Study: Malpractice Cases Take Years to Resolve, Mostly in Favor of Doctors

Reuters reported on a study of 10,000 medical malpractice claims during the years 2002-2005 published online May 14 in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study found that a little over half (55%) result in lawsuits. Of those, over half are dismissed; most of the remaining are resolved before a verdict, with under five percent resulting in a trial verdict. Of those decided at trial 80% favor the physician. Dismissed cases took an average of 20 months to resolve, while those decided at trial took an average of 39 months if they favored the physician and 44 months when they favored the patient.

Parents Key to Preventing Playground Injuries

The Boston Globe's Daily Dose blog noted that a recent Johns Hopkins University study "predicted a rise in accidental injuries if government efforts to increase childhood physical activity by building more playgrounds continue to ignore the importance of addressing safety issues." It also identifies three mistakes that parents make that lead to common playground injuries: going down slides with their young children, having home trampolines or letting children under age 6 use trampolines, or use monkey bars lacking a cushioned ground surface.

SAE: Turn-Signal Neglect a Bigger Problem Than Distracted Driving

A new study by the Society of Automotive Engineers, in which 12,000 turning and lane-changing vehicles were observed with visible turn signal usage (or neglect) data recorded, shows that the neglect rate for lane changing vehicles is 48%, and the neglect rate for turning vehicles is 25%. "That translates to an astonishing 750 billion times a year that drivers neglect turn signals on U.S. roadways, or over 2 billion times per day. Each incident of neglect elevates the risk of a multi-vehicle crash."  While not every instance of turn signal neglect results in a crash, "the study concludes that the collective result of turn signal neglect is as many as 2 million crashes per year."  The U.S. Department of Transportation states that distracted driving causes about 950,000 crashes per year.  "While the causes and remedies to combat Distracted Driving remain a matter of ongoing debate, the remedy for Turn Signal Neglect is simple, direct, effective, and cost-saving: The singular cause is driver neglect and the solution is the Smart Turn Signal."  Read more.