Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections are mostly preventable but thousands of Americans die every year from them and many more suffer needlessly because hospitals fail to protect patients from being exposed to these dangerous superbugs.
Central Line Bloodstream Infection Information Now Available for Hospitals Nationwide Instructions for Finding Out About Your Hospital: The Department of Health & Human Services is now disclosing for the first time information to compare central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in intensive care units at hospitals across the country. Three months of CLABSI information for Continue Reading
Consumers Union Report shows California Department of Public Health is falling behind on collecting and publishing dangerously low vaccination rates to the public.
February 2, 2010
On November 17, 2009, Consumers Union hosted a forum in Washington DC based on the 10-year anniversary of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) 1999 study on medical harm challenging our health system’s progress on preventing medical harm 10 years later. We released a report earlier in the year on this
Summary of state laws as of 9/30/09.
Links to state grant submissions from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act stimulus money for hospital-acquired infection plans.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius designates ARRA money to stand-alone or same-day surgical centers to fight hospital infections in 12 states.
Look up your hospital’s record on preventing surgical infections.
Congressional Legislation 111th concerning hospital infection reporting and antibiotic resistant (MRSA) infection detection and prevention
Consumers Union supports H.R. 2937, “The MRSA Infection Prevention and Patient Protection Act.”
CONSUMERS UNION SAFE PATIENT PROJECT — NEWS RELEASE Please Note: Consumers Union can connect reporters with patients who have suffered from hospital infections and other medical harm. To find out more, contact Michael McCauley at mccami@consumer.org For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 Contact: Michael McCauley (mccami@consumer.org), 415-902-9537 (cell), 415-431-6747,
Report Shows Infections Are Preventable But More Effort Is Needed To Protect Patients.
The reports provide a first glimpse at Hospital Infection Rates. Consumers Union press release recommending the state work harder to ensure the data is accurate and provided in a format consumers can easily view and understand.
Report Finds That Only Half of California Hospital Workers Got Flu Vaccine
California Department of Public Health Has Failed to Carry Out Key Requirements of Recent Patient Safety Laws
Infection program serves as model because NY invested resources to assist hospitals and validate data
CU endorses bills in Congress to screen patients for MRSA and report infection rates to public
New Pennsylvania study shows 8 percent drop in hospital acquired infections between 2006 and 2007.
A report by the California Department of Public Health, makes California a national leader on public reporting of infections.
Meet the eleven consumer advocates who will be attending a U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)hospital infection meeting this week.
Hospital infection survivor and “numerator,” Kerry O’Connell describes the emotional and physical impact of hospital infection on patients and calls for more empathy and honesty from our health care providers.
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.
It only takes three things for a hospital superbug to infect a patient. Should you be concerned?
Last week’s good news of a decline in serious MRSA health care-acquired infections, is a victory for patient safety, but we still have a long way to go to eliminate this very preventable crisis.
Soon it will be easier for you to find out how well your hospital prevents certain infections. As part of the new health care reform law, the Department of Health and Human Services will require hospitals to publicly disclose several types of dangerous hospital infections.
On June 16, Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project and 11 patient safety advocates from 10 states attended the first “Consumer Conversation on Healthcare-Associated Infections” at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
Guest blog by Lori Nerbonne of NH Patient Voices–Death certificates are the primary source of important vital statistics in our country – yet too many certificates fail to tell the whole story.
Since 2006, California lawmakers have passed laws to improve patient safety, yet the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has been moving at turtle speed to enforce these laws.
Op-ed co-published by Dr. Kevin T. Kavanagh, founder of Health Watch USA. “A functioning public reporting system is desperately needed, as Kentucky’s current reporting system is broken,” wrote Kavanagh.
Video on MRSA and C. diff superbugs found in U.S. retail meat posted by NutritionFacts.org
Starting Jan. 1, hospitals must submit data on Clostridium difficile, or C. Diff., on a monthly basis to federal and state public health officials. A database with MRSA and C. Diff rates will be readily accessible to the public as early as the spring, reports the Maine Hospital Association.
Two-thirds of hospital privacy curtains tested positive for potentially deadly bacteria (including MRSA), a University of Iowa study shows.
Hospital infection survivor and “numerator,” Kerry O’Connell describes the emotional and physical impact of hospital infection on patients and calls for more empathy and honesty from our health care providers.
Op-ed by Daniel M. Saman and Kevin T. Kavanagh, MD. “Although we’re a nation of statistics gatherers, there is one glaring omission in this endless list of measurements: how safe our health care facilities are.”
Her father’s ordeal after a minor injury convinced her that “consumers and patients cannot completely rely on our hospitals to protect us and our safety.”
Death certificates in IL will say whether the patient died of MRSA or other infections that are resistant to multiple drugs if they contributed to or caused a death.
A recent Illinois Appellate Court opinion, which reversed the decision of a lower court, will make it easier for all hospital patients who acquire methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureas (MRSA) to obtain medical records for the purpose of pursuing legal action.
The Pennsylvania Cost Containment Council has released a report on heart surgeries. The report includes number of deaths, infections, readmissions and other complications. It can be found at www.phc4.org.
ResistanceMap – an online tool for visualizing antibiotic resistance from Extending the Cure – launches a second edition today with more bacteria-antibiotic combinations, U.S.-Canada-Europe comparisons of resistance trends, and lots of opportunities to interact with the data.
CDC: Bedbugs carrying MRSA and/or VRE may have the potential to act as vectors for transmission. Further studies are needed to characterize the association between S. aureus and bedbugs.
Presentation by Kevin Kavanagh, MD on Healthcare Acquired Infections and public reporting which was given to the Kentucky Joint Senate and House Committee on Veterans, Millitary Affairs and Public Protection.
Three year MRSA prevention program yields significant results – CDC should make MRSA screening a tier one prevention category.
Screening patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) produces cost savings for the whole hospital, according to a study in the American Journal of Infection Control.
In 2002, there were 6,841 cases of MRSA diagnosed by Illinois hospitals. This number has increased steadily each year, with 11,372 cases diagnosed in 2007, a 66.2 percent increase in total cases over the six-year period.
Interactive map on the spread of MRSA in the US
California HealthCare Foundation articles on hospital-acquired infections.
Health Watch USA literature review on the prevention of MRSA including surveillance cultures.
Links to handouts and presentation:
http://www.safepatientproject.org/pdf/20101020-HAI-PublicReporting-HandOut-Final.pdf
http://www.safepatientproject.org/pdf/HAI-PublicReporting-20101020-Final.pdf
Rep. Adam Goode of Bangor, Maine and 9 other representatives and senators sponsored my bill, now known as Maine LD 1038. A much abbreviated form of my proposal was signed into law by Governor John Baldacci in June 2009. We are now mandated to screen those patients who are at high risk for MRSA when admitted to the hospital. My goal is to help save lives. I only wish I had done it before I lost my father.
In 2003, 63-year-old Marion Costa was rushed to the hospital for treatment of a life threatening gastrointestinal bleed. She had to be treated for three different infections: MRSA, a blood infection and C-Difficile. She has been a key activist pushing for passage of a hospital infection reporting bill in her home state of New Jersey. The bill was passed by the legislature and is currently on the governor’s desk for signature.
Extending the Cure tracks changes in antibiotic resistance levels across regions of the United States, covering common bacteria-drug combinations. The ResistanceMap tells a story of growing resistance to commonly used antibiotics and identifies regional differences in resistance levels.
98,000 people die each year needlessly because of preventable medical harm. Efforts to reduce this are few and fragmented. With little transparency and no public reporting (except where hard fought state laws now require it), scarce data does not paint a picture of real progress.
In this report (PDF) we give the country a failing grade on progress on select recommendations we believe necessary to create a health-care system free of preventable medical harm.
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.