Hospitals are supposed to be the place where the sick get well. They can also be where the sick get sicker, thanks to the virulent bacteria and viruses that live there.
Early one morning in April, Tasha Gaul and Dale Matlock took their young son, Jesse, to a hospital in Portland, Oregon, for surgery to correct his lazy eye. It was supposed to be an easy procedure: Jesse, who was 3 at the time, wouldn't even have to spend the night at the hospital.
Ryan Jeffers finds it hard to believe his daughter, Malyia, went from being a perfectly healthy 2-year-old who loved to dance, sing and entertain to an amputee facing a lifetime of medical care.
Unthinkable errors by doctors and surgeons -- such as amputating the wrong leg or removing organs from the wrong patient -- occur more frequently than previously believed, a new study suggests.
When Dr. Albert Wu's wife, Diana Sugg, was pregnant with their first child, Sugg developed hepatitis and meningitis and was hospitalized. One evening while Wu was at the hospital taking care of his feverish wife, a nurse came in the room to give Sugg her antibiotics.
More than 16,000 U.S. medical school graduates are awarded M.D. degrees each year, and many enter their residency programs at teaching hospitals in July. Now, a growing body of research suggests that month might be a more deadly time in U.S. hospitals.
Interruptions in the emergency room may exact an unhealthy toll on patient care, a group of Australian researchers reported Thursday.
The new health law puts the nation's hospitals on strict notice.
Now that health reform is law, many physicians are complaining that while it may help their patients, it doesn't go far enough to help doctors.
President Obama presented a revamped health care reform proposal on Wednesday that may incorporate, according to the White House, a series of Republican ideas that the caucus has advocated in the past.
The paralysis of Washington is becoming intolerable.
Philip Howard thinks U.S. has become a legal minefield and offers four propositions for simplifying U.S. law.
The National Naval Medical Center has opened a review of the surgical care provided to the late Congressman John Murtha after the Pennsylvania Democrat died following surgery, a senior U.S. military official told CNN Wednesday.
Former Rep. John Murtha died after gall bladder surgery, and CNN's Elizabeth Cohen says the Navy is reviewing his case.
A new California law named for rapper Kanye West's late mother requiring a physical exam and medical history before cosmetic surgeries isn't likely to lead to better patient safety, some cosmetic surgeons said.
I have a cyst in each of my kidneys. Can this be cancerous?
For years, Alfonso Torress-Cook followed the rules in his quest to eliminate hospital-acquired infections. Patients at his hospital received large doses of antibiotics and were scrubbed down with alcohol-based soaps, as he and his colleagues aimed to kill every bacterium possible. Search and destroy was the mantra.
Opponents of health care reform have reached the brink of intellectual bankruptcy. With no original ideas or solutions, they've now resorted to bringing out a tried-and-tested bogeymen in a last-ditch attempt to derail much-needed legislation.
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen dispenses advice on avoiding hospital mix-ups and possibly dangerous errors.
When Kerry Higuera started bleeding three months into her pregnancy, she feared she was miscarrying. Heading to the emergency room seemed like the prudent thing to do.
The Food and Drug Administration launched an effort Wednesday to reduce needless injuries resulting from preventable medication errors.
The Congressional Budget Office is now estimating that limits on medical malpractice lawsuits -- reforms favored by many Republicans -- could save the government as much as $54 billion over the next 10 years.
Congressional Budget Office research shows that tort reform could lower health care costs. CNN's Lisa Sylvester reports.
To: Interested parties From: John King, CNN chief national correspondent Re: Monday Memo
Sen. McCain tells John King that it would be an "error of historic proportions" to send too few troops to Afghanistan.
Every time a doctor orders an extra test for you, it pushes up your medical costs and -- some experts say -- contributes to the waste in the nation's $2.2 trillion in health care spending.
The Obama administration announced a $25 million medical malpractice initiative Thursday as part of its plan to rein in skyrocketing health care costs.
As President Obama turns up the heat on health care reform, one new and surprising detail to emerge is his pledge to tackle medical malpractice.
Nurses offer tips on how to keep yourself or a family member safe during a stay at a hospital. Elizabeth Cohen reports.
Imagine you're about to travel to a foreign land. You've heard it can be a mighty dangerous place, but you have to go there -- you have no choice. You don't know exactly where the threats lurk, and you don't speak the language. Wouldn't it be nice to have a guide?
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