Ten Years too Late

New York Times has a great article on the use of chloratxidine. It is infuriating how many studies and how much harm before simple and imporant practices are implemented CDC

Read More

Inept nurses free to work in new locations from LA Times

A very interesting LA Times article  “Inept nurses free to work in new locations” that involves a CT nurse and Hartford Hospital. We need immediate reporting to a national data

Read More

Should Patient Know their Risks?

There are two days of hearings this week – two days to consider whether or not chiropractors should inform their patients of the risk of stroke following cervical manipulation.  I

Read More

Health Lobbying Explodes in 2009

According to USA Today, as many as 1,000 groups hired lobbyists to represent them on the Hill since the beginning of the year.  Last year, during that same period, there

Read More

An unlicensed anesthesiologist -just one of her problems

• 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

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

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.

Read More

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

“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

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?

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.