Safe Patient Project

CU Comments to California Board of Pharmacy in Support of Labels Large Enough to Read (pdf)

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:24:08 -0600

Electronic Prescriptions Reduce Errors by Seven-Fold

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:09:45 -0600

"Should doctors around the country use e-prescribing to decrease prescription errors? A study led by physician-scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College found that health care providers using an electronic system to write prescriptions were seven times less likely to make errors than those writing their prescriptions by hand."

Patty Skolnik: Founder and Executive Director, Citizens for Patient Safety

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:43:01 -0600

In 2001, Patty and David Skolnik spent nearly three years watching their only child, Michael, play victim to a broken system as a result of unnecessary brain surgery. Due to medical error caused by negligence and incompetence, routine expectations of our healthcare system proved ineffective in providing quality medical care and patient safety for 22 year old Michael Skolnik.

Doctor Leads Quest for Safer Ways to Care for Patients

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:35:14 -0600

Interview with Dr. Peter Pronovost, medical director of the Quality and Safety Research Group at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and promoter of a patient safety checklist for doctors.

Are Veterans Being Given Deadly Cocktails to Treat PTSD?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:21:53 -0600

A combination of drugs is being prescribed to treat post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in returning soldiers including Seroquel, an anti-psychotic, despite a disturbing number of veteran deaths associated with the treatment. Seroquel has not been approved for PTSD by the FDA.

Taking care with treatment

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:18:54 -0600

Author Rosemary Gibson says when medical care is overused, it can cost patients their health and their savings. To attend Rosemary's March 9th talk at Health Care for All, 30 Winter St., e-mail Deb Wachenheim: dwachenheim@hcfama.org.

Are Veterans Being Given Deadly Cocktails to Treat PTSD?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:14:35 -0600

AstraZeneca has been linked to the deaths of soldiers returning from war.

State Nursing Board Tracker

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:05:16 -0600

How You Can Investigate Your State�s Oversight of Its Nurses and Other Licensed Professionals- Provided by ProPublica reporters Charles Ornstein and Tracey Weber.

Tracking Nurses � What You Need to Know

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:58:08 -0600

ProPublica reporters Charles Ornstein and Tracey Weber have put together a very useful tool for tracking nurses performance. The chart shows, "which states allow you to verify a nurse�s license for free online, which provide Web access to disciplinary documents, and which participate in a publicly available national database. "

Intriguing people for March 1, 2010: Patty Skolnik

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:33:13 -0600

Patty Skolnik, Founder of Citizens for Patient Safety, makes CNN's "Intriguing people" feature. Patty was a speaker on CU's consumer panel on medical harm at our "To Err Is Human, To Delay Is Deadly" forum in DC. She is a lead advocate in Colorado and nationally on patient safety and doctor accountability issues.

Concerns Over 'Metal on Metal' Hip Implants

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:21:20 -0600

"Some of the nation�s leading orthopedic surgeons have reduced or stopped use of a popular category of artificial hips amid concerns that the devices are causing severe tissue and bone damage in some patients, often requiring replacement surgery within a year or two."

Adverse Events in Hospitals: Methods for Identifying Events (pdf)

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:48:40 -0600

OIG report on the sad state of medical error reporting.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal promotes bill to require hospital-specific medical error reporting

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:46:58 -0600

"Since 2004, 116 people in Connecticut have died as a result of medical errors in hospitals -- most of which were kept secret because of a "gaping legal loophole," according to the Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Drug Company Gifts To Doctors Should Be Disclosed And Limited, Ct AG Urges

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:30:25 -0600

Legislation in CT this year would require limits on drug company compensation to doctors instead of an outright gift ban. A 2009 gift ban bill was strongly opposed and failed to pass.

The Silence

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:42:33 -0600

When our health care system remains silent about preventable medical harm it only creates more problems.