Category: Medical & Healthcare The Hazards of Wisdom Tooth Extraction: From Patient to Plaintiff TASA ID: 170 Ten million "impacted" wisdom teeth are extracted each year from 3.8 million people, 94 percent by oral and maxillofacial surgeons. Studies indicate that one-third of a percent (0.33%) to one percent of the patients (12,500 to 38,000) suffer permanent injury, mostly damage to the mandibular or lower jaw nerve, resulting in varying degrees of numbness (paresthesia) of the lip and chin, distortion of speech and smiling, cheek biting, difficulty chewing, and, in some cases, severe shooting neuralgic pain. Read more
Category: Food Safety and Production, Medical & Healthcare Long-Term Sequelae of Salmonellosis TASA ID: 733 As we eat in places other than our kitchen, poor sanitation and contamination of food sources become a significant problem. Although the FDA has established a series of guidelines for food safety, CDC incidence reports of Salmonella are on the rise. Some of the acute clinical symptoms related to these types of bacterial infection appear to be self-limiting, but the reality is that life-long problems persist. Of interest to the lawyer and patient is to ensure that these significant risk factors are considered when the damages to the person are assessed. Read more
Category: Construction, Environment, Medical & Healthcare Prevent Hospital-Acquired Infections During Construction Projects TASA ID: 931 The issue of hospital acquired infections is a serious problem. According to several sources, three to four million hospital-acquired infections occur annually, with up to 80,000 fatalities. The costs of these infections are estimated to be between $4 billion and $5 billion per year (Air-Treatment Systems for Controlling Hospital-Acquired Infections, HPAC Engineering, April 2, 2008). Read more
Category: Medical & Healthcare Vision and driving: Is it time for a change in the licensing standard? TASA ID: 1843 With more and more automobiles on the road, despite the high price of gasoline, has the time come for ophthalmologists to take a second look at vision and driving? What ophthalmologist has not had to perform the unpleasant task of advising a patient and his family that the patient's vision doesn't meet the standard for maintaining a driver's license? Often, older adults consider cataract surgery in order to pass their driver's test. Read more
Category: Medical & Healthcare Article Series: Abnormal Sleep Behavior and the Legal Profession. Article #1: Forensic Sleep Medicine...REM Sleep Behavior Disorder TASA ID: 1165 The impact of parasomnias and other sleep disorders on individual behavior has become well documented. Indeed, due to knowledge of the legal implications of these disorders, a new field in Sleep Medicine has emerged and has been termed Forensic Sleep Medicine....It is not uncommon for patients suffering with these disorders to be charged with civil and criminal charges. Read more
