Too often, patients and families with a serious complaint about an incompetent or unethical medical doctor will write their concerns to the state licensing board and then see their case drop into a black hole. But now, thanks to the work of one crusading family, the state of Washington has a new law to make….
Continue ReadingArchives for April 2011
Two malpractice verdicts in two days in Pennsylvania town
Juries in Erie, Pa., last week returned substantial – and in the first case, record – verdicts on consecutive days in favor of the plaintiffs in two malpractices cases. One day after a jury gave $21.6 million – the largest malpractice verdict in the county’s history – to an Erie mother and her son over….
Continue ReadingAccurate quality measures needed to improve health care quality and safety
The push to make hospitals and doctors more accountable for health care quality means more attention must be paid to the accuracy and reliability of measures used to evaluate caregivers, according to Johns Hopkins patient safety expert Peter Pronovost. There is little consensus as to which measures are scientifically valid and accurate assessments of quality,….
Continue ReadingWashington state bill seeks consumer accountability for medical licensing board
Washington state lawmakers have proposed a bill that would give more rights to people who file licensing complaints alleging medical mistakes. Up to now, when something terrible happens to a patient in a hospital or under a doctor’s care, families often file complaints with the Medical Quality Assurance Commission (MQAC) – the state’s medical disciplinary….
Continue ReadingPhiladelphia physicians failed to report dangerous peer
Many women who went to Dr. Kermit Gosnell to end their pregnancies came away with life-threatening infections and punctured organs; some still had fetal parts inside them when they arrived at the ER of nearby hospitals. Though physicians at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which operates two hospitals within a mile of the West….
Continue ReadingA Gentler Option to Barking: “Did You Wash Your Hands?”
Hospitalized patients are right to be terrified of getting a serious infection from the hands of their doctors or nurses. But is there any option to barking at everyone who comes in your room: “Did you wash your hands?”? Yes, says gastroenterologist Steven Kussin, author of the forthcoming book “Doctor, Your Patient Will See You….
Continue ReadingNew Hampshire governor fights subpoena over efforts to dip into malpractice fund to reduce budget deficit
The governor and attorney general of New Hampshire are fighting a subpoena to testify about state efforts to take $110 million from a malpractice fund to plug a budget hole. Policyholders of the medical malpractice Joint Underwriting Association are suing its board for breach of financial responsibility. Health care providers have paid into the fund….
Continue ReadingGovernment Gets Serious about Patient Safety
The new federal “Partnership for Patients” safety initiative has drawn enthusiastic early endorsement from safety mavens like Dr. Bob Wachter of UCSF. It should: By his own insider’s account, Wachter helped inspire HHS leaders to finally take seriously the national scandal of preventable harm in hospitals and clinics. Here’s his story. The official government announcement….
Continue ReadingAs much as 45% of all U.S. health care costs due to medical errors, studies show
Medical mistakes account for between 18 and 45 cents of every health care dollar spent in the U.S., and a medical error or adverse effect occurs in one out of every three hospital admissions, researchers say. According to studies published in the journal Health Affairs, the single most expensive cause of harm is infection after….
Continue ReadingOregon bill would extend whistleblower protection to non-nursing hospital staff
A bill before Oregon’s state Senate would give non-nursing hospital staff members workplace protection when reporting health care practices that endanger patient safety. Currently, Oregon nurses are legally protected against retaliation in hospitals when reporting practices that jeopardize patient health or safety. If it becomes law, Senate bill 237 would extend the same protections to….
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