Woman Plans To Sue Hospital, Says Knife Was Left In Head

From News4Jax.com
A Jacksonville woman plans to sue Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center after she said part of a knife was left behind in her head.
“Somehow, someway, the knife was left in her head. She presented to the emergency room for treatment from the stab wounds to the head, and they were simply stitched up and Mrs. McQueen [...]

MRSA Cultures in the Emergency Department

From Medscape (subscription required):
Question: Should emergency department physicians order MRSA cultures on their patients?
Conclusion: There is a role for cultures to detect MRSA in ED patients. Not all abscesses are caused by MRSA. Pus from abscesses should be sent to definitively identify the organism, to determine antimicrobial sensitivity, and to better define the epidemiology for [...]

Economic Blues Trickle Down to Physicians

From Medscape (subscription required):
Although most physicians are not losing their jobs or homes, they’re nonetheless feeling the repercussions of the recession that began in December 2007 and deepened during the financial crisis in the fall of 2008. Symptoms large and small abound of a financial slump in medicine:

Fifty-six percent of hospitals told the American Hospital [...]

Can age-based estimates of weight be safely used when resuscitating children?

From Emergency Medicine Journal:
Background: Prescribing medication appropriate to a child’s bodily dimensions is fundamental to paediatric emergency medicine. Mathematical formulae are frequently used in clinical practice to estimate children’s weights. In 1995 the UK’s paediatric reference data, describing age-related changes in bodily proportions (both weight and height), were updated and published. This study assesses the [...]

Recession curbs giving to hospital foundations

From Modern Healthcare:
Foundations that raise millions for hospital construction and costly medical devices report the recession will curtail giving, which is expected to delay or end plans to build or buy equipment.
A November and December 2008 e-mail survey of its members by the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy found more than eight out of 10 respondents [...]