MEDIA ADVISORY: Future Doctors at UB Hear Personal Story on Medical Errors' Tragic Toll

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- In July 2009, Alice Brennan, a vibrant, 88-year-old woman who lived independently, went into the hospital for a common medical problem that was not life-threatening. She died six weeks later from multiple hospital-acquired infections and from polypharmacy, the use of numerous medications, often more than are clinically indicated.

Today (Monday, Aug. 22), Alice's daughter, Mary Brennan-Taylor, will tell a Family Medicine class of third-year medical students at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences what happened.

Media are invited to attend Brennan-Taylor's talk at 2 p.m. in 250 Biomedical Education Building (BEB) on the UB South Campus. Media also are welcome to attend a 1:30 p.m. lecture on patient safety that precedes her talk that will be given by Ranjit Singh, MD, assistant professor of clinical family medicine at UB and associate director of the department's Patient Safety Research Center. Both will be available for media interviews following the lecture.

Parking is available in the Diefendorf lot. From Bailey Ave., take Sherman Road onto the UB campus and park in Diefendorf lot. The BEB is located across Rotary Rd. from Diefendorf lot.

Brennan-Taylor is on a mission to make sure that what she and her family experienced becomes an extremely rare event. She was recently appointed adjunct research instructor of family medicine at the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, a volunteer faculty appointment.

By the end of the fall semester, she will have told her story to all UB students who will obtain their MD degrees in 2013.

The plan is to have all UB medical students hear her tell her story by the time they graduate.

Press arrangements: Ellen Goldbaum in the UB Office of University Communications at 645-4605 and 771-9255 onsite.