Mysterious Residue On Equipment Has Delayed Hundreds Of Surgeries In Colo.
Initial testing on the substance — previously described as black flecks on reusable surgical instruments at Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center — came back as inconclusive. Also: Hospital-at-home nurses at Boston’s Mass General Brigham have voted to unionize.
Denver Post:
500-Plus Surgeries Halted As Aurora VA Hospital Still Can't ID Residue
The Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora still cannot identify the residue that has forced the hospital to postpone or move hundreds of surgeries since April. Initial testing of the substance came back as inconclusive, said Janelle Beswick, a regional spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Another lab found that a sample from a sterilizer filter was plastic and not biological material. (Tabachnik, 6/17)
Modern Healthcare:
Mass General Brigham Hospital-At-Home Nurses To Unionize
Nurses at one of the nation’s largest hospital-at-home programs have unionized, a move they hope could influence the future of in-home acute care and encourage more people working in home healthcare to join unions. The union vote at Boston’s Mass General Brigham comes as hospitals push aggressively to expand care outside of their walls, while a worker shortage and increased demand for healthcare contribute to rising labor strife among caregivers. (Eastabrook, 6/18)
Stat:
HHS Considering Changes To Sterilization Consent Process
Sonya Borrero didn’t learn about forced sterilization in medical school. She learned about it from a novel. She’s a historical fiction nut, and during her year as chief resident, she happened to pick up a book depicting the horrors of India’s population control program of 1975, when poor people were literally beaten up and dragged off the street into surgery. (Boodman, 6/18)
KFF Health News:
¿Cómo Se Dice? California Loops In AI To Translate Health Care Information
Tener gripe, tener gripa, engriparse, agriparse, estar agripado, estar griposo, agarrar la gripe, coger la influenza. In Spanish, there are at least a dozen ways to say someone has the flu — depending on the country. Translating “cardiac arrest” into Spanish is also tricky because “arresto” means getting detained by the police. Likewise, “intoxicado” means you have food poisoning, not that you’re drunk. The examples of how translation could go awry in any language are endless. (Andalo, 6/18)
Stat:
Former Device CEO Who Sold Fake Parts Sentenced To Six Years
The former CEO of Stimwave, a company that sold pain-relief devices with dummy pieces of plastic, was sentenced Monday by a New York judge to six years in prison. (Lawrence, 6/17)
Chicago Tribune:
Prosecutors Recommend 15 Years In Prison For Former Outcome Health CEO
The former head of the once-prominent startup Outcome Health should serve 15 years in prison, and two other former executives should serve 10 years, after the three were convicted of fraud, government prosecutors told a federal judge Friday. (Schencker, 6/17)
