Posted on July 11, 2011 in Our Blog

This story hit a little close to my follicles. Sandra Rawline of Texas filed an age discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against her former employer, Capital Title of Texas, claiming she was fired because she refused to dye her gray hair. Rawline, who is 52, went gray in her 20s, so the gray hair was nothing… read more

Posted on July 6, 2011 in Our Blog,Patient Care,Patient Death

The “July effect” is not sunburn or dehydration but instead refers to the increase in fatalities and medical mishaps at teaching hospitals.Why? Well, a batch of new and inexperienced residents hits teaching hospitals every July. According to a study by the Journal of General Internal Medicine, teaching hospitals can see a 10 percent increase in… read more

Posted on June 22, 2011 in Our Blog,Patient Care

Did you know there is a statewide patient safety program that requires hospitals to notify in writing any patient affected by a serious medical error? Well, neither do a lot of the hospitals! The Oregonian just reported that this “required” written notification took place less than half the time. In fact, of the 80 cases… read more

Posted on June 17, 2011 in Our Blog,Public Safety

Back in May of last year we posted about the class-action complaint against Procter & Gamble and its diapers featuring DryMax technology. Many parents grew concerned that diapers featuring DryMax were causing severe skin irritations, including rashes and burns. Pampers is one of the brands that used DryMax. Well, Procter & Gamble just announced it… read more

Posted on June 7, 2011 in Our Blog,Public Safety

We’ve posted before about the dangers of various varieties of sprouts. They seem to be magnets for E. coli. Now it seems that sprouts are behind the E. coli outbreak in Europe that has thus far killed about 22 people and sickened more than 2,200. Reports indicate that vegetable sprouts from a German organic farm… read more

Posted on June 3, 2011 in Our Blog,Patient Care

Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, is losing an emergency room doctor. Dr. Jovan Ojdrovic has worked at Sacred Heart for 23 years but has decided to retire because he believes patient care and safety are being sacrificed for profit. These changes, Ojdrovic says, have happened over the past three years. Administration has put… read more

Posted on May 20, 2011 in Our Blog,Patient Care

The popular prescription diabetes drug Avandia will only be available in very limited distribution as of November 18, 2011. Avandia has been on the market for more than a decade, but a 2007 study indicated that it increased heart attack risk in patients with type 2 diabetes by about 40 percent. Also in 2007 David… read more

Posted on May 12, 2011 in Our Blog

Nearly 5 years ago a 210-foot construction crane collapsed in Bellevue, killing one person and seroiusly injuring the crane operator. This week the crane operator, Warren Yeakey, was awarded $1.45 million by a jury for economic and noneconomic damages. The award was considerably less than what Yeakey and his wife asked for in the suit–$12… read more

Posted on April 26, 2011 in Our Blog,Patient Care,Patient Death

There’s a new measurement tool in town for assessing hospital errors and safety, and it’s finding that there are more errors than we originally thought. In fact, according to this tool, a third of patients in the U.S. will be victims of a medical error during hospital stays. The new tool was developed at the… read more

Posted on April 7, 2011 in Our Blog,Patient Care,Patient Death

Legacy Health of Portland implemented a new initiative two years ago with the aim of lowering infection rates and patient deaths, and it looks like they have succeeded. According to an article in the Oregonian, infection rates have dropped by about 45 percent, and patient deaths declined about 14 percent over the past two years…. read more