It can happen to anyone: you have a medical procedure, and the outcome is not a good one. The procedure may have been planned or done on an emergency basis; it may have been necessary or elective. Whatever the circumstances, you were almost certainly… Read More

When you have a headache that just won’t go away, or your mother is experiencing worrisome memory problems, or your spouse is having sudden balance issues, you may find yourself in a neurologist’s office. Neurologists are medical doctors who spec… Read More

Cauda equina syndrome is a serious nerve disorder. It often has a rapid onset, and if it is not promptly diagnosed and treated, it can have permanent, life-changing effects. Those include limited mobility, sexual dysfunction, and bowel and bladder in… Read More

The birth of a child is supposed to be one of the most joyful times in the life of a family. For months, parents have dreamed about what their child would look like, picked out names, and furnished a space in their home for the new baby. Expectant pa… Read More

When you think of medical malpractice, infection probably isn’t the first thing that springs to mind. We tend to think of infections as something that just happens, like catching a cold. But even if catching an infection is unavoidable, failure of… Read More

One of the most engaging plotlines on TV medical dramas involves a patient who is brought into the hospital, often at death’s door, with a mystery condition. Sometimes it’s a condition with a rapid, dramatic onset. Sometimes the patient has been… Read More

Longtime watchers of Grey’s Anatomy will remember the episode in which a young doctor ordered lab tests run for two patients, of which she was one. One test came back showing anemia; the other, an aggressive brain tumor. Unfortunately, the results… Read More

Everybody makes mistakes, including mistakes at work. But when the job in question is being a medical doctor, those mistakes may be more serious than those of most people—they may even be life-threatening. Are doctors obligated to disclose mistakes… Read More