It was finals week in December 2009 and Alex Halstead, a 19-year-old undergraduate at the University of Georgia, was doing some late-night studying for an exam the next day when she felt a stinging pain in her lower right abdomen. The pain was severe, and she was worried that she might have appendicitis. By midnight,…
Dr. Howard Cohen spent nearly 30 years as an infectious disease physician in Atlanta. He treated people with everything from the flu to malaria. He was a highly respected doctor, recognized in his field. But about a decade ago, Cohen made a mistake that he has never forgotten. And he doesn’t want to forget. At…
Consider this alarming scenario: A doctor prescribes the wrong dosage of a drug for a patient. The nurse working the case does not spot the doctor’s error. The pharmacist also fails to notice the problem, and fills the prescription as written. Who’s at fault for putting the patient in danger? More than any individual, flaws…
Betting on Reno Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of articles on the Athens uninsured initiative, produced by graduate students in the Health and Medical Journalism Program at the University of Georgia. Visit the previous article by clicking on the red button to the left.) [youtube width=”620px”]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMmRTd63aao[/youtube] Patricia Thiessen was driving in…
Federally funded community health centers provide free or low-cost care to people who might otherwise go without. According to the most recent estimates, more than 300,000 patients received care from Georgia’s 27 federally qualified health centers, or FQHCs, in 2010. These centers have a reputation for being no-frills places with few amenities. That reputation may…