A nurse-Facebook fail, GM mosquitoes and more: The ReportingonHealth Daily Briefing

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August 9, 2010

Here's what we're reading about today, from genetically modified mosquitos to an epic Facebook fail:

Facebook: This is pretty awful: A Long Beach, Calif. hospital has fired several nurses for posting pictures of a nearly-decapitated emergency room patient on Facebook.

Skeeters: Screenwriters should be jumping all over this one: In Mali, a new laboratory is trying to genetically modify mosquitoes so that they can't carry malaria. University of Arizona researchers also are on the case.

Pricey Sinks: Really, MountainView Hospital in Nevada?  You thought putting sinks in some of your hospital bathrooms was just too expensive? After you almost lost your ability to treat Medicare patients because your sanitation was so bad? Good thing health regulators stepped in.

Doc Ratings: Doctor-blogger Toni Brayer examines some flaws in doctor rating programs like HealthGrades – are they at all useful for consumers? The comments are illuminating, so be sure to scroll down to read them.

Health IT: At The Health Care Blog, Margalit Gur-Arie intriguingly connects our resistance to using online personal health records with earlier Americans' reluctance to put their money in banks rather than under the mattress.