Medical Errors
Will Medical Mistakes Kill You or Someone You Lo…
Are medical mistakes common? A study from Johns Hopkins University titled "Medical Error--The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US" suggests that the answer to the question about medical mistakes is…
Can You Trust Your Blood Pressure Measurements? …
Visit a doctor's office for almost anything that ails you and the chances are good you will have your blood pressure measured. That's because it is an essential diagnostic procedure to detect hyperten…
Why Pharmacists Can’t Just Slap a Label on…
“Don’t you just have to slap a label on it?” Pharmacists around the country hear the same thing, all day, every day. I know this because I am in several pharmacist groups on Facebook, each with …
Show 1250: Antimicrobial Resistant Infections Co…
Everyone is weary of the coronavirus pandemic and ready to be done with it. So the news that a new pandemic is already slowly unfolding is unwelcome. But unless we pay attention and do what we can to …
How Informed Are Patients Who Sign Consent Forms…
Before a surgeon does an operation, there is a legal requirement to obtain informed consent from the patient. In theory, this holds true for any treatment plan, although few people sign consent forms …
Should You Question a Change in Appearance of Yo…
Dennis Miller, R.Ph. is a retired chain store pharmacist. His book, The Shocking Truth About Pharmacy: A Pharmacist Reveals All the Disturbing Secrets, can be downloaded in its entirety at Amazon for …
Why We Care That Pharmacists Are Going on Strike
Have you heard that pharmacists are going on strike? Perhaps you wonder what they could possibly be complaining about, since their salaries are generally quite decent. Or maybe you think any concerns …
Here’s Why I’m Hoping Chain Store Pharmacist…
Dennis Miller, R.Ph. is a retired chain store pharmacist. His book, The Shocking Truth About Pharmacy: A Pharmacist Reveals All the Disturbing Secrets, can be downloaded in its entirety at Amazon for …
Shortage of Pharmacy Techs During Pandemic Can H…
By Dennis Miller, R.Ph., the author of The Shocking Truth About Pharmacy: A Pharmacist Reveals All the Disturbing Secrets. Pharmacies were dangerous places before the pandemic because of understaffin…
Show 1239: How Can We Prevent Diagnostic Disaste…
It seems obvious that to provide the proper treatment, a doctor first needs to know what is wrong. However, although medical experts have been focusing on improving diagnosis in medicine for more than…
Can Chain Drugstores Handle the Deluge of COVID-…
Will your pharmacy have enough staffing to handle the anticipated deluge of COVID-19 vaccinations along with their usual high volume of prescriptions? For decades, pharmacists have stated passi…
18 Pharmacists Discuss Their Most Memorable Medi…
This is another excerpt from pharmacist Dennis Miller’s new book The Shocking Truth About Pharmacy: A Pharmacist Reveals All The Disturbing Secrets. The Kindle e-book is available for download on Am…
Show 1209: How a Doctor Confronts Medical Error
When hospitals are overstressed and understaffed, as they have been during the COVID-19 pandemic, medical errors are hardly surprising. Back in 2016, a group of doctors published an analysis in the BM…
A Pharmacist’s 10 Reasons Why Doctors Pres…
Have you ever wondered why American doctors prescribe pills so eagerly? I have given this question a lot of thought, and here is what I've come up with. [1] Physicians genuinely believe pills are the …
Show 1207: Can You Use Your Patient Portal for B…
Staying at home and maintaining safe physical distance means that some primary care practices are not functioning normally during the pandemic. However, you may still want to connect with your doctor.…
Is Your Doctor Stressed? Depressed Doctors Are D…
Most patients have no way of assessing the mental state of their physician, but it could have a significant impact on safety. A systematic review published in JAMA Network Open (Nov. 27, 2019) analyze…
Should You Read Your Doctor’s Visit Notes?
Many if not most health systems and doctors’ offices around the country have adopted electronic medical records. As a result, patients can access appointment information, pay their bills, check thei…
What Do Interns Do All Day?
Interns are medical doctors who have completed four years of medical school but need an additional year of training. They get that by working in a hospital before they go on to practice medicine or sp…
Improving Patient Safety by Reducing Alert Fatig…
Drug interactions are a serious hazard in hospitals and in the community. If patients receive prescriptions for incompatible medications, they can experience severe side effects that may even be life …
How Serious Is the Problem of Inappropriate Anti…
Infectious disease experts worry a lot about the problem of bacterial resistance related to inappropriate antibiotics. A study of patient records suggests that doctors in the US may be prescribing ant…
How Clean Is the Endoscope Your Doctor Will Use?
An endoscope is a device used for diagnosis and minimally invasive procedures. Any endoscope is supposed to be carefully cleaned before each use to avoid infections or cross-contamination from one pat…
How Common Are Antibiotic-Resistant “Night…
Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (DC) have found bacteria resistant to virtually every known antibiotic in samples from hospitals around the country (MMWR, April 3, 2018). …
Will a Crowded Emergency Room Interfere with You…
Have you ever had to wait for hours to be seen in an emergency room? Who hasn’t? A Crowded Emergency Room May Mean Doctors Miss Information: A new study shows, unsurprisingly, that care may be compr…
An Inside Look at Pharmacy Mistakes
We have frequently urged our readers to be vigilant whenever they pick up a prescription from the pharmacy. Check to make sure that the drug you were given is exactly what your doctor prescribed: same…
Why Are So Many Pharmacists Disillusioned?
Most pharmacists receive a nice paycheck, so any claim that they are disillusioned is unlikely to garner much sympathy. But understanding the reasons why pharmacists are disillusioned may help you to …
Patients Do Better Under Women Doctors’ Ca…
Female physicians outperformed their male colleagues on key medical outcomes in a recent study. Researchers reported in JAMA Internal Medicine that hospitalized Medicare patients were less likely to d…
Are Medical Mistakes and Deaths Being Swept Unde…
A provocative article in the prestigious medical journal BMJ (May 3, 2016) was titled "Medical Error--The Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S." The patient safety experts from John Hopkins went on…
What Is the Third Leading Cause of Death?
Patient safety experts from Johns Hopkins University estimate that more than 250,000 Americans die each year because of medical mistakes. That makes health care errors the third leading cause of death…
Be Wary of Deadly Mistakes in Health Care
Most people never imagine that doctors, nurses or pharmacists make mistakes. They trust their health professionals to make the correct diagnosis, prescribe the best treatment and administer it correct…
Residents Fond of Low-Value Tests
Some doctors have been trying to get their colleagues to cut back on the number of low-value tests that are ordered. The American Board of Internal Medicine has targeted such tests for its Choosing Wi…
Should You Fire Your Doctor?
How do you know if the doctor you are seeing is right for you? Checking to make sure that there are actually papers hanging on the wall stating that the practitioner graduated from medical school and…
Are You Furious You Will Be Misdiagnosed? You Sh…
Chances are shockingly good that you will be misdiagnosed by at least one doctor sometime during your life. That's the conclusion of a blue-ribbon panel of experts from the prestigious Institute of Me…
Keeping Patients Safe in the Hospital
A large study of patients and their families sought feedback on health care harm. The findings could help with keeping patients safe in the hospital. Safe Patient Project: The Safe Patient Project spo…
Taking a Peek at Your Doctor’s Notes
Doctors have long treated their clinic notes like top secret documents, but that attitude is changing. Research shows that patients appreciate being able to check their records and doctors' notes. A f…
Why Do Surgical Patients Land Back in the Hospit…
Hospitals have begun paying much more attention to readmissions of patients within a month after they have been discharged. That is because neither Medicare nor Medicaid will pay for the care of such …
Survey: Medical Errors Are Common
Just how common are medical errors? A poll conducted in Massachusetts found that one in four adults questioned reported that they had personally experienced a medical error of some kind within the pas…
Medical Mistakes Are Killing Fewer Americans
A new report from the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) acknowledges that medical errors are common. Government analysts reviewed between 18,000 and 33,000 medical records of Med…
Nurse Is Distressed about Poor Hand Washing Habi…
Q. Yesterday my next-door neighbor (a nurse in our local monster-sized hospital) vented aggressively about doctors she witnesses moving from patient to patient without washing their hands or wearing g…
Patients Need to Wash Their Hands Too
Doctors, nurses and other health professionals have been urged to wash their hands frequently. Hospitals even penalize health care professionals who do not follow hygiene guidelines. But is the messag…
FDA Calls for Change in Techniques Used for Hyst…
The safety of a technique used in laparoscopic removal of uterine fibroids has been called into question. Fibroid growths in the uterus can be quite uncomfortable, though they are benign. Gynecologist…