Kansas City Injury Lawyer Blog

The military trains service members to drive aggressively while deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, this has led to risky driving behavior and other problems as they return home from overseas. During the first year back from deployment, automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for veterans. A study by the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs has found a 75% greater probability, as compared to the overall U.S. population, that veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will be involved in a fatal auto crash. The VA identifies injuries sustained during deployment, psychological issues faced by many veterans upon their return, and the driving training veterans receive as factors in the trend of unsafe driving.

The VA is leading a group of government agencies in promoting safe driving and providing support and resources for veterans. The Veterans' Safe Driving Initiative provides both educational and clinical support to veterans and to the doctors and mental health professionals who help them. "Our returning combat veterans have already put themselves in harm's way to protect our way of life. Now it's our turn to take action," says David Kelly, Acting Administrator of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. The coalition of agencies includes the VA, the NHTSA, and the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Transportation. The Veterans' Safe Driving Initiative also boasts Richard Petty, a NASCAR legend and advocate for safe driving, as its chair. Petty tours the country on behalf of the Initiative to meet with veterans and educate them about safety issues.

The Veterans' Safe Driving Initiative also conducts research into issues affecting veterans on the roads. The VA has also conducted research, in cooperation with the NHTSA, to develop recommendations on how to keep veterans safe while driving. Their research identifies risky behavior, which can include everything from not wearing a seat belt or helmet to driving under the influence, as a major cause of accidents. VA officials describe the feeling of "invincibility" many veterans have after returning home from combat conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the mere act of driving is risky and aggressive driving behavior is often necessary.

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A St. Louis man has sued Walgreens Pharmacy over an error in filling his prescription that led to him taking the wrong medication. A similar case in Colorado involves a young woman whose pregnancy was put at risk because of a prescription mistake. These cases illustrate both the potential for serious error in pharmacies and the importance of customers taking steps to research and understand their prescribed medications in order to avoid injury.

Ron Apenbrinck alleges that he tried to fill a prescription for the painkiller hydrocodone, but received a medication called Amlopidine Besylate, used to treat heart problems, according to KMOV television in St. Louis. The prescription bag had his name on it, but the pill bottle in the bag allegedly had a different patient's name. Apenbrinck says he took the medication for several days until he became dizzy and suffered a fall. He spent several days in the hospital, having suffered a "mini-stroke." He claims in his lawsuit that he has suffered permanent injuries, including an irregular heartbeat, head, neck, and back injuries, and nervous system damage. He further claims he must now take eleven medications daily to treat these injuries. Walgreens has allegedly apologized and offered to pay Apenbrinck's medical bills. His lawsuit asks for millions of dollars in damages.

A Colorado case from earlier this year offers a chilling view of possible consequences of a pharmacy error. Mareena Silva, who was six-weeks pregnant, picked up a prescription from a Safeway in Fort Lupton, Colorado in February, expecting an antibiotic. She took one pill and began to feel nauseous. She then discovered that she had received a bottle of methotrexate prescribed for Maria Silva. The pharmacy had confused two similar-sounding names. Methotrexate is a cancer drug that can also be used in early termination of pregnancies. Silva rushed to the hospital for treatment. She did not lose her baby, but whether this incident will have an effect on the child's health is not known. Safeway has also apparently apologized and offered to pay medical expenses.

Pharmacists have the primary duty to review all prescriptions and see that they are filled and distributed to patients correctly. Errors in the actual measuring and filling of prescriptions, up to the point where medications are put into bottles and labeled, clearly falls within the pharmacist's responsibility. Once the prescription bottles are ready for the patient, the pharmacists still bears a duty of care and a professional responsibility to the patients, but patients have the ability to exercise a degree of care to protect themselves.

Continue reading "Prescription Mixups at Pharmacies Lead to Lawsuits for Injuries Caused by the Wrong Medication" »

The body of a Kansas man was found around 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 8, 2011 in Douglas County. He was the apparent victim of an ATV accident late Friday night or early Saturday morning, according to the Kansas City Star and KAKE television. There have been no reports of other fatalities or other people or vehicles involved in the accident. The situation is similar to a single-car automobile accident. Where it differs is in how all-terrain vehicles, or ATV's are regulated by the law.

Kansas and Missouri each have rules for registration of ATV's and regulations regarding when and where people may operate them. Both states require ATV owners to have proper title documents. Neither state allows operation of an ATV on a highway. Neither state, however, has a specific license requirement like the requirement to get a license to drive a car or a motorcycle.

Missouri has stricter rules regarding ATV's than Kansas. Missouri requires anyone using an ATV, as operator or passenger, who is under the age of 18 to wear a helmet. It prohibits anyone under the age of 16 from operating an ATV unless accompanied by a parent or on a parent's property. It also restricts the situations in which someone can ride an ATV as a passenger. The Missouri State Police regulate ATV's and enforce the rules regarding their operation. The Missouri Department of Revenue handles registration and taxes.

No Kansas state agency has specific regulatory authority over ATV's. Titling and registration is handled in the same manner as automobiles, but there is no minimum age to operate an ATV, no requirements regarding safety equipment, and no restrictions on passengers.

During the period from 1982 to 2009, according to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were 124 reported deaths due to ATV accidents in Kansas, including 34 children under the age of 16. The total in Missouri for the same time period was 303, including 67 children under 16. Some studies suggest that the fatality rate for ATV's has been increasing in recent years.

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Nurses at Kansas City's Research Medical Center held a rally on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 to address concerns regarding the shortage of nurses at the hospital and its potential impact on patient safety. The rally developed out of negotiations between the hospital and the nurses' union over a new labor contract. The nurses participating in the rally stated that their primary goal is patient safety, while hospital officials stated that it was a "bargaining tactic" in the ongoing contract negotiations.

Nurses in Research Medical Center's intensive care unit claim that they must care for at least 3 patients at a time, while nurses in other departments report having upwards of 5 patients at a time. They state that this stretches the nursing staff thin and increases the likelihood of injuries among patients and errors affecting patient health, including errors in prescribing and administering medications. Nurses who must divide their time among too many patients are more prone to fatigue and mistakes in judgment. Studies indicate that a 2 to 1 patient-to-nurse ratio is ideal in intensive care facilities, the nurses say.

The Kansas City nurses' complaints illustrate an alarming trend in hospitals. The Institute of Medicine, which is part of the National Academy of Sciences, has found an average rate of one medication error per patient per day in America's hospitals, regardless of the number or employment status of its nurses. A University of Pennsylvania study has shown an increased incidence of patient deaths in hospitals with high patient-to-nurse ratios, with factors such as fatigue and burnout leading to a higher rate of mistakes. This Kansas City Injury Lawyer Blog has previously commented on reports that hospitals using temporary emergency room staff, including nurses, show an elevated risk of medication errors, largely because temporary staff lack familiarity with the hospital's facilities and procedures. These factors may have come together recently in San Francisco with tragic results, when a patient died as a result of a medication error during a nursing strike, when replacement staff was on duty.

Continue reading "Kansas City Nurses Rally, Claiming Hospitals Are Risking Patient Safety" »