Latest news with #FloridaHospitalAssociation
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trade war with China threatens to raise Florida hospital costs
President Donald Trump may have put the handbrake on some proposed tariffs but the ongoing trade war with China could hike the cost of health care, according to the group that lobbies for Florida hospitals. China produces 90% of the ibuprofen used in over-the counter pain medication for the United States and is the largest producer of antibiotics worldwide, said Florida Hospital Association President and CEO Mary Mayhew. Even a conservative 5% increase in the cost of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies would result in a $500 million rise in health care costs across Florida, she said. The Trump administration recently announced it was raising tariffs on Chinese products to 145%. That's too much, too quickly, said Mayhew, who said she fears the sudden imposition of high tariffs will cause supply shortages similar to those that hindered hospitals at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 95% of imported surgical gloves and gowns in 2020 were Chinese in origin, according to an analysis by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. So far, pharmaceuticals have been excluded from tariffs. Considering that Trump has said he wants to bring their production back to the United States, that exclusion could be temporary. 'We know what happens when those supply chains are disrupted — like they were with masks and gowns and gloves,' Mayhew said. 'It's almost unfathomable to imagine what would happen with a disruption related to medicine." The Trump administration's policies make sense to boost national security and to safeguard the nation's supply of medical supplies and equipment, Mayhew said. The nation's dependence on China for medications was also highlighted as a problem by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in the months leading up to the coronavirus pandemic. But U.S. suppliers need more time to ramp up domestic production, Mayhew said. 'You can't just flip a switch and replace that international dependency with domestic production overnight,' she said. The pandemic was an object lesson in how quickly costs can rise for hospitals, Mayhew said. Medical supplies went up in price while the cost of labor, especially contract nursing soared by as much as 45%. Further increases due to tariffs or an escalation of the trade war would likely force hospitals and clinics to look at services that, because they have low reimbursement rates from insurance companies, are often subsidized by other areas of care, Mayhew said. Those include mental health care, primary care physician services, inpatient psychiatric care, and labor and delivery units. 'Unfortunately, for any hospital, or any business for that matter, when you are losing money, and you are trying to maintain your ability to provide care, you inevitably will look at those services that are hemorrhaging red ink,' she said. Local hospital officials, including HCA Florida, which operates 16 hospitals in the region, said they are waiting to see the impacts of the tariffs and costs. Officials at Tampa General Hospital said the are monitoring inventory and existing contracts with suppliers. 'Oftentimes, external factors such as the market, inflation and workforce shortages impact system costs,' said spokesperson Beth Hardy in an email. 'Tampa General is continuously working to create efficiencies and identify savings to maintain access to affordable and high-quality care.' BayCare officials said that broad categories of equipment and supplies that could be affected include personal protective gear like masks, gloves and gowns, lab supplies, pharmaceuticals, syringes, imaging contrast, ventilators, imaging equipment and surgical instruments. To achieve savings from bulk ordering and manage supplies, the nonprofit operates a a 258,000-square-foot distribution center where about 100 team members fill more than 12,000 orders per day from BayCare's 16 hospitals and its numerous clinics and doctor's offices across the Tampa Bay region. 'BayCare will continue monitoring the situation closely as we work with vendor partners to understand potential impacts and consider alternative sources to mitigate the effects of tariffs,' said spokesperson Lisa Razler in an email.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
No evidence Florida surgeon gave expired blood to Black, Hispanic patients
Why is there not a rating on this post? There's not enough verified evidence for us to definitively confirm or debunk this rumor. Contact us if you have credible information to share. We'll update this post as necessary. In early 2025, social media users began spreading a rumor that a Florida surgeon transfused expired blood into Black and Hispanic patients. The claim primarily spread on TikTok; one video on the platform making the claim had nearly 60,000 likes and over 40,000 shares as of this writing. "He would schedule the surgery, use the bad blood and pocket the difference," the TikTok user claimed, alleging the doctor sold the "good blood" initially set aside for the patient. "He pocketed the difference of above $4 million dollars. He's being investigated by the hospital, he's being sued by the insurance company for fraud, and there is a class action suit against him with the clients he has put in this situation and killed." While many commenters appeared to believe the video's claims, others pointed out inconsistencies, claiming blood must be verified by others to ensure patient compatibility before patients receive transfusions. This rumor appeared to originate with the video above and is unsubstantiated. The vague nature of the claim, lack of identifying details offered by the original creator and inaccurate understanding of the blood transfusion process indicate that this claim is likely not legitimate. The TikTok video's creator, @ does not have direct messages open, so it was not possible to inquire for more information. We also reached out to the Florida Hospital Association and will update the story if the organization responds. It is true that blood expires. However, evidence that using older blood during surgery results in an increased risk of death is mixed; the most recent peer-reviewed research suggests fresh and older blood are equally effective, even if the blood is expired — although this may vary based on the patient's condition and health. The United States has detailed laws regulating safe blood donation and transfusion; according to the FDA, blood expires after up to 42 days from the date of collection. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross, Evan Peterson, said the organization — which provides about 40% of the nation's blood supply — follows all FDA rules, including "proper disposal of blood products in instances when blood may exceed its shelf life and can no longer be transfused." As the Red Cross notes on its website, while hospitals keep some blood on the shelf, much of it is directly ordered from blood banks. Furthermore, national blood shortages are common, which suggests that hospitals would be using the vast majority of its blood before it expires, making it unlikely that a surgeon would be able to handle large amounts of expired blood. In the video, the creator claimed that the hospital caught the surgeon due to a discrepancy of 60 extra bags of blood in inventory. It is not clear how the alleged doctor got hold of expired blood or how the surgeon is profiting off of this supposed scheme, but if the surgeon sold the blood, for example, we would receive nowhere near the $4 million in profit claimed by the creator. When hospitals buy blood from an outside provider, it costs approximately $250 for one unit of blood, the standard measurement. Assuming one "bag" of blood is equivalent to one unit, this purported surgeon would only net $15,000 if he sold 60 bags. Hospital accrediting agencies also require hospitals to monitor blood transfusion practices (see Page 51), and pre-transfusion blood checks are a critical component of that. As many commenters rightly pointed out, standard guidelines mandate that in a pre-transfusion check, at least two nurses or medical professionals check the blood for varying details, including the blood's expiration date and time. Thus, multiple people would likely have to be complicit in the doctor's scheme in order for it to work at all. Finally, a Google search for "Florida doctor expired blood transfusion" returned various medical malpractice stories, but nothing involving expired blood — and if this did indeed happen, especially if there was a "class action lawsuit" as claimed by the TikTok creator, it would certainly make news. We reached out to the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies, which accredits blood banks and hospitals in the United States, to ask for more information about how strict pre-transfusion check policies are and will update this story if the organization responds. "21 CFR 610.53 -- Dating Periods for Whole Blood and Blood Components." Accessed 8 Apr. 2025. "Administering Blood Products | College of Nursing | ECU." Accessed 8 Apr. 2025. American Red Cross. A Compendium of Transfusion Practice Guidelines. Jan. 2021, p. 51, ---. "Blood Transfusion Process." Accessed 8 Apr. 2025. ---. "What Happens to Donated Blood." Accessed 8 Apr. 2025. Biological Product Deviation Reporting for Blood and Plasma Establishments Guidance for Industry. FDA, 2020, Accessed 8 Apr. 2025. "Florida Expired Blood Surgeon - Google Search | Ghostarchive." Accessed 8 Apr. 2025. Lee, Janet S., and Daniel B. Kim-Shapiro. "Stored Blood: How Old Is Too Old?" Journal of Clinical Investigation, vol. 127, no. 1, Dec. 2016, pp. 100–2, Accessed 15 Apr. 2022. Northwestern Medicine. "What Causes a Blood Shortage?" Northwestern Medicine, Jan. 2024, Accessed 8 Apr. 2025. "Red Cross Declares Emergency Blood Shortage, Calls for Donations during National Blood Donor Month." 7 Jan. 2024, Accessed 8 Apr. 2025. "Requirements for Blood and Blood Components Intended for Transfusion or for Further Manufacturing Use." Federal Register, 22 May 2015, Accessed 8 Apr. 2025. Riley, Brian C., et al. "Expired Blood Transfusion and Mortality Outcomes in Combat Trauma Patients." Transfusion, vol. 64, no. 9, Sept. 2024, pp. 1683–91, Accessed 8 Apr. 2025. Saillant, Noelle N., et al. "The National Blood Shortage—an Impetus for Change." Annals of Surgery, vol. 275, no. 4, Apr. 2022, pp. 641–43, Accessed 8 Apr. 2025. Sauerwein, Kristina. "In Transfusions for Children, Fresh and Older Blood Are Equally Effective | WashU Medicine." WashU Medicine, 10 Dec. 2019, Accessed 8 Apr. 2025. "Why Should I Donate Blood?" St. Jude Care & Treatment, Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lawmakers Weigh Medical Malpractice Change
Florida lawmakers are considering changing a decades-old law and clearing the way for more medical-malpractice lawsuits over patient deaths. With the issue closely watched by health-care, business and legal groups, the House Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill (HB 6017) that would make the change, a day after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a similar measure (SB 734). The bills would undo part of a 1990 law that involves wrongful-death lawsuits and what are known as 'non-economic' damages for such things as pain and suffering. That part of the law prevents people from seeking non-economic damages in certain circumstances. People who are 25 years old or older cannot seek such damages in medical-malpractice cases involving deaths of their parents. Also, parents cannot seek such damages in malpractice cases involving the deaths of their children who are 25 or older. Numerous people told lawmakers this week that the law has prevented them from pursuing malpractice lawsuits in the deaths of family members. Supporters said the bill would hold health-care providers accountable for negligence. 'This bill is simply about accountability and parity,' House bill sponsor Dana Trabulsy, R-Fort Pierce, said. But opponents argued it would lead to hundreds of additional medical-malpractice lawsuits each year, increasing insurance costs and exacerbating shortages of physicians. Florida Hospital Association lobbyist David Mica said that would affect access to patient care, such as in areas with rural hospitals. 'Universally, we're concerned about this really from an access to care,' Mica said. 'Specifically, when we look at our rural hospitals, they're running on razor-thin margins.' Medical malpractice has been a battleground in the state Capitol for decades, with doctors and their allies trying to limit lawsuits and plaintiffs' attorneys and their allies arguing that limits would prevent injured people and their families from getting justice. That political dynamic has been evident this week, with opponents of the bills including the Florida Hospital Association, the Florida Medical Association, the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association, the Florida Insurance Council, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida. Supporters have included the Florida Justice Association, which represents plaintiffs' attorneys, and AARP. Lawmakers have considered similar bills in recent years but have not passed them. As an example of the people who testified this week about being affected by the law, Sabrina Davis told the House panel that her father, Keith Davis, went to a hospital for knee pain. She said a doctor did not order an ultrasound that would have detected a blood clot that led to his death. Davis said Florida 'should not be a state that provides sanctuary for bad medicine.' But Vicki Norton, a Palm Beach County emergency physician who represented the Florida Medical Association and the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association, told lawmakers that malpractice costs in the state are 'astronomical.' She said the bill would hurt efforts to attract doctors and affect access to care. The House bill also would need to clear the House Judiciary Committee before it could go to the full House. The Senate version, which was approved in a 9-2 vote Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, would need to clear two more committees before it could go to the full Senate. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Axios
18-02-2025
- Health
- Axios
Florida last in the nation in pass rate for nursing test
Florida had the nation's lowest nursing exam pass rate in 2024. Why it matters: Fewer nurses passing the exam means fewer nurses in hospitals, exacerbating the workforce shortages that have long affected the state. Florida improved its pass rates from 2023 but still ranked last in the U.S. for the exams that nurses must pass to obtain a license, per a new report from the Florida Center for Nursing (FCN). Between the lines: A new nurse must complete an accredited program, meet state requirements and pass a national exam to earn a license, with separate tests for registered and practical nurses. The Florida Hospital Association reported that the state's nursing vacancy rate for 2024 was 7.8%, with more than 16,000 open positions. The nursing turnover rate for the year was 17.6%. Driving the news: Florida has lagged the national average for over a decade, with the gap reaching its widest in 2020. Last year, 19,623 people in Florida took the national exam; the 2024 pass rate was the highest recorded since at least 2013. What they're saying:"Florida had the most test-takers in the country in 2024, but if they are not passing the test and entering the workforce, it's not helping to close the gap," Rayna Letourneau, executive director of the FCN, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Zoom in: The FCN regionalizes its data. Hernando, Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Manatee, Hardee, DeSoto and Highlands counties form the West Central region. In 2024, the West Central region had about 3,600 test-takers — the second largest share in Florida. It also ranked second in pass rates for registered and practical nurses at 90%.
