Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1348345
17 PATIENT SAFETY & OUTCOMES Rhode Island physician deliberately exposed patients, staff to COVID-19, health director finds By Ayla Ellison R hode Island Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott, MD, has ordered an emergency suspension of a physician's license aer investigators determined he deliberately exposed clinic staff and patients to COVID-19 and present- ed a danger to the public, according to e Providence Journal. Anthony Farina, MD, was suspended from practicing medicine Jan. 14 for an overall pattern of willful misconduct. His license is suspended until further order by the Rhode Island Department of Health or the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline, according to the report. e Board of Medical Licensure and Dis- cipline moved to have Dr. Farina's license suspended aer hearing witness testimo- ny that he exposed patients and staff to COVID-19 aer becoming symptomatic in late November. Witnesses said the physician worked aer testing positive for COVID-19, continuing to see patients while wearing a mask that exposed his nose. Dr. Farina "continued to see patients while knowingly sick. He passed the virus to em- ployees. I think this was the wrong thing to do," an unidentified staff member wrote. Dr. Farina has denied the allegations and said he will appeal the order. "I strongly deny the false allegations made by the Rhode Island Department of Health that I at any time threatened the health of my patients. As a doctor, my first responsi- bility is to do no harm, and I take that oath extremely seriously," he said, according to e Providence Journal. "I want to reassure all of my patients that I would never place them in harm. I am appealing RIDOH's suspension of my license and am confident I will be thoroughly cleared of these false and misleading allega- tions," he said. n 2 patients die at Maryland hospital after oxygen valve mistakenly turned off By Erica Carbajal T wo patients at Lanham, Md.-based Lumi- nis Health Doctors Community Medical Center died after an oxygen valve was mistakenly turned off during maintenance Jan. 15, FOX affiliate WTTG reported Jan. 28. An oxygen valve was accidentally shut off during maintenance due to faulty valve label- ing, according to a statement from a hospital spokesperson shared with Becker's Jan. 29. The hospital's team "immediately deployed portable oxygen to these patients," the statement said. "We are saddened by this tragic accident and extend our deepest condolences to the families involved. We are communicating privately with them," the statement said. "We have taken action to prevent a similar occurrence in the future and have engaged outside experts as part of this review. Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center is committed to continuous improvement and providing the highest quality care to the communities we serve." n Current systolic blood pressure guideline too high for women, study suggests By Mackenzie Bean W omen have a lower normal blood pressure range than men, according to new research from the Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute in Los Angeles. Current blood pressure guidelines do not account for these differences and therefore may put women at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, researchers said. For the study, published Feb. 15 in Circulation, researchers analyzed blood pressure readings for 27,542 people collected as part of four community-based cohort studies. Fifty-four percent of participants were women. Researchers found that men's risk of cardiovascular disease in- creased after their blood pressure hit 120 mmHg — widely consid- ered the normal upper limit for systolic blood pressure. However, this threshold was 110 mmHG for women. Systolic blood pressure levels above this figure for women were linked to a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack, heart failure or stroke. "Our latest findings suggest that this one-size-fits-all approach to considering blood pressure may be detrimental to a woman's health," senior study author Susan Cheng, MD, director of the Insti- tute for Research on Healthy Aging at the Smidt Heart Institute, said in a news release. "Based on our research results, we recommend that the medical community reassess blood pressure guidelines that do not account for sex differences." n