Five Tips for Avoiding State Flu Outbreak

Pennsylvania has been hard hit by influenza, with one hospital setting up a special tent to treat the wave of patients.

The city of Boston has even declared a state of flu emergency.

Flu season started more than a month early this year and is now widespread in Pennsylvania and 46 other states.

In some cases, flu symptoms of high fever, headache, fatigue, cough, sore throat, and body aches have been combined with a stomach virus and whooping cough.

More than 200,000 people are hospitalized for influenza each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Between 3,000 and 49,000 people die annually as a result of influenza.

The best way to avoid getting the flu in Pennsylvania is to get vaccinated.

The CDC says a vaccine is available in most places, although some parts of the country have seen spot shortages. […]

How Can a Dog’s Bite Harm You?

Of the millions of dogs that are owned by people and families in the United States, a majority are extremely friendly and loving, even to strangers, and never cause anyone harm. However, unfortunately, there are many dogs that are aggressive and attack people, often causing unsuspecting people extreme harm, both physically and psychologically.

While some dog bites may only be minor, resulting in superficial cuts, others can cause debilitating physical harm. Some of the most common effects of dog bites include:

• Lacerations (cuts)
• Broken bones
• Infections
• Disfigurement
• Scarring
• Paralysis
• Nerve damage
• Emotional / psychological harm

Often times, it is the psychological damage that a dog bite victim sustains that is the most damaging. Not only do many victims of such attacks suffer from issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder that cause lasting fear and trauma, […]

Dozens of PA Nursing Homes Pose Risk To Patients

Nearly three dozen nursing homes in Western Pennsylvania have been found deficient in caring for their patients – with some being accused of placing residents at risk of immediate harm.

Over the course of a three-year investigation, federal safety inspectors uncovered a shocking range of problems: locked doors and gates, simmering steam tables and dirty cookware.

Six nursing homes in three counties – Westmoreland, Allegheny, and Lawrence – accounted for most of the failing marks.

Some of the deficiencies at these facilities were so glaring that residents were declared to be in “immediate jeopardy.”

The inspection was conducted by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The Pennsylvania elder care facilities named in the report are:

• The Cedars of Monroeville
• Caring Heights Community Care & Rehab Center in Coraopolis
• Edison Manor Nursing & […]

Study Estimates More Than 4000 Medical “Never Events” Occur Each Year in U.S.

Surgeons in the United States leave foreign objects such as sponges and surgical tools in patients 39 times a week and perform the wrong procedure 20 times a week, patient safety researchers at Johns Hopkins University estimate in a new study.

In an article published online in the medical journal Surgery, the Johns Hopkins researchers estimate that 80,000 medical errors that should never happen occurred in U.S. hospitals between 1990 and 2010. The researchers based their estimates on an analysis of the National Practitioner Data Bank, a federal repository of medical malpractice claim information. Hospitals are required by law to report never events that lead to a settlement or judgment to the National Practitioner Data Bank.

Certain types of medical errors are known as never events because it’s generally understood that they should never happen during surgery. […]

Injury Victims of Train Accidents May Often Claim Compensation

A recent train derailment in South Jersey sent some 70 people to the hospital and caused the evacuation of more than 200 nearby homes. The reason? The train cars were filled with a dangerous chemical called vinyl chloride, a chemical that wafted through the air for at least several days.

The Nov. 30 train derailment near Paulsboro, N.J.,  sent four rail cars into the Mantua Creek when the train came off its tracks on a bridge. It took officials two weeks to get the cars out of the creek, which feeds the Delaware River that provides drinking water to some 15 million people.

While no one was killed in the Paulsboro train accident, the long-term effects of vinyl chloride are such that we may not know the full damage for years. The gas reportedly causes cancer and liver damage, according to the EPA.

Mike Schade with the Center for Health, […]