patient_safety

Austin, Texas – – September 20, 2026 -- Otsuka ICU Medical LLC has issued a voluntary user-level recall of one lot of 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection, USP, 100 mL, after discovering that bags labeled as saline may actually contain highly concentrated Potassium Chloride Injection.

Mislabeled overwrap conceals lethal potassium concentrate inside saline packaging

The affected lot, NDC 0990-7984-23, Lot 1042188, carries external labeling identifying it as 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection, USP. Internally, however, the overwrap may instead contain Potassium Chloride Inj. 10 mEq (NDC 0990-7074-26, Lot 1035181), a highly concentrated formulation intended for diluted use only.

Pittsburgh – September 19, 2026 -- An inventor from Brooklyn, N.Y., has developed a device called NURSES WEEKEND designed to reduce injury risk when repositioning patients in hospital and care beds, according to InventHelp, which submitted the design and is now seeking a manufacturing or marketing partner.

Device targets injury risk in routine patient care tasks

The invention provides a mechanism to move patients in bed for tasks such as changing linens, performing hygiene care, and preventing pressure sores. Its adjustable design is intended to reduce physical strain on medical professionals and caregivers while improving patient comfort and safety.

Concord, Mass. – September 16, 2026 -- OnPoint Surgical's augmented reality navigation system placed pedicle screws with a positional error of 1.1 mm and an angular error of 1.3°, figures 2 to 5 times smaller than those reported for competing navigation and robotic platforms, according to a peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Spine Surgery.

Cincinnati – September 16, 2026 -- Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) has launched Anatool, a digital clinical support tool designed to standardize anaphylaxis recognition and treatment at the point of care for emergency physicians, paramedics, nurses and allergists.

Tool translates international consensus report into bedside guidance

Developed with Tim Dribin, MD, of the Division of Emergency Medicine at Cincinnati Children's, Anatool is built on recommendations from a landmark international consensus report on anaphylaxis published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Dribin co-chaired that report with Hugh Sampson, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Antonella Muraro, PhD, of the University of Padua.

Southern Pines, N.C. – September 16, 2026 -- DisposeRx, Inc. has launched a new monthly editorial series, the DisposeRx Medication Stewardship Center, aimed at reshaping how healthcare providers, pharmacists and caregivers manage the end stage of a prescription's life cycle.

DisposeRx CEO frames disposal as a patient safety issue, not just an environmental one

"This is not simply a conversation about medication disposal. It is a conversation about Medication Safety and completing the prescription journey," said William Simpson, CEO of DisposeRx. He said the starting point for the discussion is the household medicine cabinet, where unused prescriptions commonly accumulate.

Paramus, N.J. – – September 15, 2026 -- A prespecified secondary analysis of the landmark FIBRES trial found that Octapharma's fibryga (fibrinogen [human]) cut 24-hour allogeneic blood-product transfusion requirements by 19% versus cryoprecipitate in two overlapping patient subgroups, according to findings published in the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia.

Non-critical and elective surgery patients showed the sharpest transfusion reductions

Among 634 patients classified as non-critical before surgery -- 86% of the primary trial population -- those receiving fibryga required 13.6 blood-product units on average versus 16.2 units for cryoprecipitate recipients, a 19% relative reduction. In the 466-patient elective-surgery subgroup, representing 63% of the primary population, fibryga patients received 11.7 units compared with 14.4 units for cryoprecipitate, matching the 19% relative reduction.

Stuttgart – September 09, 2026 -- Pharma Deutschland's Baden-Württemberg chapter and MEDIVERBUND AG kicked off development of a regional action plan aimed at strengthening self-medication as a lever to relieve pressure on doctors' offices and build a more resilient healthcare system.

Industry and physician groups agree self-medication can free up doctor capacity

At the "Selbstverständlich Selbstmedikation" event, representatives from politics, medicine, pharmacies, health insurers and the pharmaceutical industry discussed conditions needed to expand patient self-treatment for minor ailments. Dr. Traugott Ullrich, chairman of Pharma Deutschland's Baden-Württemberg association, argued that low-threshold self-medication allows patients to treat or prevent minor health issues while pharmacies handle counseling and physicians retain capacity for more complex cases.