How much a patient weighs, or more importantly, how a patient is weighed may play a role in serious medical errors made in hospitals.
In the United States, the standard measure of weight is pounds. However, for U.S. healthcare the metric system is the preferred standard. Problems occur and patients may suffer great harm – even death – when this standard is not followed.
This is especially important in a hospital’s emergency room, when situations often dictate fast, accurate decisions.
40 Percent of Medication Errors are Wrong Dosage
Last year, the Emergency Nurses Association ...
Safety officials pulled over commercial trucks for surprise inspections earlier this year, putting nearly one out of every four big rigs out of commission due to maintenance violations. And a sizeable number of truck drivers were taken off the road for serious safety abuses as well.
In June the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance conducted its annual International Roadcheck event, in which certified inspectors conduct roadside reviews of semis throughout North America. The three-day event garnered 54,300 inspections of both commercial vehicles and drivers in the United States ...
Most of the time, experience really matters. According to a new study, no more so than when it comes to avoiding serious surgical errors.
Researchers at the renowned Mayo Clinic in Minnesota recently published the findings of their study, which examined 10 years’ worth of medical malpractice cases. More specifically, these medical malpractice lawsuits involved surgical residents – new physicians training to become surgeons.
The study’s 87 surgeries involving interns or residents were performed between 2005 and 2015. All included some sort of serious error that led to a ...
One troubling aspect of an impending and much anticipated rare spectacle is putting a spotlight on preventable consumer product injuries that occur far too often in this country.
August 21 is the day for a total solar eclipse that has rightfully experienced much hype. This eclipse will be the first in almost 40 years in which the moon’s shadow traverses exclusively across the United States. We in St. Louis and nearby communities will be in or very near the direct path of the eclipse, providing a great viewing experience.
But viewing solar eclipses can be dangerous. Looking at the sun ...
How many commercial tractor-trailers on the road today have unsafe brakes? The results of a surprise inspection event provide some perspective, and genuine cause for concern.
In May 2017, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance held an unannounced, one-day set of roadside inspections of commercial trucks on what it called “Brake Safety Day.” Inspectors for CVSA, a non-profit coalition of safety and law enforcement officials, were concerned mostly with the braking systems on the big rigs they pulled over. The majority of inspections were held in the United States, with the ...
Among the many types of catastrophic medical mistakes that occur, surgical errors can be the most dire.
Every surgery poses risks to a certain degree. But there are mistakes in surgery that should never occur. These “never events” include:
· Operating on the wrong patient
· Performing the wrong procedure on a patient
A study published in JAMA Surgery estimated that as many as 2,700 wrong-site, wrong-procedure and wrong-patient surgical errors occur each year. The authors note that such surgical mistakes probably are underreported. This is a claim bolstered ...
Consumers just won a big victory in protecting their legal rights against big corporations.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – the federal government’s watchdog for consumer interests – earlier this month finalized a new rule in favor of customers of banks and other financial companies. The rule forbids these corporations from putting forced arbitration clauses in their new customer contracts.
Forced arbitration is exactly what it sounds like. It prohibits customers from taking their disputes to court through class action lawsuits, and directs all such claims to ...
Which careless driving behavior causes more fatal accidents, drunk driving or speeding?
According to the federal government, they’re responsible for about the same number of car and truck crash deaths. This is not to diminish the harm of drunk driving. Rather, there may need to be a stronger effort to put the brakes on speeding drivers.
The National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency responsible for investigating serious highway accidents and other crashes, recently published an outline of an in-depth study it conducted on motor vehicle accidents caused by ...
If you are admitted to a hospital for serious medical treatment, the doctor who knows you best may never see you. Chances are your hospital care will be directed by a relatively new type of doctor called a hospitalist.
What are hospitalists, and do they endanger patient care in hospitals?
What is a Hospitalist?
It’s been estimated that today there are 50,000 hospitalists, making them the largest specialty group of internal medicine physicians. Their rise began about 20 years ago. Rather than focus on one type of medical condition, hospitalists are trained in how hospitals in general ...
Over this past July 4th holiday weekend – June 30 through July 4 – 14 people were killed in Missouri fatal motor vehicle accidents. Over the same holiday period last year, five people died in traffic crashes.
This alarming note from state law officials was preceded by a national look at safety practices in the Show Me State, which gave Missouri an “F” for protecting its citizens from preventable accidents, such as fatal car wrecks.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported nearly 500 truck and car accidents during the five-day 2017 Independence Day holiday period. The big jump ...
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