Share this site! The Safe Patient Project is a Consumers Union campaign focused on eliminating medical harm, improving FDA oversight of prescription drugs and promoting disclosure laws that give information to consumers about health care safety and quality.

California Releases New Report on Hospital Infection Rates

A report by the California Department of Public Health, makes California a national leader on public reporting of infections.

Posted by Daniela Nuñez in C. diff, Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA | No Comments »

National Practitioner Data Bank “Public” Use Data File Should Actually Be Public

A Consumer Reports national poll found that almost 9 in 10 Americans (88%) said the public should have access to federally collected information about problems with doctors.

Posted by Daniela Nuñez in Doctor Accountability | 1 Comment »

Cancer patient asks hospitals for their infection rates

Seeking safe healthcare for her cancer treatment, patient safety advocate–Kathy Day of Maine–recalls the transparency hurdles she faced when she asked a hospital for its infection rates.

Posted by Daniela Nuñez in Hospital Acquired Infections | 2 Comments »

Errors of Omission

Guest blog post by John T. James, Ph.D. founder of Patient Safety America, a website created to provide information to patients or potential patients who are concerned about the quality of health care they receive in this country.

Posted by Daniela Nuñez in Medical Errors | 4 Comments »

Consumer voices to be heard at national hospital infection meeting

Meet the eleven consumer advocates who will be attending a U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)hospital infection meeting this week.

Posted by Daniela Nuñez in Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA | No Comments »

“Please, don’t infect me”

Hospital infection survivor and “numerator,” Kerry O’Connell describes the emotional and physical impact of hospital infection on patients and calls for more empathy and honesty from our health care providers.

Posted by Daniela Nuñez in Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA | No Comments »

“It’s not just statistics…it’s somebody’s Mom”

Hospital infections leave a lasting impact on the individuals and families who had to experience them. For Mary Brennan-Taylor, hospital infections took the life of her mother, Alice Brennan, who passed away in 2009 after entering the hospital for pain and swelling in her leg.

Posted by Daniela Nuñez in C. diff, Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA | 1 Comment »

Swine flu victim dies from hospital acquired infection

New York swine flu patient dies from a hospital-acquired infection in a local ICU where she had been successfully treated for swine flu.

Posted by Daniela Nuñez in Hospital Acquired Infections | No Comments »

Institute of Medicine report scrutinizes medical device approval process

The IOM released a report last week reviewing the 510(k) medical device approval process. The report finds that the current FDA process “lacks the legal basis to be a reliable premarket screen of the safety and effectiveness” of devices.

Posted by Daniela Nuñez in Medical Device Safety | No Comments »

Consumers win on reporting surgical infection rates in CA

Last week, California hospitals lost their bid to avoid reporting their infection rates to the public. A California judge upheld a 2008 state law – one of the strongest in the nation – that calls on hospitals to report infections occurring from a broad array of surgeries.

Posted by Daniela Nuñez in Hospital Acquired Infections | 4 Comments »
1 of 19123...10...Last »