Don't let a hospital kill you

By Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent:

Here's what Katie Roche expected when she went into the hospital for spine surgery: two titanium rods, a bone graft, 17 screws in her vertebrae, eight hours in the operating room, and a week's stay in the hospital to recover.

Here's what she didn't expect on top of all that: sharing a hospital room with a feverish 6-year-old and contracting a nasty bacterial infection her mother says nearly killed her.

The bacterium that made her so sick is called Clostridium difficile, and according to a study out this week, it's more common than ever among hospitalized children in the United States, and children who get it are more likely to die or require surgery.
The study found ... Read more>>