Medication Errors caused by incorrect data entry into intravenous medication infusion devices are the subject of more adverse event reports to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration than any other medical technology. The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation did a study for the years 2005 through 2009 and found that more than 56,000 adverse events and 700 deaths were associated with infusion devices
Compounding Pharmacy Causes Fungal Eye Infections
A single compounding pharmacy is responsible for two simultaneous outbreaks of fungal endophthalmitis caused by contamination with Fusarium mold in "sterile" Brilliant Blue G dye (BBG) made by Franck's Compounding Pharmacy located in Ocala, Florida. Nine cases of fungal endophthalmitis were initially reported from the contaminated BBG. When the Center for Disease Control (CDC) investigated these fungal infections, it also found that another Franck product, triamcinolone acetonide for intravitreal injection, was contaminated with Fusarium mold, bringing the total of cases to 47 in 9 states. A second fungus, Bipolaris mold, was also found in the products. The rarity of these infections in these outbreaks provided the clue to prompt an investigation by health authorities.
Surgery Not Always Better for Partial meniscal Tears
Surgery to remove partial meniscal tears does not result in better knee function than medical treatment and physical therapy alone. Arthroscopic partial meniscectomies are one of the most common orthopedic procedures performed each year in the United States at a cost of $4 billion. These results of this study in the December 26, 2013 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine raise serious questions about the cost effectiveness of this surgical treatment and the ethics of using it as a future treatment.
