Children’s Hospital Boston has notified over 2,000 patients or their parents that their protected medical information has been breached, after the theft of an unencrypted laptop, according to a story at healthdatamanagement.com. The laptop was password-protected, but was stolen while a hospital staff member was attending a conference in Buenos Aires, according to a statement to the media. A file with patient information had been sent to the laptop as an e-mail attachment, but was not saved to the hard drive. Hospital staff said they could not find out if the file was accessible on the laptop.
There’s a quiet revolution going on and it’s in your doctor’s office, the surgical suite, and probably in your gym. You might even be part of it yourself. Its technology and it’s taking over medicine. From devices that can monitor your vital signs and blood glucose from a distance, to watches that can tell your heart rate after running a marathon, to doctors who can stay in touch over smartphones and tablets with kidney patients after dialysis, technology is changing the way we live.
The FCC agreed today to allocate a wireless spectrum for medical sensors. It had been considering a proposal for a “medical body area network” (MBAN) since 2010. “Today’s action by the FCC has the potential to transform wireless health opportunities to improve the quality of care and lower costs,” said Bruce Rainey, vice president, facilities design and construction at Scripps Health, and a member of the West Wireless Health Council. “It brings to the forefront the concerns and questions that a number of stakeholders involved with wireless health have been expressing, including the need for testing and certifying devices that use this spectrum, and the need for new devices and technologies accessing this spectrum to be fully interoperable."
We’ve heard about them, cardiac stents that fail, surgical mesh for holding organs in place failing as well. Not to mention the horrifying news about the breast implants leaking gel in France that may have caused cancer in some. Long known for identifying the safest cars, the best cribs, even the right eggs to buy, Consumers Union – the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports – is now warning that a dangerous medical device loophole puts patients at risk, and proves once again that sometimes, maybe even often, money wins over common sense. The shocking reality is that more than 90 percent of medical devices do not require clinical testing before the FDA clears them for sale.
One of the worst aspects of chemotherapy is hair-loss. In fact, I’ve had several friends who went through chemo and down to one; each of them bravely shaved their heads (one, with a champagne party afterwards) before starting treatment, with the idea that cancer wasn’t going to get them. But for those who don’t want to shave their heads, or wear a wig, or see strands of hair swirl down the shower drain, there may now be a way to keep it on your head, for good. Would you believe that 8 percent of potential patients refuse chemotherapy because they don’t want to be seen as a person to be pitied? Now, a Connecticut nurse says she has found a natural and non-invasive way to protect against chemotherapy hair loss, according to a press release.
