Physicians continue to prescribe codeine to children despite repeated warnings that the drug has potentially lethal side effects, according to a new study. Research published in the April 2014 edition of Pediatrics found that emergency room doctors prescribed codeine to over 544,000 children in 2010. ... Read More

Electronic cigarettes are devices that allow people to inhale nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals without having to smoke a conventional cigarette.  Although e-cigarette health risks are not fully understood, calls to U.S. poison centers regarding e-cigarette exposures increased over a hundred-fold between September 2010 and... Read More

An Illinois woman has filed a wrongful birth lawsuit against her doctor, charging that a bungled sterilization procedure led her to give birth to a child with sickle cell disease.  The woman and her husband are seeking compensation for the “extraordinary expenses” they expect to... Read More

Substandard care injures one in every three nursing home residents, according to an investigation conducted by the Inspector General of the US Department of Health & Human Services.  Although the causes of the nursing home abuse vary, the report found that 60% of the incidents... Read More

This fall California voters may face a ballot initiative to revise a nearly 40-year-old law that caps medical malpractice damages.  If initiative proponents obtain enough signatures to put the measure on the November ballot, the battle for votes is likely to cost millions and result... Read More

Legislators in Maryland are debating the establishment of a birth injury fund to pay for the treatment of infants who suffer profound neurological damage during birth. Two of the state’s largest hospital systems argue that the fund is necessary to keep malpractice insurance premiums from... Read More

The tragic case of 13-year-old Jahi McMath, whose post-tonsillectomy hemorrhaging ended in several doctors declaring her brain-dead, has highlighted complex ethical issues caused by a decades-old California law. A few facts are clear.  In December 2013, doctors at Children’s Hospital Oakland removed Jahi’s tonsils and... Read More