emergency room news stories on Newser

Debt Collectors Go After Patients ... in the ER

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:08:05 CDT

One of the country's biggest medical debt collectors has reached a new low: sending employees into hospital emergency rooms to "encourage" patients to pay past medical debts before receiving treatment. The Minnesota attorney general is investigating Accretive Health's practices; its debt collectors are allegedly instructed to all but pose as...

Hospitals Open Special ERs for Elderly

Kevin Spak — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:30:05 CDT

America is getting older, and the elderly account for 15% to 20% of emergency room visits, so hospitals have come up with a new way to cater to them: the geriatric ER. Dozens of these facilities are opening across the country, the New York Times reports, looking more like soothing...

More People Going to ER for ... Toothaches

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:41:37 CST

More and more people are showing up to the emergency room to deal with teeth problems. According to a new report, more than 800,000 people in 2009 alone bolted straight to the ER with dental troubles such as toothaches that could have been avoided with proper care. Part of...

Kid, 17, Dupes Fla. Hospital, Snags ER Job

Mark Russell — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 07:45:06 CDT

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on charges of impersonating a physician's assistant and working in a Florida hospital's emergency room for a week, reports the Orlando Sentinel . Police say Matthew Scheidt dressed in a lab coats and surgical scrubs, conducted physical exams, and reportedly even gave CPR to a...

Man Dies in Hospital Parking Lot ...

Evann Gastaldo — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 14:08:05 CST

Birgilio Marin-Fuentes drove himself to an Oregon hospital early Thursday morning because he was coughing and couldn’t sleep, and he almost made it—but he crashed his car into a pillar and wall in the medical center parking garage. After 20 minutes, police found him and started CPR, as another...

ERs Grab Organs Faster From Accident Victims

Nick McMaster — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:38:01 CDT

A federal project exploring the securing of donor organs from patients who die in emergency rooms is raising questions of medical ethics. Traditionally, organs are not taken from ER patients and are removed only after all brain activity has ceased. The project, under way at two Pittsburgh hospitals, aims to...

Beware These Horrific Holiday Mishaps

Kevin Spak — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:40:00 CST

Work enough Christmases in the ER, and you’ll see every manner of bizarre holiday accident—some of them more than once. One UK doctor shares with the Telegraph the injuries his hospital sees "without fail" every year: Exploding tree lights burn eyelids and eyeballs, so keep a safe distance of,...

The Quest for the Better Bagel Slicer

Harry Kimball — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:43:25 CST

You probably thought the dangers of bagel cutting were conquered 15 years ago with the invention of the Bagel Guillotine, the self contained slicer that offers no chance of injury. Tut, tut, grasshopper. In fact, bagel-related injury—BRI—is still rampant, resulting in almost 2,000 trips to the ER...

Flu Fear Swamps US Hospitals

Rob Quinn — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:37:32 CDT

Hospitals and clinics across the country are being overwhelmed by panicky people seeking to be tested for swine flu, reports the Los Angeles Times . Experts warn the signs of strain already show that the system is ill-equipped to deal with a full-scale outbreak. Health officials struggling to cope with the...