People diagnosed with diabetes quickly learn to test their own blood sugar levels several times a day using a home glucose kit. They also know that their periodic visits to a laboratory for tests measuring their A1C level should show a value no higher than 7, which is a widely accepted benchmark that the disorder….
Continue ReadingArchives for April 2012
Risk of Lethal Blood Clots Increases in Same-Day Surgery
Outpatient surgery is an increasingly popular medical option, thanks to the cost of inpatient care and the expanding capability of outpatient facilities. More than 6 in 10 surgical procedures are conducted on a same-day-to-home basis. They include operations for cancer, orthopedic and gastrointestinal problems and plastic surgery. But as we recently wrote in a related….
Continue ReadingLegislation Aims to Bring Fairness to Patients Hurt by Generic Drugs
Last year, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibited injured patients from suing generic drug companies. Because such companies lacked control over the content of their labels, the court said, if they’re unable to print warnings about drug side effects, patients shouldn’t be able to sue them. A previous Supreme Court decision allowed patients who took….
Continue Reading“Say What? The Problem with Hearing Aid Costs?”
The next time you’re annoyed by someone with impaired hearing who constantly asks you to repeat what you’ve said, try to restrain the urge to ask,”Why don’t you get a hearing aid?” Because for many such folks, the answer might be that they can’t afford it. As reported by KaiserHealthNews.org (KHN), a hearing aid typically….
Continue ReadingMore Evidence that Throwing Bucks at Cancer May Not Improve Survival
A recent study published in Health Affairs either proves the superiority of U.S. medical care for cancer, or illustrates again how ignorance of basic statistical principles can lead to wrong conclusions. The study found that U.S. cancer patients who were diagnosed between 1995 and 1999 lived, on average, 11.1 years after their diagnosis. Similar patients….
Continue ReadingLung Cancer Screening Could Put Millions of Patients on the Medical Assembly Line
A couple of weeks ago, a study published in Health Affairs reinvigorated the conversation about the usefulness of screenings for lung cancer. We have been among the voices questioning the widespread use of certain screenings because, in many cases, they are inappropriate, unnecessarily expensive and possibly harmful. Now, another voice of reasoned consideration and moderation….
Continue ReadingIncontinence Drugs Often Disappoint
Few medical conditions are as embarrassing as urinary incontinence, so no wonder that its victims often are desperate to try anything that might help. A new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine concludes that for many women, drugs are inadequate and can produce side effects that may be worse than the disorder. As described….
Continue ReadingResearchers Say Abbott Stymied Drug Competitors for Its TriCor
Using what some observers might describe as systemic loopholes, Abbott Laboratories used lawsuits and minor reformulations of TriCor to hold off generic competition to its cholesterol- and triglyceride-lowering drug. We recently wrote about Eisai and Pfizer pulling the same stunt with its Alzheimer’s drug, Aricept. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, estimated….
Continue ReadingImplantable Defibrillator Problems Devolve Into a Blame Game
For some people with heart rhythm abnormalities, an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) can be a lifesaver. The small, electronic device is surgically implanted inside the chest to prevent cardiac arrest from hearts that beat abnormally fast (“tachycardia”). An ICD monitors the heart rhythm, and if it senses tachycardia, it delivers an electrical shock to restore….
Continue ReadingDa Vinci Robotic Surgery Racks Up More Trouble
It’s another episode in the continuing drama of technology lust. Device manufacturers love to market their new, advanced and invariably expensive wares, hospitals love to leverage them for marketing and bill-enhancement, and doctors love them like middle-schoolers love the latest version of the iPad. But the Da Vinci Surgical System continues to rack up a….
Continue Reading