http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. The current focus on medical errors isn't quite as new as it seems. A Johns Hopkins review of groundbreaking neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing's notes, made at the turn of the last century, has turned up copious documentation of his own surgical mishaps as well as his suggestions for preventing those mistakes in the future. http://phys.org/news217527952.html Medicine & Health Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:26:53 EST news217527952 Medical students should have basic knowledge of common medication errors before they begin seeing patients at the hospital, and researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center report that allowing them to play detective by watching, spotting and analyzing medical errors as they occur can go a long way toward helping prevent potentially fatal mistakes in their future practices. http://phys.org/news214675855.html Medicine & Health Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:40:03 EST news214675855 Few children leave surgery with a foreign body left inside them, but such events appear most likely to occur during gynecologic operations, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. This surgical error was associated with longer hospital stays and increased costs, but not with an increased risk of death. http://phys.org/news209063650.html Medicine & Health Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:40:08 EST news209063650 (AP) -- Learning he had prostate cancer floored John Noble. Then came the prospect of surgery and his overpowering fear of being "put under" with anesthesia. http://phys.org/news208623334.html Medicine & Health Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:40:01 EST news208623334 Ann Arbor, Mich.- The University of Michigan's program of full disclosure and compensation for medical errors resulted in a decrease in new claims for compensation (including lawsuits), time to claim resolution and lower liability costs, according to a study published Aug. 17 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. http://phys.org/news201230477.html Medicine & Health Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:40:01 EST news201230477 (AP) -- Ninety percent of physicians surveyed said doctors overtest and overtreat to protect themselves from malpractice lawsuits. http://phys.org/news196963035.html Medicine & Health Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:57:34 EST news196963035 (AP) -- Patients will be told when they're being treated by rookie doctors, who would get shorter shifts and better supervision under proposed work changes for medical residents. http://phys.org/news196534099.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:10:03 EST news196534099 The benefits of the Summary Care Record (SCR) scheme, introduced as part of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT), appear more modest than anticipated, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal today. http://phys.org/news195936260.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:44:39 EST news195936260 Caffeine can help those working shifts or nights to make fewer errors, according to a new study by Cochrane researchers. The findings have implications for health workers and for any industry relying on shift or night work, such as transportation. http://phys.org/news192826160.html Medicine & Health Tue, 11 May 2010 19:49:36 EST news192826160 The percentage of clinicians who meet criteria for depression appears to increase significantly during medical internship, according to a report posted online that will appear in the June print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Increased work hours, medical errors, genetic predisposition and receiving a medical education in the United States are among factors that appear to be associated with depressive symptoms among medical interns. http://phys.org/news190309939.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:40:01 EST news190309939 Congress passed the most comprehensive healthcare reform bill since the formation of Medicare. While a monumental achievement, the bill leaves much of the critical work of healthcare reform unfinished, according to a new editorial by Dr. Robert Wachter, Chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, and past president of the Society of Hospital Medicine, in the April issue of the Journal of Hospital Medicine. http://phys.org/news190002063.html Medicine & Health Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:21:24 EST news190002063 Surgeons who are burned out or depressed are more likely to say they had recently committed a major error on the job, according to the largest study to date on physician burnout. The new findings suggest that the mental well-being of the surgeon is associated with a higher rate of self-reported medical errors, something that may undermine patient safety more than the fatigue that is often blamed for many of the medical mistakes. http://phys.org/news178201343.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:40:04 EST news178201343 Attending surgeons and obstetricians/gynecologists who worked nighttime hours did not have a significantly greater rate of complications for procedures performed the next day, but having less than six hours of opportunity for sleep between procedures was associated with an increased rate of surgical complications, according to a study in the October 14 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on surgical care. http://phys.org/news174661494.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:40:09 EST news174661494 Mayo Clinic researchers report that distress and fatigue among medical residents are independent contributors to self-perceived medical errors. The findings appear today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). http://phys.org/news172856076.html Medicine & Health Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:34:59 EST news172856076 Is it more urgent for hospitals, doctors and nurses to focus resources on preventing the thousands of falls that injure hospitalized patients each year, or to home in on preventing rare but dramatic instances of wrong-side surgery? Is it best to concentrate immediately on preventing pediatric medical errors or on preventing drug interactions in the elderly? http://phys.org/news170438785.html Medicine & Health Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:08:25 EST news170438785 Nearly two-thirds of parents reported they felt the need to watch over their child's care to ensure that medical errors are not made during their hospital stay, according to a study led by Beth A. Tarini, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School. http://phys.org/news168537543.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:30:01 EST news168537543 (AP) -- When a treatment goes wrong at a U.S. hospital, fear of a lawsuit usually means "never daring to say you're sorry." http://phys.org/news167321052.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:04:50 EST news167321052 New recommendations to limit the work hours of medical residents could cost the nation's teaching hospitals about $1.6 billion annually to hire substitute workers, according to a new report from the RAND Corporation and UCLA. http://phys.org/news162107475.html Medicine & Health Thu, 21 May 2009 06:51:57 EST news162107475 Side discrepancy errors in radiology reports do occur and it is important that radiologists, referring physicians and patients communicate well to help prevent errors in clinical management, according to a study performed at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. "Side discrepancy errors refer to instances when the side of the lesion is incorrectly noted in one or more sections of the radiology report," said Minal Jagtiani Sangwaiya, MD, lead author of the study. http://phys.org/news162047036.html Medicine & Health Wed, 20 May 2009 14:05:19 EST news162047036 We can learn from our mistakes, but how willing are we to talk about them? And what happens when those making mistakes are physicians, who are often expected to be infallible? http://phys.org/news142159251.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:40:51 EST news142159251