Category Archives: Headline of the Day

An unlicensed anesthesiologist -just one of her problems

December 21, 2009

• An unlicensed anesthesiologist;

• single-use suture sets and other supplies that were resealed after they were opened, and had blood and/or other human fluids on them;

• severe rust in the interior of a machine used to sterilize surgical equipment;

• a garbage container in a recovery room full of food, garbage and other surgical waste including syringes;

• animal droppings on equipment;

• dust, debris and blood on the floor and equipment;

• procedures conducted without nurses present;

• no effective program to control the distribution of drugs or manage infection control; and

• failure to properly maintain medical records and privacy on patients.

Greenwich Hospital CEO- defends the indefensible

December 20, 2009

Once again Greenwich Times’ Debra Friedman puts together an excellent piece of journalism on the lack of oversight from the Greenwich Hospital Trustees.

This Sunday Greenwich Time

December 18, 2009

It looks like we might have a lot of snow Sunday morning – a perfect time for you to google Debra Friedman, an investigative journalist and reporter at Greenwich Time.

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$60,000 Does Not Address Patient Needless Suffering or Personal Costs

December 16, 2009

“We found that patients with surgical site infections due to MRSA were 35
times more likely to be readmitted and seven times more likely to die within
90 days compared to uninfected surgical patients,” Anderson said in a
statement.
“These patients also required more than three weeks of additional
hospitalization and accrued more than $60,000 in additional charges.”

CT Scans -A New Study Links to Increased Risk of Cancer

December 15, 2009

In the first study, based on information from four San Francisco-area hospitals, median effective doses ranged from 2 mSv for a routine head scan to 31 mSv for a multiphase abdomen and pelvis scan, according to Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues.

Radiation doses as low as 10 mSv have been linked to an increased cancer risk among survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb blasts, the researchers reported in the Dec. 14/28 Archives of Internal Medicine.
In the first study, based on information from four San Francisco-area hospitals, median effective doses ranged from 2 mSv for a routine head scan to 31 mSv for a multiphase abdomen and pelvis scan, according to Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues.

Radiation doses as low as 10 mSv have been linked to an increased cancer risk among survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb blasts, the researchers reported in the Dec. 14/28 Archives of Internal Medicine.

Why Do Doctors Keep Prescribing Dangerous Drugs?

December 14, 2009

Dr. Hadler had a ready answer, “I don’t think America realizes how much input industry has on the professional organizations and their thought leaders that are involved in writing these definitions and treatment guidelines. Several of these entities are almost wholly owned subsidiaries of the pharmaceutical industry. Professional meetings have much more the tone and the feel of the marketplace than they do of the academy. And all of this happened in the last 20 years.

Grassley Wants Transparency

December 11, 2009

How often have we heard similar cries of innocence? Steve Weiss, a spokesman for the American Cancer Society, sent an e-mail message stating that the society “holds itself to the

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Big Pharma's Crime Spree

December 9, 2009

“At the very same time Pfizer was in our office negotiating and resolving the allegations of criminal conduct in 2004, Pfizer was itself in its other operations violating those very same laws,” Loucks, 54, says. “They’ve repeatedly marketed drugs for things they knew they couldn’t demonstrate efficacy for. That’s clearly criminal.”

Senator Lieberman Turned Off his Phones

December 8, 2009

Joe never forgets who he ran to represent….Himself

It Is Hard to Like the Pharmaceutical Industry

December 3, 2009

So common have these deals become lately that they’ve been given a name: pay-for-delay. The approach — a textbook anti-competitive tactic — is worth billions to drug-makers, because it essentially allows them to buy more protection than their patent confers.