Missouri residents expect a certain standard of care from doctors and health professionals. Whether they are receiving treatment for a severe injury or something as simple as the common cold, patients expect that their ailment will be correctly diagnosed and they will receive the correct treatment in the end. But a recent story out of Washington reminds us that...
Read MoreA recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that remote, rural hospitals experienced higher death rates than others did in the study period, which was between 2002 and 2010. Because these are often considered “critical access” facilities for those who would otherwise be geographically too distant from a hospital to receive adequate emergency medical...
Read MoreRecently, a committee of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reviewed the available research on the risks and benefits of cesarean-section births performed purely at the request of the mother. Overall, the group determined that more women experience fewer complications from vaginal birth, and the group recommended that doctors strongly encourage mothers to choose that option. The evidence...
Read MoreThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene have just announced that the recipient of an organ donation recently died of a rabies infection in the donor. The deceased was one of four people who received organs from the same donor, and the other three are now receiving rabies treatment. Unfortunately,...
Read MoreWorking with scientists on a national project about healthcare and poverty, cardiology researchers at Kansas City’s St. Luke’s Hospital have been poring over the records of heart patients nationwide to determine if there are observable differences between the treatment of uninsured versus insured patients. Unfortunately, the findings indicate that uninsured patients are much more likely to suffer from medical...
Read MoreDid you know that pediatric stroke is one of the top 10 causes of death in children? Around 3,000 U.S. children suffer a stroke each year — that’s nearly 1 in 3,000. Children are at their highest risk for strokes very early, according to Dr. Neil Friedman, a pediatric neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Pediatric Neurology. While...
Read MoreThe Centers for Disease Control have a tracking system for hospital-acquired infections through its National Healthcare Safety Network, which gathers annual patient infection information from hospitals throughout the United States. Using the historical data to establish trends, the network then predicts a baseline for the number of hospital infections that might be expected in the future. The CDC recently...
Read MoreMedical malpractice, of course, can happen to anyone — even people who are the sole support of other people. Tragically, that appears to have been the case for a New York woman who was just diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, which has metastasized to her liver, spine, and brain. Although she sought treatment for chest pain, a chronic...
Read MoreA tragic accident last Friday resulted in the death of a Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) worker. A motorist-assist operator was hit by an alleged drunk driver while he was working at an accident scene on Interstate 70 around 3:00 am. The worker was a long time employee of the department, receiving his 15th anniversary plaque just on Monday....
Read MoreMany people may assume with advances in car safety technologies and tougher driving laws motor vehicle accidents would be on the decline. This has been the case since 2006; traffic fatalities reached a nationwide low last year. Unfortunately, so far 2012 has seen an over 13 percent increase in accident fatalities compared to the same period last year, according...
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