According to a recent article in the New York Times, the anti-clotting drug Pradaxa has been linked with more than 500 deaths in the United States. Pradaxa is used to prevent strokes in people with atrial fibrillation, a heart-rhythm disorder.On the market only two...
Blog
Year: 2012
Fungal Meningitis Outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that 105 cases of fungal meningitis, in nine states across the US, have been linked to an outbreak resulting from contaminated steroid medication. To date, eight deaths have been associated with the...
Connecticut Hospitals not on List of Top Performers
The Joint Commission which is an organization that evaluates hospitals has issued its second annual report of hospital performance. Connecticut is one of only three states nationally without a single hospital designated as a "Top Performer." The other two states are...
Phantom Physical Exams
The New York Times is reporting that electronic records have created opportunities for doctors to bill for phantom exams on patients, putting them at...
What Every Patient Should Know
As reported by The Wall Street Journal this weekend about 25% of hospitalized patients are harmed by medical errors. The amount of patients killed each week by medical errors is enough to fill four jumbo jets. Why are these numbers so high, and why don't we hear more...
Little Girl’s Drowning Death Used as Excuse for Bad Behavior by Club Executive Director
Brianna Murray's drowning death went unacknowledged by virtually everybody until Tuesday morning. Retemar Robinson was livid when she read the paper on Tuesday morning and discovered that Robert Generali, former executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater...
Unreliable Child Safety Devices
CNN recently reported that the federal government has ruled that devices intended to prevent children from dying of heat stroke in parked cars are unreliable. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not want these devices to lull parents and caregivers...
Atrial Fibrillation “Weekend Effect”
A recent study using the National Inpatient Sample database for 2008 found that there was a "weekend effect" for patients admitted with atrial fibrillation. Previously, the "weekend effect" has been seen with stroke, myocardial infarction, gastrointestinal bleeding,...
Connecticut River jet ski accident takes life of Meriden man
This time of year, people of all walks of life take to the open air to enjoy the Connecticut River. The largest flowing waterway in New England, it snakes southeast through Hartford and finally opens onto the Long Island Sound at Old Lyme and Old Saybrook. While the...
Wethersfield woman killed in vacation parasailing accident
A Connecticut man was forced to watch this week as his wife's parasailing harness broke and she plummeted 150 to 200 feet to the waters of Pompano Beach, Florida. The operators of the parasailing boat quickly reeled the man in from the couple's side-by-side parasail...