Never Events news and information

A trio of independent studies released last week bolstered the view that U.S. patient safety is not improving despite the efforts of doctors, hospitals, the federal government and various patient-safety groups.
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California health officials recently announced a drop in hospital central line infections but didn't mention that they had found flaws in the reporting of one of the most serious infections.
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A New Hampshire hospital says it's notifying about 500 employees and affiliated clinicians the state is recommending they be tested for hepatitis C after an outbreak of the disease linked to a lab worker there.
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More than 60 Dean Clinic patients and family members tested positive for hepatitis, but the state of Wisconsin found no link to the diabetes nurse educator who mistakenly reused insulin devices.
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HHS announced nearly $49 million in grants to state health departments to help them address the spread of infectious diseases. The funds—the third such installment provided to states under the healthcare reform law—will go toward ramping up information technology systems, hiring and...
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In a statewide ranking, the state Department of Public Health says that California hospitals overall reported a 10% decrease last year of a deadly type of hospital-acquired infection that can strike critically ill patients. Among teaching hospitals, UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento posts a...
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Edgar Barnes was relieved, almost buoyant, on Friday for the first time in many weeks. He had just emerged from a state-sponsored health clinic here where he was tested for hepatitis C. His test came back negative.
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Despite a California law that requires hospitals to report their incidences of healthcare-associated infections, many such infections still go unreported, according to a review conducted by the state's public health department.
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Targeting nurse staffing levels and burnout may help hospitals reduce their rates of certain types of healthcare-associated infections, a study says.
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Infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus doubled at academic medical centers between 2003 and 2008, according to a study published in the August issue of the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
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