Medical Holocaust in U.S.: Who in the Health Cares?

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Sep 11,2009

Is anyone listening?

As this debate rages on about medical reform, patient safety organizations, those of us at the front each and every day, we do not hear about what is happening to the people from the senseless health care devastation throughout our country right now.

Two million people in the U.S. died needlessly in the past ten years from preventable medical error and 200,000 more of us will die this year unnecessarily because half of the medical community won’t be washing their hands, or their equipment, or taking out catheters, or operating on the correct body part, or handing out the right medications, or infecting the patients with germs they have brought from hospital clothes worn out in the streets. How much money is spent because of these careless practices, as well as because of overuse, misuse, and abuse by our health care system?

Let’s have a true debate. What is the value of a human life? Is it worth a hand washing? Will it be possible to alleviate medical malpractice suits when the medical community adopts safety measures that have proven to lessen infections 70-100%? Will our government and the medical communities have a mandated discipline policy and transparency, rather than lie and deny? Why can’t we find out more about the costs of care, the error rates and deaths reported? Why hasn’t the Illinois law, co-sponsored by then State Senator Obama, for reporting infection and adverse events not been implemented as passed nearly six years ago? Why, after years of trying, is there no national law mandating patient safety in the USA?

If it were not for the heroes/heroines in the patient safety movement, those who have lost children, spouses, moms and dads in this senseless medical holocaust and the many brave doctors, nurses, health educators and workers, pioneering hospitals, journalists and media, this horror would continue to be our deep, dark, secret.

We, the people, demand an Office of Consumer Safety be established immediately to protect and advocate on behalf of the American people for quality and safety in health care, foods, and toys. The only special interests on its oversight board should be everyday people. It should be established like the Federal Reserve, with authority to order immediate action by all agencies of government. This new agency would ensure that Americans are not harmed as a result of preventive medical error; mandated reports of infection, adverse error, and transparency by all health providers are made public. Financial oversight on illegal billing practices, fraud and abuse, and criminal activities reported to authorities for prosecution.

The health and welfare of the American people rest with the changes made by legislators and the President to the medical system in our country. We ask that they first, Do No Harm and establish the Office of Consumer Safety effective immediately in health reform law.

Source: Lenore Janecek, President, SAVE THE PATIENT


Oral health knowledge gap contributes to children’s issues

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Sep 11,2009

87 percent agree: good medical and dental care equally important

While a majority of Americans rate their children’s oral health as “excellent,” there are clear gaps in understanding of basic oral health procedures and actual behavior.

That’s one of the key findings from a survey of American children’s oral health, conducted on behalf of Delta Dental Plans Association. One example: Only 36 percent of the respondents completely agree that a child should go to the dentist by age 1 or within six months after the first tooth erupts, even though that’s the time recommended by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD). Two-thirds of those surveyed said their child had seen a dentist, but the average age of the first visit was 2.6 years.

Delta Dental commissioned the survey of primary caregivers to build greater knowledge about the state of children’s oral health. Nearly nine of 10 Americans (87 percent) agree that it is equally important to get good medical care and dental care. Children covered by dental insurance are much more likely to have visited the dentist than uninsured children, 69 percent versus 54 percent. Covered children also made their first visit to the dentist at an earlier age, at a mean of 2.5 years, compared to 3 years for uninsured children. And more than 85 percent of survey respondents who have insurance for their child rate dental coverage as “very important.”

Other key findings:
– About three in five Americans (58 percent) report that their child’s overall oral health is excellent.
– Among those who rate their child’s oral health as less than excellent, 45 percent say that not enough brushing or poor brushing technique is the biggest obstacle to excellent oral health. Another 20 percent say the biggest obstacle is a poor diet – not enough fruits and vegetables – or too many sweets.
– While the AAPD recommends daily flossing, a quarter of the survey respondents say their child never flosses; only 7 percent report their child flosses daily.
– Among children who have never visited a dentist, or who have not visited a dentist in the past year, the most mentioned reason was that the child was too young or did not have enough teeth yet.
– About one in five (18 percent) survey respondents report their child has had a cavity in the past year. Among those children, nearly one in five (17 percent) experienced four or more cavities.

More than a third of the survey respondents (36 percent) admit their child brushes his or her teeth less than once a day. They also recognize the frequency as “not enough,” despite the fact that nearly all those surveyed (95 percent) with children 2 to 6 years old say they supervise or assist with brushing. Similarly, nearly half (45 percent) of caregivers say their children brush their teeth for a minute or less – dentists recommend spending two minutes or more on each brushing.

The not-for-profit Delta Dental Plans Association (www.deltadental.com) based in Oak Brook, Ill., is the leading national network of independent dental service corporations specializing in providing dental benefits programs to more than 54 million Americans in more than 89,000 employee groups throughout the country. In 2007, Delta Dental formed a partnership with the National Head Start Association to help improve the oral health of the nation’s children at a critical time in their development. For more information, visit: www.deltadental.com

B-ROLL INCLUDES:
– Proper infant oral care, toddler and dad visit the dentist, pregnant woman visits the dentist, mom gives kids fruits and veggies, mom and kids brush and floss their teeth

PHOTO CAPTIONS:
1. Children should visit the dentist by age 1 or within six months after the first tooth erupts.
2. Children and adults should brush for two full minutes at least twice daily and floss every day. Parents should supervise or assist with brushing and flossing their children’s teeth to ensure proper technique.
3. Women should get a thorough dental exam if they are planning to become pregnant. Once they are expecting, they should get their teeth cleaned professionally every three months.

Source: Delta Dental Plans Association


Just since midnight, over 50,000 letters have gone to President Barack Obama and others as part of a new campaign to bring attention to the rising numbers of autism cases.

The National Autism Association (NAA) declared today as National “How Much Longer” Day for Autism, a day of letter-writing to the media, health agencies, Department of Education, lawmakers and the Obama Administration asking for such things as health insurance coverage, federal laws to protect special-ed students from dangerous restraint and seclusion practices in schools, safer vaccines, and for autism to be declared a nation health crisis. Seeing how much attention is being paid to the H1N1 virus, many parents are wondering why autism is the fastest growing disorder, yet has received very little aid.

In a letter to its members, NAA stated, “We’ve asked for [help] politely, impolitely, loudly, softly, creatively, professionally, in small numbers and in large… we’ve asked and we’ve asked again. But as it stands today, we have more cases of abuse, wandering-related deaths, seizure-related deaths, bankruptcies and divorce in our community than ever before. With the fatigue that comes from constant uphill battles, along with a gross lack of resources, we live in a permanent state of asking one question: How Much Longer?”

Eight ads have gone out over the last six weeks promoting the “How Much Longer” campaign. When asking the public to participate, NAA says, “Say yes only if you don’t mind a little controversy. This campaign isn’t warm and fuzzy and it’s far from polite. It’s edgy, sarcastic and harsh at times, but when you live day to day seeing an increasing number of children suffer from vulgar abuse, impossible challenges, even death, you tend to put graceful asks aside for a message that people might actually notice.”

The group reports that out of all the autism campaigns they’ve done, this by far has received the highest amount of response.

“We’ve had an overwhelming amount of feedback, mostly positive, but this campaign isn’t for everyone,” says Ann Brasher, Vice President of NAA. “We essentially call the CDC out for labeling us as ‘anti-vaccine’ every time we ask a question about vaccine safety. We call out the NIH for directing more dollars towards genetic research when environmental factors are playing a huge role in triggering autism, and we call out the Department of Education for their slow response in keeping more special-ed students from being abused and killed in our school systems. We’ve gone out on a limb here to say what needs to be said.”

The group’s letter to President Obama covers the daily challenges of living with autism. “Most days, we don’t know which issue to tackle first,” states Rita Shreffler, NAA Executive Director. “There are too many and we’re overwhelmed. We’ve asked President Obama to declare autism a national health crisis so that autism may receive the attention it needs and our children may receive the basic resources they deserve.”

According to a recently released survey by the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), which is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Autism Spectrum Disorders now affect 1 in 100 children.

“It’s time for answers,” says Brasher. “It’s long overdue.”

To learn more about NAA’s “How Much Longer” campaign, please visit http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/.


Year-long tracking survey demonstrates that 19% feel that their pain has become worse

European Federation of Chapters of the International Association for the Study of Pain (EFIC) Congress — 95% of patients are suffering from moderate to severe chronic pain after one year of treatment(1) and only 12% are being prescribed strong opioids, according to a year-long survey presented today at the EFIC congress. The research reveals that more than half of patients’ pain levels fail to improve over the course of a year’s treatment and for 19%, their pain has become worse. Despite the high proportion of patients continuing to suffer pain, 64% of patients believe they are taking the most appropriate level of medication and 58% believe that everything is being done to help them.

The new survey, entitled PainSTORY (Pain Study Tracking Ongoing Responses for a Year), is the first of its kind to track the impact of chronic pain on patients’ lives over the course of a year and involved 294 patients in 13 European countries.

Regarding pain management, the survey demonstrates that out of all patients who took part in the survey, 83% are prescribed medication but 30% also resort to over the counter (OTC) medication to try to manage their pain either alone or in combination with other therapies. Despite the fact that 95% of patients receiving treatment are suffering from moderate-to-severe pain, only 12% of them are being prescribed a strong opioid treatment, 25% a weak opioid and 43% are prescribed a non-opioid treatment. The research also reveals that only 23% had their prescription changed to a stronger type of pain medication over the course of the year.

The survey illustrates almost half of all patients report side effects as a result of their medication, the most common of which is constipation(2), experienced by almost half of patients, 49% of whom are receiving treatment with opioids. Although highly effective in controlling pain, opioids can be associated with opioid-induced constipation (OIC). The research indicates that 26% of patients taking opioid medication turn to laxatives to help relieve their constipation, which may alleviate symptoms but will not address the cause of the problem.

Commenting on the findings, Dr Tony O’Brien, Consultant Physician in Palliative Medicine at Cork University Hospital said: ‘This research reveals an alarmingly high prevalence of uncontrolled chronic pain in our communities. This serious public health problem must be addressed as a matter of urgency. Patients suffering pain require comprehensive evaluation and assessment by skilled healthcare professionals. Selected patients will benefit from a supervised trial of opioid medication in order to achieve an optimal level of analgesia, whilst preventing unwanted opioid adverse effects, including opioid induced constipation. The objective is to ensure that patients can experience the best possible quality of life.’

The research provides some valuable insights into patients’ experience of the healthcare professional team. Despite the high proportion of patients continuing to suffer pain, the number of patients visiting a doctor declined over the course of the year from 83% at the beginning of the survey to 70% at the end. By the end of the survey, 58% had been given a physical examination, 22% were rated on a pain scale, 19% were sent for further tests and only 2% had seen a pain specialist consistently throughout the year.

Across the year, 44% of patients report feeling alone in tackling their pain and two thirds of patients feel anxious or depressed as a result of their pain. For 28% of patients, their pain is so bad they report they sometimes want to die. Patients report feeling trapped by a pain which may vary in intensity, but continuously affects every aspect of their life.

Commenting on the findings of the survey, Hans Kress, President Elect, European Federation of Chapters of the International Association for the Study of Pain said: “This research presents a unique insight into patients’ journey in pain across Europe. It is shocking to observe that one year on, patients are still trapped in an ongoing cycle of pain and a large proportion seem to be losing hope. I urge patients to speak to their doctor if they are experiencing chronic pain or are concerned about side effects and not suffer in silence.”

PainSTORY (Pain Study Tracking Ongoing Responses for a Year) is the first study of its kind to track patients with chronic pain over one year, providing in depth insight into how pain impacts the daily lives of patients and the management of pain in 13 European countries.

The PainSTORY survey was conducted by an independent research company, Ipsos MORI, in collaboration with the following independent third parties:

– European Federation of IASP Chapters
– World Institute of Pain
– OPEN Minds

The survey was sponsored by a restricted educational grant from, and prepared in association with, Mundipharma International Limited.

Methodology

294 patients suffering from non-malignant (osteoarthritis, back pain / lower back pain, osteoporosis, neuropathic pain, mixed pain, other long term pain), chronic pain (i.e. lasting for more than three months) rating greater than or equal to 5-10 on a pain scale at screening stage (where 0 = no pain and 10 = the worst pain imaginable) completed the survey. At the evaluation stage of the survey, patients’ pain levels were ranked as mild (1-3), moderate (4-7) or severe (8-10). Respondents were studied for 12 months and research was carried out in 13 countries across Europe: United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands and Norway by an independent research company, Ipsos MORI.

The study consisted of four waves of qualitative interviews between April 2008 and May 2009. Interim engagement activities such as diaries and ‘life books’ were sent to patients between the four waves to provide additional insight. Comparisons between baseline data and subsequent wave results showed how the impact of pain and pain management changes over the course of a year.

References
1. Treatment includes prescription medication, over the counter medication and alternative medication
2. The term ‘constipation’ incorporated bloating, stomach ache and stomach cramps

Source: www.painstory.org


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