Posts by Bruce Plaxen
How Safe Must Autonomous Vehicles Be?
Whether you call them autonomous vehicles, self-driving or driverless cars, they are the future – and could be a frightening prospect. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety survey reveals that while most U.S. drivers are looking for autonomous technologies when they buy a new car, they are afraid of fully autonomous vehicles. According to the…
Read MoreEat Dirt: Why Scientists Are Turning to Soil for a Cure to Superbugs
There have been multiple reports over the last few years about humanity’s growing resistance to antibiotics – but that is not entirely accurate. It is not us; it’s the bacteria themselves which have grown resistant to the drugs. This type of evolution is normal, but the overprescribing and misuse of antibiotics has exacerbated the issue.…
Read MoreHit Another Pothole? The Weather May Be to Blame
Where there are paved roads, there are potholes; it is a fact of life. If you have felt, though, that there have been more potholes this year than in previous years, you’re right; there are. The weather has played a big part in their creation. Or, as the Baltimore Sun explains it, “in 2018, wide…
Read MoreFailure to Treat Sepsis Can Create Dire Consequences
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that an estimated one in 25 patients admitted to the hospital will acquire an infection during their stay. A person who already has an infection, whether bacterial, viral or fungal, can experience a life-threatening complication called sepsis. Sepsis occurs when an infection that has not…
Read MoreHow Important is the Role of the Expert Witness in a Medical Malpractice Claim?
Medical malpractice claims are complicated. Patients may not always understand what has happened to them, or that they may be entitled to compensation. A medical malpractice case hangs on the ability of the plaintiff to prove a direct line of causation between the physician’s (or other medical professional’s) error and your injury. An effective medical…
Read MoreStolen Pain Pills Are Stealing Patients’ Quality of Life
Stealing patients’ pain medications is something that has gone on for many years, but lately the opioid epidemic has shone a brighter light on the problems of drug diversion. The path to the patient for prescription pain medications is complicated, and the medications pass through many hands before they reach the patient. If a patient…
Read MoreSubstandard Hospice Care Leaves Dying Patients in a Lurch and Family Members Frustrated
Hospice care is palliative. It is reserved for those patients whose end is near, and who wish to spend their final days in comfort – usually at home. While all patients deserve compassion, there is something special about hospice patients, who trust their caregivers to help them in their end stages – and to help…
Read MoreAdditional Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Law Enforcement, Firefighters, and Paramedics
Police officers, firefighters, and other public safety workers are often exposed to increased risks, dangers, and health hazards. Maryland’s workers’ compensation laws recognize the added stress public safety workers face, and afford public safety employees additional benefits because of those stresses. We wanted to outline those benefits here, so that the people who protect us…
Read MoreDebunking Common Myths About Car Insurance
Car insurance rates are an enigma. You pay one price, your spouse pays another, and your neighbor pays yet another price for a service that the law requires all drivers to purchase. Because there is so much “mystery” surrounding car insurance, people tend to fill in those gaps with erroneous information. We want to set…
Read MoreCTE Identified in a Living Person for the First Time
A news story on CNN in November 2017 describes how researchers have discovered the first case of a living person who was identified with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Dr. Bennet Omalu, who is the lead researcher in the study which was published in the journal Neurosurgery, told CNN that the subject of the case in…
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