The patients arrived at the weight-loss clinics for liposuction, and left with an unwelcome add-on: streptococcus infection. The cause, a study showed, was probably a staff unaware of or unwilling to perform proper infection control. The strain of streptococcus that the 13 people contracted is a bacterium that can cause relatively mild illnesses, such as….
Continue ReadingArchives for June 2014
Why Emergency Treatment Can Be a Guessing Game
Emergency department physicians often are accused of ordering too many tests and admitting too many patients to the hospital. But even if medical overuse is a problem, sometimes the circumstances in the ER don’t leave a doctor much choice. One ER doc, Leana Wen, recently blogged on NPR.org about just such a situation, and her….
Continue Reading“Distracted Doctoring” Puts Patients at Risk and Practitioners in Trouble
When you’re anesthetized and under the knife in an operating room, you assume your surgical team is concentrating on you, not texting on an iPad. For one heart patient, however, that assumption was wrong. Pacific Standard Magazine’s unsettling review of distractions during medical procedures described the circumstances of a malpractice case in Texas when a….
Continue ReadingCounties Sue Drug Companies for Increased Narcotic Abuse
Long ignored, the national problem of prescription narcotic drug overuse and abuse finally gained prominence last year. Now, an eye-opening lawsuit has been filed against pharmaceutical manufacturers by local government. Last month, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, the California counties of Orange and Santa Clara sued Actavis, Endo Health Solutions Inc., Johnson &….
Continue ReadingPradaxa Manufacturer Settles Cases Over Uncontrolled Bleeding
Pradaxa is a blood-thinning drug prescribed to reduce the chance of stroke, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism (internal blood clots). Despite life-threatening problems that prompted its manufacturer to pay $650 million to settle a lawsuit, the company continues to defend its questionable behavior. About 4,000 patients were plaintiffs in the lawsuit, and will receive….
Continue ReadingHealth Advice for Summer Travelers
Travel can be challenging enough without the added difficulty of getting sick. One way to prevent this unfortunate circumstance, or to minimize its effect once it happens, is to visit the travel website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) before you go. In addition to general consumer information, such as how to….
Continue ReadingProtecting Cancer Patients from the Shameless Promotions of Cancer Treatment Centers
Researchers recently examined how cancer centers promote themselves, and they drew a dismal conclusion: “[A]dvertisements by cancer centers frequently promote cancer therapy with emotional appeals that evoke hope and fear while rarely providing information about risks, benefits, costs, or insurance availability.” Two years ago, according to the report in the Annals of Internal Medicine, more….
Continue ReadingTreating Kidney Stones Often Has Complications
People who have suffered kidney stones say there’s nothing more painful. But according to new research, for a disturbing number of patients, treating them can cause complications requiring emergency follow-up. All the more reason to heed some good advice about how to prevent them in the first place. Kidney stones are small, hard pebbles formed….
Continue ReadingBurn Surgeon’s Testimony Tainted by Conflict of Interest
Clothing and furniture containing flame retardants have come under scrutiny because their chemicals may not retard flame but do pose health risks. Recently, proposed legislation in Washington state brought the issue additional attention when a burn expert testified before lawmakers that flame retardants do prevent fire casualties, despite the fact that he had been paid….
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