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An elderly woman was admitted to the hospital complaining of constipation and suffering from septic shock. She subsequently suffered an interruption in her gastrointestinal (GI) motor activity, after which she was medicated and transferred to a second hospital for further treatment.
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An infant abduction was quickly solved in part because the hospital used an infant alarm that quickly alerted staff to the kidnapping, according to hospital and police officials in Sanford, FL.
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If you allow a live surgery broadcast, you should include some requirements for the company doing the broadcast, says Stacy Gulick, JD, an attorney with the law firm of Garfunkel in Great Neck, NY, and a former hospital risk manager.
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One of the most common threats to patient safety in obstetrics is the inability, or hesitation, of staff to clearly state their concern about a patient's status, says Edmund F. Funai, MD, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT. Too often, one clinician is concerned about a patient but does not effectively communicate that concern to others.
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Every risk manager worries about the obstetrics unit, where the number of adverse events may be small but the scope of the tragedy and liability can be huge.
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Before you hand patients free samples of prescription drugs, consider that the sample that saves them money now may end up costing them in the long run, according to research that indicates patients who receive free drug samples from their doctors have significantly higher out-of-pocket prescription costs than those who don't.
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The health care community has long endorsed staff and patients speaking up when necessary to protect patient safety, but in the heat of the moment, a staff member can be intimidated by superiors and fearful of rocking the boat.
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Some lawmakers in Massachusetts have introduced legislation that would make the state the first in the nation to impose an outright ban on all pharmaceutical marketing gifts to physicians. The bill also seeks statewide adoption of electronic medical records.
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The life cycle of a vaccine from discovery and production through distribution, rationing, and replacement can span a quarter-century, involve health professionals worldwide, and raise ethical issues every step of the way. But there was no centralized effort to promote policy and ethics around vaccine discovery, use, and global public health and so the Center for Vaccine Ethics and Policy was created.
