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.
NEVER (NorthEast Voices for Error Reduction) is made up of member patient safety and advocacy organizations located throughout the northeast. The mission of NorthEast Voices for Error Reduction (NEVER) is the empowerment of patients and the elimination of healthcare harm by: advocating for patient interests in healthcare delivery; educating the public, the media, elected officials about patient safety, working toward a transparent and accountable healthcare system.
New York
State Disclosure Reports
- Hospital-Acquired Infections, NY State, 2011 Source: New York State Department of Health (Saturday September 1, 2012)
- NY: Hospital-acquired infections in New York state 2010
- NY: Hospital-acquired infections in New York state 2009
- NY: Hospital-acquired infections in New York state 2008
- New York: Healthcare Associated Infections (7/08)
Consumers Union Documents
- State Medical Error Report Links
Reports from the states with laws requiring public reporting of medical errors.
- New York-area hospitals do poorly in patient safety (report)
Consumer Reports rates hospitals in and around the Big Apple. Many hospitals in the New York City area do a poor job on four key measures of patient safety, according to a new Consumer Reports investigation.
- New York City hospitals do poorly in patient safety
Consumer Reports issues safety ratings for New York City-area hospitals. Of the 50 lowest-scoring hospitals nationwide in four key patient safety measures, 30 were in the New York City area, which includes the five boroughs as well as neighboring communities in Westchester, Long Island, and New Jersey. And the five lowest-rated hospitals nationally were all in the NYC area, too.
- State Hospital Infection Public Reporting Laws
Summary of state laws hospital infection reporting laws.
- Testimony of Jim Guest President, Consumers Union, before the House
On PDUFA, Risk Evaluation & Mitigation Strategies, Clinical Trials, and Advisory Committee Conflicts.
- Battle for drug safety moves to House floor
A March 2007 Consumer Reports national poll found that more than 60 percent of Americans agree that the Food and Drug Administration and Congress have failed to adequately protect them from harmful prescription drugs.
- Cost of hospital infections in New York
An analysis by Assemblyman Pete Grannis estimates the state and local Medicaid cost of hospital infections is $100-$200 million each year.
- Requiring Drug Companies to Disclose Marketing Expenditures to Physicians
Drug marketing emphasizes the latest and most expensive drugs even though these drugs may not be the best in their category according to the medical evidence.
Consumers Union News Releases
- Consumers Union Statement on IOM Medical Device Study
The medical device industry lobby has criticized a report on medical device regulation before it was published.
- New York report details hospital infection rates
Infection program serves as model because NY invested resources to assist hospitals and validate data
- In Light of Celebrex News, Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs Urges Patients to Talk to Their Doctors about Alternatives
Web site chooses generic ibuprofen and generic salsalate as Best Buy Drugs
Blog Posts
- 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.
- “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.
- 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.
- California Pharmacy Board Should Support Safer Medication Labels
Guest blog post written by Syed Sayeed, Policy Analyst at Consumers Union’s West Coast Office. CU is calling on California residents to submit comments to the Pharmacy Board by March 10th, in support of requiring all pharmacies to print important label information in at least a 12-point font size.
- Patient Safety Activists Represent Consumers at Presidential Health Care Forum
Four patient safety activists – all who have been personally affected by medical harm – were among the 164 participants in ABC’s televised health care forum held with President Obama. Understandably, they came armed with questions but didn’t get to ask them. So we wanted to give them a chance to get their questions in front of the public and lawmakers here on this blog.
- NYT calls for doctors to be included in Medicare non-payment rules
The New York Times came out Sunday with a strong call for making the new Medicare rule to stop paying for care needed after hospitals harm their patients apply to physicians too, stating the current policy lets “doctors off scot-free.”
- Drugmakers in hot water with NY Attorney General
A newly released study indicates that Vytorin, an expensive new cholesterol drug, is no more effective than an older drug Zocor. Although the drug makers got these results in April 2006, they failed to release them to doctors and the public–meanwhile earning $5 billion in revenue from sales of this drug last year. Sadly, we’re not shocked.
- Buried data on antidepressants
The New England Journal of Medicine issued a report that said a third of FDA-registered studies on popular antidepressants went unpublished.
- Great drug safety article in the New Yorker today – check it out!
In today’s New Yorker magazine is an article that describes the status of our current prescription drug approval and montitoring process so well it could be called What’s-Wrong-With-Our-Drug-Safety-System-For-Dummies… and I don’t mean that as an insult! Can we try to get this in the hands of every House member before
- Avandia added to the growing list of drugs that just might kill you
You can’t pick up a paper or turn on the news this week without hearing about Avandia, the latest blockbuster drug in the spotlight for potentially deadly side effects. This treatment, prescribed to about 6 million diabetics since 1999, is likely to increase cardiovascular disease and heart attacks in its users.
News Articles
- Martha Deed: Survivors of medical error need crisis intervention Source: KevinMD (Saturday February 16, 2013)
Martha Deed, patient safety advocate in NY, guest blogs for KevinMD.com: “Survivors [of medical error] need more assistance than they currently receive. Isolating patients and their families from circumstances surrounding medical errors does not promote healing of patients or their families any more than it helps traumatized medical staff.”
- Cuomo Plans New Rules in Fight Against Sepsis Source: New York Times (Monday January 7, 2013)
NYT reports: “Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will announce in his State of the State Message this week that every hospital in New York must adopt aggressive procedures for identifying sepsis in patients, including the use of a countdown clock to begin treatment within an hour of spotting it, a state official said.”
- Letter: Discipline actions must be detailed Source: Times Union (Saturday August 25, 2012)
Arthur Levin, MPH of Center for Medical Consumers and Russ Haven of NYPIRG write a letter to the editor about problems with oversight of NY doctors.
- GUESTWORDS: Hospital Homicides Source: East Hampton Star (Wednesday March 14, 2012)
Richard Rosenthal writes: “It is past time that the government and public adopt the same sense of urgency with healthcare deaths.” Richard can be reached at rrosenth@optonline.net.
- NY medical board gets softer on doctors Source: Times Union (Sunday August 19, 2012)
A Times Union analysis of state Office of Professional Medical Conduct’s annual reports compared the agency’s activity between 1992-2001 to 2002-2011 and found that serious punishments that result in the loss of a doctor’s license are dropping, while censure/reprimands are increasing.
- The Pulse Health and hospital news in New York and the Capital Region E-mail | Twitter | Facebook | About | Send me a tip NY medical board gets softer on doctors Source: Times Union (Sunday August 19, 2012)
Complaints have increased but disciplinary actions against doctors has not.
- DEA targets local doctor in prescription painkiller probe Source: Buffalo News (Friday August 10, 2012)
Federal Drug Enforcement Administration charges NY doctor with unlawful distribution of controlled substances.
- I-Team: Thousands of NY Hospital Mistakes Kept Secret Source: NBC New York (Friday August 3, 2012)
Hospitals have confidentially reported more than 40,000 “adverse events” since 2007, including wrong-site or wrong-patient surgeries, unexpected deaths, and delays or omissions of treatment
- Safety advisers say state buried report Source: Times Union (Tuesday August 28, 2012)
A report designed to reduce hospital errors issued by an expert panel on patient safety was ignored by NY Department of Health according to panel members.
- The Short Life and Lonely Death of Sabrina Seelig Source: New York Times (Tuesday August 28, 2012)
Young woman living in NY dies in the hospital after she was given a strong sedative and may not have been properly monitored. Her mother tells the NY Times: “No one should go to a hospital without someone with you — no one,” she said. “Don’t go unless somebody at least knows you’re there.”
Research and Reports
- What to Do if You Have a Concern about Quality in a New York Hospital Source: Informed Patient Institute (Thursday March 28, 2013)
This tip sheet explains steps you can take within the hospital to deal with your concerns about quality of care. It also tells you how to contact the places that regulate or oversee hospitals. You can also consider filing a lawsuit, but that is not the focus of this tip sheet.
- Hospital-Acquired Infections, NY State, 2011 Source: New York State Department of Health (Saturday September 1, 2012)
- Report: Sick, Scared and Separated from Loved Ones Source: NYPIRG (Wednesday August 8, 2012)
New report by New Yorkers for Patient & Family Empowerment and the New York Public Interest Research Group urging hospitals to have patient-centered visiting policies and to respect the patient’s right to decide who can visit.
- Video: A New Angle on Patient Safety at UB: Turning tragedy into advocacy so that future patients benefit
Patient safety advocate, Mary Brennan-Taylor of New York, turns the loss of her mother to hospital-acquired infections into a force for change within the University of Buffalo’s medical school. Using her mother’s case as a teaching program, UB students looked for evidence-based best practices to understand what went wrong and then acted out the way it could have and should have turned out.
- What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality in a New York Nursing Home
Steps you can take if you are concerned about the quality of care in a NY nursing home.
- What to Do if You Have a Concern About the Quality of Care from a New York Doctor
Steps you can take if you are concerned about your care under a NY physician.
- State reports on mortality rates for adult cardiac surgery and angioplasty procedures
In 2006, 11,929 cardiac bypass surgeries were performed with a combined in-hospital and 30-day mortality rate of 1.92 percent – down slightly from 2.02 percent in 2005. In 2006, the number of Percutaneous Coronary Interventions procedures increased to 57,944 from 56,058 in 2005. The 2006 combined in-hospital/30-day mortality rate was 0.87 percent.
- NY Comptroller finds many hospitals underreport medical errors
A comprehensive study issued today by the Office of the Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., found that many New York City hospitals substantially underreport “adverse events” to the New York State Department of Health (DOH).
- Like Night and Day - Shedding Light on Off-Hours Care
The consequences of service deficiencies during off-hours include higher mortality and readmission rates, more surgical complications, and more medical errors. Given the health care industry’s renewed focus on ensuring patient safety and providing high-quality medical care, why hasn’t the situation changed at the “other hospital”?
- Health Guide: MRSA Infection
Background information on causes, symptoms, treatment, and other resources
Stories from New York
I was involved in a motor vehicle accident. I arrived at the hospital alert but with a dislocated hip and a fractured ankle. At the time of treatment I was told they needed x-rays and I would be getting something for pain.
Linda of Fulton, New York
In 2003, my wife, Lisa, age 42, an insulin-dependent diabetic, collapsed into a coma while in a hospital. At the time she was discovered she had no pulse and was not breathing and her blood glucose level was almost non-existent at 2mg/dL.
Lisa Baker of Albany, New York
On November 14, 2003, I suffered two brainstem strokes after having an upper neck manipulation. Initially, I lost speech, feeling in my right side, had a facial droop and slurred speech. When admitted to the stroke center, I found out that this is a known risk of chiropractic upper neck manipulations.
Christa of Mahopac, New York
On November 14, 2003, I suffered two brainstem strokes after having an upper neck manipulation. Initially, I lost speech, feeling in my right side, had a facial droop and slurred speech. When admitted to the stroke center, I found out that this is a known risk of chiropractic upper neck manipulations.
Christa of Mahopac, New York
In February 2008, I had pain in my right flank area that lasted in the same spot all night. Thinking it could be a kidney stone, I went to the ER the next morning and they checked my urine and did a CT scan.