Don't get sick in July

If you need an elective procedure, you may want to hold off until after the month of July. If you get sick or injured and need to be hospitalized, make sure you don't get sent to a teaching hospital during July.

A recent study has found that the influx of rookie doctors in teaching hospitals in July causes a 10% spike in deaths from medical errors every year.

YIKES!

New doctors linked to unnecessary deaths, especially in July

(NaturalNews) If you plan on going to a teaching hospital for a test or elective procedure, here's a warning that could save your life: Stay away from the hospital in July. The reason? According to a new study headed by Dr. David Phillips and Gwendolyn Barker from the University of California, San Diego, fatal medication errors soar that month -- especially in teaching hospitals.

The research, which was just published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, found a clear association between inexperienced physicians and deadly medical errors. Specifically, the spike in hospital deaths each year from medication mistakes (such as accidental overdoses, wrong drugs given, and accidents in the use of drugs during medical and surgical procedures) in July coincided exactly with the annual influx of thousands of rookie doctors who begin their medical residencies and take on responsibility for patient care that month.

This July peak in fatal drug errors was seen only in counties with teaching hospitals. In fact, the greater the concentration of teaching hospitals in a region, the greater the July spike in deaths. This was no little insignificant blip in the number of fatal physician screw-ups, either. The number of July deaths from medication mistakes linked to new doctors was a full 10 percent higher than the expected level.

Read more: Natural News

The study recommends that new residents have increased supervision, additional safety training and that hospitals should re-evaluate their responsibilities.

Let's hope some changes are made before to many more die from unnecessary medical mistakes.


In the meantime, I think I'll try to stay healthy at least until the end of next month.

interesting indeed....I would have to say though that it may not be as bad as it seems....10% is not actually a large number in most hospitals....it is a good article though and something to be aware of but I wouldn't fear it too much

Haha. Yeah they have to learn somehow...but not on us, eh? Really interesting to think about.

I found a link to the study for anyone interested in reading it.


A July Spike in Fatal Medication Errors: A Possible Effect of New
Medical Residents

Originally posted by Dennislp3
I would have to say though that it may not be as bad as it seems....10% is not actually a large number in most hospitals....

I think if you were one of the people who make up that 10% (or a family member of one) then you may beg to differ.

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
Haha. Yeah they have to learn somehow...but not on us, eh? Really interesting to think about.

It certainly does raise some interesting moral issues; I don't mind if a trainee hairdresser messes up my hair cut (well, not too much anyway) but I'm not too keen on the idea of being a test patient for newly qualified medics even though I realise that as you said they have to gain experience somehow...

I think this is somewhat an insult to new doctors.
:S

I believe in this report about 2 years ago, i suffered from a minor acid refulx attack, which included bleching, and a minor heartbeat, due to the acid.

I waited 2 days in the hospital they thought it there was something wrong with my heart, but it wasnt my heart, it was my acid refulx, i told them my stomach hurts and i feel pain they didnt do anything about it.



Thanks for the reminder thread OP.

[edit on 22-6-2010 by Agent_USA_Supporter]

Originally posted by Danna
I think this is somewhat an insult to new doctors.
:S

If it saves lives, I don't care if their little feelings get hurt.


Why are some people more worried about hurting people's feelings than protecting lives?

Hmm this one hits close to home for me. My son was born with a cleft lip. The first photo will be a picture of him sleeping about 2 weeks prior to having the surgery to repair it. The second picture was taken about 2 weeks ago. The surgery was performed by Dr. Hu at a teaching hospital in georgia. It took place July 7th 09 @ The Childrens Hospital @ the Middle Georgia Medical College.
Before

After


While it may be true that deaths increase at this time of the year, it is also true that GREAT work is still done at this time of the year!

reply to post by azrael36

While it may be true that deaths increase at this time of the year, it is also true that GREAT work is still done at this time of the year!

No One said all docs are bad this time of year. Its the newbies that need looking after. The study said that most of the deaths are caused by bad presecriptions.

I hope the medical community takes the study seriously and watches over the new residents better, at least for the first few months. No need to put people in danger just to avoid bruising a few egos.


BTW, your son looks great. You can't even see the scar.

Originally posted by FortAnthem
reply to post by azrael36

 

BTW, your son looks great. You can't even see the scar.

Thanks!!!

He's a member of the tin foil hat brigade in training

Since the month of July has officially begun, I thought it might be a good idea to bump this thread to warn those who may have missed it earlier.

Watch out for those new interns folks, they could be the death of you.