(Published in The Huffington Post) International Suicide Prevention Day came and went last week. But it’s hard to know whether most hospitals noticed it, or how well they are doing in combating self-harm by their patients. How hospitals handle mental health issues can have serious consequences. One winter night in 2004, Cynthia Oster, 44, slammed her rented […]
(Published in The Huffington Post) The 50th anniversary this year of the Medicare and Medicaid systems in the United States has predictably prompted a good deal of reflection and even some celebration. They were milestones of healthcare advancement in that country to be sure. But much less reflection seems to happen with the Canadian system, […]
The prognosis for the IOM’s newest bombshell on diagnostic errors is not encouraging. Its first report in 1999 on medical errors promised a 50 percent reduction in 5 years. Since then the number of deaths has soared to the point where hospital harm is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. and Canada. […]
More than a decade late and half the size of the U.S. version, Canada’s hospital “never” list falls short in giving patients and families the protection they need (Published in The Huffington Post, September 23, 2015) As of last Friday, sawing off the wrong limb became a “never” event in Canada. It’s one of 15 incidents the Canadian Patient Safety Institute […]