skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Study: Medical Errors in NC Indicative of Nationwide Problem

play audio
Play

Friday, December 10, 2010   

RALEIGH, N.C. - It's not getting any better when it comes to reducing the rate of medical errors occurring in North Carolina, according to a recent study published in the "New England Journal of Medicine." As a patient in the Tarheel State, you have a 1-in-5 chance of being harmed by a medical mistake, researchers found.

Laurie Sanders, executive director of the North Carolina Coalition for Patient Safety, suspects that statistic could be just the tip of the iceberg. Among her criticisms, she says a research method that focused on only the original charts of the 2,300 patients studied doesn't tell the whole story.

"I've read many charts where there have been medical errors, death, injury - and when you go back to the original chart, you cannot even tell that anything went wrong."

North Carolina was selected for the study because the state enacted patient safety changes after a 1999 study. Among the most common preventable errors found were bleeding during an operation, breathing troubles and infections.

Sanders became a patient advocate after her son died as a result of a medical error when he was 5 years old. She says she's disappointed there has been no improvement in the number of medical errors, according to this recent research.

"Can you imagine any other industry being given 10 years to improve their safety record and failing to do so and not having consequences? They've been given all these resources and it simply isn't working."

In addition to the desire to reduce medical errors, proponents for change, like Sanders, emphasize the additional health care cost burden to the system when mistakes are made.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021