Medication errors in a hospital’s psychiatric unit were cut drastically with two techniques: an electronic prescription drug ordering system and a computerized method to report adverse events, according to new research from Johns Hopkins University. The leader of the study, Geetha Jayaram, MD, MBA, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins….
Continue ReadingArchives for March 2011
States fail to discipline rogue doctors whose own hospitals find them guilty of serial malpractice
State medical boards responsible for disciplining physicians have failed to do so in more than half of cases where hospitals have revoked or restricted a physician’s privileges. A study conducted by Public Citizen, a non-profit consumer advocacy group, found that 63% of the doctors whose hospital privileges were restricted or revoked were not disciplined by….
Continue ReadingTime cushion sought in Nevada malpractice cases
Backers of a Nevada bill that would give plaintiffs a 45-day “time cushion” to obtain and file an expert witness affidavit call it an issue of fairness. At a hearing before the state’s Assembly Judiciary Committee, witnesses noted that in some cases, affidavits become separated from lawsuits or cannot be obtained within the 1-year statute….
Continue Reading“Alarm fatigue” endangers hospital patients
“Alarm fatigue” caused by the rising use of monitors is distracting and numbing hospital personnel with deadly results, the Boston Globe reports. An investigation by the newspaper reveals that more than 200 hospital patient deaths in the U.S. between January 2005 and June 2010 are linked to problems with alarms on patient monitors that track….
Continue ReadingGeorge Orwell Comes to Washington: The “Protect Patients Now” Lobbying Group
If you wanted to lobby for a law that wipes out the rights of patients to hold hospitals, drug manufacturers and doctors accountable when they hurt people by carelessness and wrongful conduct, what would you call your group? “Protect Patients Now!” It has a nice ring, doesn’t it? However, the people behind this campaign, which….
Continue ReadingMandated use of unproven screening practices drives up medical costs with little patient benefit
A new Texas law that mandates insurance coverage for coronary artery calcium scanning and carotid artery ultrasound was “premature” and will have major ramifications for public health, a noted Texas cardiologist says. In a commentary published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Dr. Amit Khera, a cardiologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center….
Continue Reading‘Apology’ legislation could inhibit medical malpractice suits
Recently passed legislation in the Pennsylvania General Assembly that would prohibit malpractice plaintiffs from using apologies in lawsuits could hurt victims of malpractice seeking restitution in the courts. If the bill becomes law, it would make inadmissible “any benevolent gesture or admission of fault made prior to the commencement of a medical professional liability action”….
Continue Reading“When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail”
Yet more evidence that expensive technology drives treatment decisions in medicine: A new survey of prostate cancer treatment shows that once a hospital invests the $1 million to $2.5 million it takes to get a surgical robot, men in the area start to get a lot more prostate removal surgery than they otherwise would. Although….
Continue ReadingFemale Hormone Injections for Weight Loss: Another Quack Remedy
Some unethical doctors are charging patients big bucks for prescriptions of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) for weight loss. Supposedly you can lose fat in just the right places, the belly for one, if you take daily hCG injections in your abdomen. The claims are sheer quackery. This use of hCG, a pregnancy hormone that is….
Continue ReadingHospital’s comprehensive obstetrics program cuts malpractice claims by 99%
Anyone who believes it’s inevitable that some babies will get injured during childbirth may have a change of heart after reading how a New York City hospital dramatically cut staff errors and reduced medical malpractice payouts by 99%. In a report published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, the head of the obstetrics….
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