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.
- Medical Errors
Wrong surgery, wrong medication, serious bedsores… Unsafe practices and poor quality care kill 98,000 patients each year and waste billions of dollars every year. What information do you have about the safety of your hospital? What protections do you have if the hospital makes a mistake with you?
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- Medical Devices & Drugs
Americans have suffered and lost their lives because they are not given ALL information about risks by either manufacturers or the FDA. Pharmaceutical companies should be accountable for safety problems, and not keep drug risks hidden from the public. Medical device companies should respond to malfunctioning implants.
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- Hospital Acquired Infections
Hospital acquired infections are a leading cause of death in the U.S. Consumers Union supports public disclosure of infection rates so that you can choose the safest hospital and hospitals will have an incentive to improve.
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- Doctor Accountability
When physicians provide poor quality care, their patients are typically the last to know. Some physician backgrounds may be available in your state, but can you tell which ones have the most complaints, malpractice claims or disciplinary actions? Knowing the background information on your doctor could save your life.
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Implantable medical devices should be safety tested before approved to be used on patients!
We shouldn’t be used as involuntary test subjects when it comes to something as serious as a medical implant like hip and knee replacements, internal defibrillators and surgical mesh. According to a national Consumer Reports poll, 91 percent of consumers want medical implants safety tested. And 95 percent say implants should be tracked, so if they go bad or get recalled, Americans who have them can be quickly notified. Bills just released in Congress to revamp our medical device safety laws do neither.