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A column in yesterday’s New York Times by Maureen Dowd about how her brother died after acquiring infections in the hospital certainly struck a nerve – it was No. 1 on the paper’s website for much of the day.
No wonder, considering the number of people who die of infections as her brother did.
“The simplest way to say this is that about 100,000 people die each year from infections we give them in the hospital,” says Dr. Peter Pronovost, director of the Quality and Safety Research Group at Johns Hopkins University. “That’s enormous.”The math, he says, is pretty gruesome. Take the two most deadly types of infections hospitals give their patients: infections from ventilators and infections from catheters. Together, those kill 65,000 people a year. There are about 5,000 hospitals in the United States, so statistically, each hospital in the United States gives these deadly infections to one patient every month.
In her column, Dowd described how her brother went into the hospital with pneumonia and quickly contracted four other infections in the intensive care unit. When she asked a doctor why this was happening, he told her, “It could be anything.’”
This is exactly the kind of attitude that’s killing patients, Pronovost says.
“What really struck me most in Maureen’s column was the physician’s lack of accountability,” he explains. “He didn’t see this as his problem. It was like, ‘Well, this stuff happens.’”
Pronovost says the doctor viewed hospital-acquired infections as being in the “inevitable bucket” when really they’re in the “preventable bucket.” He says when hospitals have taken simple steps they’ve managed to reduce pneumonia infections associated with ventilators by 70%.
How many people visit hospitals in the US every year?
How many people die from the ailement that brought them to the hospital in the first place?
How many people leave the hospital infection free every year after being treated?
How many people catch an infection in the hospital and are effectivly treated?
100,000 seems like a very high number, but all the facts are no present.
100,000 = 1% of 10,000,000. That is not a bad average.
I imagine that at least 10,000,000 people visit American hospitals every year.
The only things that prompt people to go to medical school are greed and sadism.
@just sayin
How about when the patients family or friends will come into a room with isolation precautions and not adhere to them. They don't wear the gown or mask when called for. They don't wash their hands when entering a room. They don't wash their hands when leaving the room. See it all the tiime.
I have never seen any doctor to include surgeons sanitize their own equipment….they have other people do it….perhaps such as yourself if you really are a nurse.
Masks are not required for MRSA isolation, as it is a contact isolation, only gowns.
Uh oh, "Senior Medical Correspondent" Cohen with another scintillating article!
God, it is by 'the empowered witch'!
Tell it to your senator, honey! It is they, not us, who pass they laws. Do you think we LIKE putting on a hazmat suit for patients without MRSA?
WOW, blame the public!! No, he didn't demand anything. He lost a leg, thank you very much!!!
I am a physician and Drive a Suburu Forrester. Some of us still live modestly and actually care for patients.
One of the posters here made a good observation. Do the beef/chicken/pork/other meat industries contribute to the overuse of antibiotics problem?
my mother trained as a nurse before antibiotics – her texts stressed aseptic procedure. they were obsessive about cleanliness, sterilization and preventing sources of infection. in those days, infection meant death. now it does again. and while the problem of resistant bugs has been created by agricultural use of antibiotics and overuse by the medical establishment, the problem of hospital infection is not caused by resistant bugs. it is caused by the failure to wash hands, to sanitize hospital rooms, to fail to sanitize equipment and exam rooms etc etc.
seems like complaints here against the medical establishment are contradictory. on one hand some people are complaining that they thought they had an infection, without evidence, and are angry they didn't get an antibiotic. others are angry that a loved one contracted MRSA due to a culture of antibiotic overuse in situtations where they are not warranted. I just hope you realize the difficult balancing act between these two scenarios and stop blaming mother nature. Without modern medicine most of these scenarios would have been fatal anyway, modern medicine's goal is simply to delay the inevitable (death), i don't see it as a doctor's failure when someone dies from infection.
MRSA? Go look up the other infections you can pick up, even in intensive care. I believe almost no medical staff can cope with looking at everything they do, all the time, every day, at work with objective eyes and practice the most diligent anti-infection procedures. Even a split second slip up can result in a life-threatening infection transferred to a patient.
My dad was admitted for a leukemia work up… Doc said it could be done outpatient, but would take a month or more to get the diagnostics OKed by the insurance and he wouldn't have this problem as an inpatient.
MRSA – likely from antibiotic exposure that may have been necessary to treat an infection but sometimes not necessary but you as the consumer go off to your doctor or worse yet show in the ER and demand an antibiotic for your viral infection. So ultimately, its not just the doctor or the hospital responsible but YOU the demanding patient…..folks we're all responsible for this hospital acquired infection problem.
full gowns and masks
Oh my gosh, another cohen article! if she's so scared of the medical establishments, she should just let her mom die from breast cancer. i forgot, she's a coward and can't do it.
I agree…I almost died from an infection after having a chest tube for a colapsed lung. Then the doctor said it was all in my head. Thirty years later I am dealing with fibromyalgia and other issues I know were caused from that infection.
Bruce, the same thing happened to my husband. In for surgery and out with MRSA. He has been tested numerous times since with negative results, but they will not take the MRSA status off his record. So, every time he goes to the hospital now they treat him like a leper because after all he has MRSA.
As a guy who does consults and surgery and takes care of some very sick patients, I wash my hands before firing up my GT3.
i went in to have my gallbladder out and ended up with mrsa
A recent study showed hospital errors are 10x's more likely than previously known. Resistant bugs, most likely from overuse of antibiotics, are one of the major causes of hospital complications. I wrote a blog with 5 tips to help you survive your hospital stay and prevent common medical mistakes if you want to check it out.
http://www.drdebraines.com/2011/04/13/surviving-your-hospital-stay-how-to-prevent-common-hospital-medical-mistakes/
So, I have an idea, let's get government involved!
I (and every patient) appreciate your diligent effort. I had many experiences in two different hospitals, and I can say that the level of care varies dramatically from facility to facility and care giver to care giver. I understand why you might be defensive in this situation, but unfortunately your meticulously care is not the norm facility wide. We NEED to address this problem and not assume caregivers are always doing everything they can. That assumption is why things are spiraling out of control.
I certainly believe that when a patient gets discharged, the beds and equipment should ATLEAST be sprayed down or wiped with some anti-bacterial wipes. I have seen doctors and many surgeons as a nurse myself not wiping or sanitizing their equipment after performing operations and it really sickens me.
Hospital acquired infections are a big problem especially with very ill patients in the ICUs. Most health care workers do everything they can to avoid having patient's develop these infections. I wash my hands in front of every patient I come in contact with. There is a major emphasis to reduce these infections at all levels. Unfortunately even with the most diligent care some very ill patients with compromised immune systems will develop these infecttions. Through years of antibiotic use we have develped bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and despite everyone's effort patient's will get these infections. Blame the doctors if you want but unfortunately we cannot fix everyone and sometimes the bacteria will win.
I almost died in a hospital from severe adverse reactions to drugs. It's amazing how quickly these doctors send patients on their way, telling them the problems are "in their mind." The medical system in this country is terrifying to me, now that I've had such an extreme experience. Unfortunately I've learned I'm not alone. Something has to be done. It just seems like such an overwhelming problem, I don't even know where to start.
And then after billing for that "consult", the doctor walked out to his Porsche GT3 and drove away.