Resources For The Well-Informed Patient

ARTICLES ON MEDICAL ERRORS

About 100 Californians a month are being harmed in adverse events considered preventable. A lawmaker proposes banning reimbursements to hospitals for some types of injuries.LINK

Five commonly misdiagnosed diseases
Empowered Patient is a regular feature from CNN Medical News correspondent Elizabeth Cohen that helps put you in the driver's seat when it comes to health care.
John Ritter the actor died in 2003 of an aortic dissection -- a tearing of the major artery that comes out of the heart. His widow later settled a wrongful death lawsuit against a California hospital, alleging his condition had been misdiagnosed "at least twice." LINK

Lack of supervision adds to resident errors, study finds
A review of 240 medical liability cases tied 70% of such errors to not enough attending oversight. LINK

NOW THAT Massachusetts has made significant progress toward guaranteed access to healthcare, the Commonwealth must turn to a new challenge: ensuring that the medical care provided is of the highest possible quality. LINK

Hospital drug errors far from uncommon The case of actor Dennis Quaid's newborn twins, who were reportedly given 1,000 times the intended dosage of a blood thinner at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, underscores one of the biggest problems facing the healthcare industry: medication errors. LINK

Although virtually all doctors think they should report impaired or incompetent colleagues or serious medical errors to the relevant authorities, nearly half don't, a study suggests Monday. LINK

Make No Mistake: Medical Errors Can Be Deadly Serious: Two months after a double bypass heart operation that was supposed to save his life, comedian and former Saturday Night Live cast member Dana Carvey got some disheartening news: the cardiac surgeon had bypassed the wrong artery. It took another emergency operation to clear the blockage that was threatening to kill the 45-year-old funnyman and father of two young kids. LINK

ST. LOUIS - Substandard care at a southern Illinois Veterans Affairs hospital may have contributed to 19 deaths over the past two years, a VA official said Monday as he apologized to affected families and pledged reform. LINK