Because of their traditionally lower cost, generic drugs have long been preferred by those who pay for prescription medicine – patients and insurers. But lately, the price of generic drugs has skyrocketed, and people in power want to know why. Two members of Congress, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D- Maryland) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont),….
Continue ReadingArchives for October 2014
Expensive Proton Beam Technology Booms as Its Potential Remains Unclear
For years we’ve been writing about the overuse of proton beam therapy for cancer patients. But manufacturers and the doctors who use the massive, expensive equipment it requires remain head-scratchingly gung-ho. Proton therapy is radiation that uses high-energy beams to shrink tumors. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Proton therapy has shown promise in treating several….
Continue ReadingCongress Imposes Greater Oversight of Hospice Care
A recent wave of media attention to the shortcomings of hospice care – and the dangers they produce for patients – has prompted Congress to approve legislation subjecting such facilities to more frequent inspections. As the Washington Post showed in a series this year, blogged about here and here, the hospice industry has grown significantly….
Continue ReadingHow “Tort Reform” Is Hurting Medical Care for Everyone
It’s bad enough that damage caps and other so-called “reforms” punish patients who have suffered preventable injuries from medical malpractice. But new research says it’s much worse: These reforms actually worsen quality medical care for all patients. And they don’t have any desirable tradeoffs like making care more affordable or attracting more doctors to a….
Continue ReadingIndependent Report Shows Hypocrisy of Attacks on Medical Malpractice Claims
When the conversation turns to public policy, and how to protect individual rights, the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization Public Citizen calls itself “the people’s voice.” This month it has been particularly articulate on the state of medical malpractice lawsuits and claims. They’re low, and there is no reason to cut back on patients’ rights to bring….
Continue ReadingBig Pharma Lawsuit Threatens Program That Is the Only Hope for Many Patients
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhARMA) is unhappy with the billions of dollars the drug industry rakes in every year, so it has filed another lawsuit to stop needy medical facilities from getting certain drugs at discount prices. As reported by the Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) Pharmalot blog, the lawsuit is just the….
Continue ReadingRestoring Legal Rights to Victims of Medical Malpractice
In the 20 years between 1992 and 2012, medical malpractice claims in the U.S. decreased by 57%, and not because the quality of medical care improved. It was because the legal system made the pursuit of parties who committed medical errors more difficult. So wrote attorney Shanin Specter in a recent commentary in the Philadelphia….
Continue ReadingNursing Home Standards to Get an Upgrade
The federal government will improve and strengthen the standards on the Medicare website that consumers use to research their options when a loved one needs long-term care. A story published earlier this month by the New York Times, detailed how Nursing Home Compare, the government’s rating program for more than 15,000 U.S. nursing homes, will….
Continue ReadingImmunizing Doctors from Lawsuits Doesn’t Reduce Medical Costs
An article of faith among doctors is that they order huge numbers of unnecessary and expensive tests like MRIs and CT scans solely to protect themselves from malpractice lawsuits. If this “defensive medicine” really happens, immunizing doctors from lawsuits should cut down on wasteful testing and save us all a lot of money. A new….
Continue ReadingSuggested Reading: He Just Wanted to Die at Home
Last month’s report “Dying in America” by the Institute of Medicine was an analysis of the shortcomings of U.S. health care at the end of life, as Nina Bernstein knows only too well. Writing in the New York Times, her account of one man’s last months was a poignant tale of how things can go….
Continue Reading