By Kay Lazar, Globe Staff Three US senators are ratcheting up a campaign to slash the misuse of powerful sedatives, known as antipsychotics, in the nation’s nursing homes. The three -- Senators Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. -- have filed a proposal that would require federal regulators to issue standardized rules for nursing homes to follow in seeking permission from patients, or their designated health care agents, such as a family member, before administering antipsychotics for so-called off-label use. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved antipsychotic drugs to treat an array of psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, but physicians are allowed to prescribe antipsychotics “off-label’’ for other illnesses. Numerous studies have concluded that these medications can be harmful ... Continue reading →
By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff While at a conference in Buenos Aires, a Boston Children’s Hospital employee lost a laptop containing a file with information about 2,159 patients, including names, birth dates, diagnoses, and treatment information. The laptop was password protected but not encrypted, according to a hospital press release. The file, which did not include financial data or Social Security numbers, was not saved to the hard drive but was on the laptop in an e-mail attachment when it was stolen. “Boston Children’s takes this incident and the protection of protected health and personal information extremely seriously,” Dr. Daniel J. Nigrin, the hospital’s chief information officer, said in a press release. “We take great measures to ensure that protected health information is never inadvertently ... Continue reading →
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) — Six emergency room doctors at Waterbury Hospital have resigned following the hospital’s decision to outsource staffing in the ER beginning this fall. Hospital spokesman Matthew Burgard tells the Republican-American newspaper (http://bit.ly/Kf9U8O ) the resignations of about 37 percent of doctors staffing the ER will begin taking effect in July. He says there will be no immediate staffing problems and other physicians have agreed to step in on a per-diem basis to help staff the emergency department after the resignations take effect. The hospital recently entered into a contract with EmCare, a Dallas-based company that will provide emergency department physicians to the hospital. Waterbury Hospital also is in the process of merging with Saint Mary’s Hospital, and Burgard says the possible consolidation ... Continue reading →
