Research Tips

Stein, Mitchell & Muse lawyers have compiled these research tips for clients and prospective clients who have an issue in one of our practice areas. These web sites represent only the first phase of the type of intensive research and investigation typically done by our lawyers and their assistants in working on our clients' cases.

Medical Malpractice Research Tips

• Standards of medical practice:
  A key issue in medical malpractice cases is whether the health care provider met accepted standards in his or her treatment of the patient. The National Guideline Clearinghouse is a government-sponsored research tool that allows one to search for the medical care guidelines and standards of care that are specific to a variety of diseases, conditions and treatments. Patients can search for guidelines by disease, type of treatment, or medical organization.
  
  
• Medical Literature Online:
  The National Institute of Health's PubMed is a huge, easy to use database of information on nearly all of the medical journal articles written in the past 40 years. Users can search by keyword, author, and journal title. Most of the articles found provide free summaries of their content, and some link to free online versions of the full article.
  
  
• Medicare Patients Have Right to Force Government to Make Quality of Care Investigations and to Learn Results:
  Click on the link above to learn more about your rights as a Medicare patient and what you can do to uphold your quality of care.
  
  
• Research a Physician:
  There are many ways to get information about a physician, including whether he or she has been subject to previous lawsuits or disciplinary actions for medical malpractice.
  
  [-] AMA Doctor-Finder: The American Medical Association's Doctor-Finder lists background information including doctors' specialties, education, and board certification.
  
  [-] HealthGrades.com: HealthGrades.com, Inc., offers extensive report cards on doctors, hospitals, health plans and nursing homes nationwide (the reports cost between $3-7). State and national disciplinary actions are listed along with other background information.
  
  [-] Licensing Boards: The Administrators in Medicine site provides searches of Maryland's and Virginia's state government licensing board information on specific doctors. This includes licensing background, malpractice, criminal conviction and disciplinary information for physicians and other health care providers.
  
  [-] Questionable Doctors: Public Citizen's Questionable Doctors database allows you to search for disciplinary action records for doctors in 42 states, including Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The search is free, though the reports are sold at the price of $30 for 10 reports.
  
  [-] Questionable Therapies: Quackwatch, run by Dr. Stephen Barrett, helps patients examine and debunk questionable medical therapies from acupuncture to wild yam cream.

Dangerous Drugs Research Tips

• Adverse reaction reports from the FDA
  
  
• Medwatch:
  The FDA's Medwatch department collects safety information and adverse event reports on drugs, dietary supplements and medical devices. Their safety information page contains links to safety alerts and recent label changes for potentially dangerous drugs. At the bottom of the page, three databases allow users to s earch for adverse event reports for vaccines, dietary and nutritional supplements, and medical devices.
  
  
• Medication Errors:
  The FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research maintains a website on "medication error", a health care professional's inappropriate or erroneous prescription of a medication that causes harm to the patient. It includes a list of drug products often associated with medication errors.
  
  
• Other useful information from the FDA on drug safety

Hospital Errors Research Tips

• Research a Maryland hospital:
  This search engine provides measures of quality care and rates of successful treatment for each Maryland hospital. Note: Similar data are not yet available for the District of Columbia or Virginia.
  
  
• A report from the National Academy of Sciences estimated that up to 100,000 Americans die every year from preventable errors in hospitals: more than AIDS, breast cancer or motor vehicle accidents.
  
  Click here to read or order the report.

Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Research Tips

• Research a nursing home:
  Medicare's Nursing Home Compare service includes information on all nursing homes that are Medicare or Medicaid certified. Nursing homes can be searched by name or location. Available information includes nursing home resources, patient demographics and number of deficiencies found during recent State health inspections.

Workplace Injuries Research Tips

• Research on work-related injuries:
  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration maintains fact sheets and indexes covering all major work-related injuries and issues, from asbestos exposure to trucking accidents. Includes information on legal issues including the rights and protections of corporate "whistleblowers".
  
  
• Search a database of hazardous workplace chemicals:
  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health provides a searchable list of hazardous workplace chemicals, their harmful effects and ways to prevent exposure.

Auto, Truck and Motorcycle Accidents Research Tips

• Research car safety ratings and accident information:
  
  [-] The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's website allows users to search for a car's safety rating and, under "IIHS Research by Topic" provides information on neck injuries and urban car crashes.
  
  [-] The Center for Auto Safety has news about dangerous automobile design flaws and recalls, as well as a database of state "Lemon Laws" protecting consumers who purchase new or used cars.

Consumer Rights Research Tips

• Learn about the legal rights of area consumers:
  
  [-] The Maryland Attorney General's Office provides downloadable brochures and consumer fact sheets for every kind of consumer transaction, including home loans, credit and finance, and consumer contracts.
  
  [-] This Arlington County government site gives a good summary of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act that applies to all businesses and consumers in the state of Virginia.
  
  [-] Learn about predatory lending:
  The Treasury Department provides a downloadable brochure with information on predatory lending.

Defective and Dangerous Products Research Tips

• Learn about your rights if you've been injured by a product:
  
  [-] The Consumer Product Safety Commission's website can be searched for information on all kinds of potentially dangerous products, from space heaters to toys to sports and recreation equipment.

Airplane Crashes Research Tips

• Find information on airplane safety and accidents:
  The Federal Aviation Administration's website on safety gives accident data, safety statistics, and safety standards for airports and airline safety managers.

Discrimination and Harassment at Work Research Tips

• Learn about your rights at the workplace:
  
  [-] This website gives nearly 100 links to various sites dealing with specific areas of workplace discrimination and harassment. It also links to sites discussing major cases of employment discrimination, including the recent cases against Abercrombie & Fitch and Walmart.
  
  [-] The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission's website includes answers to frequently asked questions about workplace discrimination laws including the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Also provides fact sheets, employment statistics and news about workplace discrimination issues.

Dangers in Buildings or Homes Research Tips

• Learn about landlord responsibility for injuries:
  Nolo.com's online "encyclopedia" has several information sheets on landlord liability for tenant or visitor injuries. It also covers landlord liability for criminal activities and toxic chemical exposure on the landlord's property.

Recent DC Caselaw
Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.

Stein, Mitchell & Muse provides a summaries of recent decisions from the District of Columbia appellate courts as a service to the public and the legal community.

April 2005 - NEW pdf

January 2005 pdf