Where do you think the best place to have a heart attack is? You’d think it would be near or in a hospital, but you might be wrong, particularly if you’re in a hospital parking lot, and the hospital happens to be Portland Adventist Medical Center.

A medical malpractice lawsuit against child psychiatrist Dr. Kayoko Kifuji of Tufts Medical Center in Massachusetts was just settled for $2.5 million. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the estate of Rebecca Riley, a 4-year-old girl who died of an overdose of psychiatric drugs (drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, also known as ADHD, and bipolar disease) prescribed by Dr. Kifuji. But wait, there’s more. The parents of the 4-year-old were convicted the previous year for murdering their child by overdosing her. In fact, all three of the Riley’s children were diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar illness, and the parents drugged all three of them and got disability checks for their conditions.

Some of you may remember when the Payette Clinic, a pain clinic in Vancouver, WA, was investigated and raided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in March 2009. Payette was owned and run by two nurse practitioners who, as a result of the investigation, had to give up their licenses to prescribe painkillers (Class II opiates).

We’ve blogged before about cases of neglect and worse in nursing homes across the country. Recently a Kentucky family won $42.75 million in a lawsuit against a nursing home. The lawsuit argued that severe neglect by the nursing home caused the death of the family’s 92-year-old father. The patient stayed at the nursing home for just nine days in the spring of 2008.

The family believes their father, Joseph Offutt, suffered from dehydration, malnutrition, infections, and bedsores, and their beliefs were supported by Adult Protective Services. Offutt was said to be in good health for his age. A stroke slowed him down in 2007, and his wife cared for him until the family decided he needed additional assistance.

If you have children who need to visit a hospital, it might be a good idea to steer clear of Seattle Children’s Hospital for now. The Washington State Department of Health has just initiated an investigation of the hospital after a 2-year-old suffered from permanent brain damage following a heart operation. The hospital says a balloon catheter was used during surgery, and an artery burst. The hospital also contends the family was notified of all the risks involved and that it is standard practice to use the balloon catheter. For more information on this story, see this article.

I just read about a lawsuit filed against the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County for their abominable emergency services. Curtis L. Mitchell called 9-1-1 ten times over a 30-hour period in February, but paramedics never made it to his house. The area was hit by a winter storm, which made it difficult to reach Mitchell’s home, but it seems emergency services did not make much of an effort to get to Mitchell. They refused to walk to the house and did not request a four-wheel-drive vehicle. In fact, paramedics asked Mitchell to walk out to them, which was impossible for someone in Mitchell’s condition. Mitchell ended up dying.

We’ve written before about negligence in nursing homes, but compared to adult family homes, private homes set up as residences for up to six people needing care, nursing homes come off as deluxe accommodations.

Adult family homes cost less than nursing homes, which is part of their appeal. Unfortunately, an investigation by the Seattle Times discovered that you often get less care at them as well. There are few regulations governing adult family homes, and the staff at adult family homes often have little training or pertinent background to qualify them to work in adult care.

My husband had surgery recently, and we were really impressed with the entire hospital staff. Everyone was really helpful, friendly, and efficient. Each person who saw my husband checked his identification wrist band, and everything seemed well organized. Though we had a good experience, I couldn’t help but think about how many individual people were involved in my husband’s care and how easily everything could have fallen apart. One little mistake or miscommunication could have changed the experience.

I know some people who don’t want to be hospitalized because of the possibility of contracting an infection. Well, it looks like hospitals have made some headway into reducing hospital infection rates, at least when it comes to invasive cases of MRSA, otherwise known as methicillin-resistant staph. A federal study looked at nine major metropolitan areas in the United States and concluded that MRSA rates declined about 16 percent from 2005 to 2008.

Last year a mentally ill patient in a medium-security ward at Oregon State Hospital lay dead in his hospital bed for several hours before anyone noticed. As a result, the U.S. Department of Justice sent a warning letter to the state indicating Oregon better shape up or risk getting sued by the DOJ. In addition, the State Office of Investigations and Training found the hospital was negligent in its care of the patient, Moises Perez.