Patient Dumping: Lubin & Meyer Files Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Massachusetts

Report from Disability Law Center Finds Abuse and Neglect in Death of Woman Discharged from Hospital and Left on Boston Streets 

Lubin & Meyer medical malpractice attorney Robert M. Higgins has filed a lawsuit in Worcester Superior Court seeking damages related to the death of CaSonya King, a mental health patient who died in 2018 shortly after she was improperly discharged from the hospital where she was being treated. Named in the complaint are High Point Hospital, CVS, the attending physician and a social worker at the hospital. 

In an exposé by Shira Schoenberg, for CommonWealth Magazine, Attorney Higgins, who represents CaSonya's mother Angela King in the civil action, said,

“They essentially decided they didn’t want to have her anymore, and they decided to dump her at a shelter. She had mental health issues, she needed help. She didn’t need to be dumped on the streets near the Pine Street Inn to fend for herself.” 

— Robert Higgins, Medical Malpractice Attorney

 

Mental health patient died in 2018 after discharge to Boston streets - CommonWealth Magazine https://t.co/T0QN06gkrE

— Shira Schoenberg (@shiraschoenberg) June 8, 2021

A report released on June 8, 2021 by the Disability Law Center (DLC),  the federally mandated protection and advocacy agency for Massachusetts, criticizes the Department of Mental Health (DMH), which licensed High Point Hospital, for its failure to get answers to critical questions about the incident:

• Why was CaSonya King discharged in a deeply disoriented state? 
• Why was she discharged to the street and against her will without adequate supports? 
• Why couldn’t the hospital wait until a placement with adequate supports could be arranged, especially since CaSonya King did not wish to be discharged to a shelter or to the street? 
• Why was she brought from Middleborough to Boston, 39 miles away, a community where she had no meaningful supports? 
• Where exactly was CaSonya King left and why did she never make it inside the homeless shelter? 

In announcing the report, DLC stated:

The report, “Out of Time: The Tragic Death of CaSonya King and the Practice of Patient Dumping” is available on the DLC website. It contains a detailed analysis of hospital medical records, DMH investigative records, and legal records, along with photographs, tables and additional graphic material, and information gathered from interviews and fact investigation. The report also describes CaSonya’s death against the backdrop of so-called “patient dumping” incidents across the country. Following its investigation, undertaken as the designated Protection and Advocacy (“P&A”) system for the Commonwealth, DLC finds that the actions of High Point Hospital, in discharging CaSonya King without a meaningful and effective discharge plan, constituted neglect and a dangerous practice that contributed to CaSonya King’s tragic death. 

 

Questions about medical malpractice? 

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View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Medical Errors Experienced by 41% of Americans

New Survey Reveals Patient Attitudes on Patient Safety

A new survey reveals that 41% of Americans have experienced a medical error while receiving healthcare.

According to the national survey, Americans’ Experiences with Medical Errors and Views on Patient Safety, by the IHI/NPSF Lucian Leape Institute and NORC at the University of Chicago:

• 10% reported personally experiencing a medical error
• 20% know someone whose care they were involved with experienced a medical error
• 11% reported having experienced an error both personally and involved in someone else’s care.

Most Errors Attributed to Mistakes in Diagnosing Medical Conditions

The most commonly reported type of errors were those related to diagnoses. Among those who have experienced a medical error, 59% say that the patient had a medical condition that was:

• not diagnosed
• diagnosed incorrectly
• diagnosis was delayed.

Infographic: Betsy Lehman Center Safety Snapshot

Respondents reported that 57% of medical errors occurred in outpatient settings including emergency departments. 34% reported medical errors occurring in inpatient settings.

Of those who experienced a medical error, 73% said the error had long-term or permanent impact on the patient’s physical health, emotional health, financial well-being, or their family relationships, and many say they experienced lasting impacts on multiple aspects of their lives.

Reporting Medical Errors

The survey found that people often don’t report medical errors because they don’t think it will make a difference.

• 56% of those who did not report the error said they didn’t think it would do any good.
• 40% said they didn’t know how to report the error.
• 24% said the error was an honest mistake and no harm was intended so they didn’t report it. 

Contributing Factors in Medical Errors

Some of the most common factors that contributed to the incidence of a medical error include healthcare providers who:

• don’t pay attention to details
• aren't listening
• are poorly trained
• say there was nothing wrong when there was
• don't spend enough time with the patient
• are overworked, stressed, distracted or tired
• lack of communication among providers
• don't discuss goals or treatment choices.

Other factors identified include medical care being very complicated and having too many providers involved in care with no clear leader.

The nationwide survey of more than 2,500 adults was conducted by NORC from May 12–June 26, 2017.

For more information including survey fact sheets and to download the full report, visit the Institute for Healthcare Improvement at http://www.ihi.org.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Did you experience a medical error that caused you or a loved one a lasting injury or the need for additional medical care? Our medical malpractice lawyers and medical case reviewers are available to answer your questions regarding a possible medical malpractice claim. Contact us for a free case evaluation in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island

How Safe Is Your Hospital?

Check Your Hospital's Latest Safety Report Card

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade was launched in 2012 to help increase awareness of hospital errors, injuries, accidents and infections. Since 2012, the Leapfrog Group has been assigning A, B, C, D and F letter grades to more than 2,600 acute-care hospitals nationwide, twice a year.

#BREAKING: Nine Massachusetts hospitals receive 'C' grades for safety https://t.co/TikDE1gEAC via @BosBizJournal

— Lubin & Meyer PC (@LubinandMeyer) April 12, 2017

The score is based on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey along with national performance measures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey and Health Information Technology Supplement.

The Need to Focus on Injuries, Accidents and Infections

Often-cited industry statistics reported on the Leapfrog website drive home the need to focus on patient safety.

• Approximately 1,000 people die each day due to a preventable hospital error
• 1 in 25 patients develops an avoidable infection while in the hospital
• 1 in 4 Medicare patients will experience injury, harm or death when admitted to a hospital

Some of the most important measures according to the Leapfrog Group are listed here.

• Does your hospital have a hand washing policy?
• What is the rate of infection in the blood for ICU patients?
• Does hospital have patient safety training programs?
• Number of patient falls?

According to Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog:

“Our goal was to alert consumers to the hazards involved in a hospital stay and help them choose the safest option. We also hoped to galvanize hospitals to make safety the first priority day in and day out. So far, we’ve been pleased with the increase in public awareness and hospitals’ commitment to solving this terrible problem. But we need to accelerate the pace of change, because too many people are still getting harmed or killed.”

 

How Did Massachusetts Hospitals Score?

A recent Boston Business Journal article digs into the safety grades of Massachusetts' 60 acute-care hospitals.

"While half of all Massachusetts hospitals received an "A" for safety from a national nonprofit healthcare ratings agency, nine hospitals in the state received barely passing grades.”

You can read that article here: Nine Massachusetts hospitals receive 'C' grades for safety

How Did Your Hospital Score?

To search the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade database by hospital name, city or state, go to: http://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/


Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law. View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com 

6 Ways To Be A Safe Patient

In recognition of Patient Safety Awareness Week, we would like to share this infographic from the CDC on what patients can do to help prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in the hospital setting. We've reported on HAIs before, see our post: Tracking Infection Control in U.S. Hospitals.

According to the CDC,

On any given day, approximately one in 25 U.S. patients contract at least one infection during the course of their hospital care.

Be an informed and empowered patient and play an active role in your care including questioning your healthcare team about infection control.

You can download this infographic from the CDC.

6 Ways To Be A Safe Patient  

1. Speak Up. Talk to your doctor about infection and what they are doing to protect you.

• If you have a catheter, ask each day if it is necessary. 
• Ask your doctor how he/she prevents surgical site infections

2. Wash Hands. Make sure everyone cleans their hands before touching you.

3. Monitor Antibiotics. Ask if a test will be done to make sure the right antibiotic is prescribed.

4. Watch for Infection. Some skin infections, such as MRSA, appear as redness, pain, or drainage at an IV catheter site or surgery site. Sometimes these symptoms come with a fever. Tell your doctor if you have these symptoms.

5. Monitor Diarrhea. Tell your doctor if you have 3 or more diarrhea episodes in 24 hours.

6. Vaccinate. Get vaccinated against flu and other infections to avoid complications.

Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law
Attorneys practicing in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island

Senate Releases Report and Recommendations on the Practice of Concurrent Surgeries at Teaching Hospitals

Boston Globe Spotlight Team and Lubin & Meyer lawsuits have been at the center of widening awareness of this patient safety issue 

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) issued a committee staff report detailing the practices of concurrent and overlapping surgeries where lead doctors at teaching hospitals perform multiple surgeries at the same time.

“Concurrent and Overlapping Surgeries: Additional Measures Warranted,” outlines a number of shortfalls at the federal level in monitoring and auditing teaching hospitals to ensure they are in compliance with Medicare billing restrictions, while also making a number of recommendations for hospitals and regulators to ensure patient safety and improve transparency.

Lubin & Meyer Lawsuits Have Been at the Center of Investigations into Double-Booking Surgeries https://t.co/ly4S9IoA8X #concurrentsurgeries

— Lubin & Meyer PC (@LubinandMeyer) December 6, 2016

“This report provides a crucial look at the little-known practices of concurrent and overlapping surgeries and lays the groundwork for improving the system moving forward,” Hatch and Wyden said, “While we are encouraged by the steps taken by the American College of Surgeons and a number of hospitals to address the concerns with concurrent surgeries, we remain concerned that the nearly 5,000 hospitals in America may lack thorough and complete policies covering these procedures and patient consent. By working with hospitals and surgeons in a collaborative manner, it is our hope we can continue to increase transparency and patient safety.”

Largely unknown, the practice of double-booking surgeries was made public through an investigative report by the Boston Globe's Spotlight Team involving the concurrent surgeries at Massachusetts General Hospital and two patients represented by Lubin & Meyer who filed lawsuits claiming injuries due to the practice of one surgeon with overlapping surgeries.

See our previous Patient Safety Blog reporting on this issue:

Concurrent Surgeries at MGH Spur Federal Investigations

Concurrent Surgeries in the Spotlight: Is it Safe To Run Two Operations at Once?

Please feel free to contact us regarding information or questions related to double-booking or overlapping surgery.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC
New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law
Attorneys practicing in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island

Concurrent Surgeries at MGH Spur Federal Investigations

Lubin & Meyer lawsuits are at the center of widening probe into double-booking surgeries

Recent investigative reporting by the award-winning Boston Globe Spotlight Team on "Concurrent Surgeries" at Mass General Hospital and lawsuits filed by Lubin & Meyer on behalf of patients there, continue to have a ripple effect — and have resulted in federal inquiries into the practice of double-booking surgeries without a patient's knowledge.

See these articles as federal scrunity of the practice unfolds.

• US Senator Orin Hatch Launches Inquiry into Simultaneous Surgeries at Hospitals Including Mass. General
  
• US Attorney Carmen Ortiz Launches Federal Investigation into Concurrent Surgeries at MGH
  Seeks 10 Years of Records
• Massachusetts To Require Surgeons To Document Operating Room Comings and Goings

See our prior post on this topic:
Concurrent Surgeries in the Spotlight: Is it Safe To Run Two Operations at Once?

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Attorneys licensed and practicing in MA, NH and RI

Massachusetts State Medical Board Takes Action on Simultaneous Surgeries

Following a Spotlight report by the Boston Globe and lawsuits filed by Lubin & Meyer regarding "concurrent surgeries," the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine approved new regulations requiring surgeons to document each time they enter and leave an operating room.

A January 7, 2016 article in the Boston Globe details,

"The board also approved a requirement that the primary surgeon identify the backup doctor who would assume responsibility if the first surgeon is going to leave the operating room. The new rules, among a series of regulation revisions that the board passed by a vote of 5 to 1 late Thursday, need the approval of several state agencies by the end of March before they can go into effect."
 — See full article: State acts on simultaneous surgeries

A letter to the editor by Nancy G. Brinker, board member and founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, supports regulation of the practice of simultaneous surgeries and asks the medical community to decide if it is in the best interest of patient safety. (See below.)

It’s time to establish rules for concurrent surgeries https://t.co/T6ohWqcdje via @BostonGlobe

— Lubin & Meyer PC (@LubinandMeyer) January 15, 2016

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Massachusetts Hospital Errors — Amount of Preventable Medical Mistakes Is Staggering

The Boston Globe reported last month on a Department of Public Health (DPH) annual study showing that full-service hospitals in the state reported "821 preventable errors that harmed or endangered patients last year." Some of the top hospital errors reported were:

• Surgical objects left behind (41)
• Operation on wrong body part (24)
• Serious injury or death after a fall (290).

Our own Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. was quoted in the article,

“It’s extraordinary the amount of medical errors and deaths that occur on a yearly basis. Medical error is becoming one of the leading causes of death in Massachusetts.”
      — Andrew Meyer, Attorney

Whether these instances are increasing or decreasing is open for debate, according to the article, Mass. hospitals continue to make preventable mistakes, as definitions for the reporting of serious events has recently changed, and not all errors may be reported.

Full-service hospitals in Mass. reported making 821 preventable errors last year, report says http://t.co/rCJ03U5Kbr pic.twitter.com/2LAjJ6D8Pt

— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) June 11, 2015

How Do Massachusetts Hospitals Compare? 

The Massachusetts Health and Human Services website makes the total number of "Serious Reportable Events" (SREs) by hospital available to the public. Hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers are required to report SREs to the Massachusetts DPH. The law also prohibits hospitals from charging for these events or seeking reimbursement for SRE-related services. Click here to view: Massachusetts Hospital Error Data.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com
Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law. Attorneys practicing in MA, NH and RI.

Massachusetts Can and Must Do Better Job in Reducing Medical Errors

Twenty years after the death of Boston Globe health reporter pioneer Betsy Lehman, medical errors are still far too common in Massachusetts. Lehman died of an overdose of chemotherapy drugs while being treated for breast cancer that was four times the dosage she was supposed to receive. The following video from The Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Research and Medical Error Reduction tells the moving story.



Two decades later, nearly 1 in 4 Massachusetts residents has had an experience with a medical error, according to research released by The Betsy Lehman Center from the Harvard School of Public Health, RAND Corporation and the National Academy for State Health Policy on the state of patient safety at its Zero Harm: Charting a New Course for Patient Safety event in Boston last month on December 2.

The research shows nearly one quarter (23%) of Massachusetts residents surveyed reported that they or a person close to them experienced medical error in the past five years, and of those involved in a medical error situation, 59% said the error resulted in serious health consequences. The most common type of medical error identified was misdiagnosis, which was reported by 51% of affected respondents.

The Boston Globe reports on the findings here. See the full details of the studies from the Zero Harm event on the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) website: chiamass.gov/zeroharm.

Massachusetts healthcare institutions can and must do a better job in reducing harms. As our previous post reveals, a study on a single aspect of care — patient hand-offs — showed significant reduction in errors. We need to see more such improvements.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com
Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law. Attorneys practicing in MA, NH and RI.

Boston Children's Hospital Study: Better Communication During Patient Hand-offs Reduced Errors by 30%

According to a study led by researchers at Boston's Children's Hospital, improvements in verbal and written communication between health care providers during patient hand-offs can reduce injuries due to medical errors by 30 percent. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), study results show that I-PASS  — a bundled system of communication and training tools for hand-off of patient care between providers — can greatly increase patient safety without significantly burdening existing clinical workflows.

A press release issued in conjunction with the study's publication states that medical errors in hospitals such as diagnostic delays, preventable surgical complications and medication overdoses are leading causes of death and injury in the U.S. An estimated 80 percent of the most serious medical errors can be linked to communication between clinicians, particularly during patient hand-offs.

I-PASS was designed with the goal of improving patient safety and reducing or eliminating the most common source of medical errors through improved provider-to-provider communication. I-PASS consists of:

• Standardized communication and hand-off training
• A verbal hand-off process organized around the verbal mnemonic "I-PASS" (Illness severity, Patient summary, Action list, Situational awareness and contingency planning, and Synthesis by receiver)
• Computerized hand-off tools to share patient information between providers using an I-PASS structure
• Engagement of supervising attending physicians to observe and oversee hand-off communications
• A campaign promoting the adoption of I-PASS as part of institutional process and culture

For more information on this patient safety initiative, please see: www.ipasshandoffstudy.com, and the full press release.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com
Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law. Attorneys practicing in MA, NH and RI.

Public Citizen Report: Medical Malpractice Payments Remain at Historic Low

Medical malpractice payments remain at a historic low despite rising slightly last year, according to Public Citizen’s annual analysis of data published by the federal government’s National Practitioner Data Bank. The dollar value of malpractice payments in 2013 was the second lowest in the past 15 years.

The report also calls attention to the fact that while the number of avoidable errors occurring in hospitals has increased, the number of liability payments for such errors has declined. It cites the Journal of Patient Safety's study, published last year, estimating the number of premature deaths associated with preventable harm to patients at more than 400,000 per year, with preventable serious harms 10- to 20-fold more common than lethal harms.

“Medical malpractice should be treated as a health issue, not an economic one. And the cure is not reducing access to justice for victims of malpractice, but eliminating avoidable medical errors and negligence.” — Public Citizen President Robert Weissman

Both the number and cumulative value of medical malpractice payments made on behalf of doctors increased slightly in 2013, marking the first such increase in a decade. Meanwhile, medical liability insurance rates (which are not precisely tied to claims data and may lag behind payment trends) continued to decrease.

View the entire study here.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Are Patients Safer Today Than 15 Years Ago?

According to an article published on NPR.org, the U.S. health care system "is not doing enough to track and prevent widespread harm to patients, and preventable deaths and injuries in hospitals and other settings" as told by expert testimony before a Senate Subcommittee last month on Capitol Hill.

Among those testifying, Dr. Ashish Jha, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, said patients are no safer today than they were 15 years ago.

"We can't continue to have unsafe medical care be a regular part of the way we do business in health care," he said.

Patients aren't any safer than they were 15 years ago, when the #patientsafety movement launched http://t.co/uuJQGVOHg6
— HarvardPublicHealth (@HarvardHSPH) July 19, 2014

Watch the full Senate subcommittee hearing on Senate.gov. at: More Than 1,000 Preventable Deaths a Day Is Too Many: The Need to Improve Patient Safety

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Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law. Attorneys practicing in MA, NH and RI.