http://www.sweeneylawfirm.com/blog The Weblog of Sweeney Law Firm Mon, 05 May 2008 12:24:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en By Kim Dixon WASHINGTON, May 1 (Reuters) - The government's Medicare program on Thursday proposed payment cuts to reimburse nursing homes that treat more than 1 million of the nation's elderly. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a proposed 0.3 percent cut to reimbursements, which if enacted will hurt ... http://www.sweeneylawfirm.com/blog/medicare-proposes-reimbursement-cuts-to-nursing-homes.htm April 10, 2008 DENVER -- One state lawmaker believes more and more nursing homes are taking advantage of elderly patients and their families by including binding arbitration clauses in their contracts, and she is sponsoring legislation to prohibit the clauses. "Binding arbitration means you don't get your day in court," said Rep. ... http://www.sweeneylawfirm.com/blog/colorado-lawmaker-proposes-ban-on-binding-nursing-home-arbitration-clauses.htm By ALLISON HOFFMAN April 8, 2008 Marine captain who is on his third tour in Iraq was awarded $3.5 million in punitive damages Tuesday from a servicemembers' insurance company for water damage to his house. Capt. John Colombero already won $50,000 in damages for emotional distress last week after his lawyers argued that ... http://www.sweeneylawfirm.com/blog/jury-awards-35-million-in-punitive-damages-for-usaas-handling-of-property-claim.htm Vittorio Hernandez - AHN News Writer Sacramento, CA (AHN) - A study released Tuesday reported growing profitability of the nursing home industry, but declining health care quality. Researchers from the University of California San Francisco found out that two years after the state passed legislation increasing reimbursements from Medi-Cal, average nursing home ... http://www.sweeneylawfirm.com/blog/the-quality-of-nursing-home-care-down-despite-increased-govt-reimbursement.htm April 2, 2008 WellPoint won't pay for botched surgeries By Tom Spalding, Indianapolis Star WellPoint has come up with a new way to protect patients from having a routine surgery go awry. It won't pay for them. The Indianapolis-based health insurer today said it has informed hospitals that service WellPoint's 35 million members that it ... http://www.sweeneylawfirm.com/blog/major-health-carrier-announces-it-wont-be-paying-for-botched-surgeries.htm Office surgery incidents: what seven years of Florida data show us.     Coldiron BM, Healy C, Bene NI.Dermatol Surg. 2008 Mar;34(3):285-91; discussion 291-2. Epub 2007 Dec 20. Patient safety in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) has received increasing attention, and the Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goals now include specific requirements for ASCs. This ... http://www.sweeneylawfirm.com/blog/florida-study-proves-that-office-based-plastic-surgery-is-risky-business.htm By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A surprising number of people -- more than 60 percent -- still suffer significant pain a year after a traumatic injury in a car crash or other cause, showing the need for better pain treatment, researchers said. In a study published on Monday in the journal ... http://www.sweeneylawfirm.com/blog/defense-myth-that-car-crash-victims-recover-in-6-8-weeks-is-exposed.htm By AMANDA SCHAFFER Published in the New York Times on February 19, 2008 To understand why some doctors and nurses take bedsores so seriously, it helps to call them by their clinical name: pressure ulcers. An area of skin breakdown that occurs when sustained pressure cuts off blood circulation — usually in patients ... http://www.sweeneylawfirm.com/blog/fighting-pressure-ulcers-requires-a-team-effort.htm WASHINGTON (AP) — After initially resisting their disclosure, the Bush administration on Tuesday published the names of 131 nursing homes with poor inspection records and said some were already showing signs of improvement. The list released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services represents troubled facilities cited as a "special ... http://www.sweeneylawfirm.com/blog/medicare-identifies-the-worst-nursing-homes-in-the-country.htm Arbitration a growing trend in health care By Stacey Burling, Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer Within the space of two weeks late last year, Michael and Hedy Cohen, who happen to be experts on medical errors, each encountered what they saw as a disturbing development in the modern doctor-patient relationship. They were asked by ... http://www.sweeneylawfirm.com/blog/medical-providers-using-arbitration-agreements-to-deny-justice-to-injured-patients.htm