Month: March 2013
Shorter Shifts = More Medical Errors
Hospital efforts to cut back long hours for medical residents in order to improve patient safety has proven to have the opposite effect, according to...
6 Essential Traits Your Doctor Should Possess
Having an empathetic doctor can actually decrease your pain awareness, according to a new study published in Patient Education and Counseling, which makes finding the right doctor...
Surgeries Performed on Wrong Body Part Commonplace
When a patient goes under the knife, they are essentially putting their lives in the hands of what they believe to be a competent, qualified...
The Future of Compounding Pharmacies
Questions continue to arise about the future of the compounding industry after 50 people were killed starting last fall by tainted steroid injections distributed by...
What You Need to Know About Brachial Plexus Injuries
Out of every 1,000 newborns, two will suffer from an injury to the brachial plexus, a group of nerves in the spinal cord that controls...
Hospital Report Cards: Too Good to Be True?
Almost 750 U.S. hospitals claimed to be the “best” or “top” in at least one specialty in 2011, but how many of these claims can...
BPA Linked to Long-Term Health Defects in Babies
A chemical commonly used in everyday products could potentially impact the birth weight and long-term health of newborn babies, according to a recent study. Bisphenol...
Nursing Homes Using Antipsychotics to Pacify Residents
More than one in five nursing homes in the United States have been found to administer antipsychotic drugs to patients whose conditions do not warrant...
Antibiotics Increase Chance of Catching MRSA
Summer will not just bring longer days and warmer weather but also an increased chance of catching a potentially fatal drug-resistant bacteria, according to a new...
Five Commonly Held Myths of Medical Malpractice
Due to the large number of medical malpractice claims a year – for everything from mistakes in treatment to an uninformed patient – the topic...
When to Stop Colon Cancer Screenings
With March being Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, you may be hearing a lot about the importance of screening, especially for those over age 50. But...
Ovarian Cancer Treatment Flaws
Around 2/3 of female patients with ovarian cancer receive inadequate care, missing out on treatments that could add years to their lives, according to a...