Portland Medical Malpractice Law Blog

One of the things all patients want is to know that a hospital is clean. It is a hospital's responsibility to clean as best as possible to prevent the spread of infection. It isn't just surfaces that have to be cleaned; medical equipment, beds, sheets, sinks and other items all have to be cleaned regularly and with the right cleaning supplies.

Hospitals should use hospital-grade disinfectants when cleaning. Normal disinfectants may not be enough to prevent the spread of superbugs that develop in hospitals.

Misinformation is awful for patients, because it means they don't know the actual state of their health. They make decisions based on this information, which could be inaccurate. For a woman in Oregon, that meant that she thought she had a diagnosis that she, in reality, did not.

The Aug. 10 report describes a 36-year-old woman who was told that she carried genes that could later lead to breast cancer. They urged her to go through a double mastectomy, and she also had a hysterectomy to stem the risk of developing cancer at all. The surprise came after the surgeries were over and her wounds were healing. She learned that she didn't have the genes they had told her she had.

Violence never has a place in a hospital or care center. When people go to seek care, they need a calm environment where they feel safe. Some people struggle with mental health conditions that may make them violent when least expected. For that reason, many hospitals and intake centers limit patients' exposure to one another and have safeguards in place to prevent attacks.

That's not the case at one center. Unity Center for Behavioral Health has a living-room style intake center. This is an area also known as the Psychiatric Emergency Services area or "PES." In the PES, an open-model plan makes it easier for patients to attack other patients or caregivers. While having a central area between patients' rooms and appointments, it has led to several serious attacks and resulted in deaths.

If you have a case of medical malpractice that you want to bring against a medical professional for neglect or mistakes that led to a loved one' death, then you may be interested in hearing more about a new dispute resolution process in Oregon. This new arrangement, called the Early Discussion and Resolution Program, would give patients or their families a chance to work through cases with the hospital or defendants before they hit trial.

While some wonder what the benefit would be of settling outside court, there are many reasons to do so. Reducing costs, saving time and helping families by getting them the compensation they need sooner is better for everyone all around. Lawsuits, it's argued, drive a wedge between providers and patients, which means that more people fear working with each other. Instead, EDR would give a chance to both sides to come to a fair resolution.