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1 in 14 U.S. Hospital Patients Fall Victim to Harmful Diagnostic Errors
One in 14 hospital patients may be the victim of damaging diagnostic mistakes, new research suggests.
The finding is from a study of 675 patients admitted to one large hospital in Boston at various periods between July 2019 and Sept. 2021.
The patients were randomly selected from more than 9,000 hospitalized during that time.
“The majority of [the diagnostic errors] were preventable,” a team led by Dr. Anuj Dalal of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston concluded in the study published online Oct. 1 in the journal BMJ Quality & Safety.
Dalal is also an instructor in internal medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Most Pregnant People Got Vaccinated for COVID-19 in 2022, Finds Canadian Study
A study of more than 28,000 pregnancies from 2022 has found that the majority of pregnant people received the COVID-19 vaccine during its initial release.
The study, co-led by McMaster University and the University of British Columbia, used data from ICES, an independent, not-for-profit research institute, to provide insight into vaccination rates among one of the groups most vulnerable to health complications caused by COVID-19.
The research, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Oct. 1, determined that about 79% (22,581) people who gave birth in Ontario during the first three months of 2022 received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose, and 75% (21,425) received a second dose by the time they were three months postpartum.
Of those who received a first dose, half did so before they were pregnant and only 4% delayed it until after they gave birth.
Researchers say this demonstrates high uptake for a new vaccine, especially during pregnancy.
Breast Cancer Is on the Rise in Women Under 50. It Could Be Linked to 2 Lifestyle Factors
More women under 50 are getting breast cancer in the U.S., and lifestyle factors such as not breastfeeding and having children later in life may be contributing factors, a cancer expert told Business Insider.
Being physically inactive, having a poor diet, drinking alcohol and smoking are all risk factors for breast cancer, but the rise in younger women in particular might be linked to fertility, said Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, the coauthor of a new American Cancer Society report published Tuesday.
Other cancers, including colon and cervical, are also rising in younger people, putting extra stress on the so-called sandwich generation, who are of working and reproductive age and often have caring responsibilities for both young children and aging parents.
Why Isn’t the Pharmaceutical Industry Using This Alternative to Horseshoe Crab Blood?
Since the 1960s when the bright-blue blood of horseshoe crabs was first discovered as a way to detect bacteria in vaccines and other injectables, millions of the ocean dwellers worldwide have been captured, their blood drained from their hearts and returned to the ocean.
The blood contains a clotting factor that points to the presence of bacterial endotoxins, and it’s been a gift to medicine and humans.
It’s also taken a toll on the crabs, which in some parts of the world are classified as a threatened or vulnerable species, and an ecosystem, say scientists and conservationists.
Yet demand for horseshoe crab blood has only climbed through the years as its uses expanded to testing for impurities in medical devices, vaccines and any injectable drugs.
More recently, the need to bleed crabs has dramatically spiked to meet the demand for newer vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, biologics and injectables for diabetes and weight loss.
Today, it’s no longer necessary to use the crabs, says Timothy Cernak, a medicinal chemist at the University of Michigan’s College of Pharmacy.
Patients Sue Over Alleged Stomach Paralysis Linked to Ozempic, Mounjaro
Becker’s Hospital Review reported:
Dana Filmore, a grandmother from Columbus, Ohio, is among thousands of plaintiffs filing a federal lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, alleging Ozempic and Mounjaro caused gastroparesis, USA Today reported Sept. 27.
Gastroparesis, a condition characterized by stomach paralysis that severely impacts digestion, caused Filmore, who turned to the medication to control her blood sugar to have persistent nausea and bowel issues.
The lawsuit alleges that the drug manufacturers failed to adequately warn patients about the risks associated with the medications and central to the lawsuit were claims of gastroparesis, according to the USA Today report.
Regardless of the lawsuit’s outcome, Fillmore told the news outlet that she wants others to reconsider taking the drug she believes upended her life.
The federal lawsuit is expected to go to trial in 2025.
Getting the Flu and Then Your Flu Shot May Benefit Immunity
In a new study, University of Georgia researchers have found that natural immunity from previous flu infections has a significant impact on how well future influenza vaccinations work.
That may mean if you’re one of the unlucky estimated 1 in 5 Americans who gets the flu each year, according to the National Institutes of Health, there may be an unexpected upside to your illness.
It may help you battle future versions of the virus.
The research is published in the journal Vaccine.
“Overall, the preexisting immunity you develop through natural infection helps to strengthen immune responses,” said Ye Shen, study corresponding author and a professor in the UGA College of Public Health.
“We didn’t fully understand how preexisting immunity through natural infection with different influenza strains changes vaccine-elicited immune responses before this study.
Now we have a better understanding of how preexisting immunity to influenza influences immune responses to different types of vaccines.”
US Deploys Experts to Deal With Deadly Ebola-Like Outbreak
Public health officials are sounding the alarm after an outbreak of Marburg virus in Rwanda that has infected 27 people and killed nine.
In response to the outbreak, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a statement on Monday, announcing that the federal agency has offered support to help control the deadly disease.
Marburg virus disease is a severe and often fatal zoonotic illness that is usually transmitted to humans via fruit bats.
Human-to-human transmission is also possible through direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person, or from equipment and materials contaminated with infectious blood and tissues.
“To date, no cases of Marburg virus disease related to this outbreak have been reported in the United States, and the anticipated risk of Marburg virus disease to the general population in the United States is low,” the CDC said in a statement.
