According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), 1.1 million laser hair-removal procedures and 509,000 laser skin resurfacing procedures were performed in the U.S. last year. In light of these popular treatments, a new report published in JAMA Dermatology reinforces the “buyer beware” warning, especially when considering a cosmetic laser procedure. A lot of….
Continue ReadingArchives for October 2013
The Ingredient Guessing Game for Herbal Supplements
Anyone who has lived on an institutional campus is familiar with the term “mystery meat.” It refers to a slab of flesh-based protein of uncertain origin and added ingredients. A recent study in the British journal BMC Medicine invites the application of the adjective “mysterious” to the composition of some herbal supplements. “Many herbal supplements….
Continue ReadingSuggested Reading—Medical Experimentation on Powerless People
In the 1950s and ’60s, a medical researcher from Columbia University was trying to prove that prostate cancer could be caught early and cured. He needed subjects for a study to test his treatment, so he cut a deal with skid row alcoholics in New York: If they agreed to surgical biopsies of their prostates,….
Continue ReadingHospital CEO Pay Is Linked to Technology, Not Care
When it comes to judging and rewarding merit, we can’t think of a more important subject than hospital executives. But if by “merit” you mean, as we do, patient safety and quality of care, the people who run nonprofit hospitals are outliers; they’re paid not on the basis of those factors, but on how much….
Continue ReadingAsthma Meds Are the Poster Drugs for Pricing Lunacy
Asthma is the most common chronic disorder among Americans-approximately 40 million people suffer from it. Usually, it’s manageable with drugs, but as a recent story in the New York Times notes, the medicine is expensive and the reasons why are less than honorable. That’s a common scenario in the land of prescription drugs. The range….
Continue ReadingOsteoporosis Drugs Might Carry Risk of Atrial Fibrillation
A few years ago, reports began to surface of people suffering fractures of the femur (thigh bone) and jaw necrosis (deterioration and death of the jaw bone) after they began taking a class of drugs called bisphosphonates. The drugs, whose brand names include Fosamax, Boniva and Actonel, often are prescribed to menopausal women to prevent….
Continue ReadingToo Many Doctors Use Too Much Radiation to Treat Prostate Cancer Pain
Although radiation can be a vital diagnostic tool and a life-saving cancer treatment, its dangers are well-documented (see our backgrounder on radiation overdose injuries). A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggests that doctors might be using radiation therapy too often for patients with advanced-stage prostate cancer. That puts….
Continue ReadingDefensive Medicine and Increasing Health-Care Costs—A Phantom Association
Some policymakers spend so much time tilting at windmills you have to wonder if they do it just for exercise. As noted on PopTort.com, the civil justice website sponsored by the Center for Justice & Democracy, yet another academic research report confirms that so-called “defensive medicine,” is not responsible for driving up health-care costs. Defensive….
Continue ReadingThe Right Amount of Care
Readers of this blog and savvy health-care consumers are familiar with the risks of overtreatment-how overtesting and overdiagnosis can, instead of promoting and preserving good health, undermine it. Too much medical care is not only expensive, it can lead to tests rendering a false positive, leading to more tests and the possibility of complications such….
Continue ReadingBrain Problems Can Endure Long After Leaving the ICU
Earlier this year, our blog “Intensive Care Drives Somes Patients Crazy, Literally” discussed how experiencing a state of delirium during a stay in a hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) can lead to long-term cognitive problems. From an anecdotal standpoint, the medical professionals who staff ICUs have been aware of this reality for a long time…..
Continue Reading