Will Congress act to address the maternal mortality rate?
The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is alarming, and black women are at particular risk. The maternal mortality rate in the United States has raised dramatically since 2010. This is not a global problem. While most other industrialized countries have reduced the rate of pregnancy related deaths, the U.S. continues to struggle with a […]
Diagnostic errors in New York: What you should know
Diagnostic errors are more common than you may think and can cause substantial harm to patients. In 2013, Johns Hopkins Medicine released the findings of a study on diagnostic errors in the medical industry. Researchers found that as many as 160,000 people suffer due to a mistake in diagnosing a condition. Further, these errors account […]
Medicare Report Reveals Serious Hospital Errors
Inspectors Need to Improve Tracking and Reporting to Address Hospital Negligence A recent Medicare report released by the agency’s inspector general, Daniel Levinson, revealed that more than 180,000 Medicare patients die each year due, in part, to treatment received during a hospital visit. According to Levinson, this death count stems from a failure on the […]
Report shows U.S. nursing homes misusing medications
A new report says that many nursing homes in the U.S. misuse antipsychotic drugs to sedate residents. A new report by international human rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that nursing homes throughout the U.S. are misusing potentially deadly prescription drugs as a way to control elderly residents with dementia, reports CBS New York. […]
Wrong Site Surgery — A Common, but Preventable, Medical Mistake
When a Texas man underwent spinal surgery, he was shocked to discover that his doctor mistakenly removed the wrong thoracic spinal disk. The surgeon blamed an unclear MRI image and the patient’s height – he measured 6 feet 2 inches – for making it more challenging to correctly count the vertebrae. Although a subsequent surgery […]
Distracted Doctoring a Disturbing Trend in Medical Care
Medical doctors and personnel are expected to proficiently multitask in order to diagnose and treat their patients in a timely and effective manner. In recent years, the addition of technology has assisted in making multitasking easier. From instant access to medical records to drug information to case studies, computers, smart phones and other electronic devices […]
Medication errors: What patients can do to prevent them
There are several steps patients can take to prevent undue harm caused by a medication error. Many adults in New York and in the rest of the U.S. take a prescription medication to help them manage or treat a health condition. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, nearly one-third of all adults […]
Sedation during dental procedures is risky business
No one really enjoys going to the dentist. In fact, it terrifies some people to the point that they ask to be sedated for even a simple teeth cleaning. Because sedation is attractive to patients and brings in extra revenue, many dentists are increasingly willing to provide some level of anesthesia to put patients under […]
Doctors Now Using HD Technology to Reduce Surgical Errors in New York
Most Americans associate High Definition (HD) technology with enhanced television quality. But according to Technorati.com, HD technology is making a major contribution to health care safety by helping doctors reduce the number of surgical mistakes made in operating rooms. HD is now being used to improve surgical accuracy and precision, speeding up patient recovery and […]
More people are making medication errors at home
A look at how at-home medication errors have more than doubled and why children are especially at risk. The number of mistakes people are making when they take their medication at home is growing at an alarming rate. According to the Washington Post, the number of at-home medication errors that were considered serious more than […]
