Americans Cutting Back On Medical Care, Poll Finds

Copper Fights Hospital Infections “Once you enter a hospital for care, your risk of developing a hospital-acquired infection is one in twenty. It's a common problem plaguing our nation's hospitals and the patients inside them and the consequences can be deadly. Now, why a common metal could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars. … These three individuals are part of the two million people in the United States that get hospital infections every year. One-hundred-thousand of them will die. … No one's sure why copper kills, but studies show it destroys nearly all of infection-causing microbes. "They are not coming back to life," Dr. Schmidt said. "They are dead and as they say, 'Dead microbes tell no tales.'" In Dr. Schmidt's study, copper replaces plastic components in hospital rooms like bed rails, nurse call buttons, tray tables, keyboards and mice. Cassandra Salgado, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina, says copper will add another much-needed layer of protection.“

FDA Alert - Fluoroquinolone Antimicrobial Drugs “Fluoroquinolones are associated with an increased risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture. This risk is further increased in those over age 60, in kidney, heart, and lung transplant recipients, and with use of concomitant steroid therapy. Physicians should advise patients, at the first sign of tendon pain, swelling, or inflammation, to stop taking the fluoroquinolone, to avoid exercise and use of the affected area, and to promptly contact their doctor about changing to a non-fluoroquinolone antimicrobial drug.“

Hospital bullies take a toll on patient safety: Bad behavior by doctors and others undercuts morale, leads to errors

How Independent Are Vaccine Defenders? “The vaccine industry gives millions to the Academy of Pediatrics for conferences, grants, medical education classes and even helped build their headquarters. The totals are kept secret, but public documents reveal bits and pieces.”

In Spain, 6 Of Every 100 Patients Die In Hospital Due To Adverse Drug Reaction, Study Suggests “The work carried out at the UGR has revealed that the drugs which provoked an ADR usually were AINE (medicines with a strong anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic effect) as well as platelet anti-aggregants, such as acetylsalicylic acid, two types of drugs frequently used in the daily medical practice. Pardo Cabello has also shown the importance of avoiding the mixing of gastro-damaging drugs such as NSAIDs, anti-aggregants and corticoids, as 53% of the deaths caused by ADR analyzed in this study had received a mixing of such medicines.“

Magazine Reveals 'Best Hospitals' List (USA)

Poor Health Literacy in the Elderly Predicts All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality

While the U.S. Spends Heavily on Health Care, a Study Faults the Quality “The report, the second national scorecard from this influential health policy research group, shows that the United States spends more than twice as much on each person for health care as most other industrialized countries. But it has fallen to last place among those countries in preventing deaths through use of timely and effective medical care, according to the report by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit research group in New York.”