United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Joseph C. Moraski, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General for the New England Region, announced that HO LING LAI, age 38, of Framingham, Massachusetts, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reginald C. Lindsay to 3 years’ probation, the first 5 months of which are to be served in home detention with electronic monitoring, and a fine of $3,000. LAI pleaded guilty last July as part of a plea agreement and agreed to pay $32,094 in restitution.
At the earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that, had the case proceeded to trial, the evidence would have proven that LAI worked as a physical therapist for three different visiting nurse associations at the same time. In the course of her employment, LAI purported to be providing physical therapy to different patients of the different visiting nurse associations at the same time, on the same day, but in different towns. LAI knew that the time sheets on which she recorded the times of these visits would be used to bill the Medicare program, thereby causing it to pay money for services which were either not rendered or which were rendered in an incomplete manner. LAI intended that the visiting nurse associations bill the Medicare program for no less than $55,000 based on her false representations. This amount was repaid to Medicare by the visiting nurse associations.
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A new study to assess understanding of five common prescription label instructions found that patients had difficulty comprehending how much and how often the medication should be taken. Misunderstanding was particularly high among those with lower literacy (eighth-grade level or below) and those who took many prescription drugs.
The study, “To Err is Truly Human: Literacy and Misunderstanding of Prescription Drug Labels,” is scheduled for online release to the public by Annals of Internal Medicine on November 29, 2006, at http://www.annals.org/. The article also will be printed in the December 19 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
The researchers interviewed 395 English-speaking adults in three states. The five medications identified for the study were two antibiotics (amoxicillin and trimethoprim); an expectorant (guaifenesin); an anti- hypertensive, channel blocking agent (felodipine); and a diuretic (furosemide). Patient literacy was classified either as low (sixth grade and below), marginal (seventh to eighth grade), or adequate (ninth grade and higher).

for more on the study, click here

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Ortho-McNeil, a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, manufactured and marketed the Ortho-Evra birth control patch which contains the same combination of ingredients as oral combination hormonal birth control products (estrogen and progestin). Ortho-McNeil touted the Patch as being more convenient than a daily pill, because it is applied once per week for three consecutive weeks. Unlike the oral medication which undergoes first-pass metabolism in the liver, the progestin and estrogen in the Patch are delivered through the transdermal patch and released directly into the bloodstream.

to read about the status of the litigation over the patch, click here

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Concern is growing about the high turnover rate of staff in hospitals and other healthcare workplaces. As administrators evaluate the best ways to increase employee retention and reinvent their reputations for being high-quality healthcare organizations, a new paper published by The Center for Health Design (CHD) shows that the physical environment plays an important role in improving the health and safety of staff, increasing effectiveness in providing care, reducing errors, and increasing job satisfaction.
To read full press release of the Center for Health Design, click here

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After his 18-year-old daughter Libby died within 24 hours of an emergency hospital admission in 1984, Zion learned that her chief doctors had been medical residents covering dozens of patients and receiving relatively little supervision. His anger set in motion a series of reforms, most notably a series of work hour limitations instituted by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), that have revolutionized modern medical education.

For the full story from the Washington Post, click here

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According to the New York Times article,The plan — which is being lauded and dreaded as one of the biggest efforts ever undertaken to overhaul the state’s troubled health care system — is an all-or-nothing proposal that will become law unless the State Legislature or Gov. George E. Pataki acts in December to reject it in its entirety. By the law that created the commission, state officials cannot approve some of its recommendations while rejecting others.

Go to New York Times article

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There is a reason why the two largest national news magazines have recently had cover stories about the quality of healthcare in this country. Hospitals must “improve care, reduce errors and save money…we have to put systems in place that stop that error from causing harm.” Newsweek–October 16 issue banner story. Time Magazine in its May 1 Cover Story says that even doctors worry about having their loved ones in hospitals, because of the risks of injury there. Even Reader’s Digest August cover story is–“How Doctors Gamble With Your Life.” By Michael Townes Watson, author of America’s Tunnel Vision–How Insurance Companies Propaganda Is Corrupting Medicine and Law.

Read full article by Michael Townes Watson in American Chronicle Online Magazine

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An estimated 150 people die every day in the United States from hospital-acquired infectins,  said Marc Volavka, executive director of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.

‘If that many people were dying from the bird flu, we would call it an epidemic,’ he said.

The findings of several key studies were published in a supplement to the November/December issue of the American Journal of Medical Quality. The results point to failures in hospital procedures as the biggest factor in whether a patient will get a infection in the hospital. In one model utilized in intensive care settings, patient deaths were reduced by 95% through the use of standardized procedures.

To read the full UPI article, click here

September 30 is becoming a day of infamy for drug safety. On that date in 2004, Merck announced that rofecoxib (Vioxx) doubled the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke, and the company withdrew the drug from the market after 5 years of use in more than 20 million patients. On September 30, 2006, a front-page article in the New York Times reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had issued a warning that the antifibrinolytic drug aprotinin, widely used to reduce perioperative bleeding in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, could cause renal failure, congestive heart failure, stroke, and death.

^{See full story in New England Journal of Medicine}

A team led by Dr. James Calvin, director of cardiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago evaluated the care of more than 37,000 patients younger than 65 and more than 59,000 elderly patients at 521 hospitals across the country.

All were suffering from acute coronary syndromes, a condition in which there is inadequate blood supply to heart muscles, which can lead to a heart attack.

The researchers checked the extent that treatment of the patients followed guidelines set by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

The guidelines include starting medications within 24 hours of diagnosis and using drugs and diet to control cholesterol levels.

for full article in Seattle Examiner, click here