Written by Marshall Allen ProPublica, Sept. 25, 2012, 11:34 a.m. I was recently browsing through the nearly 200 stories we've compiled with our Patient Harm Questionnaire, when I was reminded again of a troubling truth. Many of the people who suffer harm while...
Answers. Results. Justice.
New System for Patients to Report Medical Mistakes
Hospitals say they are receptive to the idea, despite concerns about malpractice liability and possible financial penalties for poor performance. In a flier drafted for the project, the government asks: "Have you recently experienced a medical mistake? Do you have...
How to Stop Hospitals From Killing Us
The world of American medicine is far deadlier: Medical mistakes kill enough people each week to fill four jumbo jets. But these mistakes go largely unnoticed by the world at large, and the medical community rarely learns from them. The same preventable mistakes are...
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice happens when a medical provider fails to observe the guidelines of specialized care, resulting in a patient’s injury or death. This can mean the health care professional either failed to properly diagnose the patient or made a mistake...
Waste in the Health Care System
A new report from a panel of experts convened by the Institute of Medicine estimated that roughly 30 percent of health care spending in 2009 -- around $750 billion -- was wasted on unnecessary or poorly delivered services and other needless costs. Lack of...
‘Unprofessional’ Behavior Common in Hospitals
Most hospitalists are guilty of at least one instance of unprofessional behavior, a survey showed. Among internal medicine hospitalists at three Chicago-area academic health centers, about two-thirds (67.1%) said they had nonmedical or personal conversations in...
Two-Year-Old Dies 22 Hours After Being Discharged From the Hospital
Michelle Fernando fell ill one week after her mother was diagnosed with swine flu. After being advised by physicians to give his daughter painkillers and water, Rashid Fernando is now mourning the death of his two-year-old daughter. As reported by the...
Parents fear new State Senate bill protects malpracticing doctors
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) - Marie Woolen said she sunk into a depression after finding out the doctor she sent her son to diagnosed him with a condition he didn't have. "It's been devastating," said Woolen She's one of hundreds of people ...
Thousands at Risk of HIV After Rogue Denver Dentist Reused IV Syringes for 12 Years
Thousands of people in Colorado may have been infected with HIV or hepatitis after a local dentist was discovered to have been reusing dirty sedation syringes and needles to some of his 8,000 patients for 12 years. Colorado state health officials are...
Team Effort Cuts In-Hospital Blood Infections
A combination of best practices, improved safety culture, and a bigger focus on teamwork cut central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in hospitals by 40%, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reported. In preliminary results from a...
