How a change in hospital policy saved thousands of lives

On November 22, 2013, a 3-year-old girl named Nora Bostrom died at a hospital in California.

Nora had pulmonary hypertension, a lung issue that can be deadly all on its own. But in the year leading up to her death, Nora also suffered from four infections that weakened her further.

The infections came from something called a central line. This is a tube that is inserted into a big vein in the body. It stays there permanently, and serves as an efficient way to pump medications into the bloodstream. But the line can also be an efficient way to pump infections into the bloodstream — and those infections can be deadly.

A decade ago, hundreds of thousands of people got central line infections every year. Now, the number is closer to 9,000. Still high, but a dramatic drop in such a short time span.

On this episode of The Impact, we’ll look at the doctor who found that central line infections are, in nearly all cases, completely preventable. Doctors just need to follow a checklist to make sure the line stays safe and sterile.

And we’ll explore why, if this infection is preventable, Nora suffered from four in her last year of life.

For more on this topic, read Sarah’s story on central line infections from 2015.

You can subscribe to The Impact on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts, or any other podcasting app. Please, leave us a rating and a review, and email us your feedback at impact@vox.com.

We're here to shed some clarity

One of our core beliefs here at Vox is that everyone needs and deserves access to the information that helps them understand the world, regardless of whether they can pay for a subscription. With the 2024 election on the horizon, more people are turning to us for clear and balanced explanations of the issues and policies at stake. We’re so grateful that we’re on track to hit 85,000 contributions to the Vox Contributions program before the end of the year, which in turn helps us keep this work free. We need to add 2,500 contributions this month to hit that goal. Will you make a contribution today to help us hit this goal and support our policy coverage? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via