Dietlose

Last week, Governor Corzine signed legislation which requires public reporting of how often serious medical errors occur at individual hospitals throughout the states of New Jersey. The legislation also prohibits hospitals from charging patients for mistakes made by the hospital, which are currently not eligible for third-party reimbursement. The bill passed in both houses of the Legislature earlier this year, and had 65 sponsors comprised of Democrats and Republicans.
 

The new law requires notification of 14 specific instances of errors, including:

• A foreign object left during a procedure;
• Iatrogenic pneumothorax (leaving air in the chest cavity);
• Postoperative hip fracture;
• Postoperative hemorrhage or hematoma;
• Postoperative deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism;
• Postoperative sepsis;
• Postoperative wound dehiscence (rupture);
• Accidental puncture of laceration;
• Transfusion reaction;
• Birth trauma;
• Obstetric trauma — vaginal delivery with instrument;
• Obstetric trauma — vaginal delivery without instrument;
• Air embolism; and
• Surgery on the wrong side, wrong body part, or wrong person, or wrong surgery performed on a patient.

Under the new law, if one of these errors occurs and a third-party, such as an insurance carrier, Medicare or Medicaid refuse to pay the bill, the patient cannot be charged by the hospital. Earlier this year, the New Jersey Hospital Association opposed the bill, stating that the statistics gathered don’t accurately report the number of mistakes made by hospitals, which could then lead to an increase in malpractice suits. In an effort to reduce the number of malpractice suits, health care workers are able to report hospital errors anonymously.

The most widely used personality test in the world, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) has recently caused concern and sparked feuds among scholars. The test, initially developed over 70 years ago used to screen candidates for highly sensitive jobs (politics, government, police, etc.), has always been somewhat controversial, but now the test has been brought into the courtroom and has led to two internal investigations at the university.

Recent criticism states that these changes to the test (such as a new scoring system and a revised form which removed 40% of the questions) lessen the test’s credibility. Additionally, the addition of the Fake Bad Scale, which I’ve publicly renounced several times, is used to discredit a victim’s statements in personal injury cases, which mistakenly brands some people as “fakers” or exaggerating their symptoms and injuries.

While the university, who receives roughly one million dollars a year in royalties, says the test has only improved with these changes, I adamantly disagree. The MMPI and Fake Bad Scale tests are simply used to deprive injured claimants of fair compensation.

I am very pleased to announce that I have been appointed to serve on the New Jersey Supreme Court Model Civil Jury Charge Committee. The committee, which is appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court, is charged with the responsibility of preparing and presenting to the New Jersey Supreme Court model civil jury charges that can be used by the trial courts in explaining the law to juries throughout the state of New Jersey. The committee is comprised of trial judges and practicing attorneys in the field of civil litigation. I am very honored by this appointment, and look forward to serving on the committee.

I was pleased to be a featured speaker at the International Conference on Mild Traumatic Brain Injury held last week in Vancouver, Canada.  The MTBI 2009 assembled experts from a multiplicity of specialties working with brain injury, welcomed a diverse group of experts to collaborate in synthesizing new knowledge.  The conference brought together delegates from around the world, working in areas ranging from the medical and legal implications of MTBI to those working mental health/addiction issues as well as representatives from programs that provide acute, chronic rehabilitation and recovery services.

I spoke on the topic of mild traumatic brain injury and the courtroom.  Also speaking on the program were such internationally renowned experts as Gregory O’Shanick, medical director of BIAA who spoke on the topic “What is so mild about MTBI?”  Also speaking was Erin Bigler, Ph.D., who spoke on neuroimaging and persistent post concussion syndrome; Thomas Kay, Ph.D., who spoke on using the neuropsychological evaluation to understand the person with mild traumatic brain injury; as well as Grant Iverson, Ph.D., who spoke on clinical and methodological challenges associated with identifying residual cognitive deficits.

The conference was organized by Raymond Ancill, M.A. and Stephen Holliday, Ph.D. both of Vancouver, Canada. 

I read an interesting article on The New York Time’s website last week which discusses a rarely seen but yet devastating side effect of brain injuries: patients who  become profoundly suspicious of their closest relationships, often cutting themselves off from those who love them and care for them. They may insist that their spouse is an impostor; that their grown children are body doubles; that a caregiver, a close friend, even their entire family is fake, a duplicate version. Doctors believe these delusions are symptoms of schizophrenia, however recently, researchers have found similar delusions in hundreds of people who are not schizophrenic but have neurological problems including dementia, brain surgery and traumatic blows to the head.

Now a small group of scientists are researching what makes a person’s identity in their brain. Learning what makes identity, researchers say, will help doctors understand how some people preserve their identities in the face of creeping dementia, and how others are sometimes able to reconstitute one.

You can read the full article online here.