Saying at least 100,000 people die from snakebites each year, the World Health Organization last week published new guidelines for producing, regulating, and controlling antivenins and a helpful online database about dangerous snakes.
Vaccine financing and safety are also to be discussed at the June 2-3 public meeting in Washington, D.C., by the HHS National Vaccine Advisory Committee.
Latest advances in complex medical treatments and delivering safe, patient-centered, cost-effective care will be among the hot topics as thousands of nurses who care for high acuity and critically ill patients and their families convene this month in Washington, D.C.
Requesting comments by Aug. 4, the agency noted, "The lack of adherence to voluntary infection control procedures is of particular interest to OSHA."
The U.S. Postal Service published its proposed rule May 5 to carry out the Prevent All Tobacco Cigarettes Trafficking (PACT) Act, which was signed by President Obama on March 31.
Today, there are more than 640 primary stroke centers certified by The Joint Commission (a private non-profit organization that provides certification programs for health care organizations, including hospitals) operating in 49 states and the District of Columbia, said Jean Range, The Joint Commission executive director of Disease-Specific Care Certification.
The United States alleges that between January 2001 through December 2006, AstraZeneca promoted the drug Seroquel to psychiatrists and other physicians for certain uses that were not approved by FDA as safe and effective (including aggression, Alzheimer’s disease, anger management, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar maintenance, dementia, depression, mood disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and sleeplessness).
Safety is the ultimate self-defense. While a leader might never be physically attacked, he will likely be sometimes swarmed by multiple problems, probed for weaknesses by seeming adversaries, or off-balanced by forces of swirling change. Even confronted with situations that can result in accidents and injury.
The health care industry is a hotbed for continual waves of technological innovation and advancement, so why are front-line medical workers relying on respirator technology that hasn't changed much in more than 20 years? And why are manufacturers of personal protective technology so slow in responding to continuous complaints about respirator comfort and breathability?
NIOSH notes in its publication "Occupational Exposure to Hot Environments," (1986) that although workers can acclimatize themselves to different levels of heat, each worker has an upper limit for heat stress beyond which that worker can become a heat casualty. Further, it has been shown that a worker's ability to focus attention and the worker's reaction times can be dramatically reduced by even a 2 percent dehydration level due to heat stress.
"The most important -- and yet sometimes the most difficult -- thing to do is to keep your composure," said ACEP President Dr. Angela Gardner. "You will be better able to provide critical information to emergency responders and physicians, whether for yourself or someone else."
Among the 2010 winners and honorable mentions for the Alice Hamilton Award announced Wednesday is a paper published last month in Toxicology that found mice exposed to multi-walled carbon nanotubes quickly suffered lung damage.
The system treats asthma symptoms by using radiofrequency energy to heat the lung tissue in a controlled manner, reducing the thickness of smooth muscle in the airways and improving a patient’s ability to breathe.
Infusion pumps have been the source of persistent safety problems. In the past five years, FDA has received more than 56,000 reports of adverse events associated with the use of infusion pumps, including serious injuries and more than 500 deaths.
It started Sunday and ends May 1, incorporating April 28, which is observed around the world as Workers Memorial Day.
Failing to hear smoke detectors and take quick action is the major reason adults 65 or older are more than twice as likely as any other age group to die in a home fire.
One of every 10 adult Medicaid patients who were hospitalized in 2007 for a medical condition other than childbirth had to be readmitted at least once within 30 days of their initial hospital stay that year, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The federal agency's analysis shows that these Medicaid patients were 70 percent more likely to be readmitted at least once within 30 days, compared with their privately insured counterparts.
Food and Drug Administration has announced a new initiative to ensure that caregivers and patients safely use complex medical devices in the home.
A respiratory therapist and a police office were infected with bacterial meningitis after being exposed to a patient Dec. 3, but the Oakland hospital where he was treated did not report it to the local health department as quickly as the standard requires, according to Cal/OSHA.
In order to remain competitive, many players are extensively engaged in the development of an anti-MRSA treatment, which can be used along with conventional antibacterials, the study notes.