the highest quality care possible.

One of the most important things you can do is to educate your loved one about elder abuse and help them to be aware of what behavior is acceptable and what is not. According to helpguide.org, abuse can manifest itself in many forms including financially, emotionally, sexually and even physically. Your elderly loved one could also be exploited by way of health care fraud if he or she has been charged for medical services that were never received.