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.
I’d like to point you to four brave patients, who debuted their videos to lawmakers at the Massachusetts State House and encouraged them to take an active role to improve patient safety.
Mar
17
Watch these personal stories — Quality Care Saves Lives!
Posted by Daniela Nuñez on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 in Hospital Acquired Infections, Medical Errors
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1 Comment »
Mar
13
Medical Mistakes show on Oprah
Did you catch the Oprah Winfrey Show on Tuesday about medical mistakes? She featured actor Dennis Quaid who recalled the series of hospital errors that nearly killed his newborn twins after they were given one thousand times the amount of the blood-thinning drug Heparin—twice.
Posted by Daniela Nuñez on Friday, March 13th, 2009 in Hospital Acquired Infections, Medical Devices & Drugs, Medical Errors
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5 Comments »
Feb
20
Drop in some MRSA infections in ICUs
A new JAMA study confirms what we’ve been saying all along: public reporting of hospital infections leads to reduction of infections!
Posted by Daniela Nuñez on Friday, February 20th, 2009 in Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA
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No Comments »
Feb
19
Former skeptic believes in preventing hospital infections
A few years ago, Dr. Manoj Jain was skeptical of hospital infection reduction—thinking hospital infections were the norm for ICU patients
Posted by Daniela Nuñez on Thursday, February 19th, 2009 in Hospital Acquired Infections
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No Comments »
Jan
27
Seattle PI: U.S. pigs and farmers carry MRSA but federal food safety agencies are doing little to see if the pork is safe
Seattle PI reports on a new study that found pigs and workers on several Midwestern farms are colonized with MRSA.
Posted by Daniela Nuñez on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 in Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA
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No Comments »
Jan
16
CMS decisions on non-payment for surgical errors
It’s official. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will no longer pay for surgery in which certain “never events” occur: wrong surgery, wrong patient, wrong body part.
Posted by Daniela Nuñez on Friday, January 16th, 2009 in Medical Errors
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No Comments »
Jan
14
Patients Right to Know
Colorado Citizens for Accountability has launched its new patient safety website: PatientsRightToKnow.org. It contains a U.S. map where you can find out what physician background reporting is available in your state.
Posted by Daniela Nuñez on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 in Doctor Accountability, Hospital Acquired Infections
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3 Comments »
Jan
08
HHS releases plan to prevent health care-associated infections
This week the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services released its “Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections” which sets five-year prevention targets for six major types of infection. Such as (from Table 1):
• A 30% reduction in C. difficile
• A 25% reduction in urinary catheter infections
• A 50% reduction in MRSA infections
Posted by Daniela Nuñez on Thursday, January 8th, 2009 in Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA
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No Comments »
Jan
05
20 Things You Didn’t Know About…Hygiene
Here’s one thing you might not know: On average, doctors and nurses clean their hands between patients only 50% of the time.
Posted by Daniela Nuñez on Monday, January 5th, 2009 in Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA
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1 Comment »
Dec
12
Fund the Texas hospital infection reporting law
In 2007, the Texas legislature had a brilliant idea. They passed a law that required the Texas Department of State Health Services to make public health care acquired infection rates for several surgical procedures and bloodstream infections in hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and children’s hospitals by no later than June 1, 2008.
Posted by Daniela Nuñez on Friday, December 12th, 2008 in Hospital Acquired Infections
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2 Comments »
