Researchers have been sequencing DNA for years in an effort to identify pathogens. However, DNA analysis hasn’t been widely used to diagnose individual patients’ infections because of the time involved in sorting through DNA fragments that might number in the millions. Yet software is already being developed that can compare DNA fragments with databases of stored genetic sequences.

Readers of this medical malpractice blog may be familiar with some patient safety initiatives focusing on new programs under the Affordable Care Act. What readers may not realize, however, is that a majority of these and other patient safety improvement programs have been limited to inpatient hospital care. 

A vitamin a day may not actually keep the doctor away, but there is benefit to certain preventative practices, such as screening tests. Unfortunately, patients may not realize that they may be at risk for certain conditions, and a doctor’s failure to advise a patient about recommended tests may allow conditions to go undiagnosed — until it is too late. In such cases, an injured patient or surviving loved one may need to talk with a medical malpractice attorney about holding doctors accountable for their potentially negligent care.