Tim Flach
+Photos Behavior | November 25, 2011

‘Stuck Up!’ Odd Objects Inserted in Odder Places

By Alice Park

You have to see the X-rays to believe it. In their new book, Stuck Up!, Drs. Rich Dreben, Murdoc Knight and Marty Sindhian catalog the bizarre collection of “rectal foreign bodies” that patients come to the emergency room to have removed — as well as the tales they tell ER doctors to explain how they got there.

+Hospitals | April 6, 2011

CT Scan Use Soars in Children, Raising Concerns Over Radiation

By Amie Ninh
Thomas Tolstrup

Bellyaches, head bumps and pain are all ailments that children complain about and parents fret over. But do they always warrant a CT scan in the emergency room?

+Numbers | January 6, 2011

1.2 million

Number of emergency room visits resulting from the abuse or misuse of prescription drugs in 2009, compared with 627,000 such visits in 2004, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. For more, see TIME's coverage of prescription drug addiction. [via The New York Times]

+Policy & Industry | June 23, 2010

ER Doctors Feel Pressure to Overtest

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

Fear of lawsuits often prompts emergency room doctors to order tests that they may feel are unnecessary, the Associated Press reports. In the fast paced environment of an emergency department, making quick decisions that can have life-altering implications is a standard aspect of treatment — and the pressure not to miss anything is acute. Fear of [...]

+Public Health | June 18, 2010

ER visits surge for abuse of legal drugs

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

In 2008, roughly one million people wound up in the emergency room for abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs — just as many as visited the ER after using illegal substances, according to new data released yesterday by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). [...]

+Uncategorized | October 8, 2009

The ER costs of treating drunk drivers

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

Drunk driving continues to be a major problem across the U.S., (especially in more rural areas where intoxicated revelers who don’t assign a designated driver don’t have many public transportation options). In 2008 alone, 11,773 people were killed in crashes where one of the drivers was over the legal limit, according to the advocacy group [...]