Brett Kelman
KFF Health News
Nashville, TN, United States
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Past articles by Brett:
FDA Evaluates ‘Safety Concerns’ Over Dental Devices Featured in KHN-CBS Investigation
A KHN and CBS News investigation found that a dental appliance called the AGGA has been used by more than 10,000 patients, and multiple lawsuits allege it has caused grievous harm to patients. → Read More
FDA Looks Into Dental Device After KHN-CBS News Investigation of Patient Harm
The FDA’s interest in the AGGA dental device follows a KHN-CBS News investigation, according to a former agency official. → Read More
This Dental Device Was Sold to Fix Patients’ Jaws. Lawsuits Claim It Wrecked Their Teeth.
A dental device called AGGA has been used on about 10,000 patients without FDA approval or proof that it works. In lawsuits, patients report irreparable harm. The AGGA’s inventor and manufacturer have denied all liability in court. → Read More
Doctors Are Disappearing From Emergency Rooms as Hospitals Look to Cut Costs
As a money-saving strategy, emergency rooms are turning to nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other staffers who earn far less than physicians. → Read More
Doctors Rush to Use Supreme Court Ruling to Escape Opioid Charges
After a unanimous ruling from the high court, doctors who are accused of writing irresponsible prescriptions can go to trial with a new defense: It wasn’t on purpose. → Read More
They Lost Medicaid When Paperwork Was Sent to an Empty Field, Signaling the Mess to Come
Tennessee expects to soon disenroll about 300,000 people from its Medicaid program. But families like the Lesters have suffered when bureaucracy and clerical mistakes caused them to unfairly lose c… → Read More
Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia Is Killing Patients. Yet There Is a Simple Way to Stop It.
Hospital-acquired pneumonia not tied to ventilators is one of the most common infections that strike within health care facilities. But few hospitals take steps to prevent it, which can be as simpl… → Read More
Widely Used Hospital Gowns Show Signs of Exposing Workers to Infection
Isolation gowns are supposed to protect health care workers from splattered bodily fluids. But new studies suggest that too much liquid seeps through some disposable gowns, creating a risk of infec… → Read More
Disposable Hospital Gowns Could Expose Health Workers to Infection
Widely used gowns, intended to protect people, can let too much liquid seep through, new studies suggest → Read More
Disposable Hospital Gowns Could Expose Health Workers to Infection
Widely used gowns, intended to protect people, can let too much liquid seep through, new studies suggest → Read More
This rural Tennessee county was a vaccine success story. Not anymore.
Meigs County reported one of the highest COVID vaccination rates in the South. But those reports were wrong because of a data error. → Read More
This Rural, Red Southern County Was a Vaccine Success Story. Not Anymore.
Meigs County in Tennessee reported one of the highest covid-19 vaccination rates in the South for much of the past year. But those reports were wrong because of a data error that has surfaced in ot… → Read More
No Prison Time for Tennessee Nurse Convicted of Fatal Drug Error
Hundreds of nurses gathered outside a Nashville courthouse to protest RaDonda Vaught’s prosecution for a medical mistake, and cheered when her probation sentence was announced. → Read More
At US Hospitals, a Drug Mix-Up Is Just a Few Keystrokes Away
After a Tennessee nurse killed a patient because of a drug error, the companies behind hospital medication cabinets said they’d make the devices safer. But did they? → Read More
A Travel Nurse Leaves Fears of Hospital Drug Tampering Across Three States
Kentucky nurse Jacqueline Brewster is accused of tampering with opioids in Tennessee and West Virginia, possibly contaminating drugs given to hospital patients. → Read More
Why Nurses Are Raging and Quitting After the RaDonda Vaught Verdict
The former Tennessee nurse faces prison time for a fatal error. Reaction from her peers was swift and fierce on social media and beyond ― and it isn’t over. → Read More
At a Tennessee Crossroads, Two Pharmacies, a Monkey, and Millions of Pills
Prosecutors say opioid-seeking patients drove hours to get their prescriptions filled in Celina, Tennessee, where pharmacies ignored signs of substance misuse and paid cash — or “monkey bucks” — to… → Read More
Nurse Convicted of Neglect and Negligent Homicide for Fatal Drug Error
RaDonda Vaught, a former nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, could spend years in prison after being convicted of two felonies in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday. → Read More
In Nurse’s Trial, Investigator Says Hospital Bears ‘Heavy’ Responsibility for Patient Death
Nashville nurse RaDonda Vaught is charged with reckless homicide for giving the wrong medication to a patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. → Read More
As a Nurse Faces Prison for a Deadly Error, Her Colleagues Worry: Could I Be Next?
Former nurse RaDonda Vaught is on trial for reckless homicide, and her case raises consequential questions about how nurses use computerized medication-dispensing cabinets. → Read More