Donated Amplatzer saves a life
Angelica Alvarado was dying when she walked into a Chicago hospital last year. Pain laced every breath. Nausea shadowed every movement. Tests had confirmed that she had a life-threatening hole...
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Hospital laxity blamed for many patient deaths
Tens of thousands of hospital patients die each year from causes that could be prevented as many U.S. hospitals turn a blind eye to safety, quality and public accountability, according...
Patients suffer as agency shields troubled hospitals
The nation's most influential health-care regulator frequently serves the interests of the hospital industry over those of the public, giving its seal of approval to medical centers riddled by life-threatening...
U.S. moves to halt rise in hospital infections
Citing life-threatening problems from hospital germs, federal health-care regulators are preparing to ban a Florida medical center from treating Medicare patients, a rare move that could push the hospital into...
Germ control in hospitals’ hands
In an effort to reduce hospital infections, the nation's health-care workers should wash their hands with fast-drying alcohol gels, which are more effective at killing germs than soap and water,...
Report ties nurse shortage to deaths
Surgical patients face higher risks of death and injury from infections and other preventable complications if nurses' workloads exceed four patients per shift, according to a study released Tuesday by...
Germ
The Killers Within: The Deadly Rise of Drug-Resistant Bacteria By Michael Shnayerson and Mark J. Plotkin Little, Brown, 328 pages, $24.95 Bacteria are the ultimate survivors, displaying an uncanny ability...
Suit ends against 2 who spoke to Tribune
A Connecticut hospital on Friday withdrew its lawsuit against a former patient and another patient's widower, who revealed to the Tribune details of an infectious disease outbreak in the facility....
Hospital sues two who talked to Tribune
A Connecticut hospital profiled this week in a Chicago Tribune series is suing a former patient and the widower of another patient, alleging they violated a confidentiality agreement by speaking...
Drug-resistant germs adapt, thrive beyond hospital walls
Lapses in infection control and overuse of antibiotics are spawning drug-resistant germs that are spreading from hospitals into the community at unprecedented rates. These new super germs--stronger, more elusive and...