With all their high-tech equipment these days, hospital rooms look more like Mission Control than a healing haven. But for all the help medical machines offer, sometimes they don’t play well with each other, and that requires nurses to run communication interference. As reported by NPR earlier this month, the ideal techno situation is what….
Continue ReadingArchives for March 2015
Orthopedists’ Conflicts of Interest Lead to Overtreatment
When a doctor calls out a whole field of medical specialists for conflicts of interest that risk harming patients, things must really be rotten in the state of orthopedics. Dr. James Rickert, an Indiana orthopedist, has launched what he calls a “moral persuasion” campaign in the hope of getting his colleagues to stop performing needless….
Continue ReadingThe Poster Child for Medical Malpractice Injustice
If you’re looking for a model of how to deprive people of their rights after they’ve suffered from medical malpractice, go to Wisconsin. As reported last week in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, companies that provide medical malpractice insurance in that state are reaping huge profits while the number of medical malpractice claims have fallen to….
Continue ReadingSuggested Reading: Hyping Hypothyroidism?
Twelve in 100 Americans will be diagnosed at some point in their lifetimes with a thyroid disorder. Hypothyroidism, or under-active thyroid gland, is treated with the drug levothyroxine, which has been called the second-most frequently prescribed drug in the U.S. As a long and interesting article in TheAtlantic.com discussed, one of the hottest controversies in….
Continue ReadingHuckabee the Huckster: Promoting Bogus Diabetes Treatment for Political Gain
If you think the reputation of politicians couldn’t possibly sink lower, at least one potential presidential candidate proves you wrong. Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and a 2008 Republican presidential candidate, starred in an Internet commercial for an “alternative” treatment for diabetes. Or, as the New York Times described it, a “dubious” treatment. Even….
Continue ReadingDisagreement Between Fed Agencies Thwarts Medical Device Safety
Eight years ago, Congress passed legislation to include identification numbers on individual medical devices so that if one caused a problem, its origin could be determined and whether the malfunction was rare or of a broader concern of which the public should be aware. The program still isn’t operational. As reported in the Wall Street….
Continue ReadingThe Paleo Diet: Should You Eat Like a Caveman?
You’ve probably heard of the paleo diet – it’s the latest food trend that promises to improve health, aid in weight loss and make life more wonderful in every way. Is there anything more subject to fashion than diets? A recent analysis of the paleo diet in the Washington Post helped readers understand the popularity….
Continue ReadingFDA Approves New Class of Drugs
Consumers and health insurers usually welcome the advent of generic drugs because they lower the cost of expensive brand name medicine and generally have the same therapeutic effect. Earlier this month, the FDA approved the first copycat drugs that aren’t exactly the same, but are essentially so, thus introducing alternatives to whole classes of drugs….
Continue ReadingWhy the Supreme Court Is Reviewing Obamacare
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard arguments that health insurance premium subsidies for people who receive coverage from the federal government’s new insurance exchange are unconstitutional. Unless you follow health-care policy, you might be unclear why the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which Congress passed in 2010 and is responsible for wholesale changes in insurance….
Continue ReadingA Big Step for Civil Justice
Good news last week about protecting consumer rights. As spelled out by PopTort.com, the civil justice website, a large study supported by the federal government concluded that forcing individual credit card, bank and other financial/product services customers to agree to arbitration and forgo their class-action rights in the event of a dispute prevents righteous lawsuits….
Continue Reading