patients

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531 (Living) Patients Get News of Their Death

MaineHealth accidentally sends out letters to very-much-alive customers informing them of their death

(Newser) - Some days it's just not worth picking up the mail: bills, junk, and if you're particularly unlucky, a notice of your own death. Such is the case for 531 quite-alive customers of MaineHealth , who were sent letters directed to their next of kin with premature instructions on how...

Docs Urge Cutting Out Booze, Quicker Hypertension Care

New advice lowers treatment threshold and warns against any drinking

(Newser) - New blood pressure guidelines are encouraging health care providers to begin treatment sooner and to advise patients to avoid alcohol. The updated recommendations from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology reflect recent research suggesting that earlier intervention may help prevent more serious cardiovascular issues down...

Nearly 100 Patients Die After Hospital Fentanyl Treatments

Tests confirm painkiller distributed in Argentina carried drug-resistant bacteria

(Newser) - Argentina is reeling after close to 100 hospital patients died following treatment with contaminated medical-use fentanyl. First reported in May, the deaths—at least 87 but possibly as many as 96, per the Guardian —have been traced to fentanyl batches supplied by HLB Pharma and produced at Laboratorio...

HHS to Hospitals: Stop Pelvic Exams Without Patient Consent

Agency letter warns hospitals could lose Medicare funding if they don't comply

(Newser) - The Department of Health and Human Services has come out firing against a practice it says violates the privacy and dignity of patients in health care settings across America. The New York Times reports that on Monday, the federal agency sent out a letter to the nation's med schools...

Prosecutors: 7 Deputies Fatally Smothered Man in Hospital

Deputies in Henrico County, Virginia, are now facing murder charges in death of Irvo Otieno

(Newser) - Seven Virginia sheriff's deputies are now facing murder charges after authorities say they fatally smothered a physically restrained man in their custody during the intake process at a local hospital. NBC News reports that 28-year-old Irvo Otieno "died of asphyxia due to being smothered to death, thanks to...

'Miracle' COVID Patient Heads Home —After 453 Days

Weaymon 'Dub' Crochet, after 15 months in Texas hospitals, says: 'God [gave] me all his angels'

(Newser) - The average length of a patient's stay in a hospital while being treated for COVID is about a week or so, per CDC stats from April. A Texas man has surpassed that length of time and then some, and his survival is now being hailed as a "miracle....

'Shocking': Most NY Patients Were Staying Home

New survey: 66% came to hospitals after being 'predominantly' at home, not out and about

(Newser) - More than 100 hospitals in New York were recently asked to find out where their COVID-19 patients were staying before they were admitted, and the findings are "shocking," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. NBC News reports that 66% of the patients came from their own homes, where they...

Odd Virus Symptoms Crop Up: 'There's No Ventilator for the Brain'

Seizures, dizziness, and 'altered mental status' observed in some COVID-19 patients

(Newser) - Chris Cuomo recently described his COVID-19 symptoms, and in addition to the fever, shivering, and body aches typically associated with the coronavirus, the CNN anchor relayed a "freaky" anecdote about hallucinating images of his late father and other people from his past. It's not clear exactly what happened...

New York Approves Controversial Ventilator Solution

Medical groups warn against practice of splitting one ventilator between 2 patients

(Newser) - As the US takes the No. 1 spot in coronavirus cases, the epicenter of the outbreak here has approved a controversial process in anticipation of ventilator shortages. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday his state's hospitals can now split one ventilator between two patients—a "not ideal...

Secret Software Project Gathers Patient Data on Millions

Ascension, Google say product would suggest changes to care

(Newser) - In a project begun in secret last year, Google and Ascension health care are gathering personal data on tens of millions of Americans. The companies have not informed patients and doctors as they've compiled lab results, doctor diagnoses and hospitalization records, the Wall Street Journal reports. Employees throughout Alphabet,...

VA Doctor Allegedly Made 3K Mistakes. 3 Patients Died

Arkansas' Robert Morris Levy faces up to 524 years if convicted

(Newser) - A former Veterans Affairs doctor is accused of making more than 3,000 errors, including "incorrect and misleading diagnoses" resulting in three patients' deaths. He faces up to 524 years in prison if convicted. Federal investigators say one veteran died of prostate cancer though Dr. Robert Morris Levy, the...

He 'Rotted to Death.' Ohio's AG Blames Nurses

7 accused of mistreating patients in Columbus

(Newser) - Seven nurses in Ohio face a combined 34 charges related to the alleged mistreatment of two patients in their care, including one who the state attorney general says "literally rotted to death." Involuntary manslaughter, gross patient neglect, and forgery are among the charges levied against six current and...

She Found Out She Had Cancer. Then, a 'God Moment'

Nurse Iris Zink donated her kidney to longtime patient and friend Ginny Holcomb

(Newser) - Everyone hopes for a caring and compassionate nurse when they're ailing, but one Michigan woman's caretaker went "above and beyond the call of duty," per Becker's Hospital Review . For more than 15 years, nurse practitioner Iris Zink has treated Ginny Holcomb at Lansing Rheumatology, and...

Baltimore Hospital Accused of Dumping Woman on Cold Street

She was wearing only a hospital gown and socks

(Newser) - A homeless woman, wearing only a hospital gown and socks, was wheeled out of a Baltimore hospital and left on the sidewalk late Tuesday in an alleged episode of "patient dumping," reports the New York Times . Passerby Imamu Baraka says he was shocked as he watched security guards...

As Doctor's Age Climbs, So Does Patient Death Rate
As Doctor's Age Climbs,
So Does Patient Death Rate
NEW STUDY
May 18, 2017 12:05 PM CDT

As Doctor's Age Climbs, So Does Patient Death Rate

Researchers say finding is 'clinically important'

(Newser) - Having a more experienced doctor might not be best. That's the message from a Harvard Medical School study published in the British Medical Journal that appears to show patient mortality rate increases with the age of a doctor. The increase is small but significant: In a study of more...

Emergency Room Visits Rising Under ObamaCare: Poll

Three-quarters of emergency doctors cite increase

(Newser) - Backers of ObamaCare have said it would reduce the number of visits to emergency rooms, the Wall Street Journal notes, but in fact, a poll of ER doctors finds that number has been climbing. "Visits are going up despite the (Affordable Care Act), and in a lot of cases...

Doctors Not Telling Patients They Have Alzheimer's
Doctors Not Telling Patients They Have Alzheimer's
new report
Mar 24, 2015 7:49 AM CDT

Doctors Not Telling Patients They Have Alzheimer's

Only 45% of Medicare patients with disease were informed of diagnosis

(Newser) - An estimated 700,000 people 65 and older in the US will die with Alzheimer's disease this year, the Alzheimer's Association notes. The sobering statistic and emotionally devastating nature of the disease make it understandable why no doctor relishes having to tell his patients that they've been...

17 Patients Sick After Getting 'Simulated' IV Fluids

FDA opens inquiry over saline mistake

(Newser) - One patient died and 17 others got sick after at least 40 patients were given unsterilized intravenous fluids instead of the sterile saline solution they should have received. Officials aren't sure the unsterilized solution caused the death, which was of a hospice patient, the FDA notes. The fluids that...

Brazil Doctor Killed Patients to Free Beds: Prosecutors

Virginia de Souza charged in 7 murders; hundreds more deaths being reviewed

(Newser) - A Brazilian intensive care unit doctor has been charged in the murders of seven patients as a means to free up hospital beds—and now, investigators say she may have been involved in up to 300 deaths. Dr. Virginia Soares de Souza has so far been charged with seven counts...

Doctors, Patient Groups Split Over New Mammogram Laws

Physicians fear required warnings could prompt unneeded worry

(Newser) - Doctors' groups and patient advocates are facing off over new state laws that require health professionals to warn women when mammograms reveal dense breast tissue. Density—the result of higher proportions of connective or glandular tissue—can make it more difficult to detect cancer, since both the tissue and tumors...

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