Many of us have heard stories about botched surgeries during which medical instruments are left inside patients, but how many of us considered these stories to be urban legends? Sadly, such stories aren’t tall tales but often the truth. A recent story in the Salt Lake Tribune documented serious medical errors that took place in Utah hospitals in the twenty-first century. These “never events,” or sentinel events, as they are called, numbered some 219 from October 2001 to April 2007 and resulted in the deaths of nearly half. Among these errors were patients receiving the wrong blood type during transfusions, patients receiving the wrong type of medication, patients having the wrong type of surgery performed, and patients, specifically infants, being dropped.

The greening of America is big news these days, and Portland is certainly one of the leaders of the revolution. Not only do you hear about the importance of recycling and the pluses of alternative energy, but every day it seems the abandonment of cars for bicycles or public transportation comes up in conversation. It’s great that more people are making an effort to decrease their reliance on fossil fuels, but keep in mind that public transportation, specifically buses, has some drawbacks.

That was quite a heatwave we had here in Portland over the weekend! Even though it has cooled down for now, the issue of window safety is still important. The Oregonian reported that some seven children in the Portland-Vancouver region have fallen from open windows this summer. Many believe window screens provide a safe barrier for their children, but in fact children can, and do, easily push or fall through screens. Others who don’t have window screens think windows are out of children’s reach and thus safe.

We will miss you Daniel.  Our thoughts are with you and your family.   Here is Daniel’s obituary.  His celebration of life is tomorrow at Grant Park from 4-8pm.

July 21, 1983-Aug. 4, 2008

Daniel Clark-Rizzio passed away early Monday morning, Aug. 4, 2008. He was 25 years old and had been living with cancer for six years.

Shortly after graduating Grant High School in 2002, Daniel was diagnosed with liver cancer. Despite this diagnosis and time-consuming treatments, Daniel refused to let cancer dictate how he would live. He did exactly what he wanted to do, on his own terms, and insisted on being treated like everyone else.

In keeping with the tainted food theme, it seems many have a beef with Nebraska Beef of Omaha. In June 2008 some 50 people were sickened by tainted ground beef from Nebraska Beef.

The product was recalled at the end of June, and soon after the company, as well as federal officials, claimed Nebraska Beef’s products were safe for consumers.

Unfortunately for the public, the company was wrong. In August the beef processor recalled some 1.2 million pounds of beef products after more people grew ill.

In mid-May a salmonella outbreak sickened more than 1,000 people, prompting the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to caution consumers against eating tomatoes, the suspected culprit. In July it was discovered that the actual cause of the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak was probably not tomatoes but most likely jalapeño peppers. So why did it take so long to determine the cause of the outbreak? According to a story in the Washington Post, lack of communication between local and national health agencies is partly to blame, as well as the difficulties in tracing the distribution paths of the tomatoes. Though warnings of a possible salmonella outbreak first surfaced in late May, the Food and Drug Administration didn’t alert consumers about the contaminated peppers until July 9. In the meantime, tomato growers lost more than $100 million.

Since I don’t know where to post such inquiries (and did put something on Craigslist) I thought I should post the information on the blog for anyone searching for the reunion information.

The West Linn High School Class of 1983 is having its 25th Reunion this Saturday.  Even though we grew up in Wilsonville my brother and I attended West Linn because Wilsonville did not have a high school yet.

Organizers: A few of your classmates! Joanie Kramer, Jane Paulson, Rhonda Coleman, Maureen Schreiber, BJ Mercer
Location: On The Deck Sports Bar & Grill - www.ondecksportsbar.com
910 NW 14th, Portland (Pearl District), OR 97209 US

From previous postings you may know our client won his jury trial against Willamette Dental for damage to his lingual nerve from a wisdom tooth extraction. The trial was in Portland, Oregon in June 2006. Willamette Dental was insured by Fortress Insurance and appealed the jury verdict. The case was argued before the Oregon Court of Appeals by Maureen Leonard for our client and we prevailed. The insurance company tried to get our client to settle for less than 1/3 the verdict and then less than 1/2 the verdict (not including the 9% interest that was running on the judgment). Insurance companies try to wear down clients. Fortunately, believing in the jury and the court system, our client stood up to the insurance company and didn’t blink. Last Thursday, July 31, 2008, over two years after the verdict, our client received a check from the insurance company for the full amount of the jury verdict plus interest.

Text messaging has become an integral and seemingly unavoidable aspect of society. While texting has many benefits, it apparently can be dangerous as well. The American College of Emergency Physicians Foundation recently publicized the hazards of texting and cautioned people to text with care. Teenagers and young adults in particular can become so distracted by texting that they are unaware of their surroundings. The Foundation reported numerous injuries and even deaths resulting from texting. Texting while walking can cause falls or collisions with other pedestrians, bicyclists, or even automobiles, not to mention collisions with stationary objects. The Foundation stresses using common sense while texting and also offers the following suggestions:

Bicyclists in Portland, Oregon, are an adamantly vocal and independent bunch, and an article in the July 31, 2008, edition of the Oregonian may just give bicyclists another issue in which to pour their energy. Oregon state senator Floyd Prozanski of Eugene hopes to expand Oregon’s current bicycle helmet law to include all bicycle riders. The existing law, ORS 815.485, affects only riders under the age of 16. Prozanski, who considers himself a bicycling advocate, believes helmets are a public safety issue and that a mandatory helmet law would go a long way in ensuring the safety of citizens. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance, the largest bicycle advocacy group in the state, has not supported mandatory helmet laws. For additional information on this increasingly heated issue, see this post from the BikePortland blog. Weigh in with your opinions. Do you think a mandatory helmet law is a good idea for Oregonians? Do you wear a bicycle helmet? As a driver, how do you feel about bicyclists who don’t wear helmets?