Emergency Department

Problems with stimulant medications used to treat symptoms of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are sending an increasing number of Americans to emergency departments for treatment, a new government report warns. Between 2005 and 2010, a study finds, ADHD medication-related emergency room visits have more than doubled - from 13,379 in 2005 to 31,244 in 2010. While emergencies associated with ADHD medications rose slightly among children, the hike has been particularly pronounced in those over 18. The new data were reported Thursday in an issue of the DAWN (Drug Abuse Warning Network)

Re "Hospitals shedding metal detectors," Feb. 3 I well remember the 1993 shooting of emergency room physician Richard May at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center. I was the trauma anesthesiologist and staff physician on duty that day who took care of May. With an armed L.A. County sheriff's deputy escort, I took him unconscious and intubated from the ER to his CT scan, provided anesthesia in the operating room and finally delivered him to the neurological intensive care unit.

Turmoil among senior emergency physicians at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center has allegedly erupted twice this month into threats of violence, prompting a judge this week to bar top county hospital officials from threatening one of the doctors. Tensions have mounted since late last year, when Dr. William Shoemaker was demoted from his post as chairman of the emergency department and replaced by Dr. H. Range Hutson.

Problems with stimulant medications used to treat symptoms of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are sending an increasing number of Americans to emergency departments for treatment, a new government report warns. Between 2005 and 2010, a study finds, ADHD medication-related emergency room visits have more than doubled - from 13,379 in 2005 to 31,244 in 2010. While emergencies associated with ADHD medications rose slightly among children, the hike has been particularly pronounced in those over 18. The new data were reported Thursday in an issue of the DAWN (Drug Abuse Warning Network)

A satisfied patient is not a cheaper patient: however important such a finding may be in these budget-constrained times, that comes as little surprise. More unexpected is the finding that a satisfied patient is not necessarily a healthier patient -- that the patient happy with the medical attention he or she receives from a physician is more likely to die than the patient who grumbles about it. Yet both findings emerge from a study published "online first" on Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine . The authors -- four family medicine doctors at UC Davis -- suggest that in a healthcare marketplace in which Americans often choose their doctors in the same way they choose a plumber or an electrician, physicians may have gotten a little too eager to please their "customers.

The Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center's Emergency Department recently received the 1999 Emergency Department of the Year award at the 25th annual California Emergency Physicians' Meeting. More than 45 emergency departments were considered for this honor. "We are pleased and very proud to receive the award," said Robert Realmuto, chief of emergency medicine. "This honor acknowledges the teamwork and dedication that our ER and the entire hospital puts forth daily for the care of all patients."

Re "Hospitals shedding metal detectors," Feb. 3 I well remember the 1993 shooting of emergency room physician Richard May at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center. I was the trauma anesthesiologist and staff physician on duty that day who took care of May. With an armed L.A. County sheriff's deputy escort, I took him unconscious and intubated from the ER to his CT scan, provided anesthesia in the operating room and finally delivered him to the neurological intensive care unit.

Huntington Memorial Hospital, 100 Congress St., Pasadena, has opened a pediatric urgent care clinic next to its emergency department. The clinic is open every night from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. to provide care to children who need emergency attention. The cost is $50 per visit for a brief evaluation.

Use of CT scans in hospital emergency rooms has risen 16% a year since 1995, raising questions about unnecessary radiation exposure and how healthcare costs can be contained against such fervent use of technology. In a study released Monday in the journal Radiology, researchers found use of CT ? computed tomography ? procedures increased from 2.7 million nationwide in 1995 to 16.2 million in 2007. The study joins several recent reports showing that the use of sophisticated imaging technology, and the cost associated with it, has grown rapidly.

In 1995, some 162,000 children were treated in hospital emergency rooms for baseball-related injuries, according to statistics gathered by the American College of Emergency Physicians. Here are more numbers about injury in America: * Sports-related injuries suffered by older Americans increased by 54% between 1990 and 1996. * Injury prompts 54% of all visits to emergency departments by children ages 5 to 14.

Nearly 20% of patients who are discharged from hospitals return for acute care within 30 days, researchers reported Tuesday. The team, led by Yale emergency medicine researcher Dr. Anita A. Vashi, scoured records collected between July 2008 and September 2009 that reported on 4,028,555 patients in California, Florida and Nebraska. They found that 17.9% of hospitalizations resulted in at least one hospital-based “acute care encounter” within 30 days, including readmissions for inpatient care and emergency department visits.

AURORA, Colo. - Dr. Tien Vu was fixing up a child's cut when the first victim was rolled into the emergency room. He was slumped in his wheelchair, his face gnarled in pain, his leg bloodied. A bullet had ripped into his thigh. Something's off, Vu recalled thinking. The emergency room at Children's Hospital Colorado, where Vu has worked for nearly a decade, mostly tends to kids' broken bones and stubborn fevers, though the staff has handled its share of ailing adults too. But a gunshot wound was unusual.

After James Holmes allegedly opened fire on an unsuspecting crowd watching a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, 12 people were dead and an additional 59 were injured, according to authorities. Many of the victims were rushed to the University of Colorado Hospital in the dark of the night, and others were taken to the nearby Children's Hospital Colorado, where they received treatment immediately. Lou Lazatin, president and chief executive of St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, spoke with The Times about a hospital's responsibility to respond to a crisis like this.

A satisfied patient is not a cheaper patient: however important such a finding may be in these budget-constrained times, that comes as little surprise. More unexpected is the finding that a satisfied patient is not necessarily a healthier patient -- that the patient happy with the medical attention he or she receives from a physician is more likely to die than the patient who grumbles about it. Yet both findings emerge from a study published "online first" on Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine . The authors -- four family medicine doctors at UC Davis -- suggest that in a healthcare marketplace in which Americans often choose their doctors in the same way they choose a plumber or an electrician, physicians may have gotten a little too eager to please their "customers.

Huntington Hospital is more than halfway done with an expansion of its emergency department as it seeks to keep pace with rising demand for emergency room services. The Pasadena hospital's emergency and trauma center has 21 beds. The new center will add 22,000 square feet and contain 50 beds. The $80-million expansion was fueled by several factors that have increased activity at Huntington's emergency room. The first came in 2002, when Pasadena's St. Luke Medical Center closed, making Huntington the hub for 90% of 911 calls in the area.

Use of CT scans in hospital emergency rooms has risen 16% a year since 1995, raising questions about unnecessary radiation exposure and how healthcare costs can be contained against such fervent use of technology. In a study released Monday in the journal Radiology, researchers found use of CT ? computed tomography ? procedures increased from 2.7 million nationwide in 1995 to 16.2 million in 2007. The study joins several recent reports showing that the use of sophisticated imaging technology, and the cost associated with it, has grown rapidly.

I wish to endorse the sentiments expressed in your editorial ("Turning Away Rape Victims," Oct. 10) on Gov. George Deukmejian's veto of SB 2205, which would have funded emergency examinations for victims of rape and child sexual abuse. As the medical director of Northern California's largest emergency department for children, I fully subscribe to the philosophy that health care should be considered a right in the U.S. However, it is extremely irresponsible for political leaders to mandate unlimited emergency care without simultaneously addressing the issue of how this care is to be funded.

St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank withdrew from Los Angeles County's trauma network Monday, leaving officials from nearby hospitals fearing an increase in the number of critically ill patients they must treat. "We're not adding any more staff to handle the expected increase, but psychologically we're gearing up," said John McConnellogue, director of Northridge Hospital Medical Center's emergency department. St. Joseph officials announced in April that they were dropping out of the network because of a lack of funds.

About the only thing Dr. Philip Schwarzman can be sure of under the national healthcare overhaul is that he is adding his daughters, ages 23 and 25, to his health plan immediately. Much less clear to Schwarzman is how the sweeping law will affect the emergency department at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, where he is medical director. "It's incredibly complicated," said the white-haired physician, whose department sees 50,000 patients a year. "It's hard to predict what's going to happen."

Hospital officials report that the numbers of patients with H1N1 flu appear to be leveling off at many Los Angeles area hospitals, easing wait times at crowded emergency rooms less than a week before Thanksgiving. "We're seeing a tail off," said Rob Fuller, executive vice president at Downey Regional Medical Center. "The debate is whether this is the end of Round 1, or is there going to be another wave?" Although health officials cautioned that the course of the flu pandemic remains unpredictable, many said they were hopeful.