Patient Safety Blog

When breast cancer experts recently reassessed their risk-evaluation formulas, they found that they were significantly underestimating the risks for African-American women.

This reevaluation is likely to result in changes in counseling for women in this demographic, including more recommendations to go for mammograms and more encouragement to sign up for studies of breast cancer. This last change is highly important, as assessments of lower risk based on the old formulas meant that African-American women were not selected for studies such as prevention trials. More mammograms and participation in studies will lead to more early detection and prevention, hopefully reducing the number of women who believe themselves to be perfectly healthy and are then blindsided by a breast cancer diagnosis.

Reassessments like this highlight the necessity of researching diverse populations, to make sure that patient care is not compromised by ignorance of group-specific risk factors.

The abstract of this study can be found here: Projecting Individualized Absolute Invasive Breast Cancer Risk in African American Women

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Posted In: Cancer

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Rhode Island Hospital has, for the third time this year, done a brain surgery on the wrong side of the patient's head.

The hospital has been fined $50,000 and has received a reprimand from the state Department of Health. In this most recent instance, the patient was 82 years old. Fortunately, the patient was unhurt by the mistake. However, in one of the previous instances of this mistake at this hospital, the patient died as a result.

Rhode Island Hospital has said that it will be conducting a review of its procedures and implementing reforms. One such reform would be to allow nurses greater power in ensuring that procedures are followed correctly. Another would be to mandate better verification of surgery plans, which would require better communication between surgeons and other doctors. These reforms highlight a major factor in averting medical errors: teamwork. The multiple healthcare professionals involved in taking care of a patient need to be empowered to speak up if they see something going wrong. They also need to know what the others are doing, and to make sure that they are not acting contrary to the recommendations and instructions of other healthcare providers. Performing a surgery on the wrong side of the head is only one possible thing that could go wrong in the absence of communication. Another example would be giving a patient medications that, combined with medicine the patient is already taking, could cause problems. Such errors can be minimized through proper communication between healthcare professionals.

For more information: When Surgeons Cut the Wrong Body Part

Posted by Patrick A. Malone | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Error , Standard of Care--Hospitals , Surgery

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Recently, four organ transplant patients were infected with HIV and hepatitis--a rare occurrence. One of the patients claims, through her lawyer, that the risks of the procedure were not disclosed to her.

A major issue here is that the kidney donor was considered "high risk" by the standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but the patient was not informed of this. If that is indeed what occurred, it is a major ethical violation.

The other issue is that the patient was not tested for HIV following the transplant.

This battle will be investigated and fought out in court. Regardless of the outcome, it highlights the necessity of following proper ethical procedures in organ transplants and in all medical matters.

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The risks of plastic surgery have been in the news lately thanks to the death of Donda West, mother of Kanye West. West died following a "tummy tuck," a common plastic surgery operation. At this time, the cause of her death is unclear.

In the wake of her death, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons issued a press release. They emphasize that plastic surgery is generally safe, but offer general suggestions as to what prospective patients should do to reduce their risk.

Research is the number one safety precaution: read studies about the risks and benefits of whatever procedure you are contemplating. Make sure you hear opinions from multiple sources: your primary care physician, your surgeon, medical journals and former patients who have undergone the procedure. Make sure you understand what will be happening to you every step of the way.

Furthermore, be sure to check the credentials of the experts who are giving you advice. The ASPS emphasizes making sure that your surgeon is board-certified and that your outpatient surgery center is accredited.

Most of these are common-sense procedures that ought to be applied to any surgery you may need to undergo. When it comes to plastic surgery, as it is often not part of an emergency procedure, you have the opportunity to take some time and research the risks before assuming them.

More resources:

FAQ from the ASPS on Outpatient Plastic Surgery

Ten Plastic Surgery Risks You Need to Know

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Posted In: Surgery

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A new study, presented to the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions, has found that consumption of energy drinks is linked to heart disease and high blood pressure. The linked article contains a description of the study.

These results are unsurprising because most energy drinks contain caffeine. Any problems associated with coffee, particularly excessive coffee drinking habits, are therefore likely to show up with energy drinks as well.

Particularly risky activities include taking the energy drink before or during exercise, or in conjunction with alcohol.

Useful resources:

Brown University’s advisory page on energy drinks

ScienceDaily article on the subject

Posted by Patrick A. Malone | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Product Safety

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