In 2000 a committee with the American Heart Association made a blanket recommendation that hospitals should equip themselves with AEDs. It turns out this wasn’t really based on any actual evidence or research but just a general belief that, well, OF COURSE lives will be saved if new defibrillators that more people can operate are on hand. one estimate suggests, though, that nearly a thousand patients die each year because of the equipment.

Back in the day, when hospitals had the traditional defibrillators, only a small percentage of hospital staff, namely doctors and critical care nurses, could run the equipment. Many hospital nurses did not have the knowledge to use the defibrillators. The new defibrillators, on the other hand, actually provided verbal instructions. Also, AEDs had proven useful in other environments, such as airports.

Among the problems with the AEDs in hospitals are equipment failure (many of the AEDs have been recalled by manufacturers) and inappropriate use. Hospital patients who go into cardiac arrest tend to be in poor health to begin with and may have cardiac arrests that are non-shockable; in other words, the electrical shock from a defibrillator doesn’t help. Another issue is that though the AEDs are more user friendly, many of the potential users shy away from them, so response is still impeded.

For more information, see this article.

The original post is titled Be still my not-beating heart , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

MORA and UMC allege the patient who died, Ellecia Small, died from medical conditions that had nothing to do with the kidney itself. The parasite that caused the encephalitis was identified after the organs had been donated, according to UMC. In most cases organs from cancer patients or those with infectious diseases are not used for transplants. The parasite in this case, Balamuthia mandrillaris, is rare.

For more information see this article about the transplants and this article about the lawsuits.

The original post is titled Transplant trouble , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

MSN just released an article advising patients on how best to ensure their medical safety, and the advice is not limited just to the summer months! Some information patients should obtain from their physicians includes a hospital’s infection rates (you want a hospital with a rate of zero in 1,000 catheter days for at least a year) as well as the physician’s success rate and experience with the patient’s surgery/condition.Patients should also avoid scheduling surgeries late in the week or weekends. Nights and holidays are also not good choices for surgery.

Other things to look for are hospitals with electronic records so you, and your caregivers, can better track your prescriptions and treatments. Be aware of shift changes, be diligent with anti-bacterial gel, and make sure your doctor marks the spot to be operated upon while you are conscious. Also, have advocates with you to ask questions and keep an eye on things.

For other suggestions, see this article.

The original post is titled How to avoid medical mistakes , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

The drug will be available only to patients who have had safe and effective treatment with the drug and to those whose conditions cannot be managed with other drugs. It will also be available to those who are aware of the risk yet still want to take Avandia. Only certified doctors will be able to prescribe Avandia, and the prescriptions can only be filled by particular pharmacies via mail order.

Critics say the FDA took too long implementing the new restrictions. For more on this story, see this article.

The original post is titled No more Avandia , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

Nurse Linda Kimman caused a patient in the ER to go into cardiac arrhythmia when she accidentally administered epinephine through an IV tube. Nurse Beth Yost apparently decided on her own to give a sick infant three medications. The infant later died, but the medications were not found to be the cause.

Though only Kimman and Yost are being charged at the moment, other medical errors occurred around the same time last fall. Another baby died from an overdose of calcium chloride give to her by a nurse.

For more on this story, see this article.

The original post is titled Nursing errors costly , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

The University of Utah conducted a study that compared the three tools by using each tool to measure errors on the same set of 795 medical records from three different hospitals. The results varied greatly. Voluntary reporting produced four hospital errors, AHR found 35, and the new tool discovered 354. In other words, the two tools most commonly used severely underestimated the incidence of hospital errors in comparison to the new measurement tool.

These findings, along with an article that estimates that the cost per year of harmful medical errors is $17.1, are featured in the April 2011 issue of Health Affairs.

The original post is titled Hospital safety: The latest figures , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

In addition to saving lives (hospital officials believe some 200 patients would have died in the two years if practices hadn’t been changed), Big Aims saved money–more than $13 million (apparently treating hospital infections is quite costly). Many hospitals only quantify the number of infections in intensive care units, but Legacy measured the infections in all departments.

There is still much work to be done, of course, to ensure patient safety, but it’s good to see that some hospitals are making an effort and saving lives. For more on this story, see this article.

The original post is titled Infection rates drop at Legacy , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

The contaminated IV nutrition in question, TPN, or total perenteral nutrition, was from one pharmacy, Meds IV. The pharmacy has since recalled all of the compounded IV fluids it produced and has also discontinued production as the CDC investigates. TPN is administered to patients via an IV using a catheter.

The family of one of the patients who died has filed a wrongful death suit against Meds IV. Other lawsuits are sure to follow. For more information on the contaminated IV fluids, see this article. For additional information on the wrongful death suit, see this article.

The original post is titled Tainted IV fluid proves fatal , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

From what I can gather, the hospital personnel and police officers have differing views on what transpired. The hospital contends that it believed the parking lot incident was a car accident and advised the officer to call 911 because emergency medical personnel have mobile equipment. The hospital also stated it sent out a nursing supervisor, a charge nurse, security staff, and a paramedic who happened to be in the emergency room at the time. The police officers in the parking lot, on the other hand, felt helpless and frustrated and were the ones administering CPR.

A federal investigation was launched, and today federal regulators concluded its investigation and found the hospital’s conduct to be legal. For more information on this story, see this article from the Oregonian.

The original post is titled Hospital Unhelpful but Legal , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .

Weinberger faced a medical negligence civil lawsuit in 2004 for failing to diagnose a patient’s lung cancer. The patient was 50 years old and died of the lung cancer. Rather than diagnosing the cancer, Weinberger performed allegedly unnecessary surgeries. He then fled the country to avoid the trial. Now that Weinberger is back in the United States, he will finally be tried.

In addition to the civil suit, Weinberger has other problems, including numerous counts of health care fraud. Weinberger apparently billed insurance companies for surgeries he never performed. And that’s not all–he also faces more than 350 state medical malpractice suits, and his medical malpractice insurance carrier has slapped him with a federal lawsuit for breaching his contract by fleeing the country.

For more information on this practically unbelievable story, go here.

The original post is titled Runaway doctor , and it came from Paulson Coletti - Portland Oregon Law Firm .