Advisen FPN

Greer focus of a state investigation: Doctor accused of writing 22 fraudulent prescriptions [Kokomo Tribune, Ind.]	Medical Malpractice
Mar. 11--Already facing multiple charges in Howard County, Carolyn W. Greer is now the focus of a state investigation into allegations she wrote fraudulent prescriptions. During a 15-month period, Greer allegedly wrote 22 fraudulent prescriptions for thousands of controlled substances, which she reportedly kept for her own use, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Piedmont doctor caught in TV sex sting sentenced	Medical Malpractice
SANTA ROSA, Calif. A judge Wednesday also ordered 52-year-old Maurice Wolin to register as a sex offender and serve three years probation. Wolin was among more than two dozen men arrested by Petaluma police during the 2006 sting aired on NBC's "Dateline" segment, "To Catch a Predator."

Hospital Identity Mix Up Shocks Family and New York Personal	Medical Malpractice
Injury Attorneys. Hospital Identity Mix-Up Shocks Family and New York Personal Injury Attorneys. b>Medical Malpractice Lawsuits May Follow a Case of Mistaken Identity, According to/b> b>Perecman Law Firm/b> Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center may face charges and medical malpractice lawsuits after confusing a live patient with one who had recently died in this hospital in New York.

Santa Clara DA probes hospital in sex crime cases	Healthcare
SANTA CLARA, Calif. The intake forms at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center documented hospital personnel's interactions with suspected victims. The district attorney's office says it was not aware of the forms until Tuesday. Prosecutors previously discovered videos of medical exams performed at the hospital that were also withheld from defendants.

Woman describes assault by nurse: Anesthetist molested new mother in recovery, jury told [The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio]	Medical Malpractice
Mar. 11--The 34-year-old woman said she couldn't believe it when a nurse anesthetist grabbed her breast twice shortly after she gave birth by Caesarean section. Then the nurse anesthetist at Mount Carmel East hospital gave her a syringe of fluids that made her drift off to sleep, she testified yesterday. "I woke up to him sucking on my breast," Christine Black told a Franklin County jury.

Encouraging Doctors to Report Mistakes	Medical Malpractice
One of the first steps for keeping patients safe is to change the culture in which doctors are asked to report the mistakes they make, writes Dr. Pauline Chen in today's Doctor and Patient column. Incident reports, described to us on our first day on the job as a tool for decreasing errors and increasing transparency, became a way for others in the hospital "to hang the residents out to dry."

Feds probe Medtronic, doctors: Heart valve trial at stake for clinic [Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.]	Liability
Mar. 11--Medtronic's relationship with a group of doctors who potentially could use an important experimental heart valve from the company has attracted the attention of federal prosecutors.

Jury awards $95 million in case of killer nurse	Medical Malpractice
ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- A jury awarded $95 million in damages Thursday to the families of eight people who claimed their loved ones were among dozens of patients killed by a nurse.

State joins antipsychotic drug lawsuit	Healthcare
Attorney General Martha Coakley's office joined a federal lawsuit yesterday that contends that Johnson & Johnson paid tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks to get its drugs, especially the powerful antipsychotic Risperdal, prescribed in nursing homes.

Limited options: Hospital psych unit still closed, patients assessed through ER: Advocates say more support needed; hospital says recruitment, economy among issues [The Wilson Daily Times, N.C.]	Healthcare
Mar. 11--Since Wilson Medical Center closed its psychiatric unit two years ago, resources in Wilson County have been reduced, mental health officials said. Closing the unit, known as New Foundations, meant the hospital started assessing mentally ill patients in its emergency room while trying to help patients find appropriate placement.

Doc, 2 others indicted in $1 million fraud case	Healthcare
CHICAGO -- A medical doctor, a chiropractor and a billing employee at a Maywood clinic have been indicted on federal charges of taking part in a $1 million health care fraud.

Coroner: Post-Katrina hospital death not homicide	Healthcare
NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans coroner says the death of 79-year-old Jannie Burgess, who died at Memorial Medical Center after Hurricane Katrina, will not be reclassified as a homicide. "This patient was extremely sick," Dr. Frank Minyard said Thursday. Burgess, who had developed a tolerance for morphine, was given seven injections of the drug, Minyard said.

Quality of life becomes gray area; geriatrician shortage will jump as number of seniors explodes [BC-MED-GERIATRIC:MW]	Healthcare
WAUWATOSA, Wis. He is a geriatrician, a doctor who cares for the frail elderly. He deals with the mystery and the muck of aging, extended life spans and shattering falls, memories that inspire and those that recede. What he knows may be outweighed by what he does not as boundaries of age are pushed to the limit.

Cancer that reached next door scrutinized: Officials startled to find 2 cases of tumor so close [The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio]	Healthcare
Mar. 11--Tanea Staples and Aaliyah Martin lived and played in the same East Side apartment complex, attended the same elementary school and, for a year, shared the same classroom. In June, months after meeting President Barack Obama, Tanea died of a malignant brain tumor. Just days before, Aaliyah told her mother that her head hurt and she couldn't see.

New way found to mend traumatic bone loss	Healthcare
Two Cleveland researchers say they've developed a method of using natural or artificial sheaths to mend traumatic bone loss using the body's own stem cells.