As more health systems suspend gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments for minors, the Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether gender-affirming care providers are violating consumer protection laws. The FTC hosted a workshop July 9 concerning unfair or deceptive trade practices…
Patient Safety & Outcomes
According to a July report from HHS’ Office of Inspector General, hospitals failed to capture 49% of patient harm events because staff either did not consider them harmful or were not required to disclose them. The OIG established the first…
New Hampshire is the first state to require physicians to obey some patients’ wishes for sterilization with respect to reproductive health. The legislation, signed into law on July 15, takes effect Sept. 13. Physicians might require patients to sign an…
About 80% of emergency department visits of terminally ill nursing home residents are potentially avoidable, according to a study published July 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. Researchers analyzed Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers program…
After being born 133 days premature, a 1-year-old boy in Iowa holds the Guinness World Records’ title for most premature baby. On July 5, 2024, Nash Keen was born to Randall and Mollie Keen at a gestational age of 147…
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A growing number of hospitals and health systems no longer provide gender-affirming surgeries for minors, citing a January executive order from President Donald Trump. The order instructed health insurers to exclude coverage for pediatric transgender surgeries and hormone treatments. In…
Almost 50 years ago, EHR pioneer and Harvard Medical School professor Warner Slack, MD, said patients’ insight is the “largest and least utilized resource in healthcare.” Today, health systems are working to bring patients into clinical decisions — and increasingly,…
Alcohol withdrawal syndrome, or the sudden cessation of heavy drinking among people with alcohol use disorder, is associated with higher risks of surgical complications, according to surgeons at the Ohio State University in Columbus. The condition is also linked to…
An HHS agency has directed the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to improve national monitoring and to reopen an investigation into a Louisville, Ky.-based organ procurement organization. The Health Resources and Services Administration is pursuing “a major initiative to begin…
Wearing a large metallic chain, an unauthorized 61-year-old man entered an MRI room in Westbury, N.Y., on July 16 and was drawn into the machine. He died the next day, according to local authorities. A scan was in process when…