Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hospital Roundup: Baltimore ERs 'Row Upstream' To Save Gunshot Victims; Calif. Voters Weigh Hospital Fee Measure
The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Emergency Rooms Struggle To Care For Severely Wounded Patients
More than $80 million has been spent at Baltimore hospitals caring for patients shot in gun crimes in the past five years. During that time, the number of cases doubled and the annual price tag soared nearly 30 percent. Most of the medical costs are now covered by Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor...Outside the hospital, first responders are trying to keep up with the merciless uptick in gun violence. Baltimore police officers have begun carrying tourniquets, which constrict blood flowing from wounds, and a national push is underway to make the devices as widespread as defibrillators and as commonly understood as CPR. (George, 10/14)
Sacramento Bee: Ad By Hospital Fee Proponents Is Truthful
Supporters of Proposition 52 took to the airwaves in mid-August and have run a heavy rotation of ads meant to build support for the hospital industry-sponsored measure that would place in the California Constitution an existing state charge on hospitals. Some of the ads feature a theme common in a state in which lawmakers are usually held in low esteem: The measure will keep the Legislature from diverting the money. (Miller, 10/14)
New Hampshire Times Union: Emails Suggest Fix Was In For Dartmouth-Hitchcock At State Hospital
Former doctors and nurses at New Hampshire Hospital have argued for months that the fix was in for Dartmouth-Hitchcock to take over a lucrative staffing contract. Now the ousted employees and other Dartmouth-Hitchcock critics have a paper trail at which to point. Documents released Friday by the state Republican Party suggest cooperation, if not collusion, between Dartmouth College executives and state officials in drafting a request for proposals that some say was designed so that only Dartmouth-Hitchcock could apply. (Solomon, 10/16)
Health News Florida: HCA Hospitals Favor Trauma Care Proposal
Backing the Florida Department of Health, hospitals in Clay and Palm Beach counties are seeking to intervene in a legal battle about proposed changes to the state's rules for approving new trauma centers. Orange Park Medical Center and JFK Medical Center — both of which are part of the HCA health-care chain — filed requests Thursday to intervene in the dispute at the state Division of Administrative Hearings. The Department of Health last month began moving forward with a controversial proposal that would change criteria for determining where additional trauma centers can open. (10/16)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: University Hospitals Mistake Kills 31-Year-Old Sheffield Lake Woman, Jury Rules
A Cuyahoga County jury awarded a Sheffield Lake family $1.9 million Thursday after deciding that an emergency room misdiagnosis cost a 31-year-old woman her life. [Lisa] Born had a blood clot, called a deep vein thrombosis or DVT, that was blocking circulation in her right leg. But physicians at the University Hospitals facility never tested her for DVT, the jury found, even after a triage nurse noted that Born's birth control medication increased her risk for DVT as much as 10 times. (Harper, 10/14)
Indianapolis Star: Widow Wins $2M Verdict Against IU Health
Late last week, after deliberating for 2½ hours, a jury returned a $2 million verdict against Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital for Smith’s death in December 2006. The decision, which took 10 years, in part because the first judge assigned to the case retired, came as long-awaited relief to Monica Smith, who lost her car and house after her husband died at age 45. Under Indiana law, the verdict will be capped at $1.25 million, but that doesn’t bother Smith. (Rudavsky, 10/14)
