University lab discovers link between OCD drug and treatment for sepsis

University researchers find a new potential treatment option for sepsis.

Researchers from the Gaultier Lab in the University School of Medicine published a paper Feb. 6, in the journal Science Translational Medicine on their recent finding that the drug fluvoxamine, ordinarily used as medication for those with obsessive-compulsive disorder, may have the ability to treat sepsis as well.

Nearly 20,000 U.S. Staph Deaths Last Year, CDC Reports

Nearly 20,000 U.S. Staph Deaths Last Year, CDC Reports

CDC experts say health care tactics such as decolonization (reducing germs people may carry and spread) before surgery and following CDC's current recommendations could prevent more staph infections.

A new Vital Signs report from CDC says more than 119,000 bloodstream infections and nearly 20,000 deaths are attributable to staph, showing that —despite reductions to date—staph infections still threaten patients in the United States. The report underscore that all staph can be deadly and that health care providers and administrators can take prevention steps to protect their patients.

The report includes results derived from electronic health records at more than 400 acute care hospitals, the experts said in a briefing March 5.

Sepsis test could show results ‘in minutes‘

A new rapid test for earlier diagnosis of sepsis is being developed by University of Strathclyde researchers.

The device, which has been tested in a laboratory, may be capable of producing results in two-and-a-half minutes, the study suggests.

Sepsis deaths prompt Allina health system to change

The hospital system identified new ways to make testing, diagnosis and treatment faster. 

Faster identification and treatment of sepsis by Allina Health hospitals in Minnesota has reduced deaths from the infection-related condition.

Doctors and nurses at Allina started re-examining how they treat sepsis in 2014, after being dismayed at the number of deaths and learning that the condition was three times more lethal than strokes and heart attacks.

A Large Proportion of Hospital Deaths Are Due to Sepsis

Although we should continue efforts to identify and treat patients with sepsis early, this study suggests we should be more nuanced in our assessment of “failed” sepsis care.

Medicare Trims Payments To 800 Hospitals, Citing Patient Safety Incidents

Eight hundred hospitals will be paid less by Medicare this year because of high rates of infections and patient injuries, federal records show.

The number is the highest since the federal government five years ago launched the Hospital Acquired Conditions (HAC) Reduction Program, created by the Affordable Care Act. Under the program, 1,756 hospitals have been penalized at least once, a Kaiser Health News analysis found.

This year, 110 hospitals are being punished for the fifth straight time.

Maryland’s end-of-life bill is about one thing: Killing

Maryland’s end-of-life bill is about one thing: Killing

It’s called the End-of-Life Option Act. That sounds appealing — until you realize that one of the options on offer is killing.

Patients and doctors should have a full array of dignified end-of-life options. But there’s a reason, for two and a half millennia, doctors have taken the Hippocratic oath: “I will keep [the sick] from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.”

Physicians devoted to their patients’ care should not be in the killing business.