Attorney Ronald E. Johnson of Schachter & Hendy concentrates on legal issues regarding defective medical devices.  A recent article in The New York Times cited a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association that reviewed the experiences of patients who received defibrillators and heart devices.

    The researchers reviewed more than 1110,000 cases between January 2006 and June 2007, and analyzed how the patients did both during and following the procedure.
Site Map Directions Contact Home
Toll Free 1.888.606.5297

Working together as a team to help you succeed.

Practice Areas

Blog

K2 Spice Herbal Incense Cases

K2 Spice linked to death and neurologic injury

Skecher Shape Ups and Toning Shoes

Reebok EasyTone and RunTone shoes false claims lawsuit

Reebok to pay $25 million for false claims about toning shoe benefits

New Injury Reports Raise Concerns About Toning Shoes

Skechers ShapeUps potentially injuring children?

Future of Skecher’s Shape-Ups Uncertain

Instant Noodle Soup Cup Cases

Design of instant soup cups linked to severe burns

Birth Injury

A Doctor’s Role in Preventing Kentucky Neonatal Infections at Birth

Should a Kentucky Doctor Be Able to Detect Neonatal E. Coli Earlier?

Shoulder Weakness from Kentucky Brachial Plexus Birth Injuries

Can Improper Prenatal Monitoring Lead to a Birth Injury in Kentucky?

Are Larger Infants More Susceptible to Birth Injuries in Kentucky?

Semi-Truck and Auto Accidents

Louisville Auto Accident Leaves Teen Bicyclist Injured

Kentucky Car Accidents and Drowsy Driving

Cell Phones and Kentucky Car Accidents

Defective Maintenance Issues Can Cause Kentucky Truck Wrecks

Texting Ban on Kentucky Motorists passed by House

Dangerous and Defective Products

Zimmer NexGen knee replacement lawsuits

Darvocet pulled for link to heart damage by the FDA

Drugs for Osteoporosis Prescribed Unecessarily?

Defective Children’s Products & Toys are Constantly Recalled

Food manufacturers make consumers responsible

Medical Mistakes

Understanding Placenta Previa

Fewer complications from heart device specialists

Pain Pumps

Kimberly Clark subsidiary I-Flow sues doctor for using its pain pump product

Daubert Motion in Pain Pump Case Found for Plaintiff

Shoulder Pain Pump Manufacturer I-Flow Settles Lawsuits

Shoulder Pain Pump Manufacturers Have Been Silent

Pain Pumps: FDA Requires Warning that Use in Joint Causes Chondrolysis and Cartilage Damage

General

Many report injuries from Skechers to the Consumer Product Safety Commission

Yaz and Yasmin May Cause Stroke

Taking Yaz or Yasmin May Cause Deep Vein Thrombosis

Yaz Can Lead to Irregular Heartbeat

Hyperkalemia is a Potential Complication of Yaz Birth Control

read all

News

Failure to Diagnose Mammogram as Suspicious/ $1.2 Million Settlement...

read all

Library

Medical Mistakes

Common Drug Errors to Watch Out For

One in Fifteen Children Injured by Medicine Mistakes

One in 50 Heart Attack Victims Sent Home by Emergency Room Doctors

Surgical Errors Cost Billions of Dollars Every Year

How to prevent medical mistakes

read all

Fewer complications from heart device specialists

Attorney Ronald E. Johnson of Schachter & Hendy concentrates on legal issues regarding defective medical devices. A recent article in The New York Times cited a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association that reviewed the experiences of patients who received defibrillators and heart devices.

The researchers reviewed more than 1110,000 cases between January 2006 and June 2007, and analyzed how the patients did both during and following the procedure.

The research, headed by Dr. Jeptha P. Curtis, a cardiologist at Yale University, found that the rate of serious complications was lowest, 1.7%, when the device was implanted by an electrophysiologist, a specialized cardiologist. About 70% of the procedures were performed by electrophysiologists. Some were done by other types of cardiologists, who had a rate of 2.5% serious complications.

The researchers then examined complication rates during implant procedures based both on the type of doctor involved and the type of device implanted. In recent years, the question of how much training doctors receive before they start implanting heart devices has taken on added importance because of the growing number of people getting defibrillators.

There has been an increase in the number of people getting defibrillators that send out electrical jolts to stop potentially fatal heart rhythms, so some defibrillator makers are teaching the implant procedures to doctors who are not electrophysiologists. A 2006 New York Times article detailed how one small heart device manufacturer, Biotronik, spent more than $50,000 to provide implant training to several South Carolina doctors, who then tended to use mainly Biotronik devices on their patients.

Electrophysiologists have claimed that physicians need to be highly trained to successfully implant heart devices. But other doctors have countered that the specialists are simply trying to protect their lucrative practices, and they have argued that there are too few specialists to meet patient demand, particularly in rural areas.

The research from the new study was based on records recorded in a national database set up in 2005 that was required by Medicare to approve payments for the procedure. Electrophysiologists are using this data to show that doctors need to be highly trained to successfully implant heart devices.

In another article in the medical journal, Dr. James Coromilas, a professor at the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in New Brunswick, said the new report suggested that patients requiring an implant should seek out an electrophysiologist. He also said that the study showed that many medical centers have both specialists and nonspecialists implanting heart devices so patients have access to an electrophysiologist if they want one.

While the study showed that the national database set up at Medicare’s behest has been useful in providing information about complications from defibrillator procedures, many experts say the database has not yielded much information about which types of patients are actually benefiting from the use of heart devices.










Free Consultation

Please fill out the form and we will be in touch with you shortly.

Name *

Phone *

Email *

Tell us more *


Schachter, Hendy & Johnson, Attorneys At Law
909 Wrights Summit Parkway
Suite 210
Fort Wright, KY 41011
Phone: (859) 578-4444
Fax: (859) 578-4440
Toll Free: (888) 606-5297
Get Directions

Contact Us

Schachter, Hendy & Johnson, Attorneys At Law
909 Wrights Summit Parkway
Suite 210
Fort Wright, KY 41011
Phone: (859) 578-4444
Fax: (859) 578-4440
Toll Free: (888) 606-5297

Videos

Skecher Shape Ups and Toning Shoes:

Pain Pumps:

read all

FAQs

Pain Pumps

General

read all