Medical Harm – General

Working to end medical harm through accountability and transparency.

COMMITTEE:

Medical Errors and Medication Safety Committee
Leaders: Yanling Yu, Helen Haskell

ACTIONS:

PSAN joined other patient advocates in a letter to Congressional leaders who are considering funding issues for FDA oversight of Over the Counter drugs. (Sept 2025)
Riley Wolynn, MPH, analyzed PSAN’s Facebook Community to understand patient and family perspectives and interactions relating to patient safety. The study underscores the importance of online communities in infuencing patient safety discourse. Findings support the value of social media data for patient safety research and provide unique insights into patient concerns and advocacy efforts. “Tirelessly Striving Towards the Challenging Goal of Patient Safety: A Content Analysis of Patient Advocacy Dialogs on Facebook” (August 2025)
PSAN member Helen Haskell editorial commentary on BMJ cohort study on the safety of inpatient care in surgical settings. “Surgical adverse events in the US: After all these years, why has patient safety not improved?” Link to the study (Nov 2024)
PSAN member Jane Zill has put decades of personal, professional and advocacy experience into her very complete analysis “Diabetes, Kidney Failure, Living Organ Donation, and Medicare: Observations of a Fallen Angel.” She is a living kidney donor (1991), mother and chronic kidney disease (CKD) patient who has served on numerous national committees to improve care for those with kidney disease. Her paper includes a timeline of services provided to patients with kidney disease as well as her recommendations for improvements based on her observations and experiences. (April 2024)
PSAN joins the Patient, Consumer, and Public Health Coalition in making recommendations to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding coverage of Leqembi and other similar treatments for Alzheimer’s disease through registries. (Aug 2023)
PSAN statement in support of a patient-centered and publicly transparent National Patient Safety Board. (Mar 2023)
PSAN Comments to US Health and Human Services on Creating a National Healthcare System Action Alliance To Advance Patient Safety (Jan 2023)
Patient Safety Advocates’ response to H.R. 9733, creating a National Patient Safety Board (Jan 2023)
Statement by PSAN member, Lisa McGiffert, regarding a national patient safety action alliance at US Health and Human Services national meeting in DC (Nov 2022)
ProPublica and WTTW Chicago PBS report on patient safety concerns at Roseland Hospital, quotes Lisa McGiffert, PSAN member. (Oct 2022)
Association of Health Care Journalists Panel with PSAN members Lisa McGiffert and Patricia Kelmar, How to Investigate Hospital Quality, Presentation and resources (April 2022)
American Medical Informatics Association & Patient Safety Action Network, Panel Discussion: Transparency About Healthcare Quality, with several PSAN members Melissa Clarkson, Lisa McGiffert (Sept 2021)
PSAN letter to the National Quality Forum regarding patient representation on the Patient Safety Standing Committee (Dec 2020)
PSAN Comment Letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ proposal to eliminate the collection and public reporting of certain hospital patient safety measures. (June 2018)

RESOURCES: