March is Patient Safety Awareness Month, which means that it’s an excellent time to highlight the importance of taking precautions as a patient against potential medical mistakes. While it is the responsibility of all medical practitioners to uphold the highest standards of safety in order to protect their patients, patients can also do their part to minimize the risk of harm. Going for regular check-ups, keeping track of your symptoms, having a list of allergies and current medications on hand whenever you visit a medical facility, asking plenty of questions, and getting a second opinion when necessary are all ways that you can help to keep yourself safe as a patient.

If you are concerned about a misdiagnosis or possible medical error, contact the law firm of Pegalis & Erickson, LLC in New York. For 45 years, we have advocated for people of all ages, in order to help our clients financially and make healthcare safer for everyone. You can reach us today by calling (516) 684-2900.

Colorectal cancer is a type of cancer that originates in either the colon or the rectum. It generally starts as a polyp in the large intestine that eventually develops into cancer. Unfortunately, colorectal cancer does not typically present many noticeable symptoms in its early stages. This is why regular screenings are critical if you are over the age of 50, which is when your risk of colorectal cancer is highest. People who have gastrointestinal issues such as Crohn’s disease or who have a family history of the disease are at a higher risk of developing colorectal cancer. Blood in the stool, unexplained weight loss, and chronic fatigue are some of the most common warning signs of this cancer.

If you are concerned about a misdiagnosis or possible medical error, contact the law firm of Pegalis & Erickson, LLC in New York. For 45 years, we have advocated for people of all ages, in order to help our clients financially and make healthcare safer for everyone. You can reach us today by calling (516) 684-2900.

When you have a clear-cut diagnosis, your course of action may seem clear. What happens, however, when your diagnosis is inconclusive? Living with an uncertain medical verdict can be extremely stressful, because you may have no way of knowing when you will get a more conclusive diagnosis. A recent study found that as many as 12 million people in the United States get an inconclusive—or faulty—diagnosis annually. Here are some steps to take after you have received an inconclusive diagnosis:

Be proactive, not passive.
Many patients assume that the medical practitioners who see them always know best, and that they are always in safe hands. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. By being an active, engaged, and informed patient, you can help to ensure that you get quality care.

Seek out a second opinion.
If your first diagnosis was inconclusive, it goes without saying that you should try again. Go to a different doctor for a second consultation. To ensure objectivity, it’s best to avoid telling this doctor what the first diagnosis was, at least until you have received the second opinion.

Talk to your primary care physician.
You should always start by seeing your usual doctor, who will have a better sense of your overall health than anyone else will. While your diagnosis may be made by a specialist, it’s still important to keep your primary care physician in the loop.

Keep yourself informed.
In today’s world, it’s easier than ever for patients to get educated about their health and get the accurate information they need to make smart choices. Always do your research before going to any medical practitioner so you’ll be better equipped to ask useful questions.

If you are concerned about a misdiagnosis or possible medical error, contact the law firm of Pegalis & Erickson, LLC in New York. For 45 years, we have advocated for people of all ages, in order to help our clients financially and make healthcare safer for everyone. You can reach us today by calling (516) 684-2900.

Raise your awareness of Type 2 diabetes in time for #Diabetes‏ Alert Day. Diabetes affects more than 10% of the U.S. and one out of four adults with diabetes aren’t aware they have the disease. Another 84 million Americans have prediabetes, but 90% of them don’t know it yet. Many people are unaware of the serious health problems associated with diabetes, so it is important to learn if you are at risk of developing diabetes.

There are two kinds of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2. With Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas stop producing insulin, which regulates blood sugar. With Type 2 diabetes, the pancreas produces too little insulin or the body’s cells are not responding properly to insulin. Both types of diabetes can lead to dangerous conditions, such as heart disease, vascular disease and stroke, eye damage, kidney damage, and hard-to-treat infections, Have you told your doctor about any risk factors you have such as family history of diabetes? Your age, extra weight and a sedentary lifestyle should all be considered. Tell your doctor immediately if you have diabetes symptoms such as frequent urination, itchy skin, fatigue, hunger, dry mouth, and blurred vision. Your doctor can help determine the right screening and treatment plan..

As with many health issues, early detection is key to controlling diabetes, and this starts with a correct diagnosis. If your doctor failed to diagnose your diabetes or pre-diabetes and you suffer serious permanent harm, it is a good idea to obtain a legal consultation. Our legal team has more than 45 years experience in patients’ medical malpractice lawsuits, and can help you determine the truth, with no fee. For more information, or to schedule your free consultation, give us a call today at (516) 684-2900

Diagnosing cancer in its earliest stages can make an enormous difference in how successful treatment is. By the same token, failing to diagnose cancer on a timely basis can reduce the effectiveness of treatment. Even if medical practitioners are careful and conscientious, however, it can still be difficult to diagnose many forms of cancer. These are some of the types of cancer that present the greatest challenges:

Pancreatic Cancer
While it is considered relatively rare, pancreatic cancer also has one of the lowest survival rates of any type of cancer. The symptoms are subtle and can easily be mistaken for the signs of a different condition. There is also no widely agreed-upon method for effectively detecting this cancer at its earliest stages.

Liver Cancer
Like pancreatic cancer, liver cancer does not usually show any obvious symptoms in its early stages. Since the liver is located deep inside the body, the tumors are impossible to detect through self-examination. By the time it can be more easily diagnosed, the disease has usually spread to the point where it is much more challenging to treat.

Brain Cancer
Brain cancer is one of the most difficult forms of cancer to identify. There is no way to screen for a brain tumor, and the symptoms—which include headaches and muscle weakness—are readily confused with those of other illnesses. Unfortunately, brain cancer is not usually diagnosed until its later stages.

Ovarian Cancer
Cancer of the ovaries is the deadliest type of reproductive cancer. As with other hard-to-detect cancers, ovarian cancer does not present any obvious symptoms at first. It is also difficult to detect during pelvic exams, and it is not usually found during Pap tests. There is no reliable screening for ovarian cancer, so it’s important to see a physician if you notice any of the warning signs—which include bloating, feeling unusually full after eating, and more frequent urination. Women who are positive for the BRCA gene are at a greater risk for developing Breast Cancer but also Ovarian Cancer. You should discuss your particular situation with your physician to establish a plan for surveillance and care options.

If you believe that you or a loved one has suffered serious consequences because a medical professional failed to identify the symptoms of cancer, it’s time to talk to Pegalis & Erickson, LLC. Our legal team has nearly 50 years of experience bringing successful medical malpractice suits on behalf of our clients. For a free consultation at our law office in Long Island, New York, call (516) 684-2900.

Responsible for an estimated 1 out of every 4 deaths in the U.S., heart disease is America’s deadliest health problem. There are a number of steps you can take to lower your risk of developing heart problems, including maintaining a healthy weight, eating a nutritious diet, and getting plenty of exercise every day. One of the biggest risk factors for heart disease is high blood pressure. If your blood pressure is high, effectively controlling it could be a life-saving change for you. Don’t forget to remind your loved ones to have their blood pressure checked by their physician on a regular basis. High blood pressure can be asymptomatic, yet its danger lies in its connection to stroke and other serious vascular diseases. Given this aspect of high blood pressure, it is especially important to make sure your healthcare provider hears and responds to your concerns in a manner you are comfortable with—and, should your expectations go unmet, it is critical to speak up.

Pegalis & Erickson, LLC, has been fighting to protect the rights of patients who have suffered due to medical malpractice for nearly half a century. If you or a loved one has suffered cardiac arrest because your concerns were not treated seriously, call our Long Island legal office at (516) 684-2900 to schedule a consultation.

Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women? Causing one in three deaths, heart disease kills about one woman each minute. February is heart health month, so it’s a great time to think about the risk factors, as well as preventive measures to protect women’s heart health.

In women, heart disease can present differently than it does in men. As an example, consider how women experience heart attacks. Rather than the crushing chest pain most people associate with a heart attack, women tend to report pressure or discomfort in the chest. In fact, women sometimes have heart attacks without any chest pain at all, instead experiencing symptoms like:

• Discomfort in the neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back or abdomen
• Shortness of breath
• Arm pain, occurring in one or both arms
• Nausea or vomiting
• Sweating
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Unfamiliar fatigue

Women often show up at the emergency room with some of these symptoms, and are incorrectly diagnosed with other issues, like heartburn, indigestion, or even psychological or emotional problems. Because of a lack of awareness about women’s heart health, many women have already suffered significant damage to the heart muscle by the time they are diagnosed correctly. Sometimes, by the time symptoms get bad enough to compel a woman to go to the emergency room, it’s already too late to save her life.

Who is at risk? For women, risk factors for heart disease include smoking, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, menopause, mental stress and depression, complications of pregnancy, and a family history of heart disease. The best defense against heart disease, then is to stop smoking, eat a heart healthy diet, exercise regularly, maintain a healthy weight, and try to reduce your stress. It’s important to be proactive in regard to your health, and see a doctor regularly, so that you are less likely to be misdiagnosed if you do have a problem

Why are women so often misdiagnosed when it comes to heart disease? Many women die of heart disease, simply because their condition went undiagnosed. This may be because doctors fail to see the subtler signs exhibited by women, or it may be because women tend to downplay their own symptoms. Whatever the reason, it’s important to take charge of your own health, and pay attention to what your body is telling you. Don’t immediately accept a diagnosis, but push for a thorough examination if you feel that something is truly wrong.

If you are dealing with an instance of medical malpractice, contact Pegalis & Erickson, LLC for capable legal representation in the area of Long Island, New York. For almost 45 years we have advocated for people of all ages, in order to help our clients financially and make healthcare safer for everyone. You can reach us today by calling (516) 684-2900.

Regular handwashing is critical for preventing the spread of germs, especially in a medical setting. In order to protect patients, healthcare providers should wash their hands as frequently as possible, particularly when they move from one patient to the next. Failure to perform routine handwashing can expose patients to hazardous germs and viruses and place their health in extreme danger. Patients themselves should also be alert to the need to clean their own hands frequently. Studies have shown that using alcohol-based hand sanitizer is more effective in many cases than soap and water, although there are some infections that it does not work against. Soap and water are most strongly recommended before eating, as well as after using the restroom.

If you are dealing with an instance of medical malpractice, contact Pegalis & Erickson, LLC for capable legal representation in the area of Long Island, New York. You can reach us today by calling (516) 684-2900.

When most people go to the doctor, they bring with them the assumption that they will find out if there is anything wrong with their health. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. It is nowhere near as rare as you might assume for medical practitioners to fail to diagnose a serious health problem—or to diagnose it too late. Here are some facts that might surprise you:

Diagnostic errors are extremely common. According to a recent study by the Institute of Health, about 5 percent of all Americans who visit a medical professional in the course of a year will receive a faulty diagnosis. This adds up to about 12 million people. The study also observed that the number of diagnostic errors appears to go up over time, as medical treatments increase in complexity.

Almost everyone will receive at least one wrong diagnosis. While 5 percent may not sound like an enormous amount, the number of people who are wrongly diagnosed multiplies with each passing year. The Institute of Health study found that most people living in the U.S. will experience at least one late—or flat-out wrong—diagnosis at some point in their lives.

Diagnostic errors can be hard to identify. It’s easy to assume that you’ll know when you’ve been wrongly diagnosed—but that isn’t necessarily true. Many people do not discover for years that they have gotten the wrong diagnosis. Diagnosing a patient is a challenging and multifaceted process, and there are many points at which the diagnosis can go astray. In many cases, the issue is lack of proper communication between medical professionals and their patients.

If your life—or the life of a loved one—has been disrupted by a delayed diagnosis, you may have a medical malpractice claim. Talk to one of the attorneys at Pegalis & Erickson, LLC, for legal guidance that will help you protect your rights. You can set up a free consultation at our office in Long Island, New York, by calling us at (516) 684-2900.

It’s the responsibility of healthcare providers to ensure the safety and well-being of their patients. Unfortunately, acts of medical malpractice and negligence happen every day around the country. Patients can protect themselves by being proactive about identifying and preventing medical errors.

Background Check

You may not always get to choose your doctor, such as when you’re taken to the emergency room. When you do have a choice, take a few minutes to research the doctor’s background. The ideal healthcare provider will have:

• Training at respectable institutions
• Board certification in his or her specialty
• No professional disciplinary actions
• No consistent history of prior medical malpractice lawsuits

If you’ll be undergoing surgery or another complex treatment, such as treatment of cancer, take a close look at the doctor’s level of experience. For instance, if you’ll be having hip replacement surgery, don’t be afraid to ask your orthopedic surgeon how many of these surgeries he/she has performed, and what is their particular complication/success rate.

Informed Consent
Before having a medical procedure, such as surgery, your doctor is required to obtain your informed consent. In other words, you have the legal right to be fully informed of every aspect of your treatment, including the potential risks and alternatives. You also have the right to reject a proposed treatment after weighing the pros and cons of the plan of care. If you’re uncomfortable with your treatment plan, you can continue to ask questions, learn about your diagnosis and the treatment, and seek a second opinion from another healthcare provider.

Medication Safety
Medication errors are a common type of malpractice. A mistake can occur at any point in the process—from the doctor’s initial prescribing information to the pharmacist’s dispensing actions to the nurse who administers the medicine in the hospital. Before taking any medication, make sure the prescribing doctor has your full health history. If you’re receiving medication in the hospital, ask the nurse to verify the name and dosage of the drug, cross-referenced with your patient records and your medications you are taking

At Pegalis & Erickson, LLC, we’ve made it our life’s work to tirelessly advocate on behalf of patients on their families. Contact our malpractice law firm on Long Island, New York at (516) 684-2900 if you think you’ve been affected by an act of medical negligence. Some of our negligence and wrongful death lawsuits have resulted in multimillion-dollar jury awards for our clients.