A recent survey of more than 700 pediatricians and trainees (residents and fellows) found that more than half admitted to mis-diagnosing a child once or more every thirty days.  That included more than 77 % of the pediatric trainees.  The most cited omission was failure to diagnose a bacterial infection or viral illness that may call [...]

This interesting protocol in the medical field can literally save one’s life.  One day a man visits the ER with symptoms he thought consistent with indigestion, but he proceeds with prudent caution nonetheless.  The ER physician after a brief and superficial evaluation comes to the same conclusion.  ”Ah…just spicy food my friend.”  The man proceeds [...]

We tend to assess the severity of a collision in terms the injuries suffered by the occupants of the vehicles. But the injuries that occur in any particular accident depend on a lot of things including vehicle crashworthiness, restraint usage, occupant characteristics and it is generally thought, vehicle speeds. Vehicle speeds, however, are related to [...]

I recently took a case involving an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion procedure by a local neurosurgeon who placed the wrong size screws in him.  The screws protrude 3 mm anterior to the C3 vertebrae resulting in bone spurs and likely nerve impingement.  Headaches can present with further soft tissue injury as an ancillary effect. [...]

When a patient presents to an emergency department with the new onset of headache, lethargy or altered mental status without the development of a “focal” neurological deficit, it is imperative that intracranial hemorrhage be high in the differential diagnosis list. One can suffer a subarachnoid hemorrhage or an intracerebral hemorrhage without focal neurological deficit but [...]

In my workers compensation practice, I have found many employers play upon the injured worker’s ignorance of their rights.  I continually contend with injured clients who provided notification to their immediate supervisor of an injury who failed to provide the First Report of Work Injury on Form C-20 required by the state.  If you find [...]

As a workers compensation attorney who assists injured workers for injuries sustained in course of employment, the utilization review is the most difficult and absurd element of workers compensation law one must contend with. Where in the course of medical treatment and in the universe of healthcare can a registered nurse dictate what is [...]

Poorly staffed nursing homes have put Tennessee among the worst in the nation for quality of long-term care for a second year, a federal report shows. That’s because Tennessee has one of the lowest staffing requirements in the country; less than half of what Medicare recommends. But it is unlikely that facilities’ staffing will get better anytime [...]

One “free bite rule” had been an erroneous law that for many years deterred bite victims from proper compensation because the victim could not prove that the owner has actual or constructive knowledge of the dog’s vicious propensities.  However, in 2007 Tennessee established strict liability for certain dog bite injuries but not others. The Dianna [...]

Laser treatments being performed at medical spas nationwide is a growing source for alarm among consumers receiving laser procedures. Laser hair removal procedures are being done by individuals who may not have any medical expertise and may not be properly trained in the use of lasers. Furthermore, such individuals are not supervised by [...]