To Protest Lawsuit Against California’s Hospital Infection Reporting Law
to Make Surgical Infection Data Available to the Public
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project will join patient safety activists from throughout California in San Francisco on Wednesday, June 22, to protest the California Hospital Association’s attempt to undermine the state’s hospital infection reporting law. The activists will rally outside the San Francisco Superior Court from 8:30-9:30am before the court’s hearing on the CHA’s lawsuit, which seeks to block state requirements on reporting surgical site infections to the public.
In 2008, state lawmakers passed “Nile’s Law,” which requires hospitals to report how many patients acquire infections during treatment so Californians can find out whether their hospital is doing a good job protecting patients from preventable infections. The law was named after 15-year-old Nile Moss, son of Carole and Ty Moss, who died in 2006 from a MRSA infection he contracted during routine tests at a local hospital in Orange County.
Recently, the California Hospital Association filed suit to block a provision of Nile’s law that requires hospitals to report surgical site infections. (A copy of their complaint is attached and to view the AG’s brief: http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/57939377?access_key=key-2gnb8clxq88m8ixraasv ) Hospitals have known since 2008 that the law requires them to report on infections patients acquire during certain surgical procedures for an initial public report by Jan 12012. But their, lawsuit claims that the Department of Public Health’s recently issued infection reporting procedures cannot be enforced and are too burdensome.
An estimated 240,000 California patients develop infections while in the hospital each year, resulting in an approximately 13,500 deaths annually and $3.1 billion in additional health care costs. Hospital infections can result in additional hospitalizations, permanent disability and death.
WHAT: Rally to protest hospitals’ lawsuit to undermine California’s hospital infection reporting law
WHEN: Wednesday, June 22 from 8:30-9:30am
Court hearing begins at (9:30am)
WHERE: San Francisco Superior Court
400 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA
WHO: Lisa McGiffert, Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project
Carole Moss, mother of Nile Moss and founder of Nile’s Project
Patient safety activists from throughout California whose families
have been harmed by hospital infections and other medical errors