The conservative Cato Institute is out with a new study arguing that putting limits on malpractice verdicts could be doubly bad for patients. It could result in both inadequate compensation for victims of malpractice, and could reduce the incentives of malpractice insurance carriers to hit malpracticing doctors with financial penalties to encourage better and safer….
Continue ReadingArchives for October 2011
The Growth of Palliative Care in Hospitals
Paralleling the growth of the hospice industry, the number of hospital-based palliative care programs has more than doubled since 2000. According to a new survey by the Center to Advance Palliative Care, nearly two-thirds of hospitals surveyed had palliative care teams. Palliative care focuses on easing the symptoms, stress and pain of serious illness, whether….
Continue ReadingThe U.S. Preventive Services Task Force: Who Are These Guys?
Earlier this month, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against the routine use of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test for most men. A couple of years ago, the same federal agency concluded that routine mammography for most women in their 40s and 50s was counterproductive. Both declarations incited passionate arguments on both sides….
Continue ReadingMinding the Gap in Doctors’ Fees between Primary Care and Specialties
It’s a widely, if grumpily, accepted fact that primary care physicians spend less time with patients than either would like. There are only so many minutes in the day, and there’s always more paperwork than time to address it. No medical practitioner is more overburdened than a primary care physician, because in many health plans,….
Continue ReadingFDA Issues a Warning for Avastin — Again
The problems with the cancer drug Avastin are never ending. The FDA has issued a another warning about the drug’s dangers, this time involving ovarian failure, jaw necrosis (bone decay), blot clots and excessive bleeding. We’ve written about Avastin as well, most recently last week in regard to its use as an injectable drug for….
Continue ReadingMaking a Case for Considering Cost in FDA Decisions
Last week, Steve Grossman, an advocate for greater FDA funding, voiced an argument on his blog, FDA Matters, that not only should the government’s food and drug watchdog consider the safety and effectiveness of drugs, therapies and medical devices in its approval process, but also their cost. In the past, Grossman has supported a split….
Continue ReadingThe Award for Most Fear-Mongering Health Care Statement of the Year …
… goes to Skip Lockwood, head of a prostate cancer advocacy group called Zero. When the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended against routine screening of men with the PSA blood test, Lockwood said the PSTF’s advice “condemns tens of thousands of men to die this year and every year going forward…” Prostate cancer kills….
Continue ReadingWill the Investment in Partnership for Patients Pay Off?
Fact: About 1 in 20 patients contracts an infection related to his or her hospital care. Fact: An average of 1 in 7 Medicare beneficiaries is harmed in the course of his or her care, costing the government an estimated $4.4 billion every year. Fact: Nearly 1 in 5 Medicare patients discharged from the hospital….
Continue ReadingPSA Test for Prostate Cancer Hurts More than Helps
No healthy man should get the PSA blood test to screen for prostate cancer, says the influential US Preventive Services Task Force in a new, strongly worded recommendation. As readers of this blog know, this recommendation has been a long time coming. Prostate removal surgery, even in the most skilled hands, has a high rate….
Continue ReadingPatient Privacy Is Compromised by Identity Theft
We’ve all heard tabloid tales of hospital personnel taking unauthorized peeks into celebrity patient files and selling the dishiest contents for personal gain. But there’s also reason for the rest of us to to guard our medical records like we do our bank accounts. According to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, nearly 4 in 10 doctors….
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