Missouri hospital subjects brain cancer patients to massive overdose of radiation

(NaturalNews) A Missouri hospital has admitted that it subjected 76 patients to 50 percent overdoses of brain radiation because a medical device had been programmed improperly.

According to the administration of CoxHealth in Springfield, a stereotactic radiation therapy device was programmed improperly after the hospital first installed it in 2004, even with an employee of the manufacturer supervising. For the next five years, every patient using the machine was exposed to 50 percent overdose. The error was only discovered in September 2009, when a new technician was being trained. A similar case occurred at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., in 2004 and 2005.

The hospital has suspended its stereotactic imaging program indefinitely for a full program audit.

The news comes on the heels of a scandal in which hundreds of patients in California and Alabama received as much as eight times the intended dose of chest radiation, and a new FDA initiative to reduce excess radiation from CT scans, nuclear medicine studies and fluoroscopies.

Robert H. Bezanson, president of CoxHealth, issued an open letter calling on the FDA to go farther.

"The initiative should be broadened to include regulation of medical radiation therapy as well," he wrote. "We have also learned that the incident here at CoxHealth is, unfortunately, not an isolated occurrence. Rather, similar instances of medical overradiation have occurred at other hospitals throughout the country. Without increased regulation and oversight, these instances of medical overradiation will likely continue."

Stereotactic radiation therapy employs ultra-high radiation doses to treat very small, localized brain tumors. Because the radiation dose is so high, only one treatment is normally needed.

Health professionals and the radiation imaging industry have increasingly raised concerns that many radiation devices are not calibrated or used properly, exposing patients to dangerous, higher-than-necessary doses. In many ways, they say, advances in imaging technology have outpaced doctors' ability to keep up.

Sources for this story include: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/u....

U.K. hospital caused 'unimaginable suffering' neglecting patients

(NaturalNews) A British hospital trust responsible for killing at least 400 people through neglect also subjected its patients to "unimaginable" suffering, an independent inquiry has concluded.

The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was blasted by government regulators last year for causing between 400 and 1,200 deaths from shoddy care between 2006 and 2008. According to both government investigators and the new report, staffing shortages and an overemphasis on meeting national targets led to neglect of patients, which included leaving them unwashed for weeks, without food or water and unable to go to the bathroom. In some cases, the inquiry found, relatives had to take hospital sheets home to wash them, and in other cases, neglect allowed patients to suffer fatal infections or falls.

According to Health Secretary Andy Burnham, there can be "no excuses" for the conditions at Mid Staffordshire, and the hospital's entire board has been replaced. Yet many of those replaced have simply moved on to other positions, some with hefty financial rewards. This has renewed calls for increased accountability of executives at failing hospitals. Critics point out that Martin Yeates, a former chief executive of Mid Staffordshire, received steady raises until his salary hit £180,000 ($270,000) per year, even as patients were dying of neglect in his hospital.

The inquiry issued 18 recommendations for reform of the trust oversight system and the overall health service, which have been accepted by the British government. But many family members of those who died at Mid Staffordshire have blasted the inquiry as a "whitewash" that focuses on the misdeeds of management at one hospital while failing to examine the role played by government policies that prioritize abstract targets over patient care.

"It is time that the public were told the truth about the very large number of excess deaths in NHS care and the very large number of avoidable but deadly errors that occur every day," said Julie Bailey of Cure the NHS, whose mother died at Mid Staffordshire.

Sources for this story include: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/li....

Patient dies in waiting room at NYC hospital after waiting 24 hours with a blood clot

(NaturalNews) A New York City hospital where a Jamaican immigrant died from a blood clot after waiting nearly 24 hours to be seen has agreed to a legal settlement that will place it under federal supervision for five years.

Kings County Hospital (KCHC) in Brooklyn came under state and federal investigation after 49-year-old Esmin Green died on the hospital's waiting room floor. The scandal broke when security footage was released that showed at least two separate hospital employees looking at her lying there then ignoring her.

A federal investigation uncovered widespread abuse, negligence and malfeasance in the hospital's mental health ward.

"Substantial patient harm occurs regularly due to KCHC's failure to properly assess, diagnose, supervise, monitor and treat its mental health patients," said Acting U.S. Assistant Attorney General Loretta King.

Investigators found that hospital staff systematically failed to protect patients from suicidal behavior or patient-on-patient aggression, leading to numerous cases of physical and sexual assault. Hospital staff were poorly trained and provided substandard care in both regular and emergency situations, a situation exacerbated by poor supervision. Patients were physically restrained or chemically sedated in favor of treatment.

The report also concluded that hospital administrators had regularly falsified patient records, in part to cover up wrongdoing.

Based on these findings, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against KCHC, New York City and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation. In the settlement just signed, the defendants have agreed that New York City will monitor KCHC to ensure a safe patient environment, and new policies will be implemented to address the poor practices found in the investigation. These will include procedures for review of safety hazards, investigation of serious incidents, and anonymous reporting of records tampering.

KCHC has also agreed to be monitored by a federal judge for the next five years.

Sources for this story include: www.dotmed.com.

1,200 patients killed in hospital, abused by staff, lying in filth1,200 patients killed in hospital, abused by staff, lying in filth

(NaturalNews) A huge U.K. health care scandal recently shocked the public with reports that up to 1,200 patients in a British hospital needlessly died from abuse and neglect. And the worst part is that not a single worker involved has been prosecuted for his crimes.

It all started when an independent review of the U.K.'s Mid Staffordshire National Health Service (NHS) hospital found that patients there were routinely neglected, bullied, abused and treated poorly. The details of the report include evidence that:

-Nurses regularly ignored patients and left them unwashed in their own filth for as long as a month, and even ignored requests by patients to use the restroom or have their sheets changed.

-Four family members, including a newborn baby girl, all died at the hospital due to carelessness and malpractice. The baby had to be delivered by her grandmother because the midwife was not paying attention. Upon birth, the baby was not breathing, but workers resuscitated her. However she died four days later because a junior pediatrician went against the family's wishes and decided to release the sick baby.

-Patients were regularly released prematurely because medical workers feared they would lose their jobs for perceived "delaying".

-Hospital wards were filthy and contaminated with blood, used needles, and dirty dressings.

Those workers who had concerns about the horrible conditions at the hospital were bullied by managers into not coming forward with the truth. And what researchers initially perceived as having caused 400 deaths ended up burgeoning into 1,200.

Those responsible for the atrocious conditions have either retired with generous pensions or found other jobs in the field. None have had to bear the responsibility for their crimes, and many have not even responded to the allegations.

According to the accusing parties, hospital officials were so concerned with cost-cutting and pursuing "elite foundation trust status" that they lost sight of actually caring for their patients.

Part of the problem also lies in what has been termed "box-ticking", or merely checking a box and sending a patient off to a ward to die. The formulaic method to which the hospital philosophy of care had devolved is the subject of investigation, as concerned officials pursue justice in the matter. Many are demanding a full public inquiry into the case.

The report also outlined that the hospital staff count was allowed to dwindle so low that there were simply not enough caretakers to handle all the patients. And while some did their best to provide care, many displayed a disturbing lack of compassion and simply discarded patient needs, resulting in hundreds of deaths. Even basic needs like changing bedpans and sheets and bringing food and water were neglected.

Former chief executive of the hospital, Martin Yeates, was suspended from his job, but with full pay for six months and a hefty pension.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...