Marshall Allen

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Admitting harm protects patients: Harvard hospital led the way on transparency in reporting cases of harm; Sunday, March 27, 2011; As Nevada legislators debate this week whether to require hospitals to publicly report when they harm patients, they could learn a lot from Paul Levy’s experience in pulling back the veil of hospital secrecy.
Mistake admitted, respect earned: Sunday, March 27, 2011; Dr. David Ring had just finished operating on the hand of a 65-year-old woman when he made a discovery that two years later still brings tears to his eyes.
A century later, openess still gets tepid embrace: Sunday, March 27, 2011; A century ago, Dr. Ernest Amory Codman, a Harvard surgeon, led a one-man campaign for health care transparency and in the process became a “martyr of quality.”
Doctor linked to patient deaths suing out of spite, witness says: Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011; A nationally known pain specialist says she’s become the target of intimidation for speaking out against a Henderson doctor who has been linked by authorities to multiple deaths and lost his license to prescribe controlled substances.
Ex-UMC manager punished after patient records leak: Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011; One key question remained after a man recently pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining private patient information from University Medical Center: Who was the hospital employee who conspired to sell the information?
Doctor: Taking care of ourselves will enrich the nation as a whole: Monday, Jan. 31, 2011; Dr. Michael Roizen believes that America is at a crisis point because of chronic diseases. But it can be reversed by healthier living.
Double ouch: Doctor operates on wrong knee: Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011; Steve Anderson immediately noticed a problem when he awoke from surgery at North Vista Hospital on Aug. 13, 2009.
Decades after airline crash, lessons learned applied in operating room: Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011; United Airlines Flight 173 was approaching Portland, Ore., when the pilot realized something was wrong with the landing gear.
Cutting the insurers out: When Dr. Kevin Petersen began offering cash-pay surgeries to uninsured patients, his friends told him he was crazy. Now, four years later, he wouldn’t work any other way; Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011; Dr. Kevin Petersen’s peers thought he was crazy when he started offering cash-pay surgery to uninsured patients about four years ago. But about 700 no-insurance surgeries later, he’s opting out of all of his remaining insurance contracts. Petersen went to medical school at Tufts University, has been licensed in Nevada since 2000, and has performed about 25,000 surgeries.
Inspection to determine if MountainView loses Medicare payments: Second inspection to determine if changes made; Medicare payments in balance; Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011; A recent inspection at MountainView Hospital will determine whether the facility loses its Medicare payments, a staggering financial blow.
State probes physician's firing of foreign doctor: Federal eyes again on employer at center of J-1 investigation; Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011; Dr. Rachakonda Prabhu, one of the most politically connected physicians in Las Vegas, has been the subject of an investigation by the federal government for his alleged mistreatment of foreign doctors he employs.
Health care facility inspections to be cut if fees not raised: Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011; State inspections are a tool to protect patients from harm in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities. But inspections cost money.
Local hospitals’ willingness to change culture would be a step toward better care, transparency: Sunday, Dec. 26, 2010; It’s too late to protect Don Carlson, who was almost killed by a deadly infection he contracted in a Las Vegas hospital. The lengthy recovery cost him his security guard job, and now he’s in bankruptcy.
How to put patients first: Rising above a fear of malpractice suits, pioneers in health care safety enact seven pillars that work; Sunday, Dec. 26, 2010; Dr. Tim McDonald is standing by the operating room nurses’ station, explaining how a medical error sent a patient into cardiac arrest. He’s holding two similar medicine vials, each about the size of a thimble, with black print on white-and-lavender labels.
'You can't kill my mother and get away with it': Sunday, Dec. 26, 2010; This is an insurgency no one wanted to join. The patient safety advocates who gathered last month for their annual strategy session were drafted by tragedy — a botched surgery, a preventable infection or some other hospital incident that launched them into battle to protect others from suffering harm when they seek healing.
Influential voices weigh in on Las Vegas hospital care: Sun gets answers to statements that have surfaced in investigative series on hospital care in Las Vegas; Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010; An investigation by the Sun has identified thousands of cases of patients having suffered preventable harm in Las Vegas hospitals. The Sun sat down with three people who have something to say about hospital care.
MRSA affects whole family: Couple describe their anguish after hospital staff withheld diagnosis of a serious infection contracted after a heart attack; Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010; Just months after David Spendlove contracted a deadly bacteria in a hospital, he and his wife found themselves this week telling their story to a captivated audience of 200 nurses and administrators from hospitals and nursing homes. The couple’s message: Don’t deceive your patients if something has gone wrong. Don’t minimize what’s happening. Don’t lie.
Study: Patients suffering harm in hospitals a national problem: Medicare findings echo substandard care revealed in Sun probe; Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010; An ongoing Las Vegas Sun investigation paints a bleak portrait of hospital care in Southern Nevada. But according to a federal government study released Tuesday, the situation may be much worse.
After surgery, an injury uncured: Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010; Everything went fine with Sern Englestead’s heart surgery. Not so, though, in postoperative recovery.
Leaving hospital saved her life: Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010; Kathy Shafer knew she was bleeding internally after an operation at Sunrise Hospital Medical Center, but she says no one would listen to her.
How to file a complaint: Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010; To file a complaint about:
Missouri family loses its rock: Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010; David Butts died within hours of being administered a painkiller while trying to pass a kidney stone at Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center.
Why we suffer: Substandard hospital care has roots in a culture of seeking profits, shunning best practices, turning away from problems; Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010; Mediocre hospital care in the Las Vegas Valley, evidenced by thousands of preventable injuries, infections and deaths, can be traced to a few fundamental causes.
Flesh wound was so much more: Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010; The only way people believe his story, Harold Abramowski says, is when they see his scar.
State to host summit on halting spread of MRSA superbug: Friday, Oct. 1, 2010; Confronted with a deadly MRSA epidemic, Nevada health care regulators will gather officials from across the state to draw attention to the problem and identify solutions. Reversing the lethal superbug’s spread will be the focus of the summit next month.
A cry for help: Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010; Among Carol Ann Doyle’s last words was an anguished cry that “something was backwards” inside her. Dr. Gregg Ripplinger had warned Doyle that she would be in some pain after laparoscopic surgery to remove her gall bladder.
Patients at risk under the knife: Surgical injuries occur at higher rates than expected in area hospitals. Some blame Las Vegas’ culture of mediocrity; Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010; Dr. Victor Grigoriev had good news for Georganne Mumm’s worried family when he emerged from the operating room. The surgery was a success, Mumm says he told her family. He had removed her cancerous kidney and her outlook was good.
Nevada hospitals rarely sanction physicians: Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010; Nevada may have more surgical mishaps than should be expected, based on national benchmarks, but it’s almost unheard of for hospitals to sanction a physician. Doctors’ privileges were revoked or suspended 73 times in Nevada from January 2007 to July 1.
How the Sun identified surgical injuries: Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010; Every surgery results in an operative report, in which the surgeon notes each step of the procedure, including any inadvertent nicks, cuts or complications.
Colorado transparency unique: Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010; Michael Skolnik was having seizures. His doctor was pressing for brain surgery.
Routine surgery, harrowing result: Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010; Amanda Cicatello appears in some ways to be a typical teenager. Her bedroom is whimsically decorated with a zebra-striped bedspread and a stuffed panda. She works at a trendy clothing store and loves to hang out with friends.
St. Rose breaks ranks with disclosure on quality of care: Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010; The St. Rose Dominican Hospitals are winning plaudits for being the first hospitals in Nevada to provide to patients previously internal information about quality of care — including details about certain hospital-acquired infections and injuries.
Panel discusses how best to stem the spread of infection: Increased transparency cited as a good first step; Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010; A Sun investigation found that lethal “superbugs” are infecting thousands of patients in local hospitals. The analysis of hospital billing records identified 2,010 cases in 2008 and 2009 in which Las Vegas hospital patients were infected with MRSA or C. diff.
Why this Hatch green chile reminds me of my wife: Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010; Love at first sight, meet love at my bite.
Health board backs limits on disclosure of infections: Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010; The divide over whether the public should know the specific hospitals where patients are contracting lethal “superbugs” was clear at Friday’s meeting of the state Board of Health. There were those who champion transparency — believing that revealing where the problems are will force officials to address them. And there were those who oppose it.
'We’re the ones who are in there. Our lives are entrusted to them.': Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010; State Sen. Shirley Breeden understands the patient suffering caused by hospital-acquired infections. While she was in Carson City last year championing a bill to require stricter reporting of such cases, her father was battling a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, infection he contracted in a Las Vegas hospital.
State to investigate hospital infection findings: Gap called ‘staggering’ between what Las Vegas hospitals report and what is shown on billing records sent to the state; Monday, Aug. 9, 2010; The Sun’s investigation into lethal bacteria in Las Vegas hospitals has identified more apparent underreporting by hospitals of the number of times patients are infected at the facilities.
VA system stanching MRSA: Testing, treatment regimen working, so why aren’t more using it?; Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010; The Veterans Affairs Department is determined to eliminate the spread of MRSA within its facilities, and has virtually eliminated the infections within some of its hospitals.
Hospital’s sanitation promises quickly forgotten: State Health Board said no to fewer sinks, citing basic hygiene; Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010; In July 2008, MountainView Hospital executives learned their infection control practices were so bad the federal government was ready to send its Medicare patients - the bulk of the hospital’s business - elsewhere.
A hidden epidemic: Valley hospitals resist reporting the increasing numbers of patients who acquire bacteria infections despite proven prevention methods; Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010; Las Vegas hospital officials say they are doing enough to protect patients from becoming infected with deadly bacteria. But hospitals are failing.
Hospital stay will stay with her always: Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010; Julie Rich lives tethered to an oxygen machine, the low hum and hiss constant companions, the vinyl tubing always underfoot. It is a reminder of the aggressive bacterial infection she contracted after an outpatient procedure at a local hospital.
Iowa regulators also pushing for reporting of patient harm: Wednesday, July 21, 2010; Nevada lawmakers aren’t alone in their efforts to increase hospitals’ transparency in reporting harm done to patients.
Draft bills would require preventable injury reports by individual hospitals: Wednesday, July 21, 2010; Lawmakers approved Tuesday drafting bills to require Nevada hospitals to report, by facility, the preventable infections and injuries patients suffer while in their care.
State presses hospitals for full accounting of preventable injuries: Health Division affirms Sun findings of discrepancy in how hospitals report preventable injuries; Friday, July 16, 2010; State officials released data on preventable injuries and infections in Nevada hospitals Thursday that mirror the findings of a Las Vegas Sun investigation.
St. Rose Dominican Hospitals to post data on quality: St. Rose takes lead in transparency; county facility says it will follow; Sunday, July 11, 2010; 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 to do the same. The Sun investigation, based on hospital billing data on file with the state, identified 969 instances in 2008 and 2009 in which patients suffered preventable injuries, infections or other harm in Las Vegas hospitals.
Health care leaders discuss Sun report's findings: Sunday, July 4, 2010; 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 present when the patient was admitted.
Hospital could face fine over terrorism drill gone awry: Investigation details traumatic events; Saturday, July 3, 2010; Nurses were caring for 26 patients in the intensive care unit at St. Rose Dominican Hospital — Siena Campus, when a man brandishing a handgun began herding nurses, doctors and other employees into a break room.
Inadequate care, unspeakable pain: Sunday, June 27, 2010; 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.
Accident took her life, his heart: Sunday, June 27, 2010; 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 toward the physician who allegedly inserted the tube.
Health care can hurt you: Sun’s investigation of Nevada hospital data shows 969 incidents of inpatient injuries — some that can be deadly; Sunday, June 27, 2010; Among life’s core assumptions is that hospitals bring healing. But sometimes they bring harm. Rosie Powell’s surgeon removed a mass from the 74-year-old’s abdomen, thinking it was a cancerous tumor. It was a healthy kidney. Donna Wendt’s windpipe was torn during insertion of a breathing tube. Oxygen was pumped into her chest cavity instead of her lungs, bloating her. She couldn’t be saved.