OBJECTIVETo investigate the current situation of treatment for acute chemical poisoning in the emergency departments and occupational disease departments of some general hospitals and to provide a basis for improving the ability of general hospital to deal with acute chemical poisoning.

METHODSFour hospitals from Shandong Province, Beijing City, and Shanxi Province, China were selected in the study. They included two first-class hospitals located in the downtown, where the patients with acute chemical poisoning from urban and suburban areas were admitted to the occupational disease departments, and two second-class hospitals located in the suburban area or county, where the patients with acute chemical poisoning from the suburban area were admitted to the emergency departments. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 141 medical workers (51 persons in the emergence department group and 90 persons in the occupational disease department group) that were engaged in the treatment of acute chemical poisoning in the four hospitals; 1999 medical records were analyzed. Individual in-depth interviews, questionnaire investigation, and field observation were used to compare the emergency department group and occupational disease department group in terms of the ability to deal with acute chemical poisoning and the training on treatment for acute chemical poisoning.

RESULTSThe emergency department group had significantly higher proportion of pesticide poisoning cases than the occupational disease department group (P<0.01). Thirty-seven of the patients in occupational disease department group died, with a fatality rate of 2.7%, and 14 of the patients in emergence department group died,with a fatality rate of 2.2%, so there was no significant difference between the two groups in this regard (P>0.05). There were significantly more cases treated without emergency plan in the emergency department group than in the occupational disease department group ( 37.3% vs. 10.0%, P <0.0 1). The occupational disease department group had significantly higher score of knowledge about the treatment for acute chemical poisoning than the emergence department group (7.2±1.3 vs. 5.2±0.9, P<0.01 ). There were significantly lower proportions of medical staff who had received training on the knowledge about acute chemical poisoning and on the emergency disposal of acute chemical poisoning in the emergency department group than in the occupational disease department group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThere is a lack of the knowledge about treatment for acute chemical poisoning and protective measures during treatment among the medical staff in general hospitals, and related training and emergency plan are needed.

Acute Disease ; Adult ; China ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Hospital Departments ; statistics & numerical data ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Male ; Poisoning ; therapy

Objective To study the medical malpractice cases involving death, and discuss the identification ideas and methods of medical malpractice cases. Methods A total of 291 medical malpractice cases involving death accepted and settled from January 2012 to December 2017 at the Judicial Appraisal Center of Southern Medical University were collected. Based on the age, gender, hospital level, clinical department, whether or not autopsy was performed, cause of death, cause of medical mistakes, causality and causative potency of the appraised person, statistical analysis was made. Results There were more males than females in medical malpractice cases involving death. Mostly young adults or children were involved in these cases. The number of cases involving tertiary hospitals was the highest; among the clinical departments, the internal medicine department had the largest number of cases, followed by surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, etc. Autopsy rate has a trend of increasing year by year. Most patients die from the natural outcomes of their disease or ineffective treatment. Most hospitals have certain medical mistakes, and have an indirect correlation with the patient's death, mainly slight factors. Conclusion Judicial appraisal of medical malpractice should follow the principle of "one-effect and multi-cause", and comprehensively consider various factors such as, the diseases and constitution of the patient, natural outcomes of the diseases, the current medical technology and the level of diagnosis and treatment of the hospital, etc.
Autopsy ; Cause of Death ; Child ; Death ; Female ; Hospital Departments/statistics & numerical data* ; Humans ; Male ; Malpractice/statistics & numerical data* ; Medical Errors/statistics & numerical data* ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the characteristics of medical malpractice from different grades of hospitals and to explore forensic investigation strategies in assessing medical dispute. METHODS: A total of 206 cases of medical dispute from 2009 to 2010 investigated by the Department of Forensic Medicine in Nanjing Medical University were selected and analyzed according to fault incidence, fault-prone part, and degree of causality in the treatment. RESULTS: Among the 206 cases analyzed, tertiary hospitals, secondary hospitals and primary hospitals showed medium, high and low error rate, respectively. A majority of medical malpractice cases were distributed in the departments of surgery, medicine and gynecology. CONCLUSION The frequency and severity of medical malpractice in primary hospitals were high, which were gradually reduced in tertiary and secondary hospitals.
Dissent and Disputes ; Expert Testimony ; Forensic Medicine ; Gynecology/statistics & numerical data* ; Hospital Departments/statistics & numerical data* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Malpractice/statistics & numerical data* ; Medical Errors/statistics & numerical data* ; Retrospective Studies ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo analyze the characteristics of autopsies in medical dispute.

METHODSThe data of 202 autopsy cases in medical disputes performed by the Department of Pathology of Jiangxi Medical College from January 2001 to December 2010 were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTSThe number of autopsy in medical disputes increased year by year. Neonatal, infant and 30 ≊ 60y were more common age groups in dispute; the gender ratio of male to female was 2:1 and more cases were from hospitals in rural areas. Most medical disputes came from in departments of pediatric, obstetrics and gynecology and general surgery. Death caused by cardiovascular diseases ranked at the first place.

CONCLUSIONAutopsy is important in medical disputes to define the cause of death and to preserve evidence.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Autopsy ; statistics & numerical data ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; mortality ; Cause of Death ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Dissent and Disputes ; Female ; Hospital Departments ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Malpractice ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the incidence, pathogens, and clinical features of infection in consecutive cases from 2010 to 2012 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

METHODThe incidence, pathogen, treatment, and outcomes of patients with hematological diseases who had positive findings of bacterium in their samples from 2010 to 2012 were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTSThere were 449 positive samples (5.8%) from 4 890 patients during this period, among which 388 were proved to be with pathogenic bacteria. Samples separated from patients with community-aquired infections accounted for 8.4% of all positive samples. Most community-aquired infections were caused by Gram-negative bacteria (75%), although no multidrug-resistant bacteria was observed. Samples separated from patients with nosocomial infections accounted for 91.6% of all positive samples. Respiratory tract (49.4%) and peripheral blood (32.6%) were the most common samples with positive results. Skin soft tissues (10.4%), and urine (3.7%) were less common samples. Most of the pathogenic bacteria of the nosocomial infections were Gram-negative (66.9%). The most common Gram-negative bacteria included Escherichia coli (13.8%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (12.1%), and Klebsiella pneumonia (12.1%), while Staphylococcus aureus (10.4%), Enterococcus faecium (7.0%), and Staphylococcus epidermidis (5.1%) were the most common Gram-positive bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria consisted of most of sputum samples and peripheral blood samples. Samples from the surface of skin wound and anal swab were composed largely by Gram-positive bacteria (63.8%). The detection rates of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumonia/Klebsiella oxytoca, Escherichia coli, and Proteus mirabilis were 24.0%, 87.9% and 38.4%, respectively. The resistance to Acinetobacter baumannii was serious. Multidrug-resistant, extensive drug resistant and pan drug resistant A. baumannii acountted for 74% of all A. Baumannii infections. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia showed low resistance to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, levofloxacin and minocycline. Also, 22 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and 9 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Epidermidis were detected, which were only sensitive to vancomycin, teicoplanin, and linezolid. All patients were treated in the haematology wards and most of them were under agranulocytosis or immunosuppression. Finally, 22 patients reached clinical recovery through anti-infective therapy, whereas 49 patients died. Among those deaths, 42 patients attributed to severe infections and infection-associated complications. Fourteen of all the deaths might be infected with drug-resistance bacteria. There were 61 samples proved to be bacteria colonization. Nonfermenters such as Acinetobacter baumannii and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia made up for a large amount of bacteria colonization.

CONCLUSIONSThe pathogens of nosocomial infections in the hematology ward are mainly Gram-negative bacteria. The incidences and pathogens vary from different infection sites. Nosocomial infection still has a higher mortality rate. Once nonfermenters are detected positive, the pathogenic or colonial bacteria should be distinguished.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bacteria ; isolation & purification ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Cross Infection ; microbiology ; Female ; Hematologic Diseases ; complications ; microbiology ; Hematology ; Hospital Departments ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult