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RaDonda Vaught was convicted of negligent homicide for accidentally dispensing a deadly drug to a patient. She now gives speeches about hospital safety in an era of automation and artificial intelligence.
Some screenings and treatments no longer make sense for patients as they age. Researchers have just added a few more to the list.
Behind their warm-and-fuzzy marketing, infant formula industry giants Abbott, maker of Similac products, and Mead Johnson, maker of the Enfamil line, have turned neonatal intensive care units into arenas of brutal competition.
Patchwork state policies and limited federal oversight have led to a fragmented system for tracking when potential organ donors provide consent or change their minds.
Crystalline silica, which is released into the air when workers cut and polish engineered stone, can scar human lungs beyond repair. Kitchen countertops made with this stone have triggered an increased rate of this fatal illness, doctors say.
Ballad Health, the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, plans to rebuild Unicoi County Hospital on land that two climate modeling companies say is at risk of flooding.
The federal government’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was supposed to help patients with their medical bills while protecting vaccine supply. But allies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are routinely transferring cases from that program to launch lawsuits against drugmakers.
Genesis HealthCare’s controlling investor, Joel Landau, had sought to rebuy the nursing homes while gaining protection from settlement payments over allegations of poor care. A judge rejected the proposal and ordered a new auction. A KFF Health News investigation found Genesis settled hundreds of lawsuits but didn’t pay them out fully.
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A joint investigation by KFF Health News and NBC News found that cosmetic surgery chains have been the target of scores of medical malpractice and negligence lawsuits, including 12 wrongful death cases.
Some pumps used in end-stage heart failure caused a buildup of biological material that blocks blood flow from the device to the heart’s aorta. The FDA’s recall affects nearly 14,000 devices.
The FDA and Department of Justice are investigating the Anterior Growth Guidance Appliance, or “AGGA.” TMJ and sleep apnea patients have filed lawsuits alleging the device harmed them. Its inventor now says the AGGA was never meant for these ailments.
Thousands of medical devices are sold, and even implanted, with no safety tests.
The HeartMate 3 is considered the safest mechanical heart pump of its kind, but a federal database contains more than 4,500 reports in which the medical device may have caused or contributed to a patient’s death.
The FDA and the manufacturer were alerted to Profemur titanium hips breaking inside U.S. patients as of 2005. It took 15 years to recall the devices. Many fractures could have been avoided.
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Social media marketing lures people to South Florida’s lucrative cosmetic surgery scene with the promise of cheap Brazilian butt lifts. But some researchers, patient advocates, and surgeon groups say that the risks of the procedure are generally not understood by prospective patients, and that an unsafe number of surgeries can be performed per day in office settings, maximizing profits.
Private equity firms have shelled out almost $1 trillion to acquire nearly 8,000 health care businesses, in deals almost always hidden from federal regulators. The result: higher prices, lawsuits, and complaints about care.
After a Tennessee nurse killed a patient because of a drug error, the companies behind hospital medication cabinets said they’d make the devices safer. But did they?
Among the 764 hospitals hit with a 1% reduction in Medicare payments this year for having high numbers of patient infections and avoidable complications are more than three dozen that Medicare also ranks as among the best in the country.
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