Posted on December 10, 2008 in Our Blog,Patient Care

The American College of Emergency Physicians just published its 2009 National Report Card on the State of Emergency Medicine, which ranks emergency rooms across the nation. The study assesses five criteria, including access to emergency care, quality and patient safety environment, medical liability environment, public health and injury prevention, and disaster preparedness. How did Oregon… read more

Posted on December 5, 2008 in General,Our Blog,Paulson Coletti News

Jane Paulson was recognized last night with four other members of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association by the President of the Oregon State Bar, Rick Yugler, with the President’s Special Award of Appreciation. The award is a discretionary award of the president of the bar, with the concurrence of the board, presented to a person… read more

Posted on October 27, 2008 in Our Blog,Patient Care,Public Safety

Does the Food and Drug Administration’s fast-track policy for new medical devices help or hurt? According to an article in the New York Times from October 27, 2008, the FDA approval process for medical devices is simple at best. The FDA does not check for evidence of effectiveness but only that the device performs as… read more

Posted on October 15, 2008 in Our Blog,Patient Care,Public Safety

Well, cold season is fast upon us, and for many that means scouring the medicine aisles for cold remedies. Not so fast, my friends! Particularly for those of you who have young children, caution is the key when administering cold medication. Drug manufacturers announced plans to add a warning on labels against administering cough and… read more

Posted on September 26, 2008 in Our Blog,Public Safety

Here in Portland, Oregon, people who don’t obsessively drink coffee are in the minority (and perhaps even frowned upon). We love our coffee, and perhaps related to this is our reliance on caffeine. But how much caffeine should one person consume on a daily basis? And when should caffeine consumption begin? Teenagers and young adults… read more

Posted on September 12, 2008 in Our Blog,Patient Care

In contrast to the recent post about restrictive caps on noneconomic damages, this post is about Oregon’s trial lawyers and Oregon Health & Science University’s ( OHSU) agreement to increase liability caps for damages caused by government (OHSU falls under the umbrella of the state government) negligence. According toa story in the Oregonian, the caps… read more

Posted on September 9, 2008 in Our Blog,Patient Care,Public Safety

If the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of barring lawsuits against Food and Drug Administration-approved medications, pharmaceutical companies will be quite pleased. Earlier this year the Supreme Court reinterpreted a 1976 amendment that had originally been intended to protect the public against dangerous medical devices by requiring the FDA to review and approve such… read more

Posted on August 28, 2008 in Our Blog

Expanding on the blog post from August 25 about serious medical errors, also known as sentinel events or “never events,” MSNBC recently reported that hospitals in about half of the nation’s states have decided not to bill for such events. This is a sweeping change since February, when MSNBC reported that only about 11 states… read more

Posted on August 14, 2008 in General,Our Blog

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… read more

Posted on June 9, 2008 in General,Our Blog

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Finn Terry. Tragically, Finn, an 11 year old Portland boy, died this weekend when a canoe he was riding in flipped over in the Clackamas River. Finn attended da Vinci Arts Middle School in Portland and he received a standing ovation at the… read more