Medical Malpractice

Three Austin doctors were among 70 physicians disciplined earlier this month by the Texas Medical Board, including two who are on board-imposed-probation and no longer practice medicine — but could again someday. Dr. Daniel J. Di Bona was already serving a 10-year probation stemming from a substance abuse order and problems practicing because of side…

The Texas Medical Board fined Dr. Philip W. Caterbone of Pflugerville $1,000 for a record-keeping violation. He was among 75 doctors disciplined at the board’s meeting this month. The board’s order said that Caterbone, who is engaged in family practice, failed to document the progress notes from a patient’s visit in September 2008.

Three years ago, the maker of a surgical clip called the Hem-o-lok issued an urgent recall notice warning doctors to stop using the fasteners on living kidney donors. It said the clips could dislodge in their bodies, with “serious, even life-threatening consequences.” Experts say deaths resulting from missed recalls are the result of a major…

The Texas Medical Board sanctioned six Austin-area doctors, including a Marble Falls psychiatrist who the board said had a sexual relationship with a recent patient with a history of childhood sexual abuse and then violated the patient’s confidentiality by telling his fiancee. The fiancée called the patient and insulted her, according to the board’s order….

The state dental board gives the public “inaccurate, incomplete, and inconsistent data,” about Texas dentists and other dental profes sionals, a long-standing problem that a state audit released last week says weakens the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners’ ability to police dental professionals. The report by the State Auditor’s Office notes that unreliable and…

A Missouri doctor who relocated to Austin after a series of professional and legal tangles is seeking to practice medicine in Texas. Dr. Alexander Kalk — whose application to practice in Texas has been pending since May 31, according to the Texas Medical Board — faces disciplinary action before the Missouri Board of Healing Arts….

As much as 25 percent of drug errors—when someone gets the wrong prescription, say, or the wrong dosage—occur when the name of one drug looks or sounds like another. Poor penmanship, sloppy pronunciation, and look-alike labels make the problem worse. In a report released earlierthis year, U.S. Pharmacopeia, the official standards-setting body for medications in…

Scrawl on the patient with a permanent marker to show where the surgeon should cut. Ask the person’s name to make sure you have the’ right patient. Count sponges to make sure you didn’t leave any in the body. Doctors worldwide who followed a checklist of such steps cut the death rate from surgery almost…

Drug errors affect 1 in 14 children, study says, more than was thought. Medicine mix-ups, accidental overdoses and bad drug reactions harm about one of 14 hospitalized children, according to the first scientific test of a new detection method. That figure is higher than earlier estimates and bolsters concerns that were already heightened by  well-publicized…