Archive for July, 2008
By Cheri
Several weeks ago a grievous medical error occurred at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston-the wrong side of a patient was operated on. The error has garnered national and local attention, bringing to light the failure to follow protocol in the operating room.
Instead of masking the event, the hospital sent a hospital wide email and the hospital’s CEO, Paul Levy, posted frequently on the subject on his blog. He even disclosed that the surgeon would not be punished for the error because he reported to his superiors and apologized to the patient. Levy believes that punishing the surgeon would discourage surgeons or doctors for stepping forward in the future when they’ve committed an error.
For me, it is disturbing to learn that the surgeon and the rest of the team involved in this procedure won’t be punished.
Certainly there should be full disclosure in the medical field but not at the expense of accountability. Perhaps I feel strongly as I have family members that are currently being cared for and the thought of them being injured by someone’s mistake is difficult to swallow.
But I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the issue. How would you have handled this case if you were a hospital administrator?
July 21st, 2008
By Shannon
An interesting article appeared in the New York Times this week discussing the decline in physical activity as children get older. First, the good news. Research shows that the average 9-year-old is engaged in physical activity for about 3 hours a day. Of course recess gives them a 30-minute head start on the rest of the population, but it’s good to know that our nation’s playgrounds have not become a ghost town yet. Now, the not so good news. Life after the age of 9 is starting to look a lot lazier for most kids. By the age of 15, daily physical activity drops to just 49 minutes on weekdays and about a half-hour on weekends, according to research being published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
This news is concerning for a number of reasons. First, whatever happened to the good old fashioned tradition of playing outside with kids in the neighborhood? I was no Venus Williams, but I was pretty talented when it came to Skip-It and my 10-speed bike logged some pretty good mileage in its day. And what group of neighborhood boys didn’t aspire to be like the kids in The Sandlot?
On a serious note, this trend underscores larger medical issues facing kids today. Just last week, the debate over screening kids for cholesterol was widely covered by most major news outlets. It left me wondering if Flinstones Lipitor is not too far off. Highlighted in most of the coverage was a key recommendation for preventing cholesterol issues: increasing physical activity to at least one hour per day.
Sure the prevalence of social media and cooler technology has encouraged more kids to stay indoors (back in my day, running around the yard was more enticing than playing with my Speak and Spell). But I firmly believe that Facebook time can co-exist in a world with playing badminton in the backyard.
With physical education becoming a thing of the past in many schools, James A. Griffin, deputy chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch at the national institutes’ Center for Research for Mothers and Children offers some sage advice. “When you get older, kids tend to play a video game or watch television with their friends. Parents need to be aware to help them balance that out a little better.”
What are your thoughts?
July 18th, 2008
By Jackie
Medical device companies rejoiced last week after the FDA released a report claiming faster review processes and approvals of medical devices than ever before. When compared to 2005, the regulation agency decreased its review time by a noteworthy 24 percent, from 438 days in 2005 to 335 days in 2006. According to a recent Reuters article, the agency attributes the significant progress to a 2002 law designed to streamline the FDA review process and establish review time goals.
The regulating body, established in 1937 to protect public health, has maintained a large cohort of critics who claim that the long review process inevitably stifles medical innovation in the U.S. With an inarguably tough job, the FDA is responsible for ensuring the complete safety of all drugs, devices, biological products and more, while simultaneously helping to speed innovations that enable medicines to be safer, more effective and affordable. All in a day’s work…or rather 335 days.
Seems like a catch 22 to me. I think it’s safe to say that most Americans would prefer to wait for the FDA “stamp of approval,” historically synonymous with safety and efficacy, than to risk their own health with questionable medical technologies. That said, we are fortunate to live in a country bursting with cutting-edge advancements that have the potential to diagnose, treat and cure a range of medical conditions and diseases. And I think most patients would agree that access to those technologies can’t come fast enough.
Although the new device review process still averages nearly one year, the question remains: are we really ready to sacrifice safety in the name of medical innovation? Perhaps the responsibility of balancing safety with innovation lies largely in the hands of both Congress and device/drug manufacturers. As the FDA continues to receive the funds and resources it needs to efficiently and effectively complete the review process, we’ll likely continue to see decreases in the turnaround time to bring these often life-saving technologies to hospitals nationwide.
July 2nd, 2008
