Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Digest

Surgery errors found to affect children most

By TIMES WIRES
Published March 7, 2007

Young children are the most likely victims of surgery-related medication mistakes, a new study has found, and poor communication as the patient moves from the operating room to recovery is the most likely culprit. The study, released Tuesday, was done by the U.S. Pharmacopeia, which sets standards for the pharmaceutical industry, and by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., and two nurses' associations. Medical error has been a charged topic ever since a 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine estimated that such mistakes led to as many as 98,000 deaths a year - more than highway accidents and breast cancer combined.

COLUMBUS, OHIO

Governor freezes coffee, meal bills

Gov. Ted Strickland told all state agencies Tuesday to stop ordering coffee, lunch and other meals while his office reviews nearly $4-million in food-related expenses in the past two years. His executive order put a freeze on breakfast trays and other food provided at meetings and conferences held for official state business, Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey said. The move was prompted by a Senate finance committee report Monday showing that the Ohio Board of Regents, the agency that oversees higher education policy, had spent $113,000 on catering services and restaurant tabs since 2005, including several charges at high-end restaurants in Columbus, Dailey said.

Elsewhere

FORT BRAGG, N.C.: Too many paratroopers are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan to hold the annual All American week celebration for the 82nd Airborne Division this year, a division spokesman said. This year, about 6,000 paratroopers, including the commanding general and his staff, as well as the 4th Brigade Combat Team, are in Afghanistan. Soldiers in the 2nd and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams are in Iraq.

GREENSBORO, N.C.: Three college football players accused in an attack on Palestinian students have apologized, and the victims' lawyer says they'll drop their complaint once the fourth player says he's sorry. "The boys settled it among themselves," said attorney Amiel Rossabi, who represents Guilford College students Faris Khader and Osama Sabbah. Khader, Sabbah and Omar Awartani, a student from North Carolina State, told police they were beaten by assailants who used ethnic slurs during a campus fight on Jan. 20.

NEW YORK: Lottery players lined up Tuesday, dreaming of winning the record $370-million Mega Millions jackpot. After the jackpot hit $355-million on Monday, the 12 participating Mega Millions states agreed to move Tuesday night's drawing from the game's usual home in Atlanta to New York's Times Square.

[Last modified March 7, 2007, 01:23:09]