Reports about various aspects of medical error, harm and ethical lapses Visit our Yahoo Group for an archive of hundreds more recent news reports and other resources. (Free, quick sign-up is required for full access.) Please note that these are news stories and commentaries. Rarely is one story the final word on a matter. Media reports are often erroneous or distorted and they should be viewed skeptically. Recent items posted to the Yahoo Group include: > Filthy UK socialized healthcare breeds infection > Docs still fail miserably at hand hygiene > Lying docs assist asbestos lawsuits? > In-Hospital Deaths from Medical Errors at 195,000 per Year > 10 Million Women Who Lack a Cervix Still Get Pap Tests > Doctors 'not reporting errors' > NY Hospital infection kills four infants thus far > Nurses: Too Tired To Be Safe? > Medical Errors Still Plague U.S. Hospitals > It Was Medical Gospel, but It Wasn't True > MDs' neckties 'a health hazard' > Nurses' uniforms 'can carry infections' News from 1997 Study says Hispanics and blacks less likely to receive proper pain control (Oct 31, 1997) City gives free flu shots, chance to be infected with HIV and hepatitis (Oct. 29, 1997) Report shows that some optical chains make crummy glasses (Oct. 29, 1997) Hospitals continue to give lousy pain advice, study shows (Oct. 28, 1997) Scandalous failure of doctors to treat ulcers properly continues (Oct. 23, 1997) Thirty Japanese may have been killed by anti-cancer drug (Oct. 21, 1997) Most thyroid diseases go untreated (Oct. 17, 1997) Blood pressure medications may increase breast cancer risk for older women (Oct. 15, 1997) Fear of doctor visit elevates blood pressure for some (Oct. 13, 1997) Single-payer socialized medicine a killer in New Zealand (Oct. 11, 1997) Less expensive but equally effective antibiotics to treat ear infections could reduce Medicaid expenditures (Oct 6, 1997) Comatose woman awarded $18.6 million in malpractice suit (Sep. 27, 1997) Researchers say they can predict who will become "difficult" patient (Sep 15, 1997) New doctors have dangerously poor stethoscope skills (Journal of the American Medical Association, 1997;278:717-22) Man blows nose, yanks out cloth surgeon left behind (Jul. 17, 1997) The University of Kentucky decides to force faculty physicians to sign an agreement not to make "disparaging remarks" about physicians or patients across the state. The school's dean denies that it's a gag even "when the university increasingly needs the patients those doctors refer to UK Hospital for treatment," as the Herald-Leader article puts it. "I could see where somebody would say this is all being used to protect doctors, but that has nothing to do with it," says the dean. The second article is an editorial criticizing the University. UK policy encourages doctors to use respect In what may be an unprecedented step, the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center is requiring its faculty physicians to sign an agreement promising not to make "disparaging remarks" about doctors in private practice across the state, or their patients. UK residents - doctors in training - are required to sign a similar pledge. Dr. Emery Wilson, the dean of the UK medical school and the author of the new policy, insists it is no gag order. (Lexington Herald-Leader, Mar 6, 1997) UK abandons academic tradition by muzzling docs What would be the reaction if political science professors at the University of Kentucky were required to sign a pledge saying they would "not make disparaging remarks about Kentucky politicians, their homes or heritage, nor will I tolerate anyone who does"? (Lexington Herald-Leader, Mar 7, 1997) California physicians losing or relinquishing licenses up 60 percent from 1992 to 1995 (Mar. 25, 1997) Fatal errors: hospitals learn lessons the hard way Routine but deadly drug: potassium chloride has a Jekyll and Hyde personality Two patients killed in 3 months by hospital errors. The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat offers up two well-written reports. RIP: Irene Fox and Beverly Coffman. (The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, Mar 23, 1997) Hospital study: half the patients experienced treatment errors Observers who spent nine months at a large urban hospital found that errors occurred in the care of nearly half the patients, according to a study in the Feb. 1 issue of The Lancet. More than one out of six patients experienced a serious medical error that caused harm ranging from temporary disability to death. The study was conducted at an unidentified large urban teaching hospital. Four specially trained anthropologists recorded all "adverse events,'' or medical errors, discussed at meetings. (The Charlotte Observer, Feb 24, 1997) Unreported medial errors 'A time bomb' Some hospitals are not reporting crippling medical errors -- a violation of state law and a "ticking time bomb,'' according to Florida's top health-care regulator. "Patients are being harmed needlessly and no one is being held to respond,'' Doug Cook, head of the Agency for Health Care Administration said during a speech in Miami Thursday. (The Miami Herald, Jan 24, 1997) News from 1995-1996 News from 1983-1994 AiA Home Site Contents American Iatrogenic Association 2513 S. Gessner, #232 Houston, Texas 77063 www.iatrogenic.org aia@iatrogenic.org A project of the Consumer Health Education Council Recommended link