Medical Issues (Injury & Error)

Deadly Rabies Traced to Kidney Transplant

7/23/13 by Nancy Walsh Staff Writer, MedPage Today Action Points A third instance of rabies transmission following organ transplantation has occurred, with a patient dying 18 months after receiving a kidney from a deceased donor who was not known to be infected with the rabies virus. Note that the study suggests that improvements are needed […]

Healthcare Associated Infections Growing Problem, Group Says

7/22/13 by David Pittman Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today WASHINGTON — Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are costly and deadly and becoming a national crisis, according to the Alliance for Aging Research. Some 1.7 million Americans develop hospital-acquired HAIs each year at a cost ranging from $28.4 billion to $5 billion, the Washington nonprofit noted in a fact […]

Cancer-free woman undergoes chemotherapy after false diagnosis

VICTORIA, Texas — A 54-year-old Victoria woman is trying to find sense in a life-changing diagnosis that never should have happened. Herlinda Garcia said she became a whole different person after she was diagnosed with Stage IV terminal Breast Cancer. That diagnosis came after Garcia had a benign tumor removed from her left breast. When […]

Huge Malpractice Settlements Made in Fugitive Surgeon Case

Robert Lowes July 09, 2013 Almost everything about the rise and fall of otolaryngologist Mark Weinberger, MD — his assembly-line sinus surgeries, his $4 million yacht, his 5 years as a fugitive, his arrest in the Italian Alps on healthcare fraud charges — was spectacular. “Spectacular” also applies to 2 settlements reached in the last week of […]

Sharp Rise in Women’s Deaths From Overdose of Painkillers

The New York Times By SABRINA TAVERNISE JULY 2, 2013 PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — Prescription pain pill addiction was originally seen as a man’s problem, a national epidemic that began among workers doing backbreaking labor in the coal mines and factories of Appalachia. But a new analysis of federal data has found that deaths in recent years have […]

Drug overdose deaths spike among middle-aged women

Jul 2 2013, 4:52 PM (ET) By MIKE STOBBE ATLANTA (AP) – Overdose deaths in the U.S. are rising fastest among middle-aged women, and their drug of choice is usually prescription painkillers, the government reported Tuesday. “Mothers, wives, sisters and daughters are dying at rates that we have never seen before,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, […]

Many Docs Still Don’t Understand Opioid Dependence

Deborah Brauser June 14, 2013 Misperceptions about opioid dependence, including how to screen for and treat the disorder, continue to persist for the public and for many clinicians, new research suggests. An online survey of 1000 adults chosen at random plus 200 primary care physicians who were not addiction certified showed that almost half of […]

Spine Injections May Set Stage for Fractures

Published: Jun 7, 2013 | Updated: Jun 10, 2013 By Elizabeth DeVita Raeburn , Contributing Writer, MedPage Today Download Complementary Copy of Article Action Points Lumbar epidural steroid injections are often prescribed for the treatment of radiculopathy or neurogenic claudication arising from compression of spinal nerves. In this retrospective cohort study, an increasing number of […]

FDA Warns of Rare but Serious Skin Reactions With Acetaminophen

ISSUE: OCTOBER 2013 | VOLUME: 11 Acetaminophen carries the risk for rare but serious and potentially fatal skin reactions, the FDA warned on Aug. 1. The risk is present both in prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) products containing the pain reliever and fever reducer, whether it is the single active ingredient or is combined with other […]

The Abortion Butcher Case: Are Surgical Abortions Becoming ‘Old Technology’?

Arthur L. Caplan, PhD June 05, 2013 VIDEO AT MEDSCAPE WEBSITE Hi. I’m Art Caplan at the NYU Langone Medical Center. I want to talk today about a pretty awful case. It involves a doctor named Kermit Gosnell, who ran an abortion clinic in Philadelphia. As many of you viewers will know, he was arrested […]

Adult Drugs Still Poisoning Children

Published: Jun 3, 2013 | Updated: Jun 3, 2013 By Nancy Walsh , Staff Writer, MedPage Today Action Points Increasing adult drug prescriptions are strongly associated with rising pediatric exposures and poisonings, particularly among children 0 to 5 years old. Rates of emergency department visits were highest for events related to hypoglycemics and beta-blockers, whereas […]

The Incidence and Mortality of Thromboembolic Events in Lumbar Spine Surgery

Fineberg, Steven J. MD Spine 01 June 2013 Vol. 38 – Issue 13: p 1154–1159 Abstract Study Design. Retrospective database analysis. Objective. A population-based database was analyzed to identify the incidence, risk factors, and mortality associated with thromboembolic events after lumbar spine surgery. Summary of Background Data. Pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) […]

Physician Congressman Fined for Having Sex With 2 Patients

Robert Lowes May 24, 2013 Rep. Scott DesJarlais, MD (R-TN), was fined $500 by the state medical board in Tennessee for having sexual relationships with 2 female patients in 2000, according to a consent order approved by the board on May 22. The Board of Medical Examiners of Tennessee also reprimanded Dr. DesJarlais, characterizing his […]

DSM-IV “will probably lead to substantial false-positive rates and unnecessary treatment”

DSM-IV Boss Presses Attack on New Revision Published: May 17, 2013 Story Source By John Gever , Deputy Managing Editor, MedPage Today A new edition of psychiatry’s diagnostic guide “will probably lead to substantial false-positive rates and unnecessary treatment,” charged the man who led development of the last version. To be released this weekend at […]

Second ‘house of horrors’ abortion clinic where doctor ‘twisted heads off fetus’ necks with his bare hands’ is investigated in Texas

By HELEN POW PUBLISHED: 17:24 EST, 16 May 2013 | UPDATED: 11:54 EST, 17 May 2013 Houston doctor Douglas Karpen is accused by four former employees of delivering live babies during third-trimester abortions and killing them Witnesses said he would either snip their spinal cords, stab a surgical instrument into their heads or twist their […]

Prescription Opioids for Back Pain and Use of Medications for Erectile Dysfunction

Deyo, Richard A. MD, MPH Spine: 15 May 2013 – Volume 38 – Issue 11 – p 909–915 doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e3182830482 Health Services Research Abstract Study Design. Cross-sectional analysis of electronic medical and pharmacy records. Objective. To examine associations between use of medication for erectile dysfunction or testosterone replacement and use of opioid therapy, patient age, […]

Bowel Risk Low with Rotavirus Vaccine

Published: May 13, 2013 | Updated: May 13, 2013 By Michael Smith , North American Correspondent, MedPage Today Action Points Note that this registry-based study revealed an extremely low risk of intussusception occurring in children after rotavirus vaccination. Be aware that, prior to the introduction of vaccination, rotavirus was the most common cause of diarrhea […]

Cause of Death: 50% of Medical Residents Fib

Cause of Death: 50% of Medical Residents Fib Diedtra Henderson May 10, 2013 Some 48.6% to 58.4% of residents from more than half of the residency programs in New York City have knowingly entered the incorrect cause of death on death certificates — errors that have implications for epidemiology, public health research, and disease surveillance — according […]

Late-Term Abortion Doc Caught Comparing Unborn Baby to “Meat in a Crock Pot”

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 5/8/13 8:08 AM Story Source The pro-life group Live Action has released a fourth video in a series of undercover videos catching late-term abortion practitioners and abortion clinics misleading women and showing indifference to the destruction of human life. The videos show embattled abortion practitioner Kermit […]

SSRIs Linked to Bleeding Risk, Death in Surgical Patients

Caroline Cassels April 30, 2013 Perioperative use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has been linked to an increased risk of bleeding, transfusion, hospital readmission, and death, new research shows. A large retrospective study that included 375 US hospitals and more than half a million adult patients showed that receiving SSRIs in the perioperative period […]