Dan Frith

Three premature infants in Indiana died after being accidentally given and adult-sized dose of blood thinner in a hospital. An adult dose of heparin, a drug routinely given to premature babies, was given to the premature infants. They were given the drug, often used to prevent blood clots which could…

A Davidson County Jury awarded one of the largest civil jury verdicts in the past 20 years when it found a Lexington, North Carolina nursing home responsible for the mistreatment of an Alzheimer’s disease patient. The 83 year old patient went into the Brian Center Nursing Care of Lexington for…

We witness, hear about, and read about the poor conditions in America’s Nursing Homes. Many, if not most, facilities are intentionally under-staffed in order to maximize profit at the expense of taking care of the elderly and frail. The fact that these Nursing Homes are forced to pay thousands of…

An 85 year old woman resided at the White Oak Manor nursing home in Spartanburg, South Carolina for about 6 months. The resident was a diabetic on oral medications, had previously suffered two hip fractures, had early onset of dementia, and a heart condition. During her stay at the nursing…

Nursing homes across America would, for the first time, have to install sprinkler systems throughout their buildings if they wish to continue to serve Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, under a new regulation proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today. As an interim step toward today’s announcement, in…

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal informed readers that hospitals are moving to lower the risks associated with anesthesia by using “conscious sedation.” This type of sedation induces an altered state of consciousness that minimizes pain and discomfort through the use of pain relievers and sedatives. Patients, who…

A recent article in Medscape Today reports that in 2005, there were 10.2 million cosmetic procedures performed in the United States, an increase of 11% from 2004 and 38% when compared with 2000. This number includes 3,839,387 Botox treatments, 1,033,581 chemical peels, 837,711 microdermabrasions, 782,732 laser hair removals, 589,768 vein…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should strongly warn the public about the risk of tendon rupture associated with the use of certain antibiotics. Public Citizen, a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, has filed a petition with the FDA requesting the warnings. The petition is the result of a review…

A Missouri company that owned 11 nursing homes and it former CEO recently pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to defraud Medicare and Medicaid by charging the federal government for nursing home care that was so poor as to be almost non-existent. The company, American Healthcare Management, Inc., and…