Like most chronic illnesses, diabetes is treated most successfully when diagnosed early. But too many people are being given a diagnosis of “pre-diabetes,” which not only subjects them to unnecessary treatment, but places unsustainable burdens on the health-care infrastructure. The title of a commentary published last month in the journal BMJ pretty much summed up….
Continue ReadingArchives for August 2014
Feds Quietly Stop Reporting Some Hospital Errors
We’ve long advised medical consumers to research hospitals they’re considering using for the kind and frequency of errors they make. But according to a story on USAToday.com, suddenly that’s more difficult than it used to be. “The federal government this month quietly stopped publicly reporting when hospitals leave foreign objects in patients’ bodies or make….
Continue ReadingSovaldi — Pay Now or Later
The $84,000 cost of Sovaldi, a drug recently developed to treat hepatitis C, has horrified patients and insurers and again invited people to see Big Pharma as an industry that gouges helpless people with life-threatening illness. But a recent analysis sheds new light on the issue. Writing in the New York Times, Margot Sanger-Katz acknowledges….
Continue ReadingManufacturer Yanks Cancer-Spreading Device from the Market
As lawsuits mount over the incidence of cancer associated with the use of a medical device in the surgical removal of uterine fibroids, Johnson & Johnson announced last week that it’s recalling all of the power morcellators it has manufactured in recent years. And early this week, a major East Coast health insurer said it….
Continue ReadingSurgery Remains a Questionable Treatment for Migraines
The extreme pain and frequency of migraine headaches lead some sufferers to seek any treatment short of beheading, but recent research questions the effectiveness of a surgical solution. Migraine surgery is often called “nerve decompression” or “trigger point release” surgery. It was developed, according to a report on AboutLawsuits.com, after some plastic surgery patients reported….
Continue ReadingDigital Mammography Costs More and Isn’t More Effective
The U.S. is renowned for having the most expensive health care, but not necessarily the best. One reason for the high cost is our lust for fancy technological tools that might be best in some cases, but often fail to justify their cost. So says yet another study about digital mammography. As reported by ModernHealthCare.com,….
Continue ReadingCaution: Bad Medical Reporting Ahead
Although much of the media continue to issue breathless reports about new drugs, new lab findings, new this, new that, some watchdogs remain vigilant about identifying inflated claims and cozy researcher-business relationships. Two such reports that recently came under this welcome scrutiny involved treatments for cystic fibrosis and heart disease. The reporter for both was….
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