Do No Harm: Part One

Health care can hurt you

Among life’s core assumptions is that hospitals bring healing.

But sometimes they bring harm.

Profile

Accident took her life, his heart

Donna Wendt died after her windpipe was torn open when a breathing tube was inserted. Now her companion of 28 years, Jack Rode, aches with loneliness and burns with anger ...

Profile

Fall proves fatal for elderly patient

A day before Morry Janovitz was scheduled to be discharged from Spring Valley Hospital, he was found on the floor of his hospital room – his forehead gashed, his neck broken.

Profile

Inadequate care, unspeakable pain

In September 2008, Tyrone Bush underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery at Desert Springs Hospital, but the wounds have not yet healed. The problem is not his chest. It’s the bedsores.

Profile

Scarred for life by mistake in surgery

Rosie Powell’s surgeon thought there was a cancerous mass in her abdomen, so the doctor cut it out. It turned out to be her kidney.

About the report

Reporting is the first of its kind in Nevada

The Sun’s reporting on patients being harmed while hospitalized is based on the newspaper’s analysis of Nevada hospital data collected in 2008 and 2009.

BRIAN GREENSPUN WHERE I STAND

Fascination and frustration in reporting on Las Vegas hospital care

The assignment Sun reporter Marshall Allen was given two years ago was just one sentence, but would prove to be the most ambitious of his career: Find out what’s right, ...

SUN EDITORIAL

Preventing harm

It has been widely reported that the health care industry accounts for one-sixth of the nation’s economy, yet how much do people know about the quality of care they’re getting? ...

Reaction to Part One

Health care leaders discuss Sun report’s findings

Last Sunday the Las Vegas Sun reported that its analysis of area hospital records identified 969 cases of preventable infections, bone breaks, bed sores and other harm that were not ...

Reaction to Part One

St. Rose Dominican Hospitals to post data on quality

In response to a Las Vegas Sun investigation of hospital care, St. Rose Dominican Hospitals officials pledged to make public their internal quality measures — and challenged other local hospitals ...

Reaction to Part One

State presses hospitals for full accounting of preventable injuries

State officials released data on preventable injuries and infections in Nevada hospitals Thursday that mirror the findings of a Las Vegas Sun investigation.

Advertisement

Interactive Features

Harmful events glossary

The data showed eight categories of harm including bedsores, infections, bone breaks and foreign objects accidentally retained after surgery.

See the results

Explore the data with interactive graphics and data tables.

Preventable injuries interactive »

Preventable injuries data table »

Documents

See the source material behind the stories: legal filings, academic research, minutes from legislative hearings and internal e-mails.

Videos

  • St. Rose CEO Responds

    St. Rose Dominican Hospitals CEO Rod Davis on the Sun's hospital care project.

  • Her Life, His Heart

    Donna Wendt had her windpipe accidentally torn open at Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, leaving behind her grieving companion of 28 years, Jack Rode. This is his story, in his own words.

  • Marshall Allen on Hospital Care Project

    Las Vegas Sun health reporter Marshall Allen talks with KVBC's Jeff Gillian about the Sun's hospital-care project, Do No Harm.

  • A Conversation

    Records kept by the state of Nevada indicate that Las Vegas hospitals had 969 incidents where patients were injured, infected or otherwise harmed in 2008 and 2009, a Las Vegas Sun investigation showed. Sun health care reporter Marshall Allen discussed the problem of hospital-acquired injuries with a legislator and representatives from the hospital and insurance industries.

  • One Too Many Reids? Seg. 3

    Las Vegas Sun reporter Marshall Allen talks about his investigation of deadly errors at Las Vegas hospitals.

Share Part One

Facebook twitter