A husband and wife died Tuesday in Wentworth-Douglass Hospital following a shooting in the critical care unit, and police are treating the incident as a murder-suicide. Officers were called to the hospital at 6:03 a.m. after a report of shots fired inside the hospital, according to a statement released by Dover Police Chief Anthony Colarusso and N.H. Attorney General Joseph Foster. Police arrived at the hospital soon afterward and found the husband and wife dead. "While the investigation is still in the early stages and ongoing, the two deaths appear to be the result of a murder-suicide," the statement said.
Ohio State University's emergency departments have been turning away patients far more often in recent months as a result of overcrowding. From July through November, Ohio State diverted patients to other local hospitals for approximately 378 total hours, or the equivalent of nearly 16 days, from emergency departments at the main hospital and University Hospital East. For the same five-month period a year earlier, Ohio State diverted emergency-department patients for an estimated total of 49 hours, or about two days.
A Baltimore anesthesiologist who made national news as "The New Doctor Death" held the hands of six elderly Marylanders as they asphyxiated themselves with helium and then covered up their suicides, officials said in a state order they filed this month to strip him of his medical license. The suicides are among nearly 300 nationwide that Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert said he helped to arrange as an "exit guide" for the right-to-die group Final Exit Network. Egbert and several colleagues were arrested in 2009 amid an undercover investigation in Georgia, but he has avoided any punishment there or in another case in Arizona. He awaits trial for allegedly assisting in a suicide in Minnesota.
In an ongoing legal battle, Norton Healthcare has struck back at Kosair Charities, which in a suit last May alleged that Norton misused contributions to enhance its bottom line and "line the pockets" of its executives. In a counterclaim filed Monday, the hospital company charges that Kosair "is committing a fraud on the Louisville community" by suggesting to donors that it is supporting Norton's Kosair Children's Hospital when it is has stopped doing so. Filed Monday in Jefferson Circuit Court, Norton's claim alleges Kosair stopped making contractually required contributions two years ago and is now $11.5 million behind.
Orthopedic surgeon Jeffrey Stimac worked part of Thanksgiving and Christmas and expects to work part of New Year's Day checking on patients in the hospital after their operations. 'Tis the season for elective surgeries. Stimac says his surgeries are up about 20% this time of year. It's a trend long experienced by surgeons across the nation, and some say it has become more pronounced now that eight in 10 Americans have insurance plans with deductibles; what patients must pay before insurance kicks in. Even though many deductibles exceed $1,000 or $2,000 a year, patients often have spent that much on health care by November or December.
A mother needs to get her son out the door. Thick white socks cover his contorted feet, a coat drapes his twisted shoulders, a water bottle with a straw nestles in the concave of his chest, and black straps on his wheelchair secure his wrists. He is 33 years old, and she has to get him to an appointment. "I always forget something," the mother, Mimi Kramer, says, looking about her small, immaculate house. "Oh. A change of pants, just in case." Her son, Trey, has intellectual disability, autism and cerebral palsy.