The phrase “medication errors” likely brings to mind images of pharmacies dispensing the wrong prescription drug or nurses administering the wrong dose of a drug. But a new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests another type of medication error may be plaguing seniors in Pennsylvania and across North America. Dr. Chaim […]
Every day, many people undergo surgery for a variety of ailments in Pennsylvania. Some surgeries, such as those to remove wisdom teeth, may be relatively minor. Others like open-heart surgery can be much more intense. Yet these surgeries often have one thing in common: Patients undergo general anesthesia. Earlier this month, we wrote about increased […]
Over the past few years, many women in Pennsylvania and across the country have turned to midwives for prenatal care instead of obstetricians. Pregnant women who seek care from midwives often report that they receive the personal experience they are looking for from their pregnancy and birth. However, they expect their midwives to tell them […]
According to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), about 800 pairs of prescription drugs have names that are so similar that they can cause prescription errors. Often, these drugs can sound alike over the phone or they have similar spellings, which can cause both doctors and pharmacists to make mistakes. For example, the diabetes […]
Earlier this year, a woman volunteered to donate a kidney for a man who needed a kidney transplant. On April 6, surgeons at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) removed the woman’s kidney and transplanted it into the man. However, the transplant surgery should never have happened. On May 2, a follow-up test on the […]
Today, doctors have a wide variety of anesthesia medications to choose from, but this element of choice requires physicians to carefully consider which drug to use. In order to prevent anesthesia errors, physicians must consider the side effects of the medication and potentially dangerous interactions with other drugs the patient may be taking. Additionally, physicians […]
Can a doctor’s bad bedside manner and rude behavior lead to bad outcomes for patients? According to recent research, the answer is yes. A pair of researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Cedars Sinai Hospital collected and analyzed data from past studies that monitored a surgeon’s behavior in the operating room. They then looked at […]
About one out of every 53 Americans suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every year. Traumatic brain injuries are so common that many in the medical community consider TBI to be a silent epidemic. In addition, the after-effects of a brain injury can be profound but very difficult to detect. When many people in Pennsylvania […]
