Methamphetamine abuse straining hospital emergency rooms

A sharp increase in the number of people arriving in emergency rooms with methamphetamine-related problems is straining local hospital treatment facilities across the country, The New York Times reported.

Seventy-three percent of the 200 county and regional hospitals polled in a survey said there has been an increase in emergency room visits for methamphetamine-related problems recently. Fifty-six percent of hospitals said their costs had risen because of the growing abuse of the drug.

Users frequently develop rapid heartbeat, increased blood pressure and fevers that can reach 105 degrees. And because the drug's neurological side effects frequently include aggressive behavior and paranoia, the hospitals say they deal with many victims of fights or beatings.

"It has really rocked us," said Patrick Fleming, director of the Salt Lake County Division of Substance Abuse Services in Utah. "People are staying in treatment slots longer, so I can't spin those beds to someone else. My waiting lists are mounting like crazy."

Though a relatively small number of total emergency room visits are for illicit drugs, the hospitals said methamphetamine was by far the leading drug problem. Forty-seven percent of hospitals said methamphetamine caused more emergency room visits than any other drug, while 16 percent cited marijuana, 15 percent cocaine and 1 percent heroin.

Investigators overlook problems in nursing homes

Investigators from the Government Accountability Office have found that state inspectors often overlook serious violations in the nation’s nursing homes, according to a report in The New York Times.

State employees who inspect the homes, working under contract to the federal government, pervasively understated “serious deficiencies that cause actual harm or immediate jeopardy to patients,” according to the GAO. The harm includes severe weight loss, multiple falls resulting in broken bones and other injuries and pressure soars. The deficiencies also include fire safety violations, with concerns about cost delaying the installation of automatic sprinkler systems that leave more than 20 percent of homes without adequate fire protection.

Nursing homes must meet federal standards to receive Medicaid and Medicare. They spend $67 billion per year on nursing home care, but Medicare plans to begin linking payment to the quality of care nursing homes provide and will test a “pay for performance” system this year, according to Dr. Mark B. McClellan, a Medicare official.

Federal employees visit about five percent of the nation’s 17,000 nursing homes each year to validate findings of state inspectors. Serious problems not detected by the state inspectors were found in 28 percent of the visits from 2002 to 2004, up from 22 percent in 2000 to 2001.