Pennsylvania Law Monitor

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 83.6 percent of adults and 93 percent of children had contact with a health care professional in 2015. Hospital visits numbered 125.7 million while physician office visits numbered 922.6 million. While the vast majority of medical procedures go smoothly, errors… Continue reading →

Generally, after an examination for a medical problem, a doctor will sit down with a patient and explain what the issue is and offer treatment advice and alternatives. Often, the patient goes home afterward and then and can’t remember exactly what the doctor said. Was it ice, then heat –… Continue reading →

Heart surgery patients failed to prove that they were injured after Intuitive Surgical Inc.’s da Vinci surgical robot left metal fragments in their brains, said the Eleventh Circuit in upholding a District Court decision dismissing their case. The plaintiffs alleged that MRIs showed that metal fragments discharged from the robot’s… Continue reading →

Many people are taking advantage of technology to monitor their health and vital signs. But should you monitor your heart with a smartphone? Is this technology approved or regulated by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration? Entering the market in increasing numbers are heart-monitoring apps that are intended to be… Continue reading →

In 2015, prompted by outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant infections linked to duodenoscopes, the FDA issued a Safety Communication, indicating that the complex design of duodenoscopes may impede effective reprocessing. From January 2013 through December 2014, the FDA received 75 Medical Device Reports (MDRs) involving approximately 135 patients relating to possible microbial… Continue reading →

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently joined courts in Florida, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Washington in finding that caps on noneconomic medical malpractice damages are unconstitutional. The appeals court found that Wisconsin’s cap on noneconomic medical malpractice damages always reduces noneconomic damages only for the class of the most severely… Continue reading →

In Pennsylvania, a medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed in the county where the alleged malpractice occurred. The Superior Court in Pennsylvania recently reversed a trial court decision in a medical malpractice case that transferred venue from Philadelphia County to Berks County, sending the case back to Philadelphia County. The… Continue reading →

Endo Pharmaceutical’s recent decision to halt sales of Opana ER (oxymorphone hydrochloride) quickly followed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) request that it remove the abuse-linked opioid pain medication from the market. This is the first time the agency sought to remove a currently marketed opioid pain medication from… Continue reading →