Halloween is right around the corner, and children and families throughout Maryland are preparing their costumes and decorating their homes for a frightful, fun night. Even though Halloween is a fun holiday for kids and families to enjoy, there are important safety tips that you should discuss with your children. At The Yost Legal Group we want everyone to have a fun filled, and safe Halloween. Whether you plan to trick or treat throughout your…

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In 2001, Bayer Pharmaceuticals introduced and promoted the Mirena Intrauterine Device (IUD) as a highly effective birth control method. Mirena is a flexible, plastic, T-shaped device inserted through the cervix and into the uterus by a healthcare professional. The IUD can remain in place for up to 5 years and prevents pregnancy by releasing a progestin hormone called levonorgestrel into the body. Bayer recommended Mirena to women who already had a child and were looking…

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In 2002, Bayer released a permanent contraception device called Essure. The device presented women with the option of having two “soft, flexible inserts” implanted through the vagina and cervix into the fallopian tubes in a “gentle, non-surgical” procedure. Bayer promoted this approach as a drastically simpler alternative to the incision and anesthesia necessary for a tubal ligation surgery. The Essure coil-like inserts were designed to generate scar tissue to block the fallopian tubes, without releasing…

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Leaving foreign objects (including sponges, needles and instruments) in patients during surgical procedures is a widely recognized medical error classified as a “Never Event”. The term “Never Event” refers to a hospital-acquired condition that should not, under any circumstances, occur. A surgical tool, such a sponge or forceps, placed inside a patient during surgery but not removed at the end of the surgical procedure, can result in serious complications including infection, vascular injury, organ damage,…

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Despite advances in neonatal care, preventable injuries to newborns are still prevalent in the United States. Jaundice, a common medical condition in infants, is characterized by yellow tinting of a newborn’s skin and the whites of the eyes (conjunctiva). This yellowing is a sign that there is too much bilirubin (a substance formed by the breakdown of red blood cells) in the baby’s blood. Although most jaundice resolves without causing any harm, it is important…

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At the Yost Legal Group, Attorneys at Law, we are thrilled to be able to help students and members of the community succeed by offering programs like the Yost Legal Group College Scholarship Essay Program. The program awards a $1,000 scholarship each year for the recipient to put towards tuition to pursue any field of study from an accredited college. This year’s essay topic was on how adversity has affected your life. The essay program…

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The Centers for Disease Control reports that more than one-third (36.5%) of U.S. adults suffer from obesity. High blood pressure (hypertension), heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and stroke are all life threatening conditions linked to obesity and are some of the leading causes of preventable death. There are various surgical procedures that doctors perform in order for patients to achieve desired weight loss and avoid obesity-related complications. These procedures are referred to as bariatric…

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While general anesthesia is used for many surgical procedures, and local anesthetics are usually given by injection into a very specific part of the body that needs to be numbed, an injection of numbing medication into a patient’s back allows a whole region of the lower body to be pain-free without putting the patient to sleep during some abdominal surgeries, leg and feet surgeries or other lower body procedures, such as urinary tract procedures. Spinal…

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Hospital-acquired conditions, also known as “never events”, are particularly awful medical mistakes that should not ever occur. Some examples of these preventable errors include: Operating on the wrong place on the patient’s body Discharging a newborn to the wrong parents Leaving a foreign object, such as a scalpel or sponge, inside the body Mismatched blood transfusion Causing an air embolism during treatment of a patient Unfortunately, not all medical mistakes are avoidable at all times….

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According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) more than 60% of Americans have a pet and more than 35% of pet owners consider their pet to be a member of their family. Despite these statistics, Maryland has done little to enact and enforce laws designed to protect pets. As in other states, it is a crime in Maryland to abuse or neglect an animal. Maryland is lenient on animal abusers though, with a maximum sentence…

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