A dozen years ago, avoidable medical errors contributed to the deaths of from 44,000 to 98,000 people every year in U.S. hospitals, according to the landmark report “To Err is Human” by the Institute of Medicine.

We might not be doing any better now; in fact, we might be doing worse, even in our best hospitals, according to the April 2011 issue of Health Affairs. One major study found that significant “adverse events”—medical errors that caused harm—occurred during one-third of hospital stays. The most common were medication errors, followed by surgical errors, procedure errors, and hospital-acquired infections. Read the rest of this entry »

Nancy Roach has been named the  2011 Champion of Colorectal Cancer Prevention by Preventing Colorectal Cancer (PCC).

Founder of Fight Colorectal Cancer and chair of its board of directors, Roach has been actively involved with colorectal cancer advocacy since 1996 when her mother-in-law was diagnosed with rectal cancer. She is also one of the founders of the Colon Cancer Alliance.

In addition to her work with Fight Colorectal Cancer, Nancy is widely known and respected in the cancer research community.  Among many active commitments, she is an advocate in initiatives to improve cancer clinical trials and represents the voice of patients on the National Cancer Institute Gastrointestinal Steering Committee.  Read the rest of this entry »

Every one of us — young or old, living with cancer or cancer-free — may come to a time when we cannot speak for ourselves.

An accident, serious illness, or emergency can leave us unable to make critical health care decisions.

If that happens to you, is there someone who can speak up for your wishes, who knows what you want and can legally ask for it?

Today, April 16, 2011, is National Healthcare Decisions Day.  Today we are urged to select someone to be our voice when we cannot speak for ourselves and complete a living will that lets our wishes be known.

An advanced directive

• Appoints a health care proxy or surrogate who can speak for you if you cannot tell the healthcare team what treatment you want — or don’t want.
• Puts in writing a living will documenting how you want to be treated if you are seriously ill and cannot speak for yourself.

Help with Advanced Directives

Five Wishes helps you prepare a living will to let loved ones know how you want to be treated when you are seriously or terminally ill and cannot speak for yourself.  The Five Wishes document, written in simple, easy-to-understand language, is now legally accepted in 42 states.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology has a booklet that can help cancer patients, their families, and their doctors make individual plans for care at the end of life.  You can download Advanced Cancer Care Planning or order a printed copy.

If you are a health care proxy for someone else, the American Bar Association has help in carrying out that role. Making Medical Decisions: A How-To Guide provides both practical information and emotional support for a difficult task. It reminds family and friends:

Don’t be afraid to use the “D” word: Dying. It’s hard to talk about illness and dying, but it’s a lot harder making decisions without having a sense of what the person would want.

Colorectal cancer patients getting oxaliplatin quickly learn to avoid cold. Drinks with ice, chilly air, even opening the freezer can produce sudden, sharp pain, burning, or an unpleasant pins and needle feeling in their throat and hands.

A small study has found that venlafaxine (Effexor) can completely eliminate acute neurotoxicity from oxaliplatin in about 1 out of 3 people.  More than half of patients who took it had more than 50 percent relief from symptoms. Read the rest of this entry »

Jon Chung PhD

The 2011 Fight Colorectal Cancer-AACR Fellowship, in memory of Lisa Dubow, has been awarded to Jon H. Chung, PhD  from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

His proposed research is Hedgehog Pathway Targeted Therapeutics for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

With the award, Dr. Chung will study alternatives to the traditional Hedgehog signaling pathway in colon cancer cells.  He will explore crosstalk within the cell between the Hedgehog and Wnt pathways and screen for drugs that block both pathways at the same time, potentially stopping cancer development. Read the rest of this entry »