2007 News Of The Day Archive

• Medicare spends about $120 billion a year to treat Alzheimer’s patients. The number of people with the disease will increase by 75 percent or so in the next few years from the present five million.

— CBS News

• Uninsured children admitted to a hospital with traumatic brain injury are more than twice as likely to die there as insured children.

— FamiliesUSA

• In a study, brain-damaged newborns who were placed in cooling blankets for a few days showed signs that the brain damage was mitigated.

— Newscom

• The drug Rituxan has been implicated in several fatal brain illness cases. These fatalities occurred while Rituxan was being used off label to treat Lupus.

— FDA

• The use of nanotechnology in chemotherapy drugs is on the rise.

— UPI

• Presently there is no national certification for medical interpreters.

— The Massachusetts Medical Interpreters Association

• The popular substitute to trans fat is interesterified fat, but in a recent study even the new substitute was associated with increased diabetes risk.

— Science News

• Most people don’t wash their hands the required 20 seconds it takes to kill germs.

— Cleaning101.com

• Physicians have been slow to adopt e-mail for doctor-patient communications, though studies have shown it can lessen workloads. One reason may be that doctors are less likely to be reimbursed for electronic consultations than for in-person ones.

— Center for Studying Health System Change

• From 1999 to 2003 about 100 brains from corpses were sent from a Maine medical examiner’s office to the Stanley Institute without survivors’ permission.

— Lexington Herald Leader

• A second large study shows no relationship between childhood MMR vaccines and autism.

— Pediatrics

• Since 2005, about 18,000 cases of medical identity theft have occurred, or about 2 percent of all identity theft cases. The number is actually believed to be much higher.

— FTC

• Since 1983, about 1.5 million people have had adverse reactions to herbal supplements and vitamins.

— U.S. Poison Control Centers

• In a study of medical malpractice cases involving patient harm, poor documentation, scheduling problems and miscommunication were key factors.

— The Annals of Internal Medicine

• In a study of automated medicine dispensing cabinets, about one-half of all cabinets let nurses obtain all medications without pharmacist approval when they did an override.

— McKesson Medication Management Company

• The FDA has approved the use of iridescent or shimmering coatings or drug tablets. Drug makers hope creating wild new colors will reduce medication errors and counterfeiting.

— EMD Chemicals

• Twelve states do not require children under eight to be in booster seats.

— NHTSA

• The three lawyers who allegedly mishandled $200 million of fen-phen settlement money said they destroyed their notes showing how much they paid themselves and their clients.

— Kentucky.com

• The AMA recently adopted a position that nurses and other non-doctors who have PhDs will “create confusion, jeopardize patient safety and erode trust.” Some nursing groups have cried foul claiming that the AMA resolution is an effort to protect doctors’ power and money.

— AMA; AJN

• In a study of 360 ventilated tube-fed patients, about one-half of the patients developed pneumonia.

— Critical Care Medicine

• By 2010, 40 percent of American nurses will be over 50.

— Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

• The FDA says that about 1 percent of the U.S. drug supply is counterfeit.

— FDA.gov

• In a study, nonstick fry pans and microwave popcorn gave off high levels of toxic per fluorinated chemicals. Cookware manufacturers plan to phase out these dangerous coatings by 2015. PFOAs are carcinogenic and mimic estrogen.

— Environmental Science & Technology

• The U.S. healthcare system squanders $100 billion on waste and errors, and 150,000 people die needlessly each year. A 2006 report showed marginal gains in healthcare quality in several sectors, with hospitals having a 7.8 percent quality improvement.

— Leapfrog Group, AHRQ

• Community hospital profits were at an all time high in 2005 at $28.9 billion.

— AHA

• Drugs such as Prilosec and Nexium, known as PPIs, that are used to treat acid reflux, are linked to a tripled risk of bone breakage.

— University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

• A liquid protein-based bandage has been developed that can be painted on.

— LiveScience.com

• Waste and errors cost the nation's health system 100 billion dollars per year.

— Commonwealth Fund

• Adverse drug interactions are believed to send at least 700,00 people to hospital EDs each year.

— JAMA

• The U.S. House and the NRA are working on legislation to make it tougher for mentally ill individuals to buy guns.

— AP

• Complications can develop several weeks after the stoppage of the blood clot drug Heparin.

— FDA

• A 2006 report on the U.S. healthcare system showed marginal gains in quality in several sectors, with hospitals having a 7.8 percent quality improvement.

— Leapfrog Group, AHRQ

• Sugar slows the uptake rate of alcohol into the blood, but sugar free sweeteners do not. People imbibing on mixed drinks made with artificial sweeteners are apt to be more intoxicated.

— Royal Adelaide Hospital, Australia

• X-ray scans in airports use about one-tenth the radiation of a normal medical X-ray.

— Albert Einstein Medical College

• The number of doctors in group practices has tripled since 1965. Group practices tend to be more profitable.

— AMA

• Arsenic in building lumber may become a major problem in New Orleans hurricane debris.

— University of Miami

• Numerous patient safety performance tools can be found at ismp.org and at physiciansafetytool.com.

— Modern Healthcare

• The FDA recently investigated a “designer embryo service.” The service was fertilizing eggs and selling them based on predicted characteristics that they should possess once grown into children. Ethics issues were inferred.

— AP

• Twenty-five years ago about 5 percent of Americans scored themselves as procrastinators. Today the number is 26 percent.

— APA

• EMTALA fact: An ED patient’s treatment cannot be delayed to request bill payment or insurance information. The ED can ask about financial matters so long as the query does not delay treatment.

— EMTALA

• A liquid protein-based bandage has been developed that can be painted on.

— LiveScience.com

• Maine and Alabama have been recruiting hairdressers to alert them to signs of spousal abuse.

— Los Angeles Times

• In a survey, 67 percent of hospital CEOs said that financial issues were their biggest worry. Quality came in fifth and patient safety sixth.

— American College of Healthcare Executives

• About one-half of hospital EDs are believed to be overcrowded. There has been an almost 20 percent increase in ED visits in the last 20 years.

— CDC, Lewin Group

• About 40 percent of patients in hospitals may experience alcohol withdrawal. Caregivers are advised to recognize it.

— Nursing Made Incredibly Easy

• An expert witness is not needed if a defendant medical caregiver freely admits that his service was below the standard of care.

— Missouri Court of Appeals

• The number of psychiatric patients who visit an ED is on the rise, though many staffers in EDs have little psychiatric training.

— RN

• The first penis transplant was done in China last year. The surgery went well and the organ was not being rejected by the recipient’s body. However, the patient requested removal of the new organ because of psychological concerns.

— European Urology

• Almost one-third of nurses say they know of other nurses leaving their jobs as a result of verbal abuse by doctors.

— Nursing2007

• Disciplinary actions against nurses taken by a board of nursing are usually documented in a “public order” in most states. This order is public record and a permanent mark on the nurse’s record.

— RN

• Pecans, pistachios and walnuts have been found very helpful to blood vessel health.

— Loma Linda University

• Buying drugs on the Internet can be risky because no physician may be involved in filling the order, even if one is promised.

— The Miami Herald

• Ninety percent of ER and ICU nurses believe the quality of nursing care has gone down in recent years.

— Newscom

• The off-label use of pharmaceuticals is at an all time high. Recent court rulings, coupled with the volume of drugs that are made, has reduced the FDA’s power and oversight of such uses.

— Newscom

• Cancer treatments cost $206 billion a year. Patients pay $78 billion out of pocket.

— CBS News

• The U.S. Supreme Court returned a $79.5 million dollar punitive damage lawsuit to the Oregon Court System to be reviewed. The case was against Philip Morris. The Supreme Court said that the jury had been improperly instructed by considering the damages to non- litigants.

— The Oregonian

• The shortest-term premature baby that survived was born in Miami, in October 2006. The baby girl weighed 10 ounces and her head and torso were about the length of an ink pen.

— The Lexington Herald-Leader

• Children of mothers who smoked before pregnancy are 2.5 times more likely to have ADHD. Children with high lead levels in their blood are four times more likely to have ADHD.

— Cincinnati Children’s Hospital

• Fifty-eight thousand children per year are abducted by non-family members. Most are returned safely, though slightly more than 100 are held for long periods or killed. Most of the 100 eventually come home.

— NCMEC

• A Dayton, Ohio, woman was charged with killing her newborn daughter by microwaving her. The child was about one month old.

— Wire services

• Believe it or not: Zimbabwe, the nation of much recent racial tension, has an inflation rate of 1,593 percent. Such a rate causes price changes to be posted hourly.

— Lexington Herald Leader

• Inhaled anesthetics during surgery may increase Alzheimer’s plaques in patients’ brains.

— University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

• Tennessee is the most recent state to place the cost of common procedures in its hospitals online: http://tnhospitalsinform.com. Kentucky recently began its site at www.kyha.com/pricing.

— Tennessee Hospital Association

• The profession of holistic nursing was recently officially recognized by the American Nurses Association (ANA) as a nursing specialty.

— AHNA.org

• The Supreme Court in late April ruled that ramming a suspect’s car to end a high-speed chase did not violate the suspect’s constitutional rights.

— McClatchy News Service

• In a study, the majority of participants in mediation of medical malpractice suits were satisfied. Attorneys on both sides claimed to have spent only 10 percent of the time preparing for mediation as compared with preparing for a trial.

— Health Affairs

• The Virginia supreme court ruled in a recent case that internal quality control reports of a factual nature about patient care can be admitted into evidence, as they are not privileged material under the auspices of a quality assurance committee.

— JONA’s Healthcare Law, Ethics and Regulation

• Tort caps in Illinois are being challenged in a med mal case involving substandard prenatal care.

— AP

• A Louisiana appeals court has found tort caps there to be unconstitutional.

— Arrington v. ER Physicians Group

New Guidelines…

• The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recently published the following policy statements: Antiviral therapy and prophylaxis for influenza in children; Enhancing the diversity of the pediatrician workforce; Increasing antiretroviral drug access for children with HIV infection; Prevention of influenza: Recommendations for influenza immunization of children, 2006-2007 (update).

• The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases has updated their guidelines on chronic hepatitis B.

• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has released the following: Patient testing: Ethical issues in selection and counseling (committee opinion); Premature rupture of membranes (update, practice bulletin)

• The American College of Physicians has released new guidelines on screening mammography for women age 40 to 49.

— Complied by Elizabeth K. Zorn, RN, BSN, LNCC, comoderator of LNCExchange, www.LNC Exchange.com Source: www.ecri.org

• New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. all have some sort of bans on using cell phones when driving. California has a ban going into effect in 2008, and Washington state just passed a no-text-messaging bill.

— Los Angeles Times

• The FDA has almost 80,000 food processing plants or importers to regulate. Critics say the FDA is overwhelmed.

— The Washington Post

• The U.S. House and the NRA are working on legislation to make it tougher for mentally ill individuals to buy guns.

— AP

• It is thought that in some foreign countries as much as 10 percent of the population has a disease called membrane sensitivity syndrome, similar to chemical sensitivity. It may result from excessive exposure to radio and cell phone