The use-and overuse-of antibiotics is a hot topic in health care, largely because of the ability of bad bugs to mutate and develop resistance to treatment. Our most recent discussion of the problem concerned the diminishing number of drugs to treat gonorrhea. As much as antibiotics are prescribed and abused for human use, according to….
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Maryland Medical Staffing Agency Placed Rogue Tech into Hospitals Where He Infected Patients with Hepatitis
A Maryland-based medical staffing agency is at the center of allegations that it placed a rogue radiological technician into a number of hospitals in Maryland and other states. The technician is believed to have infected dozens of people with hepatitis C. Maxim Staffing Solutions, a national firm with headquarters in Columbia, Maryland, placed technician David….
Continue ReadingGonorrhea Resistance to Antibiotics Could Become a Public Health Crisis
Until last week, you didn’t hear much anymore about gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted infection formerly known as a “venereal disease.” It’s back in the limelight because the news is all bad. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that gonorrhea is getting dangerously close to being untreatable. The problem, as outlined by NPR, is….
Continue ReadingFear-Mongering Rears Its Head in Hotel Room Germ Study
When the media glommed onto a news release issued by the American Society for Microbiology last month, America responded with a collective “ewwww.” The study tallied the location and number of germs in the average hotel room. Researchers from the University of Houston concluded that the items most heavily contaminated with bacteria were television remotes,….
Continue Reading“Lessons Learned in Blood:” Capt. Sullenberger on Preventing Medical Malpractice
Readers should check out a powerful NYT column by Maureen Dowd on the unnecessary death of a 12-year-old boy from an undiagnosed but easily treatable strep infection. Rory Staunton’s hero was Captain Sully Sullenberger, who safely landed the airliner in the Hudson. As Sullenberger told Ms. Dowd: “If something good comes from Rory’s death, it….
Continue ReadingWe Know More About Medical Error and the Harm It Creates … But Not Enough
Twelve years ago, Helen Haskell’s son died because of a series of medical errors. That sad episode prompted her to found Mothers Against Medical Error (MAME), which offers support and advice for people who share such tragedy. Haskell’s ongoing effort to quantify medical errors and the harm they can cause are detailed in her story….
Continue ReadingYard Spray to Prevent Lyme Disease Flunks Out
Lyme disease, a bacterial illness transmitted by the bite of a deer tick, is a major health concern in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Health agencies are keen to prevent it, but some people believe that a government program to do so might be worse than the illness. The story is another example of how….
Continue ReadingSafe Injection Practices Are Not a Shot in the Dark
Too many people are being exposed to life-threatening infections because clinicians fail to follow safe practices when administering medicine by injection or infusion. According to a recent study in Medical Care, the journal of the American Public Health Association, at least 130,000 patients were put at risk between 2001 and 2011 for pathogens including hepatitis….
Continue ReadingCan Baby Boomers Pass the Hepatitis C Test?
In their youth, baby boomers were perceived as the luckiest generation yet of Americans. But thanks to their unprecedented freedom and the boundary-pushing nature of post-World War II America, boomers disproportionately suffer from something nobody wants: hepatitis C. As a result, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending that all baby boomers….
Continue ReadingVenture Capital for Medicine Moves from Robots to Realism
In medicine, a culture shift may be underway in venture capital, which subsidizes the cutting-edge technology that keeps a culture moving forward. As reported by Kaiser Health News (KHN) in conjunction with NPR and KQED, for venture capitalists, the bloom is fading from expensive medical gee-whizzery. These days, such deep-pocketed supporters are more in favor….
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