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Medical Competency and AccountabilityWhat are some of the Issues?
Study of hospitals finds that 19% of medication doses made in error: A study published in the Sept. 9, 2002, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine found that in 36 institutions studied, 19 percent of the medication doses were made incorrectly. According to the authors, "the most frequent errors by category were wrong time (43%), omission (30%), wrong dose (17%), and unauthorized drug (4%). Seven percent of the errors were judged potential adverse drug events...The percentage of errors rated potentially harmful was 7%, or more than 40 per day in a typical 300-patient facility." The findings were based on data collected in 1999. Radiation Dosages Two to Six Times More Than Needed: Three articles in the February 2001 issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology discuss the radiation given to children during head and abdomen CT scans. The machines are typically set for adults, the articles say; consequently the children receive two to six times the amount of radiation needed for a clear image. One of the articles asserts that of the 1.6 million children given these CT scans annually, about 1,500 will later die of radiation-induced cancer. On Jan. 22, 2001, the American College of Radiology issued a statement that acknowledged the "concerns" and said steps were being taken to deal with the situation. Medication Concerns: Concerns also are being raised about various medications being prescribed for babies and children and whether enough research has been done to even ascertain whether the dosages are safe.
Some emergency rooms and ambulance rescue squads are not staffed or equipped for handling children. Local ambulances should carry baby and child-size equipment (most adult-size won't work as well for children). Medics with local-emergency-service providers should be trained to work on babies and children, and the local emergency rooms should have full-time pediatric staff on call. Find out if staff for your ambulance and emergency room have child-size resuscitation equipment. If not, is there air or ambulance transport available to take your child to another hospital? Although it's usually best to call an ambulance, you should also know the way to the nearest pediatric-trauma unit. Which hospital does your pediatrician recommend (i.e. where would she send her own child)?
Nursing Shortages Said to Endanger Patients (July 1, 2001): Several studies have concluded that nursing shortages across the nation are putting patients in danger. Such studies -- including a joint study by Harvard School of Public Health and Vanderbilt University, and one by the University of Pennsylvania -- have prompted a subcommittee of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee to hear concerns from nurses about the quality of care provided in short-staffed hospitals.
Hospitals Must Now Tell Patients When a Mistake is Made: It's hard to believe, but up until July 1, 2001, hospitals had no legal obligation to tell patients or relatives when a mistake had been made. New nationwide standards set by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (which accredits 80 percent of the nation's hospitals) are the first to hold hospitals accountable for errors. As many as 98,000 people die each year from medical errors, according to the Institute of Medicine.
Study: Health Information on the Internet is Often Incomplete or Incomprehensible (May 2001): A study of four health topics on 25 Web sites found that "Health information on the Internet is inefficient, incomplete, and incomprehensible to many Americans," according to a spokesman for the California HealthCare Foundation, which funded the study. Topics studied were childhood asthma, depression, obesity and breast cancer. The study was published in the May 23 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Judging the quality of a health site: JAMA offers the public some suggestions for judging the quality of a health site. Go to http://jama.ama-assn.org, click on "JAMA Patient Page" and find the PDF file called "Health Information on the Internet." (Note: In order to view any PDF file, you will need software called Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't have it, you can download it for free here).
Marketing prescription drugs to parents: A new trend in medications for attention-deficit disorder is to market them to parents in several popular parenting and women's magazines. It's logical to assume, then, that the drug manufacturers believe it's the parents who make the decisions about which ADHD medications their children should be taking. We're concerned about this trend and wonder if it best suits a child's interests and medical needs. Reportedly, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency also is concerned about the advertisements and is moving to limit such advertising.
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Safer Child, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with federal tax-exempt status. Please note: 1) External organizations listed herein do not necessarily endorse Safer Child positions, nor do we necessarily endorse theirs. We list them as a courtesy and aren't responsible for their accuracy, completeness or content. 2) We recommend you maintain a healthy skepticism when reviewing information on the Internet; it might appear to be reliable -- yet actually be false, misleading, incomplete, out-of-date and/or intentionally harmful. 3) There might be material on the Internet that you disagree with or find objectionable; preview all sites before viewing them with your child. 4) We are not responsible for external addresses/phone numbers changing without our knowledge. 5) The information and commentary on this site are not substitutes for professional advice from your doctor, lawyer, or mental health professional. 6) Requests for permission to republish, copy and/or distribute any material found on this Web site should be directed to Safer Child, Inc.
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