The full story continues to unfold about what happened with the first U.S. Ebola-diagnosed patient at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, but this week, nurses at that facility went public with their own concerns. As described in a story by the Los Angeles Times, a group of nurses who either treated the Ebola patient, Thomas Eric….
Continue ReadingArchives for October 2014
Ultrasound Is Better than CT for Kidney Stones
Despite the increased use of CT scans to diagnose kidney stones for emergency department patients, the imaging technology is no better than an ultrasound exam, and ultrasound is safer. Ultrasound, according to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, (NEJM) is the preferred first-line diagnostic tool when someone presents at the….
Continue ReadingThe Myths of Health Care at Home
Most patients would prefer to receive care at home instead of in an institution. But home health service, according to some professional observers, is the victim of misinformation. Writing on KevinMD.com, Dr. Michael Fleming, former president of the American Academy of Family Physicians and chief medical officer of a home health and hospice service, says….
Continue ReadingCost of Cancer Drugs Is Killing People
The cost of many drugs that treat cancer is so high that many patients simply can’t afford to save their own lives. That’s the depressing conclusion of a story that aired earlier this month on “60 Minutes.” The report demonstrated not only the expense of treating cancer, but its pervasiveness – more than 1 in….
Continue ReadingEbola Patient’s ER Discharge Was Classic Malpractice
New details have emerged about Ebola victim Thomas Duncan’s first treatment at a Dallas hospital emergency room. High fever, severe pain, a recent trip from a foreign country: classic markers of a patient who needs to stay in the hospital and not be ushered out the door. Yet he was sent home, and came back….
Continue ReadingFDA Wants to Revise Food Safety Regulations
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was passed in 2011, but it has yet to be fully enacted. And as of last month, the FDA announced plans to revise rules for its implementation after getting complaints by the agricultural industry that the food safety rules proposed earlier this year are too harsh. The FSMA was….
Continue ReadingCancer Patients’ Depression Often Goes Untreated
As if cancer alone were not a big enough burden to bear, people with depression on top of cancer often aren’t treated for their mental problem. A recent study of 21,000 cancer patients showed that the vast majority of clinically depressed cancer patients receive no treatment for their depression. The study, published in The Lancet….
Continue ReadingFeds’ Website for Tracking Industry Payments to Docs Is Weak
Last week the federal government launched its long-awaited website tracking the money drug and medical device companies pay to doctors for various kinds of product and research support. But it’s less a new initiative for transparency than a disappointment. Readers of this blog will recall that the Physician Payment Sunshine Act spawned Open Payments, the….
Continue ReadingBad Science: When Clinical Trial Volunteers All Look Alike
The more we understand that individuals can respond differently to the same medical treatment, the more we realize that you can’t draw sweeping conclusions from clinical studies that don’t include a broad swath of people. So why has the FDA been so slow to beef up the diversity of subjects who participate in clinical trials?….
Continue ReadingSuggested Reading: Patients Are Billed for Care They Didn’t Know They Got
After three-hour neck surgery, Peter Drier had anticipated bills from the hospital, his surgeon and the anesthesiologist. He knew his insurance would cover most of those costs. What he hadn’t anticipated was the bill for $117,000 from an “assistant surgeon” he didn’t even know. Welcome to the world of “drive-by doctoring,” explained by the New….
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