Comments on: NY Medical Malpractice Lawyer Explains Medicare “Never Events”

By: vj

vj — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:31:50 +0000

I would like to extend a public apology to Mr. Reed and anyone else reading my earlier postings on this website. They were unnecessarily aggressive and I do not currently endorse their content. At the time of this writing, I am not qualified enough to speak with any authority on this topic and ask that readers disregard my comments entirely. Thank you.

-vj

By: Vijay

Vijay — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:39:15 +0000

I apologize for the tone of my previous post. It was not my intention to sound hostile.

What I was trying to get at was this: having every patient on heparin and compression stockings with PT consults will benefit the vast majority of patients, but what about the few patients where anticoagulation is contraindicated? If these patients are anticoagulated as DVT prophylaxis but then develop a bleeding complication that we expected them to develop, then certainly the doctors would be held liable for that mistake; on the flip side, if they are not anticoagulated as a result of this contraindication, and then go on to develop a DVT, then this would fall under the Never Ever laws. Basically, there is a risk of medical error no matter what choice is made!

By: Jim Reed

Jim Reed — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:38:53 +0000

Vijay:

No need to be hostile. I am not the one who defined the “Never Events”– that would be Medicare….not me… so no need to attack me.

With that said, as i understand it, Medicare is trying to get at those cases where patients have been confined to bed in a hospital and have not received appropriate preventative care to avoid a DVT. Unlike your airplane example, in a hospital, patients are supposed to be surrounded by trained medical professionals to properly care for them. These professionals are expected to properly treat the patient to avoid complications like a DVT by having the patient move around, administering meds or other interventions.

Jim Reed
NY Injury and Malpractice Lawyer
jreed@zifflaw.com

By: Vijay Jayanti

Vijay Jayanti — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:53:33 +0000

I mean, a seemingly healthy person can get a DVT from sitting in an airplane for an overseas flight. So is this the airplane’s fault? Should they be held liable?

By: VJ

VJ — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:47:12 +0000

Please do me a favor. Go to medical school, and then go to residency. Then, I want you to please tell me how we can prevent DVT’s from ever happening! If it were possible to prevent in every case, believe me I would do it but so far it seems that anyone bedridden for extended periods is at heightened risk of DVTs regardless of aggressive measures (some of which carry their own not-so-pretty complications). But maybe you possess some brilliance that has evaded centuries of medical research, so please enlighten us!

By: DF

DF — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:50:10 +0000

Wow. I understand how you guys can salivate over this data, but alot of what is said is false. First by looking at the list above, there are really only a few “never” events that can be and should be totally preventable: foreign body after surgery, air embolism, and blood incompatability. The other ones listed are complications that can happen even with the most rigurous preventive measures. Doctors are not making it big or getting rich by keeping patients in the hospital longer because of complications. Thas is absurd. Infections happen, blood clots happen. THis is part of being critically ill. When proper precautions are taken and these events still happen there is nothing you can do. This is absurd legislation.