News tagged with 'Medical Error'

A published study points to July as the worst month for surgeries and fatal medication errors. The problems were found at teaching hospitals, not nonteaching hospitals suggesting that new doctors may be to blame.

Actor Dennis Quaid has brought his family's hospital error tragedy to the public forefront by promoting patient safety and eliminating medical errors, which kill at least 100,000 Americans every year.

About 40 percent of Americans polled said it would be good if health care reforms proposed by President Obama never materialize.

Increasingly hospitals are turning to risk calculators, based on thousands of procedures nationally, to inform consumers the risk of their procedure and complications.

California has collected over $2 million in fines from hospitals that have made medical errors which kill up to 200,000 patients every year nationally. The latest fines have been issued to 13 hospitals.

Patient safety was highly controversial on the House floor Saturday night when members shouted "trial lawyer" to one representative. But patient safety is generally agreed to be one key to bringing down health care costs and to save at least 98,000 deaths a year, as emphasized in this AAJ campaign.

The insurance industry is on the hot seat as health care reform clearly points to insurance industry reform. When the Senate version is introduced it will include repealing an act that since 1945 has given insurers the freedom to charge what they want for consumers' health insurance and doctors' medical malpractice insurance.

The House just pass health care reform moments ago in a historic change to the way health care is delivered in this country.

Saturday night a historic vote on health care reform is nearing with a few changes - an abortion amendment was added in some last minute wrangling and the Boehner substitute amendment was defeated.

A House vote is expected tonight on HR 3962.

Medical errors are costing Americans at least $17 billion a year, but is not the focus of health care reform. In fact, the Republican version makes it much tougher for those already injured to seek help.

This afternoon there was some agreement when lawmakers voted 242-to-192 to approve a must-pass procedural measure to set up terms for debate of the $1.2 trillion health care reform bill. President Obama visited with lawmakers to urge passage.

In the discussion of health care reform in the House today what's missing is a reminder that the current system is unsustainable. As Americans lose their insurance through job loss and because of the cost of private insurance, they raise their risk of death by 40 percent.

"Heed the Gavel", yells Rep. John Dingell as Republicans interrupt Democrats who are voicing their approval of the health care reform bill, HR 3962.

A report by the Hearst Newspapers finds that about 200,000 people die from errors by doctors and infections in hospitals, which are largely preventable. Here are some of their stories.