Some maryland surgical centers receive little oversight

Apparently, it’s not whether something walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s whether it bills insurance companies like a duck:

There is tremendous oversight in the operating rooms in hospitals.  But in Maryland, some other locations where surgery is done simply don't.  Maryland’s Health Secretary, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, acknowledges some clinics where cosmetic surgery procedures are done don’t get licensed or inspected.       

In Maryland, he says medspas and plastic surgery clinics that don't bill insurance as “ambulatory surgery centers” aren't overseen like hospitals, even though they may do some of the same procedures.

It’s a legal loophole some consider a fatal flaw in the state’s health system.  And the family of a woman who died following a procedure at a Baltimore County medspa is attempting to shed light on the issue.  Denise Witherspoon and her family spoke exclusively with ABC2 about the death of their sister, Eula.

Source: Family of medspa patient talks for first time to expose medical loophole in Maryland

Lack of proper governmental oversight plagues many industries.  The civil justice system is a great cure for that.

depuy engineer explains flaw in internal testing of asr hip

The New York Times reports on the interesting information being revealed in the first DePuy ASR hip trial:

Separately, a DePuy engineer, Graham Isaac, testified on Thursday that before selling the A.S.R., the company only tested its performance on laboratory equipment at one angle of implantation.

Depending on the surgical technique and a patient’s build, orthopedic surgeons can implant the cup component of an artificial hip at a variety of angles. And because the A.S.R. had a design flaw, normal variance from the single angle at which DePuy had tested it made it more likely for the joint’s cup and ball components to strike each other, releasing metallic debris inside a patient. 

Source: Hip Implant’s Risks Inadequately Assessed, DePuy Report Found in 2010 - NYTimes.com

Our sources tell us that the DePuy ASR implants are very likely to have been implanted at angles other than the one that was tested internally.  Whether the fact that DePuy engineers only tested one angle was intentional or a coincidence is purely a matter of conjecture at this point.

tort reform bill dies in Indiana

Good riddance:

Indiana won’t be passing a bill requiring losers to pay all costs and attorney fees in civil lawsuits.

. . . .

The problem with the bill is simple, Steele said: “It doesn’t work.”

Steele, R-Bedford, said he had filed “exactly the same bill” in 1995 and got an earful from just about every interest group.

They convinced him, he said, that it is unworkable because determining just who is the loser in a lawsuit is difficult — and impossible in “no fault” divorce cases.

Source: Gov. Mike Pence-backed tort reform bill exits quietly | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com

One hypocrisy we at Legal Reader have often noticed: Conservative Republicans bristle at the suggestion that America looks to Europe for inspiration for anything… but they’re all too eager to pass European-style “loser pays” bills.

Samsca Lawyers Are Reviewing Liver Damage Cases

Dangerous Drugs recently published news that the drug Samsca (tolvaptan) has been associated with “irreversible and potentially fatal liver injury.”

The news was first broken by the FDA, which discovered the association between Samsca use and liver damage as part of a “double-blind, 3-year, placebo-controlled study” of about 1,400 patients with a type of kidney disease.

As a result of this, many Samsca lawyers are now reviewing potential Samsca lawsuits. Although it is too early to tell which lawsuits will succeed, attorney Justinian Lane is willing to speak to anyone who suffered liver damage while taking the drug Samsca.

For more information, see Justinian Lane’s post at Dangerous Drugs here.

Salmonella Leads To Hog Head Cheese Recalled in Louisiana, Texas

Food Safety news reported today that nearly 5,000 pounds of a pork product called “Hog Head Cheese” was recalled in Louisiana and Southeast Texas":

A recent outbreak of Salmonella Uganda in Louisiana has prompted a Texas company to recall a ready-to-eat (RTE) pork product. Houston’s Stallings Head Cheese Co. Inc. recalled 4,700 pounds of hog head cheese Thursday for possible Salmonella contamination.

The recall includes 10 ounce packages of “Richard’s Hog Head Cheese” bearing establishment number “EST. 2257” inside the USDA market of inspection and sell by dates “Use by 2 1 2013″ or “Use by 3 20 2013″on each package.

According to the announcement by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the recalled meat was produced between Nov. 1, 2012 and Dec. 19, 2012. It was shipped to a distribution center for delivery to retailers in Louisiana and southeastern Texas.

Source: Salmonella Uganda Outbreak Sparks Hog Head Cheese Recall | Food Safety News

Salmonella is a serious foodborne illness that can cause a variety of problems in an individuals’ digestive tract.  Anyone who has this product should definitely not eat it.