Pittsburgh Personal Injury Blog

You probably take your doctor's word for things. After all, he or she is the expert and you likely may be asking for guidance on serious health issues. A new study, however, may give you reason to question what your doctor is telling you. Researchers found that physicians sometimes fail to tell patients the truth.

The study was conducted by Massachusetts researchers who surveyed over 1,800 doctors across the country; their findings were recently published in Health Affairs. The survey showed that one in 10 physicians admitted to telling a patient something untrue during the past year. Almost 20 percent failed to fully disclose medical errors; and over 50 percent said they had given an overly rosy prognosis to a patient.

According to medical ethicist Dr. Arthur Caplan, from the University of Pennsylvania, it is "just inexcusable" for doctors to not admit to patients when a mistakes have been made. Patients need to feel they can trust their doctor; and that he or she is giving them all the necessary information to make informed decisions. Having honest and open communication is crucial to the doctor-patient relationship.

The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania will receive over $5 million as part of a nationwide initiative to improve patient safety.

According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Partnership for Patients program is awarding $218 million to 26 hospital networks across the country. The goal of the program is to improve the safety, affordability and quality of healthcare in the U.S.

According to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, "At some point in our lives many of us are going to need hospital care and we need to be confident that no matter where we live, we're going to get the best care in the world." If the program's objectives are achieved there would be about 1.8 million less injuries to hospital patients and 60,000 lives would be saved.

The focus of the initiative is for the hospitals to identify solutions already reducing readmissions, medical malpractice, medical errors and other healthcare-acquired conditions, and facilitate expanding these practices to other healthcare providers.

Teen driving safety in Pennsylvania has been receiving a significant amount of attention recently. Gov. Tom Corbett proclaimed last week as Teen Driver Safety Week. Last month, both the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill that would tighten the restrictions on the state's teen drivers.

Gov. Corbett said that he intends to sign the bill into law. Teen drivers should be aware of the changes that the new bill would enact to current licensing laws and the reasons behind the changes, such as the desire to prevent car accidents involving teens and other motorists.

New Licensing Laws

The new law would institute the following changes to the current laws:

• Seatbelts: failure to wear seatbelts would be a primary offense so police could stop drivers who are not wearing seatbelts and issue citations
• Passenger restrictions: for the first six months after obtaining a driver's license, a driver under 18 could only have one passenger under age 18 who is not a family member if the driver's parent or guardian is not also in the car; if the driver remains accident-free for those six months, he or she could have up to three passengers under 18 years old without a parent or guardian in the car
• Driver education: those with learner's permits would need to have 65 hours of driving experience, including 5 hours of inclement weather driving and 10 hours of night driving, which is an increase from the 50 hours the law currently requires

Safety in the trucking industry is of paramount importance. With the increasing number of tractor-trailer rigs on the highways and interstates, there are more and more truck accidents. Due to the size and weight of big rigs, passenger vehicles are often decimated in collisions with catastrophic results for the occupants. To prevent injury and death to truck drivers and to other motorists, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is reviewing the benefits of monitoring and warning equipment.

In a potentially groundbreaking study, the FMCSA is embarking on a multi-year research project. The study focuses on determining the effectiveness of truck driver monitoring equipment in improving safety.