Articles Posted in In The News

Dr. William Thompson is a man largely ignored by media outlets. He is a senior scientist for the CDC and in his career, he has published some of the most widely cited vaccine studies. Two, in fact, were the most commonly cited during the controversy over the MMR vaccine and autism. Those articles were written in 2004 and 2007, respectively.

Dr. Thompson now says that he went along with the paper that stated there was no evidence connecting the vaccine and autism. And that he nor his co-authors reported significant findings. Today, he regrets being “a part of the problem.”

The doctor has attempted to testify to scientific fraud and the destruction of evidence. It is his opinion that for the past 10 years, his employers have pressured him and others to manipulate data and lie with regards to vaccines and autism. Because Dr. Thompson’s testimony that vaccines and autism are directly linked, his testimony would not promote the objectives of the CDC and he has been effectively blocked from giving such testimony.

A Houston doctor is being sued by three families who are accusing the doctor and the hospital the doctor works for of mishandling their babies’ deliveries. One baby died and the other two have lifelong injuries to deal with.

Dr. June Williams Colman and the East Houston Regional Medical Center, where each woman gave birth. Each woman claims that the doctor failed to notice signs of distress in their infants, forcing the women to push longer than safe, and not offering the option of cesarean sections.

Of the infants that were injured, one has a severe brain injury and the other has multiple injuries, including impaired vision. The child who died suffered with severe brain injuries and other injuries that were caused by the prolonged labor. The child died shortly after birth. Attorneys for the women accuse the doctor and other medical staff of making multiple errors during the deliveries all three women experienced.

Last week, a woman who was forced to have her leg amputated as a result of medical malpractice was awarded $25 million by a Connecticut jury.

Court documents tell a heartbreaking story. In 2009, Virginia Schneider, then 18, saw Dr. Marsel Huribal, complaining of pain in her left leg. The doctor failed to diagnose Schneider properly. Schneider was suffering with a blood clot that went undetected.

The pain Schnieder was experiencing became worse and she sought treatment at Griffin Hospital. Emergency doctors also failed to diagnose the blood clot. Schneider was sent home. The woman’s pain continued to worsen and she ultimately lost circulation in her leg due to the clot. Because that clot was not treated in a proper or timely manner, Schneider’s leg had to be amputated.

A man who lost the lower parts of both of his legs has been awarded nearly $9 million in what an attorney has called the largest malpractice verdict in the history of Butler County, Pennsylvania.

According to court documents, Todd Wogan suffered from a colovesical fistula. He went to Butler Memorial Hospital in January 2012 to undergo a procedure to repair the condition. Wogan required a follow-up surgery later that same month. In that procedure, doctors removed 6 inches of Wogan’s colon.

Wogan never fully recovered after the second procedure. Wogan visited the hospital multiple times until he was finally admitted again in March 2012. It was hours before Wogan’s surgeon was advised of his condition and by the time an exploratory procedure was begun, Wogan’s colon was leaking fluid into his abdomen.

A doctor in Chicago has been found guilty of medical malpractice after authorities discovered that he had been using homemade vaccines for children with allergies for more than 10 years.

Dr. Ming Te Lin was found guilty of administering unapproved vaccines to children as young as seven days old. The oral vaccines were made with cat saliva and vodka. Reports also show that the doctor gave unapproved versions of childhood shots to his patients.

Once authorities received reports from other health care providers, investigators visited Lin’s practice. They found his office to be unsterile and cluttered. They also found the materials the doctor used to make his own vaccines.

As residents of the coastal states work to clean up the damage that Hurricane Matthew left in its wake, people in New York and other states will begin to offer their assistance. If you plan on counting yourself among those who will donate to the relief efforts, it is important that you do so wisely.

According to the FBI, there were more than 4,000 websites that popped up after Hurricane Katrina, advertising that accepted donations would be sent to victims. These websites were scams. Experts also recommend not contributing to any organization with an verifiable overhead of more than 20 percent.

So how can you help safely?

Jason Simcakoski was prescribed approximately 14 different drugs when he visited the Wisconsin Veterans Affairs facility. He later died despite his family’s concerns that he was too sedate when they visited him. The family is now suing the facility, alleging medical malpractice.

According to documents, Simcakoski was diagnosed, among other drugs, Suboxone. the drug is typically used for narcotic addiction, but was given to this patient to relieve chronic pain. The drug, the suit alleges, was given in too high of a dose and with a mixture of other pills.

On August 30, 2014, Simcakoski’s family visited him at the facility. They expressed concern that he was hardly able to talk and seemed more sedate than usual. In the early afternoon, the patient was discovered to be unresponsive and life saving measures were not started until approximately 10 minutes after he was discovered to be in distress.

It is unusual for a supreme court to go ahead with a case that has been settled, but that’s what is happening in Florida right now.

According to documents, the original case began when a patient escaped from a psychiatric hospital, ran onto Interstate 75, and was struck and killed by a truck. The case made its way to Florida Supreme Court but was settled before justices could hear testimony. In most instances, that settlement would have been the end to it all. In this case, the court still wants to hear arguments.

In September, a 4-3 decision made it clear that the court would be hearing the case. Despite the settlement, justices want to hear the case, but did not disclose its reasons. The attorney for the plaintiff in the case that was settled has pointed out that the court may want to make a clearer line in what constitutes medical malpractice and common negligence.

Three Lake County, Indiana cardiologists are facing three wrongful death allegations and over 24 medical malpractice lawsuits. The three stand accused of performing unnecessary procedures at Community Hospital in Munster.

Dr. Wail Asfour, Dr. Arving Gandhi, and Dr. Satyaprakash Makam, all associates of Munster Medical Research Foundation, Inc. and Northwest Indiana, PC, are named in the dozens of lawsuits that have been filed. Included in the allegations against the cardiologists are:

• Pacemaker implantation that was not needed

A graduate student customized graphene nanoribbons for medical use, and the technology is now being researched as a way to help victims of spinal cord injury. William Sikkema, a grad student at Rice University, is credited with the customization and is a co-lead author of the paper published by Surgical Neurology International.

The Experiment

Many other research projects have demonstrated the ability to grow neurons along graphene. It is a possibility thanks to the conductive surface of graphene. This experiment was different because it took things one step further than they had been taken before. This team was able to maintain conductivity while adding water-solubilizing polymer chain to the edges of the nanoribbons. This increased stability and has made it possible to branch out to biomedical applications.