A new study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that when people talk on hand-held cell phones or similar portable electronics while driving, the chance they will be involved in a car accident is three times higher than if they do not. In 2011, NHTSA says, distracted driving injured 387,000 people and killed another 3,000 in the U.S.

We all know it's crucial for drivers to keep their undivided attention on the road, but the basic question of how long drivers can safely look away hasn't always been clear. NHTSA and the Department of Transportation are making it clear: two seconds.

Even at low speeds, using a cell phone creates a serious risk you will hit a pedestrian or bicyclist. So why do we keep allowing ourselves to become distracted while driving despite the dangers?

It is a terrible fact. When hospitals and their employees make surgical errors, the hospital organization ultimately profits from those errors. When surgical-related medical malpractice occurs, patients are often forced to undergo additional procedures, be placed on additional medications and remain hospitalized for a longer period of time than they ordinarily would have. All of these add-ons resulting from surgical errors lead to profits for the hospitals that caused the damage in the first place.

A recent study and accompanying editorial addressing this patient care issue was published earlier this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers affiliated with the study suggest that reforming the payment system to reflect patient outcomes and poor quality of care may help to reduce the rates of surgical errors and other medical malpractice that hospitals ultimately benefit from allowing to occur.

The pressures teenagers face to perform are intense. Without excellent grades, solid test scores, a host of extracurricular activities and volunteer experience, they face increasingly challenging college admissions and hiring processes. In their quest to succeed at all costs, many are seeking to put their health at risk for a chance to remain "ahead" of their peers in terms of performance by numbers. Unfortunately, too many physicians are willing to accommodate teens' request for stimulant medication to fuel this performance.

Physicians who prescribe stimulant medication to teens who do not have underlying conditions can face legitimate medical malpractice claims if the teens are harmed by these medications. According to the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), kids, teens and young adults who take stimulant medication without underlying medical conditions face a greater likelihood of suffering from addiction and cardiovascular problems as a result.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report regarding a consumer safety website that was launched two years ago this month. The report has delivered both positive and negative news. On the positive side, naysayers opposed to the important website have no reason to complain. The site has not led to falling consumer confidence in the safety of American consumer goods generally, nor has it heralded any significant decline in consumer purchasing power.

On the negative side, relatively few consumers are utilizing Saferproducts.gov to report dangerous and defective products. Between April of 2011 and the very beginning of 2013, only about 12,000 incidents of dangerous or defective products were filed on the site.