News in brief - Dec. 15, 2003

Better reporting brings more reports - New guide helps physicians treat psychiatric conditions - AMA Foundation awards scholarships - ATRA releases report on judicial "hellholes"

Better reporting brings more reports

Adverse-event reports in Massachusetts hospitals have increased 76% since 1996, and state health officials say the reason is better reporting and increased awareness, not an actual increase in the number of events.

A total of 757 incident reports were filed for fiscal year 2003, with patient falls accounting for 378 of those. The rest included: "other injuries" (49), surgical events (38), medication errors (24) and equipment malfunction (20). Objects left inside patients accounted for 34% of surgical reports, and wrong-side surgeries accounted for 25%.

New guide helps physicians treat psychiatric conditions

The updated and revised second edition of Psychiatry for Primary Care Physicians is now available.

The guide, published by AMA Press, is designed to help family physicians, internists and obstetrician-gynecologists, who provide mental health care to up to 75% of patients with mental health disorders in the United States.

The first edition, published in 1997, was listed on Doody's 250 Best Books of the Year. The new edition costs $60. Orders can be placed by calling 800-621-8335 and asking for order number OP 100203, or by visiting the Web site (www.amapress.com).

AMA Foundation awards scholarships

The American Medical Association Foundation recently gave scholarships of $2,500 each to 21 U.S. and Canadian medical students who demonstrated an interest in psychiatry. The 2003 Rock Sleyster, MD, Memorial Scholarships are given in honor of the 1939-40 AMA president.

In related news, the AMA Foundation's Fund for Better Health is awarding seed grants to community organizations working on grassroots efforts to address violence and tobacco use and increase health literacy.

The AMA Foundation is in a fund-raising campaign to lift its endowment to $400,000 by 2004 to be able to back more health programs.

ATRA releases report on judicial "hellholes"

The American Tort Reform Assn. recently released its updated report on "Bringing Justice to Judicial Hellholes," listing 13 areas that ATRA members name as cities, counties or judicial districts where plaintiff lawyers from around the region or around the nation try to file lawsuits because the area is known to be plaintiff-friendly.

The report names the following areas where ATRA believes reforms are needed to ensure that the system isn't abused: Madison County, Ill.; Jefferson County, Texas; Mississippi's 22nd Judicial Circuit, which includes Copiah, Claiborne and Jefferson counties; Hidalgo County, Texas; Orleans Parish, La.; Kanawha County, W.Va.; Nueces County, Texas; Los Angeles County, Calif.; Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Pa.; Miami-Dade County, Fla.; the city of St. Louis, Mo.; and Holmes and Hinds counties in Mississippi.

The list is ranked in order, from greatest to least, of the number of times each area was named by ATRA members.