MGH

At the explosion scene. Photo by Brandon Abbs.

The Boston Fire Department reports something exploded inside a Mass. General lab at the Charlestown Navy Yard this afternoon, showering one worker with glass. The worker was taken to the hospital for treatment of the cuts. A firefighter also needed transport after hurting himself while getting some equipment from his truck.

Firefighters responded to 149 13th St. around 3 p.m.:

In a 6th floor lab, a lab tech was working with tetrazine when it caused some glassware to shatter.

The department says no hazardous chemicals were released, but that investigators continue to try to figure out what exactly happened.

Nature reports on some interesting work done by a team of researchers at Harvard and Mass. General, who found inspiration at the jellyfish exhibit at the New England Aquarium.

"We took a rat apart and rebuilt it as a jellyfish," one of the researchers said. But don't worry - they're not all sitting around in a secret underground lair going "mwa-ha-ha!" as they build giant tanks to house their earth-conquering ratfish. We think. They say the work, in which rat heart cells were grown on a thin plastic layer, could aid in battling heart disease and developing drugs, by giving researchers a better understanding of the "fundamental laws of muscular pumps."

Ed. question: In a battle between Harvard rat jellyfish and MIT zombie moths, who would win?

Mass. General's list price for a circumcision: $23,000.

WBUR reports on possible effects of research cuts on teaching hospitals in Massachusetts, which bring in more federal science funds per capita than any other state - some $2.4 billion just from the National Institutes of Health last year.

The first 80 people who donate blood on Thursday at Mass. General get a free lunch provided by Redbones Barbecue of Somerville.

Directions and hours.

The Times reports nobody at Mass. General seems to know what ABC was talking about when it claimed DNA samples from Bin Laden's dead sister were used to confirm his identity. The initial report, which did not identify Mass. General specifically, was by Brian Ross.

CommonHealth reports on the fine for the "potential violation" of a federal patient-privacy law caused when an employee lost 40 to 50 patient records on the T in 2009.

The Boston Fire Department reports torches being used to remove a cooling tower atop 165 Cambridge St. started a fire around 10:40 a.m.

The fire was contained to the cooling tower and there were no injuries, the department says, adding damage was about $100,000.

Galen Loving, a researcher at Mass. General, reports he accidentally left a laptop at Anna's Taqueria in Davis Square around 7 p.m. on Thursday - and that it's now missing:

The computer has important data on it regarding work we've been doing to study pancreatic cancer. The research data contained within the computer is far more important than the computer itself. If anyone has seen or heard anything about this computer or can assist in any way in the recovery of this data, please ... send me an email at gsloving @ nmr.mgh.harvard.edu. Thank you.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted David Flavell, 40, of trying to rape a woman in a Mass. General restroom last October, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office says.

Flavell was found guilty on charges of assault with intent to rape, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and one count of assault and battery for the Oct. 22, 2009, attack on a 27-year-old woman.

Before he can be sentenced, he will first have a second trial at which prosecutors will attempt to prove he is the same guy convicted on an assault with intent to rape charge in 1998 in Essex County. If prosecutors make the case, he will face a longer prison sentence.

In addition to the 1998 conviction, a man named David Flavell was convicted in 2001 on two counts of open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior, according to his record at the state Sexual Offender Registry, which lists him as a "a high risk to reoffend." In 2008, he was arrested on charges of assaulting a woman in a restroom at a Braintree bookstore.

Dr. Michael Bailin demonstrates an awake endotracheal intubation at Mass. General - on himself:

Via Dr. T, herself an anesthesiologist, who watched the video admiringly.

By Medicare inspectors, the Globe reports.

The Globe reports on the problem of sensors that could save patient lives being turned off or simply ignored.

Francis Pelosi, 56, of Boston, was arrested around 7 p.m. yesterday after he locked himself in an emergency-department men's room at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

While arguing with hospital staff and police trying to get him out, Pelosi allegedly threatened to kill the Chelsea police chief, the DA's office says, adding a former Chelsea chief now works in security for the hospital.

The following is a statement by Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley on preliminary findings into the death of Jay Carciero, 37, of Reading, at 50 Staniford St. on Oct. 27:

Boston Police report a psychiatric patient was fatally shot by an off-duty security guard after he attacked a doctor with a knife this afternoon in a Mass. General building on Staniford Street.

Police say the security guard, who does not work for Mass. General, shot Jay Carciero, 37, of Reading, "multiple times" after he had stabbed the doctor repeatedly. Both victims were taken to the nearby emergency room; he was pronounced dead, the doctor, identified by the Herald as Astrid Desrosiers, is in stable condition.

Channel 5 posts photos from the attack scene at 50 Staniford St., where Mass. General leases office space.

Police Commissioner Ed Davis talks about the violence.

This is the second knife attack in a Boston hospital in two days. On Sunday, somebody was stabbed in the neck in the Boston Medical Center emergency room. And it's the second attack of any kind at MGH - on Thursday, a man allegedly tried to rape a woman in a hospital restroom.

David Flavell, charged with attacking and attempting to rape a woman in a Mass. General restroom on Thursday was ordered sent to a secure unit at Bridgewater State Hospital for observation for 20 days to determine whether he's competent for trial, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. He's next scheduled to appear in Boston Municipal Court on Nov. 16 for a status hearing.

Boston Police report David Flavell, 40, was arrested after allegedly attacking a woman in a hospital restroom. According to police:

Preliminary investigation, at this time, indicates that the victim was assaulted by the suspect but that no sexual assault occurred.

Flavell is scheduled for arraignment today in Boston Municipal Court on charges of assault with intent to rape and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon.

Flavell was convicted in 1998 of assault with intent to rape and in 2001 on two counts of open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior, according to his record at the state Sexual Offender Registry, which lists him as a "a high risk to reoffend." In 2008, he was arrested on charges of assaulting a woman in a restroom at a Braintree bookstore. The Herald lists more charges against him.

His last listed address was 444 Harrison Ave. - the Pine Street Inn.

Mass. High Tech reports Jack W. Szostak won for his work in with telomerase and telomers, which help protect chromosomes.

Unfortunately, John Cass has had to take his son to the MGH emergency room twice. But he reports the facility no longer feels like something out of Dickens:

... Instead of Victorian brick, we visited a newly designed 21st century facility, where triage happened within minutes at an individual nursing station, then registration with a clerk, before waiting in the children's waiting room for half an hour. The whole experience took 2-3 hours, and though could not be contrasted with our earlier visit which really was life threatening, was a whole lot better because of the new facilities and to me better organization. ...

The Institute for Health Policy at The Massachusetts General Hospital is interested in how people are getting information about swine flu - and how you're dealing with the news. Take a ten-minute survey.

State probe launched.

Bay Windows has the scoop and talks to one of the 40 or 50 patients whose records were lost on the Red Line.

The Globe reports on the loss of data on 66 patients who'd been seen at an infectious-diseases clinic:

According to hospital security reports, a manager in the infectious disease center's billing unit told supervisors that she left the paperwork on a Red Line train the morning of March 9. The manager said she had brought the paperwork home with her to work over the weekend and left the material sometime between 7:30 and 9 a.m. The Transit Police were notified, but the paperwork was not found.

The incident makes Tinker Ready wonder if maybe the T needs a new announcement when a train pulls into a station.

Paul Levy, CEO at Partners HealthCare frenemy Beth Israel Deaconess, reports he dismissed complaints from friends at Norwood Hospital about the MGH/Brigham clinic under construction in Foxboro - until this past Friday, when he gave a speech at a meeting at neighboring Gillette Stadium and was stunned to see how huge the thing is:

... [T]he two facilities are merely 8.5 miles apart, making them indistinguishable to many patients in terms of transportation access. Since insurance companies pay community doctors in the Partners system substantially more than those in the Caritas Christi system, it will be easier to recruit physicians to offer services in Foxboro than in Norwood. Does this difference in reimbursement rates reflect a documented difference in the quality of care between the community-based doctors in the two systems? No.

Now, let's acknowledge that MGH and the Brigham are powerful brands. To the extent patients are influenced by that reputation or other factors to migrate to the PHS facility from Norwood Hospital, the overall health care bill for the state will rise for no documented additional value to those patients or society. ...