Hope you read our article on how you can avoid catching an infection while you are in the hospital. Well, here’s another thing to keep in mind. It’s always advisable to have someone accompany you in the hospital to keep an eye on your care. The Dallas Morning News (8/1, Dunklin, Ambrose) reported that “national … Read more
Bloomberg News (4/21, Olmos, Larkin) reports, “US regulators will strengthen their oversight of medical devices used at home as part of an initiative to improve safety of the increasingly popular products, according to information posted” on the FDA’s website. Notably, the “initiative will set new guidelines for home medical device manufacturers, training programs for patients … Read more
The Cleveland Plain-Dealer (4/20, Suchetka) reported that “for almost 20 years, federal law has required hospitals and medical boards to report doctors they discipline — for medical incompetence, unprofessional conduct, substandard care, and the like — to something called the National Practitioner Data Bank.” However, “many hospitals don’t appear to be following the law, … Read more
USA Today (4/13, Rubin) reports that according to actor Dennis Quaid, “When a crash happens, it’s so public. … No one is going to fly on their airplanes unless they have that trust.” Yet, “when a mistake occurs in a hospital, the public might never hear about it. Although an estimated 100,000 Americans die each … Read more
The Wall Street Journal (4/13, R5, Landro) reports on the Physician Assessment and Clinical Education Program (PACE) at the University of California-San Diego, which is designed to assess when doctors who have been disciplined can resume practicing medicine. PACE faculty and staff evaluate physicians’ abilities and offer remedial courses, as well as a brief mini-residency. … Read more
The Hartford Courant (3/8) editorialized that Connecticut’s “General Assembly erred in 2004 when it tampered with a law designed to make public such hospital mistakes as inadvertent cuts during surgery or serious falls.” As a result, “the confidentiality provision…now keeps most such mistakes secret,” but “patients have a right to know about hospital mistakes and … Read more
In a blog at the Huffington Post (2/11), Joanne Doroshow wrote that survivors of medical malpractice “sent a letter [pdf] to President Obama today, as well as to the Congressional leadership.” They wrote, “We urge you to please keep additional ‘tort reforms’ out of the health insurance reform bill, beyond what the House and Senate … Read more
In a front-page story, the New York Times (1/27, A1, Bogdanich) reports that advances in radiation technology have “created new avenues for error in software and operation.” Accident reports show that “many of these mistakes could have been caught had basic checking protocols been followed.” In fact, a review of the radiotherapy unit at … Read more
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has widened its investigation into radiation overdoses that patients have received from a type of brain scan, suggesting that the problem may be a nationwide issue. Los Angeles Times: 3rd L.A.-area hospital in radiation overdose probe The number of hospitals where suspected stroke patients were over-radiated while undergoing CT … Read more
August 30, 2009 According to The Associated Press, new legislation will require hospitals in New Jersey to disclose medical errors to the public. Read More
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