Texas Activity (89 items)
The Texas Observer reports on the history of a Texas doctor who plead guilty to charges of retaliation and misuse of information after prosecuting two nurse whistleblowers.
Texas doctor will spend two months in jail and be on probation for five years after pleading guilty to retaliating against two nurses who reported him to state medical regulators.
The public needs more information about how well their hospitals and doctors perform on ensuring the safety of their patients.
A new national study indicates that too many hospitals are fumbling and could face penalties if they don't improve within a year. Texas hospitals respond.
The new law will allow the Texas Medical Board to ignore complaints filed if the no specific identity is included in the complaint. Currently about 4% of all complaints filed with the Texas Medical Board are anonymous. The legislator who sponsored the bill also happens to be a doctor.
Malpractice lawsuits in Texas have declined dramatically after a law passed liminting damages to $250,000. While these kinds of limits on lawsuits attract doctors to Texas, can the Texas Medical Board keep bad doctors from practicing in the state?
A law that took effect this month bars the Texas Medical Board from considering complaints against doctors if they come from anonymous sources.
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating a Texas hospital to ensure that its emergency room patients and others no longer face immediate threats to their health and safety.
Parkland Hospital were cited by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) for having deficiencies in infection control and emergency room care.
Texas lawmakers passed bills in 2007 and 2009 requiring hospitals to report infections and medical errors to the Department of State Health Services. But the programs have yet to be funded and enforced. CU story sharer Katherine Daniel and CU Safe Patient Project director Lisa McGiffert quoted.
The new doctor in town was friendly, popular—and dangerous. Especially to the nurses who reported his bizarre treatments.
Austin physician loses his medical license after the Texas Medical Board said he "poses a continuing threat to the public welfare."
Nurses at a small Texas hospital report a well-connected doctor for dangerous medical practices, and find themselves under arrest.
Doctor who was disciplined in Minnesota for allegedly harming patients doesn't have to comply with MN sanctions in order to keep practicing medicine in another state.
Jane Rogers has had hip replacement surgery five times in four years. The financial analyst says she thinks the manufacturer knew about a high failure rate by the time of her second surgery.
More people in Travis County died last year from taking medications such as pain pills and muscle relaxants than from using illegal drugs, including heroin and cocaine, officials with the medical examiner's office have found.
Despite the threat posed by MRSA infections -- methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus -- community-based facilities in Texas are not required to report such cases to local, state or federal health officials. Nor are hospitals required to report cases or notify residents of the same facility.
A recently announced initiative announced by the federal government aims to reduce medical harm like the kind suffered by William Wittman of San Antonio.
Hospital repeatedly violated the rights of people who complained about medical treatment, according to a federal report obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
First, Do No Harm is an extensive series examining medical education and the medical care at Parkland Memorial Hospital, a major trauma center in Dallas.
2004 death of Jerry Carswell at Katy hospital influenced introduction of HB 1009
About one-third of health care spending is wasted, much of it on care that is unneccessary for patients but lucrative for doctors, author Rosemary Gibson says.
Houston doctor Julia Ward, M.D., suspended for illegal operation of pain clinic
Article by Marshall Allen after attending Consumers Union's Safe Patient Project 2010 summit.
Two Texas nurses who were fired and indicted on felony charges for reporting a doctor ended up with a favorable outcome.
TX woman harmed by knee surgery that leads to additional surgeries, high debt, and eventually amputation.
Letter to the editor by John James on doctor accountability in Texas.
Local story about a medical harm lawsuit.
Two Texas nurses were fired after anonymously reporting a doctor for improper medical treatment. The nurses were acquitted by a jury and the doctor will be tried for numerous violations found by the state medical board.
"A Texas Tribune review of the 383 disciplinary actions taken by the nursing board between June and September of 2009 found about a third of the cases involved substance abuse."
"Texas nurses with substance abuse problems — including showing up to work drunk or high, stealing narcotics meant for patients, and forging doctor signatures on prescriptions for pain-killers — are often not punished for their acts for months or even years and continue to practice in the meantime, according to a Texas Tribune review of state nursing disciplinary records."
"Nebraska health officials have admitted that 23-month-old Almariah Duque may have died from an overdose of the blood-thinner heparin, raising more questions about the use of the drug on infants."
A 23 month old died from an overdose of blood thinner while in the hospital to be treated for an infection.
This survey was created for patients who have experienced medical harm, their loved ones and their advocates. This survey was created by the Empowered Patient Coalition and we have jointly published this survey on our websites. This survey is designed to answer questions that are important to patients. This is a way for patients to report their experience as they have lived it, and to know that their report will be counted.The Empowered Patient Coalition will be entering the events annonymously on a map so you can see your error and others in your state by clciking on the map.
Dallas-based Methodist Health System had two hospitals with bloodstream infection rates double the national average, according to a Consumer Reports study.
Seven years ago, after a scathing series of stories in The Dallas Morning News, the Texas Medical Board promised to crack down on bad doctors. Patient endangerment would be dealt with severely. And sexual misconduct, one official said, would become "intolerable." It hasn't turned out that way.
The Dallas Morning News investigates the many holes in the Texas Medical Board review process over the past seven years, leaving patients at risk.
Medical records were concealed at a Texas hospital involving the medical error death of Linda Carswell's husband. There was no follow up by the Texas Health Department on any complaints related to concealing or tampering with medical records at any hospital in the state, according to this KHOU investigation.
The Texas Medical Board provides a complete list of disciplined doctors this quarter.
This increased transparency is one of the great hopes among health care reformers for tackling the high cost of American medicine.
Texas had a hearing on legislation to weaken the medical board.
The reporting system, which was supposed to be in place by June 1, 2008, never came about because the Legislature failed to fund the measure.
Consumers Union Calls on Hospitals to Invest More Resources
Texas hospitals don't have to make cases of deadly infection public
Texas is getting close to requiring hospitals to disclose infection rates to the public.
MRSA is getting a lot of attention nationally because of its increasing prevalence and virulence.
Texas lawmakers have passed legislation to make patient infection rates public.
Texas lawmakers are working to shine the spotlight on hospital infections.
The state Senate has passed a bill requiring disclosure of patient infection rates.
Veterans' hospitals are taking the offensive against MRSA and one in Pittsburgh has seen a 60% reduction in MRSA.
A Texas advisory committee is urging the state to require hospitals to report data on patient infections to the public.
Users of WhyNotTheBest.org can now search for and compare data for nearly 1,000 hospitals on the incidence of central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs)—one of the most lethal hospital-acquired complications. The data show wide variation in CLABSI incidence, in spite of strong evidence on how to prevent them. The updated data is made possible through a partnership among The Commonwealth Fund, The Leapfrog Group, and Consumers Union.
Monthly patient safety newsletter by John T. James, Ph.D. of Houston, TX.
Monthly patient safety newsletter by John T. James, Ph.D. of Houston, TX.
Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas was under investigation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) after a CMS survey found "immediate and serious" threats to patient health and safety. Parkland made a correction action plan which is available at the link below.
Includes formal complaints issued against licensed physicians, new physician licenses issued and summary of disciplinary actions taken on board licensed health care providers by the Texas Medical Board.
Plans about what the states are supposed to be doing to eliminate hospital acquired infections.
Link to map that highlights antimicrobial resistance issues at the state level.
http://www.patientsafetyamerica.com/
Paient Safety America seeks to educate the public on the dangers and excess cost of medical care in America. Our ultimate goal is a substantive, enforced, national patient bill of rights that fosters transparency for all who seek healthcare. Transparency creates informed consumers of healthcare and safer patients.
Contact: John T. James, Ph.D. john.t.james@earthlink.net
The governments obligation is to protect ALL the people
My 6 month old had taken a fall. We were in the waiting room waiting for the doc. When he came in I asked him if he'd washed his hands from the last patient. He was very huffy about it, and said of course I did. But he washed his hands anyway. The way I see it, do I care more about offending this doc or if he is going to potentially pass an infection to my baby.
I believe that more attention to this matter is greatly needed. Hospitals should be safe - there is a way to do this. Whatever it takes.
http://msn.comGrowing up I always felt one of the safest places to be was in a hospital -- not any more! Let's make our hospitals safe!
http://kenneturner.wordpress.comPlease ensure that all Hospitals use this 'Checklist' so that you or one of your family members do not get this blood stream illness and most of all one of my family members. I have to go to the hospital a lot due to having a Liver Transplant and it is very important to me. I have been extremely lucky but I do know some of my friends that have gotten this disease. Please ensure ALL HOSPITALS practice this.
Patients go to the hospital to get well, not sick. I'm sure you've heard the old saying that the best place to get sick is in a hospital. That is a shame.
Start holding the medical establishment as responsible for murder, as they know how to prevent needless deaths, as you do someone infected with HIV who gives it to another person.
Hospitals should not be the place to go and get infections. That this is a real possibility scares me as much as the problems I had going there in the first place.
Why is it so difficult to pursue a negligence/wrongful death lawsuit against a hospital in Texas? Does anyone have any stories about negligence at Kingwood Hospital, Kingwood Texas?
It is way past time to get out of the patriarchal belief that made these standards so common. Let's get real they only imposed these rules because they unerringly believed that women could never keep up. Laugh on them not only have women kept up but they have also surpassed the men in many areas. YEA! Go Ladies Go!
More than 290,000 surgical site infections occur in U.S. hospitals each year. Patients who acquire infections from surgery spend, on average, an additional 6.5 days in the hospital, are five times more likely to be readmitted after discharge, and twice as likely to die.
Surgery patients are at risk for infection because surgical incisions create a pathway for germs to enter the body. Maintaining a sterile environment in the operating room is therefore critical to protect patients from being contaminated with bacteria, which can lead to infection.
How well is your hospital, state and the nation as a whole are performing on three key practices that help prevent infections during surgery? Find out here »
The surgeon was not prepared for my sedative needs, did not listen to my request of what to give me, and because I was holding up the Endoscopic Unit, he called for an anesthesiologist I had never met. He never asked a single question, nor did he check out my charts. He simply injected me with Propofol, without the Lidocaine to ease the pain. I was in hell, and then out for a quick intubation. As a heart patient with all the symptoms from that, I should not have had Propofol. I woke up coughing my guts and lungs up as they extubated me. I was on the other side of the hospital in the main recovery area. Neither doctor came to tell me what happened and what might happen later.
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In January 2007 I underwent cabx5, an aneurysm repair in left ventricle of my heart, where a bi-ventricular pacemaker was inserted. According to my medical records, my doctor found the aneurysm in the left ventricle in 2004, and in 2005 in the stress test, and never told me about it. I am permanently disabled. Read More »
For two years (2006-2008) I was in the ER repeatedly with vomiting, pain, etc. I saw a physician in their facility on an outpatient basis. I eventually suffered arrhythmias, multiple episodes of aspiration pneumonia, and was even referred to psychiatric help.
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