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.
Beginning in 1994, my wife Betty LeBlanc was misdiagnosed for more than four years with fibromyalgia. Because we have no approved accurate laboratory test for Lyme disease my wife and thousands like her have been and continue to be misdiagnosed.
Virginia
State Disclosure Reports
Consumers Union Documents
- State Hospital Infection Public Reporting Laws
Summary of state laws hospital infection reporting laws.
Blog Posts
- U.S. Congressman dies following surgical error, infection
Our leaders in Congress experience medical harm, too. On Monday, Politico reported that Pennsylvania U.S. Congressman John Murtha had died as a result of complications from recent gallbladder removal surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
News Articles
- Va. agency pulls public access to hospital reports Source: Associated Press (Wednesday January 23, 2013)
The Virginia Department of Health will no longer provide public access to its hospital complaint investigations after an Associated Press story found inconsistencies in the probe of a woman’s care at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
- Inova Fairfax Hospital investigation shows dizzying bureaucracy Source: Associated Press (Monday October 1, 2012)
“Sharon Van Putten’s final months were spent in misery at a highly rated northern Virginia hospital. During a family visit to northern Virginia, Van Putten’s chronic back problems flared up and she ended up having spinal surgery at Inova Fairfax Hospital. She came out of surgery a paraplegic.”
- Hospital excels in infection avoidance Source: The Free Lance-Star (Thursday February 9, 2012)
Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project Director, Lisa McGiffert, quoted in an article about Virginia’s central line associated infection data.
- Virginia, Tennessee hospitals save $1.2M via infection reductions Source: Healthcare Finance News (Friday June 24, 2011)
After implementing a hand washing “action plan,” four hospitals in southwestern Virginia and eastern Tennessee reduced healthcare-acquired infection rates.
- Many hospitals overuse double CT scans, data show Source: Washington Post (Saturday June 18, 2011)
Hundreds of hospitals are routinely performing a type of chest scan that experts say should be used rarely, subjecting patients to double doses of radiation and driving up health-care costs.
- Virginia keeps lips zipped on ER doc's dangerous slips Source: Reporting on Health (Monday November 29, 2010)
According to Bill Heisel, “The Virginia Board of Medicine makes finding out about doctors cumbersome, frustrating and, in some cases, futile.”
- Thousands Die For Want Of A Simple Cure
Article about hospital infections in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area. Activist Michael Bennett quoted about the tragic loss of his father due to hospital-acquired infections.
- 'Super bug' that's resistant to antibiotics threatens hospital patients Source: Washington Post (Tuesday August 24, 2010)
“A recent study found 25 percent more C. diff than MRSA in 28 community hospitals in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.”
- Baby is breast-fed by wrong woman at Virginia Hospital Center Source: Washington Post (Wednesday July 28, 2010)
Hospital mix up in patient identification causes newborn to be breastfed by wrong mom.
- Blaming the Hospital, A Widow Turns Activist Source: The Washington Post (Tuesday July 21, 2009)
The Washington Post (July 21, 2009)
Research and Reports
- Trends in Pregnancy-Associated Maternal Death in Virginia, 1999-2008
Maternal mortality is increasing in VA
Stories from Virginia
After back surgery, I still had severe pain that was thought to be pressure on the nerves from the surgical scar tissue. I was given a Racz catheter treatment at a local hospital as outpatient surgery in an attempt break up scar tissue and relieve the pressure on the nerve. Needles with a fluid are inserted numerous times to the scar tissue site.