Marshall Allen

Study: Medical Mistakes 3rd Leading Cause Of Death In United States

If not for flawed tracking, medical mistakes would be the third-leading cause of death, researchers at Johns Hopkins say.

Olga Pierce
Marshall Allen
By Olga Pierce
And Marshall Allen
A patient lays in a hospital bed in Kansas City, Mo. (Photo by Tim Samoff via Flikr)

A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine says medical errors should rank as the third-leading cause of death in the United States — and highlights how shortcomings in tracking vital statistics may hinder research and keep the problem out of the public eye. The authors, led by Johns Hopkins surgeon Dr. Marty Makary, call for changes in

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What A Failed Vegas Sex Pill And The Meningitis Outbreak Have In Common

Imagine my surprise when I heard about Vegas Mixx, the latest club drug being promoted in Las Vegas. Marketing materials described it as a combination of Valium, to relax the mind, and Viagra, to stimulate the, well, you know. Vegas Mixx promised to make users perform “Like a Porn Star.” I’m no medical expert, but […]

Marshall Allen
By Marshall Allen
A vial of injectable steroids from the New England Compounding Center is displayed in the Tennessee Department of Health in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, Oct. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Kristin M. Hall)

Imagine my surprise when I heard about Vegas Mixx, the latest club drug being promoted in Las Vegas. Marketing materials described it as a combination of Valium, to relax the mind, and Viagra, to stimulate the, well, you know. Vegas Mixx promised to make users perform “Like a Porn Star.” I’m no medical expert, but this didn’t sound like a good

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Why Patients Don’t Report Medical Errors

I was recently browsing through the nearly 200 stories we’ve compiled with our Patient Harm Questionnaire, when I was reminded again of a troubling truth. Many of the people who suffer harm while undergoing medical care do not file formal complaints with regulators. The reasons are numerous: They’re often traumatized, disabled, unaware they’ve been a victim […]

Marshall Allen
By Marshall Allen
A patient lays in a hospital bed in Kansas City, Mo. (Photo by Tim Samoff via Flikr)

I was recently browsing through the nearly 200 stories we’ve compiled with our Patient Harm Questionnaire, when I was reminded again of a troubling truth. Many of the people who suffer harm while undergoing medical care do not file formal complaints with regulators. The reasons are numerous: They’re often traumatized, disabled, unaware they’ve been

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Why Patient Harm Is One Of The Leading Causes Of Death In America

Medical care has its own code and culture, which often does not put patients first, according to Dr. Marty Makary, a cancer surgeon and researcher at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the School of Public Health. And providers who speak against that code can pay a heavy price. Makary’s new book, “Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won’t […]

Marshall Allen
By Marshall Allen
A surgical team performs surgery on a patient on Oct. 19, 2011. (Photo by Army Medicine via Flikr)

Medical care has its own code and culture, which often does not put patients first, according to Dr. Marty Makary, a cancer surgeon and researcher at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the School of Public Health. And providers who speak against that code can pay a heavy price. Makary’s new book, “Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won't Tell You

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To Stent Or Not To Stent, That Is In Question

New accusations that one of the nation’s largest hospital chains performed more than a thousand unnecessary heart procedures grabbed headlines this week, but the practice is far from unique in U.S. health care. A 2011 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that only half of 144,000 nonemergency heart catheterizations — typically the use […]

Marshall Allen
By Marshall Allen
Charge nurse Eshter Marania checks on a patient at a hospital in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

New accusations that one of the nation's largest hospital chains performed more than a thousand unnecessary heart procedures grabbed headlines this week, but the practice is far from unique in U.S. health care. A 2011 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that only half of 144,000 nonemergency heart catheterizations —

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Cardiac Arrest: Hospital Refuses To Give Widow Her Husband’s Heart

After more than eight years, Linda Carswell finally has proof: According to photographs submitted as evidence at a recent court hearing, her husband’s heart sits in a locker in the morgue of St. Joseph Medical Center in Houston, stored in two plastic tubs. But the hospital still won’t return it so that Carswell can bury […]

Marshall Allen
By Marshall Allen
Linda Carswell poses at the Langham High School track by a memorial plaque for her husband. Her lobbying and testimony played a crucial role in the Jerry Carswell Memorial Act, a new informed consent for autopsies bill passed in Texas this year. (Sharon Steinmann/ProPublica)

After more than eight years, Linda Carswell finally has proof: According to photographs submitted as evidence at a recent court hearing, her husband's heart sits in a locker in the morgue of St. Joseph Medical Center in Houston, stored in two plastic tubs. But the hospital still won't return it so that Carswell can bury it with his

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