News and Articles
MRSA Rates Tied to Hospital UnderstaffingU.S. News and World Report (June 24, 2008)
"The drive toward greater efficiency by reducing the number of hospital beds and increasing patient throughput has led to highly stressed health-care systems with unwelcome side effects," the researchers wrote.
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Hospital survey finds more targeting resistant bacteria Augusta Chronicle (June 18, 2008)
A survey released Tuesday by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology found that 76 percent had increased efforts in the past year to control the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. |
Bill requires hospitals to report infections SF Chronicle (May 30, 2008)
California hospitals would be required to step up prevention of drug-resistant infections and, for the first time, report any such cases to health authorities under a bill that passed the state Senate this week. |
Gut superbug causing more illnesses, deathsUSA Today (May 27, 2008)
The number of people hospitalized with a dangerous intestinal superbug has been growing by more than 10,000 cases a year, according to a new study.
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Billed for wrong surgery? Hospitals revise policy Crain's Detroit Business (May 26, 2008)
Should hospitals bill patients or insurance companies for operating on the wrong leg or charge somebody extra for medical care when they fall or are dropped due to the negligence of a health care institution? |
Canada: Government's Response to Burlington Hospital Deaths is Inadequate Canadian Union of Public Employees (May 19, 2008)
The response of the Minister of Health to the 62 patient deaths at the Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington is inadequate, Michael Hurley, President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE said this morning at a press conference in Queen's Park.
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Hospital acquired infections can be deadly KCRA-TV (May 12, 2008)
A Sacramento TV station highlights the dangers of hospital infections and surveys hospitals on whether they will make their infection rates public (see story sidebar for their responses). |
Hospital infection data might be made public Columbus Dispatch (May 10, 2008)
As Nancy Oliver spoke of her father's stay in an intensive-care unit, and of the infection that eventually killed him, her voice was calm, her delivery direct.
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A Bad Germ Gets Worse MSNBC (May 2, 2008)
Rising rates of the bacterial infection Clostridium difficile, known as C. diff, are sparking worries about a virulent form of the bug that can cause severe diarrhea - and death. |
Don't let a hospital kill you CNN (May 1, 2008)
Josh Nahum is one of 99,000 people who die each year because of infections acquired in the hospital. |
Review Urges Aggressive MRSA Screening for Health Workers April 21, 2008 (Forbes.com)
In hospitals and other health-care facilities with endemic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), aggressive screening of health-care workers should be combined with other measures to help reduce infection rates, new research suggests. |
The Fight Against Hospital-Acquired Infections April 18, 2008 (Marketwatch)
The U.S. Government Accountability Office weighed in this week on the state of hospital infections in a report that urged the Department of Health and Human Services to play a bigger role in overseeing recommended practices for countering infections. |
Report Says Feds Should Do More to Stop Hospital Infections April 17, 2008 (U.S. News & World Report)
Ten years ago, Edward Lawton's life took an unpredictable twist: While hospitalized and recovering from spinal surgery, he acquired several severe infections. Resistant to treatment, they ravaged his body, damaging his bones. Now, he is confined to a wheelchair. |
More federal action needed on hospital infections
Consumers Union calls for bolder federal steps to protect patients from hospital infections. Statement of Lisa McGiffert Director, Consumers Union’s Stop Hospital Infections to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee On Healthcare -Acquired Infections |
Errors don’t warrant pay, insurers say Chattonooga Times Free Press (April 7, 2008)
As the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services moves to deny Medicare payments for conditions caused by hospital mistakes, hospital executives here are watching private insurers in Tennessee and nationwide follow suit. |
Preventing MRSA: Why I wear a bowtie Consumer Reports on Health (February 15, 2008)
Neckties worn by doctors in hospitals have been implicated as carriers of infection causing bacteria
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MRSA bill takes heat at Capitol Columbia Tribune (March 16, 2008)
HB 1546, would have required testing for MRSA in patients and doctors, isolation of infected patients and public reporting of MRSA hospital infection rates.
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Many in NJ are medical errors victims The Record (March 6, 2008)
More than a third of New Jersey residents surveyed say they or a family member have been a victim of a medical error, and 90 percent would like the state to publicly report the number of errors at each hospital.
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Accountability in mind Concord Monitor (March 2, 2008)
Sisters watched their mother suffer from infection in hospital |
Care & Concern: Dianne Parker Augusta Chronicle (January 20, 2008)
After husband's death, Dianne Parker becomes advocate for more responsible hospitals |
Keeping it clean, safe for patients (February 3, 2008)
Nurse credited for new system that prevents bloodstream infections. A Sacramento-area hospital is emerging as a nationwide leader in the push to eliminate deadly infections picked up by unsuspecting hospital patients. |
Making hospitals pay for their mistakes New York Times (December 19, 2007)
Medicare will limit payments to hospitals for certain avoidable mistakes like catheter-associated urinary tract infections
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Gregoire takes on superbug MRSA The Seattle Times (November 15, 2007)
Gov. Christine Gregoire wants medical laboratories around the state to report cases of invasive MRSA infections and instructed the health department to convene a panel of scientific experts to recommend the best, scientifically sound strategies to monitor and curb antibiotic-resistant organisms. |
Testing Patients for MRSA CBS Nightly News (November, 7, 2007)
Nineteen thousand Americans die every year from MRSA, and most contract the disease in hospitals. Critics say testing for the bacteria should be compulsory. |
Three part series on Acinetobacter Baumannii, a bacteria infecting soldiers returning from Iraq. - News Channel 8, Washington, DC (November, 2007)
Exclusive: Insurgents in the Bloodstream: (Part 1),(Part 2), (Part 3)
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Test of patients can stop staph super germ Associated Press (October 25, 2007)
Testing all new hospital patients for a dangerous staph “superbug” could help wipe out a germ that likely kills more Americans than AIDS. |
Pressure is on hospitals to stamp out bacterial bugs USA Today (October 15, 2007)
Physicians, safety advocates and government officials are mobilizing to prevent the infections that have stricken an increasing number of hospital patients over the past three decades. |
Getting The Bugs Out Washington Post (September 25, 2007)
VA and MD hospitals vary on applying practices used to prevent surgical infections. |
Reducing hospital-acquired infections is within our reach Telegram, Worchester, MA (September 12,2007)
Commentary on public infection reporting bills currently before the MA legislature and Department of Public Health proposal to train hospitals and patients, and require public reporting of infection rates. |
Editorial: Medicare against mistakesBoston Herald(August 22, 2007)
Medicare will no longer pay extra for hospital care needed to remedy a mistake in eight specific areas. The hospital is prohibited from billing the patient for the difference. |
Memo to Hospitals: Bad Care Will Cost YouUS News and World Report (August 17, 2007)
Because of a new rule issued earlier this month by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which reimburses hospitals, this is one gaping loophole that won't stay open too much longer. |
Editorial: Hospital, infect me not Boston Globe (August 12, 2007)
Patients in hospitals should not end up worse off than when they were admitted because of an infection acquired during treatment.
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Hospitals told: Clean up or lose out The Virginian Pilot (July 3, 2007)
The federal government is pushing a proposal that could be an expensive wake-up call for hospitals that don’t clean up their acts.
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US soldiers in Iraq fighting drug-resistant bacteria HULIQ.com
US soldiers in Iraq do not carry the bacteria responsible for difficult-to-treat wound infections found in military hospitals treating soldiers wounded in Iraq, according to an article in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. |
Hospital secrecy to end in Ontario Toronto Star (April 12, 2007)
For the first time, Ontario hospitals will be required to publicly disclose their patient safety records, including infection rates. |
Editorial: Hospital safety: More sunshine Seattle Post Intelligencer (April 12, 2007)
Washington legislators are within reach of setting up a farsighted program to encourage control of hospital infections.
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Hospitals, Heal Thyselves Seattle Times (March 19, 2007)
"The state Legislature is right to demand hospitals begin reporting their infection rates, an effort intended to spur corrective measures." |
Deadly germs take grim toll in hospitals Fort Worth Star Telegram (March 4, 2007)
Infections lurking in the nation's hospitals have been a well-kept secret for years because information is not publicly reported. (scroll down for beginning of article)
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Med school studies hospital infections Baltimore Examiner (February 14, 2007)
The CDC has provided funding for the University of Maryland to study the best way of combating antibiotic- resistant staph infections.
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Making hospitals safer CBS Evening News (February 6, 2007)
Katie Couric interviews Dr. Donald Berwick about the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s campaign to reduce medical errors, including hospital infections. |
Surgical Secrets-Wyoming Tribune-Eagle-(December 25, 2006)
Wyoming hospital infection rates, nowhere to be found. |
Hospitals’ dirty secret Modern Healthcare (November 27, 2006)
New reports reveal pattern of deadly and expensive, yet preventable, medical errors.
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Rating hospital heart care Gannett News Special Report (October 2006)
When it comes to treatment of heart attack or failure, your hospital choice makes a difference.
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Squash the bug Slate (October 24, 2006)
Europe is killing off hospital infections. Why isn’t the U.S. following suit?
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New threat from an old bug CBS News (October 12, 2006)
The ongoing epidemic of severe C. diff diarrheal disease — driven by a 20-fold more toxic mutant strain of the bacteria — is fast getting worse. |
Life, death decisions Rocky Mountain News (August 7, 2006)
Shopping for the right hospital can make a critical difference in the care you receive, medical experts say.
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Safe Hospitals Pittsburgh Post Gazette (July 25, 2006)
The Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative has shown that there is an incredibly strong "business case" for improving health care quality.
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A routine epidural turns deadly NBC Dateline (June 4, 2006)
Julie and Chris LeMoult were excited parents-to-be. Did a hospital infection turn the happiest day of their lives into a nightmare?
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Sanford signs hospital data bill S.C. Politics Today (May 31, 2006)
Hospitals and other surgical facilities will be required to collect data on hospital-acquired infections and state regulators will have to make the information public under a bill signed today by Gov. Mark Sanford. |
Hospital's Dirty Secrets TBO.com News (May 17, 2006)
Infection problem in a Florida hospital "higher than expected" on the state infection reporting website. |
States push to disclose hospital infection rates National Public Radio (March 11, 2006)
Listen to the NPR Morning Edition story on how an increasing number of states are passing hospital infection report laws and read an interview with Dr. Rick Shannon of the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh about how hospitals can prevent infections.
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Alaska moves to study hospital infections Statement by Alaska Senator Gary Stevens (May 3, 2006)
Alaska lawmakers have established a task force to develop recommendations for hospitals to disclose infection rates.
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Lawmakers take notice of hospital infections KMBC-TV, Kansas City, MO (May 1, 2006)
Lawmakers are just beginning to take a hard look at the number of people who are getting infections in hospitals and other health-care centers.
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Sad tales attest to infection woes Rocky Mountain News (April 21, 2006)
A proposed bill in Colorado would require 200 hospitals in the state to report and make public the rate of hospital-acquired infections.
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Hospitals fight fessin' up New Haven Independent (March 8, 2006)
As many as three people die each day in Connecticut from infections they got in the hospital, according to one estimate.
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Enter at your own risk New York Sun (Feb. 9, 2006)
Hospital infection kills as many Americans annually as AIDS, breast cancer, and auto accidents combined. |
House panel passes health infection bill in Colorado (Jan. 23, 2006)
The Colorado House Health and Human Services Committee held a hearing on January 23 which included testimony on HB 1045, the hospital infection reporting bill. The Committee voted 12-1 to move the bill to the Appropriations Committee. The story was covered by the Denver Business Journal. |
Stomach Bug Mutates Into Medical Mystery Washington Post
(Dec. 30, 2005)
Bacterial infection (Clostridium difficile) striking young, otherwise healthy Americans, appears to be spreading rapidly around the country and causing unusually severe, sometimes fatal illness |
Deadly Hospital Germ Is Spreading in U.S. Washington Post (Dec. 2, 2005)
A new, more dangerous strain of a germ that has long caused diarrhea in hospital patients is now widespread in the United States, causing severe, sometimes deadly outbreaks around the country, researchers reported yesterday. |
21 PA hospitals' infection reporting lax Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
(Dec. 2, 2005)
Pennsylvania has identified 21 hospitals in the state that appear to be under-reporting hospital-acquired infections, but the public is not informed which ones. |
Hospital Acquired Infections KABC-TV, Los Angeles (Nov. 29, 2005)
One in 20 people who enter the hospital will end up with infections they didn't have when they were admitted. Hospitals won't volunteer their infection rates, but they are facing increasing pressure to do so. |
The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council
has released another report based on 2004 data collected under that state’s law requiring hospitals to report hospital-acquired infections. An astounding 76% of the infections were paid for by Medicare and Medicaid. Also, the report reminds us that the uninsured carry the heaviest financial burden, since they are unable to negotiate discounted prices with their hospitals, as do Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance plans. The story was covered by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Florida quality report (November 9, 2005)
Florida quality report includes first hospital-specific information about infections. |
Hospital Infections Tampa Tribune (Nov. 8, 2005)
Tampa WFLA-TV provides an extensive report on the new Florida Hospital Care Compare site that includes infection ratings for every hospital in the state. |
Coverage of hospital-acquired infections CNBC “On the Money” (Oct. 13, 2005)
The segment includes an interview with Lisa McGiffert, Consumers Union, and Mark Volavka, the director of the Pennsylvania agency that released the first report on hospital-acquired infections.
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Chronic Condition: The waste in Medicare spending Washington Post (July 2005)
In this three-part series, the Washington Post takes a look at how bad practices net hospitals more Medicare money, how the agency that accredits hospital overlooks problems, and how private Quality Improvement Organizations working for the Medicare agency operate in secret and have a cozy relationship with doctors and health care facilities.
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Editorial: Watch their hands USA Today (July 21, 2005)
Hospital infections aren't new. Yet proven methods that could cut the number of deaths in half aren't followed. Collecting that infection rate data is a good step to pressure hospitals to improve.
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Newspapers editorialize on the high cost of hospital infections
Following the release of a Pennsylvania report on hospital infections, newspapers across the state editorialized on this serious patient safety problem. Read the editorials in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. |
Data show scourge of hospital infections Washington Post (July 13, 2005)
Nearly 12,000 Pennsylvanians contracted hospital infections in 2004, costing an additional $2 billion in care and resulting in 1,500 deaths, according to a state report. |
MRSA checks before patients go in Guardian (June 12, 2005)
Some leading hospitals in the UK are screening patients for MRSA before they are admitted in an effort to minimize infection risks.
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Coming Clean The Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (Jun 6, 2005)
Infections that have been nearly eradicated in some other countries are raging through hospitals here in the United States. The major reason? Poor hygiene. In fact, hygiene is so inadequate in most American hospitals that one out of every 20 patients contracts an infection during a hospital stay. |
Medical errors still claiming many lives USA Today (May 18, 2005)
A new article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that little progress has been made in the past five years to reduce deaths caused by medical errors in U.S. hospitals.
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Health council to prod straggling hospitals on infection data Pittsburg Live (May 6, 2005)
The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) will issue a statewide aggregate hospital-acquired infection report based on the first year of data collected from state hospitals. This is the first hospital-acquired infection report ever based on a mandatory reporting law. Also, since data received from most of the hospitals was inadequate, PHC4 will notify hospitals that they must do a better job or face random audits to ensure accuracy of reports.
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Vermont lawmakers consider tracking infections Montpelier Times Argus (May 5, 2005)
A group of Vermont residents who have suffered from hospital infections told their stories at a recent hearing on legislation that would require public disclosure of infection rates.
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Hospitals try to ward off nasty MRSA bacteria Pittsburgh Post Gazette (April 27, 2005)
Hospitals in western Pennsylvania are adopting a set of special procedures aimed at protecting patients from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a difficult to treat and sometimes fatal infection.
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Deadly Hospital Infections CBS Early Show (March 14, 2005)
Lisa McGiffert of Consumers Union and Dr. Don Nielsen of the American Hospital Association discussion on publishing hospital infection rates. |
One doctor's long trail of dangerous mistakes LA Times (December 7, 2004)
This five-part series details the devastating consequences that occur when public accountability at a local Los Angeles hospital breaks down. (Free site registration required to read other parts of series.) |
Reducing hospital-acquired infections News 8 Austin (September 25, 2004)
Each year, more than 2 million people will develop a hospital-acquired infection. About 100,000 of them will die from one. |
Time to clean up hospital infections San Francisco Chronicle (September 14, 2004)
Legislation that California lawmakers have sent to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for his approval is aimed at making hospital-acquired infections far less likely.
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Focus on hospital-acquired infections bill on CA governor's desk - San Francisco Chronicle (9/11/04)
Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, wants to give consumers more information about hospital-acquired infection rates and try to prevent the upward of 9,000 deaths a year attributed to these types of infections in California.
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Why do so many still die needlessly in hospitals? - USA Today (August 5, 2004)
When a report came out last week from a private group claiming that nearly 200,000 hospital patients die each year from preventable medical errors, it promptly sparked a fierce controversy.
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Voluntary efforts won't work - USA Today (August 5, 2004)
The usually quarrelsome U.S. Senate recently approved medical-error legislation by a unanimous voice vote -- reason enough for citizen suspicion. When no special interest wants to fight something, it's usually the public interest that's losing out.
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Information key to tackling superbugs BBC News (Jul. 13, 2004)
Hospitals in England are finding that the key to curbing antibiotic-resistant infections is collecting detailed data about which wards infections are common in and which particular patients are most affected. |
Editorial: A father's fight - St. Louis Business Journal (May 28, 2004)
Because of a father's incredible love and determination to see some good follow his son's hospital nightmare, Missouri will gain what is considered "the most significant piece of consumer protection" adopted by the Legislature in recent memory.
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Missouri could become one of 3 states to make reports available to consumers - St. Louis Business Journal, May 28, 2004
Raymond Wagner Jr., an executive with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, draws on his son's personal experience to help Missouri legislators pass a bill requiring the reporting of hospital-acquired infection rates to the public. The bill is awaiting Gov. Bob Holden's signature. (CU's Lisa McGiffert quoted.) |
Tampa TV station reports on secrecy clouding hospital infections
Tampa's WFLA-TV reports on the secrecy behind infection rates in Florida hospitals. The three-part series was shot last October, but is particularly relevant now that the Florida Legislature has approved a bill requiring disclosure of infection rates in a more understandable form. Click here to see the reports. |
National TV series on hospital acquired infections
Ivanhoe Broadcast News, a national TV syndicator of health related news, has an excellent 3-part series on hospital infections. The series is being broadcast in approximately 100 stations throughout the month of May 2004. Part 3 of the series, “The Right to Know,” includes an interview with Earl Lui of Consumers Union. Click here to get the text of the entire series.
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Super-Resistant Superbugs - 60 Minutes (May 2, 2004)
Antibiotics have been so overused that a new breed of “superbugs” is now resistant to almost all antibiotics. One of these is MRSA, a staph bacteria, that triggers infections so severe that they can turn deadly in days. It is also a prevalent hospital-acquired infection. 60 Minutes reports. |
Compromise approved on reporting infections - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (March 5, 2004)
Board members for the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council unanimously approve a compromise that should allow for the collection of at least some data this year on infections acquired in hospitals. |
Hospitals try to slow progress of infections report card plan - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Feb. 9, 2004)
The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council has until Feb. 18 to respond to protests by an influential hospital group that is trying to slow down the implementation of a statewide report card on hospital-acquired infections. |
Can we stomach the truth? - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Nov. 11, 2003)
Pennsylvanians know more about the infection rate of a Chi-Chi's Mexican Restaurant in Beaver County than they do about the infection rates of their hospitals. Ay caramba!
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