The following article published in USA Today, reports of tens of thousands of unnecessary surgeries every year. The article includes examples and testimonies from those who suffered from these oversights and the serious impact that was caused. Article is included in this post. Click here to read the original by Peter Eisler and Barbara Hansen of USA Today. A USA TODAY study found that tens of thousands of times each year, patients undergo surgery they don’t need. Jonathan Stelly was 22, a semi-pro baseball player aiming for the big leagues, when a fainting spell sent him to his cardiologist … [Read more...]
Amputee Faces Hospital Legal Fees After Seeking Losses
The following from the Texas Tribune, reports that a San Antonio woman is caught between the errors of medical staff and Texas legislation referred to as "tort reform" resulting in a punitive back-fire for seeking compensation for her losses. Read the following article by the Texas Tribune’s Becca Aaronson, dated January 25, 2013. Despite Counsel, Amputee Hindered by Tort Laws When Connie Spears arrived at a Christus Santa Rosa hospital emergency room in 2010 with severe leg pain, she told medical staff about her history of blood clots. Doctors sent her home with a far less serious … [Read more...]
Questions Arise Regarding Handling of Defective Hip Replacement
Over a year ago, Johnson & Johnson announced a new head of their orthopedics division claiming a fresh start after recalls of their hip replacement. New information surfaces about the new head of orthopedics, Andrew Ekdahl, who is tied to the development and promotion of the failed implant in ways that raise questions about Johnson & Johnson’s choice for the position. The following article is take from the New York Times, reported by Barry Meier on January 30, 2013. During Trial, New Details Emerge About Hip Maker When Johnson & Johnson announced the appointment in 2011 of an … [Read more...]
Extensive Salmonilla Recalls Spur Plant Shut Down
One producer of peanut butter who supplies many food stores is linked to several salmonilla outbreaks and resultant recalls. FDA orders plant production to be suspended. People from 20 states have been affected by salmonilla linked to food product from this single source. This is the first instance of the FDA using its newly granted power to shut down a facility as granted by the Food Safety Modernization Act. Read this article posted by Schuyler Velasco, Staff writer for The Christian Science Monitor, November 27, 2012. FDA shuts down peanut butter factory after salmonella recalls The FDA … [Read more...]
Research Worldwide Shows Tanning Beds Present Risk of Cancer
The following report from Bloomberg Businessweek informs us how study after study, all over the world, demonstrates health hazard caused by exposure to ultra violet rays produced by tanning booths, beds, etc. Any exposure to UV rays causes a weakening of the immune system spurring susceptibility to all types of cancer, especially to the three main forms of skin cancer including the number one danger, melanoma. Read the entire report below posted by Jason Gale on December 03, 2012. Teenage girls trading the risk of deadly melanoma for a year-round tan have helped spur a global backlash … [Read more...]
Meningitis Death Toll at 15 – Company Under Intense Scrutiny
Federal Agents from the Food and Drug Administration raided the NECC (New England Compounding Center) which is linked to the recent outbreak of meningitis in several states. Fifteen are dead and hundreds sickened. Read the following article from Reuters' Greg McCune as news floods the media about this serious health incident. New England Compounding Center, Pharmacy Tied To Meningitis Outbreak, Raided By Feds CHICAGO (Reuters) - The company that produced contaminated medications linked to an unprecedented fungal meningitis outbreak faced mounting scrutiny on Saturday over whether it … [Read more...]
Regulation Advised for Compounding of Drugs
Some local pharmacies offer compounding services to meet special needs of patients. However, some pharmacies are acting as miniature drug companies replicating products already available on the market to compete with large pharmaceutical companies. This has created an element of risk that is talked about in this Editorial from the New York Times which calls on Congress to enact legislation to give increased regulatory power to the F.D.A. This health risk is responsible for repeated incidents such as the recent outbreak of meningitis and thousands who were exposure to tainted steroids. Read … [Read more...]
Tools and Supplies Left Behind After Surgery
The New York Times' writer Anahad O'Connor tells the story of complications due to oversights of surgical teams when all surgical objects aren’t accounted for after their job is done. Read these stories of foreign objects sent home with recovering patients and the troubles that follow… On an overnight shift in 2005, Sophia Savage, a nurse in Kentucky, felt a crushing pain in her abdomen and started vomiting. The next day she underwent a CT scan, which led to a startling diagnosis: A surgical sponge was lodged in her abdomen, left behind, it turned out, by a surgeon who had performed her … [Read more...]
OP-ED: Tort Reform Demonstrates a Failed Effort
Alex Winslow writes in an OP-ED at Statesman.Com about how the record demonstrates Governor Perry’s claims that legal restrictions on patients' right to sue would benefit patients at large, make for better practice of medicine and lower health care costs has resulted in just the opposite. Here’s the story: Taking away right to sue when wrong has been done isn’t helping Texans Alex Winslow, Local Contributor While the state is crumbling under a real health care crisis, Gov. Rick Perry and his friends in the special interest lobby continue defending a lobbyist-driven health care battle from … [Read more...]
Foam Baby Seat Recall and Urgent Notification to Stop Usage
Recent report from Reuters states the recall of four million baby seats and manufacturer urges users to stop using the seats until a repair kit can be installed. Here is the report: Bumbo recalls 4M baby seats after injuries from falls Bumbo International Trust is voluntarily recalling about 4 million Bumbo Baby Seats after scores of injuries, including skull fractures, the South African company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said on Wednesday. Since a 2007 recall, at least 50 incidents have been reported in which babies fell while the molded-foam seat was on a raised … [Read more...]
