-
Brazen pandemic-era discrimination spurred new protections for patients with disabilities
Pervasive bias in the health system against patients with disabilities became glaringly apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. News organizations alerted the public about state triage plans that deprioritized people with disabilities for life-saving treatments and hospital visitor bans that barred patients with cognitive and communication disabilities from being accompanied by family members. Stories also covered…
-
A sickle cell drug that was hyped in headlines is now suspected of harming patients
“Landmark victory.” “Life-changing.” “Transformative.” “Paradigm shift.” Potentially “revolutionary.” Those upbeat descriptions appeared in headlines about the sickle cell drug Oxbryta (voxelotor) before it was abruptly pulled from the market in late September due to safety concerns. Pfizer’s decision to withdraw the drug — citing an “imbalance” of complications and deaths in patients who were taking…
-
FDA to launch ‘active’ monitory system to improve medical device safety
A congressional watchdog agency has reported that the FDA is launching a surveillance system to actively look for safety problems with medical devices — 12 years after it was mandated to do so. The new system aims to detect potential safety issues nearly in real time by monitoring data like electronic health records and billing…
-
New ‘structural’ patient safety measure for hospitals: What to know
Most U.S. hospitals will soon be required to report whether they follow 25 best practices to ensure patient safety, to deflate preventable harms that swelled during the pandemic. Unlike outcomes metrics like infections or falls, CMS’s new Patient Safety Structural Measure, which takes effect Oct. 1, assesses whether hospitals take a range of steps such…
-
How One Startup Is Working to Reduce Surgical Variability & Bring Transparency to the OR
How One Startup Is Working to Reduce Surgical Variability & Bring Transparency to the OR Palto Alto-based Theator makes technology to help providers understand the high level of variability in outcomes among common surgical procedures. The startup recently uncovered a key reason why patient suffer complications after hysterectomies, and it stems from the fact that…
Got any book recommendations?