Opioid Safety After Surgery
“I’m going to have surgery soon and I have been told I will be given an opioid medication to control the pain after the operation. But I see stories of people getting hooked on opioids all over the...
View ArticleNew Report on Preventing Respiratory Compromise in Vulnerable Patients
The Respiratory Compromise Institute (RCI) has recently published a new report titled “Respiratory Compromise as a New Paradigm for the Care of Vulnerable Hospitalized Patients”. PPAHS is a member of...
View ArticleTyler’s Story: A Deadly PCA Medical Error
Tyler was 18-years old when he was admitted to hospital for a pain in his chest. It was a collapsed lung – the second time he had experienced one that year, and a condition that tall, young, slim males...
View ArticleAnesthesiology Standards Shouldn’t be Different in Hospital and Outpatient...
Written by Lynn Razzano RN, MSN, ONC-C (Clinical Nurse Consultant, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety). When preventable medical errors occur, one of the very first questions asked by...
View ArticlePatients Receiving Opioids Must Be Monitored With Continuous Electronic...
The following is a position statement published by PPAHS. If you would prefer to view our statement as a PDF, please click here. Much of the public attention has been focused on the harm caused by...
View ArticleThe Preventable Death of Paul Buisson: 3 Lessons on Preventing Opioid Death
The following is an excerpt of an article first published on The Doctor Weighs In on June 28, 2017. To read the full article, please click here. — In 2005, Paul Buisson, a celebrated Quebec animator...
View ArticleRemembering Amanda: 7 Years After An Opioid-Related Death
This weekend marked the 7th anniversary of Amanda Abbiehl’s tragic death. Her story continues to remind us of the need for continuous electronic monitoring for all patients receiving opioids. Amanda...
View ArticleAre Patients Receiving Opioids Safer Today Than 6 Years Ago?
Six years ago on July 27, 2011, I posted the first article on a free WordPress blog for the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety. It was titled “Is it possible to survive 96-minutes...
View ArticleDetection of Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression Through Continuous...
The theme of this year’s American Thoracic Society annual conference was “where today’s science meets tomorrow’s care.” In keeping with that theme, we would like to highlight one poster on detection of...
View ArticleIdentifying Patients At Risk of Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression
By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety) Opioid-induced respiratory depression can lead to serious adverse events and even death, in...
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