brain surgery

CA fines 13 hospitals for placing patients at risk

Thu, 22 May 2008 06:59:56 -0400

The California Department of Public Health has disciplined 13 hospitals for placing patients at risk of serious injury or death, fining each $25,000. The agency, which has issued 39 citations since October, won the right to fine facilities for serious violations of patient safety in 2007. Violations included a case in which a car crash victim died at Los Angeles-based public hospital Harbor-UCLA after nurses failed to monitor the patient's failing neurological condition. In another case, Olive View-UCLA was cited when a resident attempted a surgical procedure, handed the patient to another doctor, and failed to communicate that a patient's small intestine may have been perforated in the process.

To learn more about the citations:
- read this Los Angeles Times article

Related Articles:
RI hospital faces third fine for wrong-side brain surgery
CA fines nine hospitals for putting patients at risk
CA bill would allow hospital fines

SPOTLIGHT: Young doctors going for 'appearance' specialties

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:59:52 -0400

So, if you had to guess, what do you think are the most competitive specialties training slots vied for by young medical residents? Cardiology? Neurology? Brain surgery? No, actually, they're dermatology and plastic surgery, according to an analysis by The New York Times. These specialties not only offer better pay, more autonomy and less-extreme hours, but also the chance to improve patients' lives, students say. Article

ALSO NOTED: FL medical records sold in Utah surplus store; Another retail clinic operator closes its doors; and much more...

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:59:50 -0400

> Big "oops!"...Somehow, a box of medical records from Florida got sold in a Utah surplus store this week. Article

> It looks like another retail clinic operator has hit the skids. Medical Marts, which operated three clinics in the Chicago metro, has closed its doors. Article

> So how did an aging, memory problem-ridden Miami surgeon linked to multiple patient deaths keep his license? Critics want to know. Article

> Not surprisingly, Pennsylvania hospitals targeted by a proposed revenue tax aren't exactly thrilled with the idea. Article

And Finally... Archaeologists have found evidence of brain surgery performed on a young woman almost 2,000 years ago. Article