Feds: Only One in Seven Hospital Medical Errors Reported

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Published on
January 6, 2012

medical errors, reporting on health, hospitalMedical Errors: Hospitals report only one in seven medical errors involving Medicare patients, and they don't do enough to prevent "adverse events" like falls and drug dose errors after they happen, according to a new HHS inspector general report, Robert Pear reports for the New York Times.

Environmental Health: Releases of dioxin and other toxins into the environment had been declining in recent years but rose in 2010 according to a new EPA report, Juliet Eilperin reports for the Washington Post.

Immigrant Health: Massachusetts can't exclude legal immigrants from Commonwealth Care, a key part of its universal health care program, the state's Supreme Judicial Court has ruled, Chelsea Conaboy and Martin Finucane report for the Boston Globe. To save money, Mass. had dropped 29,000 legal immigrants who had lived in the state for fewer than five years.

Breast Cancer: Television reporter Mary Nickles televised her mammogram for a segment on breast cancer – only to find a malignant lump in her breast, KUTV-Utah reports.

Military Health: As the nation faces a historic shift in military strategy, Pentagon officials are struggling to control health care costs that have risen to $52 billion annually, Sarah Kliff reports for the Washington Post.

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Photo credit: Lars Ploughman via Flickr