How Many Die From Medical Mistakes in US Hospitals?
An updated estimate says at least 210,000 patients die from medical mistakes in US hospitals a year.
Marshall Allen, ProPublica, September 19, 2013

It seems that every time researchers estimate how often a medical mistake contributes to a hospital patient’s death, the numbers come out worse.

Ten Theses on Health Care
Sandy Eaton, RN, January 2010 (revised 2014)

Contradictions in US Health Care: Syllabus
Sandy Eaton, RN, Center for Marxist Education, 2014

Session 1. April 14, 2014: Health Care USA: Social Good versus Corporate Wealth

The failings of the Affordable Care Act are rooted in a long shift away from the idea of a truly universal health care. AW Gaffney, Jacobin, April 15, 2014 Last year’s three-ring Congressional shutdown circus - for many little more than a desperate rearguard action by an isolated rightwing fringe to undo the fait accompli of Barack Obama’s health care reform - reinforced with each passing day the gaudy dysfunction of the American political system. ... Neoliberal

Time to Stop the BU Biolab!

On Wednesday, April 16, 2014 at 4PM the Boston City Council Committee on Government Operations, chaired by Councilors Michael Flaherty and Tito Jackson, will  hold a public hearing in the Council Chambers, which is located on the 5th floor in Boston City Hall on:

AN ORDINANCE REGARDING THE PROHIBITION OF RESEARCH DESIGNATED AS BIOSAFETY LEVEL 4 (BSL4)

Sponsors: Councilors Charles Yancey, Tito Jackson & Ayanna Pressley

February Meeting Dynamic

Our standing-room-only meeting February 19th in the Jamaica Plain office of Jobs with Justice brought together an ever-expanding network of activists seeking to forge an effective grassroots movement to win and maintain healthcare justice in Boston.

Comunidad Reunión

Miércoles, 19 de febrero 2014 ~ 19:00
Massachusetts Trabajos con Justicia Oficina de Boston
3353 Washington Street esquina Verde, Jamaica Plain
Corto a pie de Green Street T Station, Ruta Bus 42

Community Meeting Set

Wednesday, February 19, 2014 ~ 7:00 PM
Massachusetts Jobs with Justice Boston Office
3353 Washington Street corner Green, Jamaica Plain
Short walk from Green Street T Station, Bus Route 42

Portugal Resident, October 11, 2013 A five-day strike organised by the nurses’ union against the increase in the weekly working hours from 35 to 40 is planned across Portugal and will affect the Algarve on October 17. 

In a press conference last Friday in Lisbon, the union demanded negotiations over the maintenance of the 35-hour workweek for nurses working for the National Health Service, as well as a review of the salary grid. 

José Carlos Martins, the union leader, said that the government did not expect to negotiate the union’s entire proposal but that the Ministry of Health was hoping for a peaceful settlement. ... Nurses

Portugal News, July 11, 2013 A strike by Portugal’s nurses saw close to 90 percent of the contingent taking part in the industrial action, which lasted for 48 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday. The Portuguese Nurses’ Union called the strike in protest against what it says is the deterioration of employment conditions for its members, including the increase in weekly working hours to 40, and cuts in guideline pay that mean some nurses are earning as little as €3 per hour. According to the union, nurses’ willingness to take part in the strike was limited above all by the fact that they lose a day’s pay in doing so. ... Nurses

Agence France-Presse, July 9, 2013 Nurses launched a two-day strike in Portugal on Tuesday to protest salary cuts and longer hours imposed as part of the bailed-out nation's austerity squeeze. "Medical consultations and surgical operations will have to be cancelled because of the lack of nurses," said Portuguese nurses' union chief Jose Carlos Martins. The union said 87 percent of nurses followed the strike call in the morning in protest at the extension of their work week from 35 hours to 40 hours and salary cuts. It said some nurses earned just 3.40 euros ($4.40) an hour. ... Nurses

Paul Mitchell, World Socialist Web Site, June 28, 2013 Portugal’s two main trade unions, the Socialist Party (PS) aligned General Workers Union (UGT) and the Communist Party (PCP) aligned General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP), staged a 24-hour general strike yesterday. The strike - the fourth called by the unions since Portugal asked for a €78 billion bailout two years ago - took place as the right-wing coalition led by Social Democrat (PSD) Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho prepares to impose further austerity measures next month. ... General

Common Dreams, July 11, 2012 Thousands of Portuguese doctors and nurses are staging a 48-hour strike to protest austerity measures they say are destroying the country's public health care service. Although the strike will cause widespread disruption to patients, it has attracted widespread public sympathy from people fed up with the declining standards. Thousands are expected to join in a protest in Lisbon on Wednesday. The Portuguese government is slashing health spending as part of deep austerity cuts promised in return for last year's $96 billion bailout by the EU and the International Monetary Fund. ... Portuguese

Makini Brice, Medical Daily, July 11, 2012 With Europe’s struggling economy, many countries that have been on the receiving end of bailout money have enacted very unpopular measures in favor of austerity. Austerity has received a backlash in Greece and in France, and Portugal has recently joined the calls against such measures. Thousands of doctors and nurses have gone on strike in response to budget cuts. Austerity is an economic policy where a country tries to cut its deficit by reducing spending for benefits or public services. Portugal has enacted this policy ... Thousands

Portugal News, August 14, 2010 Public and private health services in the UK are headhunting Portuguese nurses, luring them overseas by offering “more advantageous” employment conditions than those which are provided in Portugal. Lusa News Agency spoke this week to the head of a recruitment agency specialising in the nursing sector, who said that the company had carried out 50 interviews at the end of July in Lisbon and Oporto to fill vacancies in a group of private continuous and palliative care centres in the UK. ... Britain