James E. Girards’s Guides

Aortic dissection is a condition in which the inner lining of the main blood vessel leaving the heart is torn or damaged in a way that allows blood to force it's way in between the tissue layers of the blood vessel. This causes extreme but typically intermittent pain and can resu...

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Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm ["AAA"] is a condition in which the main blood vessel taking blood from the heart to the body through the belly weakens and enlarges. The main risk is rupture, which will result in death within minutes. The symptoms include severe abdominal or bac...

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In virtually every Labor and Delivery Department in the USA, one will find widespread use of electronic fetal monitoring machines that are relied upon to determine the status of the fetus during labor and to make determinations about timing of urgent or emergent c-sections. But, ...

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When a severe injury occurs, frequently there are high medical bills and an inability to work. When that happens, how is the injured person supposed to hire a lawyer to work on an hourly rate that can range from $150 to $450 per hour for 2 to 4 years to pursue a lawsuit from star...

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According to The addicted physician. A rational response to an irrational disease. - Seppala MD - Minn Med - 01-FEB-2010; 93(2): 46-9 physicians are every bit as likely to be addicted to alcohol as the general population but they are more likely than the general population to b...

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In Texas, one of the greatest problems created by the Texas Legislature is ambiguity in the medical liability statute that left the door open for insurance companies to argue that just about everything that happens in a hospital is healthcare. This issue is important because the...

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FMEA stands for Failure Modes and Effects Analysis. It is the practice that is now standard for all complex systems - such as medical practices, hospitals, manufacturers, etc. - to reduce preventable injuries and deaths in the relevant practice. By now, all hospitals should be do...

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Pitocin is a drug that is sometimes used during labor to augment or speed things up with the goal of a quicker delivery. But, it can be used carelessly and can cause severe damage to the baby or the mother. Pitocin causes the uterus to contract. During contractions, there is d...

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In Texas, one of the major unintended consequences of the so-called "tort reform" laws of 2003, was the creation of a new industry of mini-litigation surrounding challenges to the expert reports that were now required to be filed within 120-days of the filing of a lawsuit. One pr...

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The following is an recent case published in the AHRQs Morbidity and Mortality database. It is re-printed here to illustrate to the public the common mistakes that occur in hospitals and how they endanger patients. The reader is also encouraged to contact his or her legislators t...

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