A couple of months ago, we retold the shocking story of Dr. Amy Reed, an anesthesiologist who had otherwise routine surgery to remove uterine fibroids (benign growths), and who later was found to have advanced cancer, apparently as the result of the process by which the fibroids were removed. Now, federal officials have warned the….
Continue ReadingArchives for April 2014
Deadly Infection Outbreak at a Hospital for Kids Shakes the Faith
New Orleans is reeling from a story about yet another failure of one of its sacred institutions, this time Children’s Hospital, which experienced a deadly outbreak of a fungal infection that is only now coming to light years later. The flesh-eating fungus is believed to have spread from contaminated linens, towels or gowns, which were….
Continue ReadingFeds Propose Tighter Regulations on E-Cigarettes
Last year, our blog “We Don’t Know Enough About Electronic Cigarettes” outlined how the lack of information about these increasingly popular nicotine delivery systems makes it impossible to determine, among other things, if they help people quick smoking tobacco and what are their side effects for users or bystanders. Now, the FDA wants to scrutinize….
Continue ReadingCost of Specialty Drugs Keeps Rising, but Only in America
A drug research outfit has mapped the economic terrain of prescription medicine and concluded that although drug costs for many Americans are falling, the opposite is happening for one segment of the drug-taking population. Patients who require expensive treatments for diseases including cancer and hepatitis C are getting slammed. And it turns out a lot….
Continue ReadingMaking the Most of Medicare’s Doctor Pay Report
Last week, we introduced readers to the new, searchable federal database (“How Much Did Your Doctor Make From Medicare?”) showing what doctors were paid in 2012 by Medicare. It’s an important new tool showing your tax dollars at work, and how practitioners in your area might be using (and possibly abusing) this important health-care program…..
Continue ReadingCost of Drugs Depends on Where You Live
Now that the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) is in full force, insurers no longer can exclude you from coverage because of pre-existing conditions. And, under the act’s provisions, certain preventive services are free. But that doesn’t mean the cost of care doesn’t vary — a lot. One reason, according to a recent story….
Continue ReadingChoosing Wisely Campaign Protects Its Own
We’ve been champions of the Choosing Wisely campaign, an initiative by several medical specialties to call out procedures they advise doctors and patients to view with skepticism. But now it looks like there’s a big “Not in My Back Yard” problem with the program. Last year, for example, our blog “Orthopedic Treatments You Should Reject”….
Continue ReadingAnother Careless Promotion of C-Sections
No matter how hard medical experts and other promoters of good, safe health care try, it seems, there are always loud voices chiming in from the fringes of ignorance to offset their message. A few weeks ago, in a blog about obstetricians recommending that women not be rushed into induced labor and also calling for….
Continue ReadingSuggested Reading: Coming to Grips with End-of-Life Decisions
Sometimes, we read an article that’s important, moving and, we hope, illuminating, but too long to summarize fairly in a blog post. Last year, one such story, written by Charles Ornstein, a Pulitzer Prize-winning health journalist, was published by ProPublica.org, a nonprofit investigative news site. It perfectly captures the emotional turmoil involved in making end-of-life….
Continue ReadingMiscommunicating the Science of Mammography
The more we discover about cancer screenings, it seems, the less clarity there is about who should have them, when and what to do about the results. Mammography is one of the more common footballs being kicked around in the best-practice screening arena, and we’ve regularly covered the news about this imaging test. So has….
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