Chicago: Study tallies drug errors made daily at hospitals

More than 40 potentially harmful drug errors daily were found on average in hospitals in a new study, yet another report on a worrisome problem regulators are working to remedy.

The most common errors were giving hospitalized patients medication at the wrong time or not at all, researchers found in a study of 36 hospitals and nursing homes in Colorado and Georgia.

Errors occurred in nearly one of five doses in a typical, 300-bed hospital, which translates to about two errors per patient daily. Seven percent of the errors were considered potentially harmful.

The study, which did not evaluate death or injury rates, is published in today’s Archives of Internal Medicine.

New York City: Rudolph Giuliani’s mother dies at 92

Helen Giuliani, the mother of former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who was credited with teaching her only child a sense of history and public service, died Sunday. She was 92.

Mrs. Giuliani took an active role in her son’s political career, campaigning for him in 1989, when he lost a bid for the mayor’s office, and in 1993, when he won his first term.

On the morning her son was sworn in for his second term in 1998, she made clear she foresaw another inaugural. “Someday I will see him sworn in as president,” she said.

The funeral was scheduled for Tuesday.

Ohio: Four killed in collision at railroad crossing

A collision between a CSX freight train and pickup truck killed four people and injured another Sunday at a railroad crossing in northwest Ohio.

The injured victim was thrown from the back of the pickup and the dead were trapped in the wreckage, Logan County Sheriff Michael Henry said.

The injured person was flown to Children’s Hospital in Columbus. No further information was available.

The railroad crossing did not have warning lights, Henry said.