Hartsell & Associates National
Legal Nurse Consultants

National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants
Nurse Alliance of Tennessee
American Nurses Association

Assisting Attorneys To Victory By Providing Over 33 Years Healthcare Expertise

V.I.P. Member of the Manchester Who's Who Among Executive and Professional Women
 
Newsletter
October  2006

Volume 1, No 13
Effexor Overdose May Be
Associated With A Risk
of Fatal Outcome

Wyeth and FDA notified healthcare professionals of revisions to the
OVERDOSAGE/Human Experience section of the prescribing information for
Effexor (venlafaxine HCl), indicated for treatment of major depressive disorder.
In postmarketing experience, there have been reports of overdose with
venlafaxine, occurring predominantly in combination with alcohol and/or other drugs.
Published retrospective studies report that
venlafaxine overdosage may be associated with an increased risk of fatal outcome compared to
that observed with SSRI antidepressant products, but lower than that for tricyclic
antidepressants. Healthcare professionals
are advised to prescribe Effexor and Effexor XR in the smallest quantity of capsules consistent
with good patient management to reduce the
risk of overdose.

Source:  Food and Drug Administration
 

   If you have an area of
interest or comments,
please call or email:

Inflammatory Breast Cancer
Why Is It So Difficult To Treat?
 
Inflammatory breast cancer gets its name from the red, swollen appearance of the breast. It is an aggressive form of cancer that presents unique treatment challenges. Because inflammatory breast cancer looks like a much more common breast infection call mastitis, the diagnosis can be delayed — which means the cancer has more time to spread.

The reason the breast becomes red and swollen is that the cancer cells clog the lymph channels in the skin, which causes fluid to back up into the breast. This swelling can delay surgery to remove the cancer because incisions won't heal properly when swelling is present. Chemotherapy is often used to kill the cancer cells and relieve swelling so that surgery can be done.

In addition, inflammatory breast cancer is more likely than other types of breast cancer to spread (metastasize) to the lymph nodes or other areas of the body before it is detected. Because of the aggressive nature of this cancer, treatment often includes a combination of chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, hormone therapy and trastuzumab (Herceptin).

See Link below for the full story.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/inflammatory-breast-cancer/DS00632

 

 

Death of Patient In Waiting Area Ruled Homicide

A Lake County coroner's jury ruled Thursday that the death of a patient who waited nearly two hours in the waiting area of a hospital emergency department was homicide.

The jury's verdict stated that although the cause of death was a heart attack, she also died "as a result of gross deviations from the standard of care that a reasonable person would have exercised in this situation"

The woman's daughter, who was with her mother in the waiting room of Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, had previously alleged that her mother had waited too long to get care.

At the hearing, a Deputy Coroner testified that he subpoenaed the records after noticing discrepancies in the hospital's version of events after the woman arrived at the emergency room at 10:15 p.m. July 28.

The daughter told investigators that her mother had complained of chest pains and the two drove to the hospital, about a mile north of their home.

Investigators testified that the woman was seen by a triage nurse at 10:28 p.m. According to hospital records, she complained of nausea, shortness of breath and chest pain of a level she rated as a "10" pain scale. The triage nurse reportedly triaged the patient as "semi-emergent".

Source:  EMTALA.

For the full story, Click:
http://www.medlaw.com/healthlaw/EMTALA/
courtcases/death-of-patient-in-waiti.shtml
         ________________________________________________________________________
 
If We Can Assist You Or If You Would Like To
See A Particular Subject In The Newsletter, Please Contact:
Telephone:
423-587-2545
 		 Electronic Mail:

medlegalanalysis@charter.net   or
hartsell@hartsellmedconsulting.com

 Fax:
 423-587-2547
 

Back to Newsletter Index Here