Talcum powder is a common grooming product for women and it’s often used in baby care as well. But disturbing reports of its possible association with ovarian cancer went largely unnoticed for years. The investigative news site FairWarning.org recently explained how such a seemingly benign personal product threatened so many people. Eight years ago, Deane….
Continue ReadingArchives for May 2015
VA Illegally Substituted Cheaper Drugs in Psychiatric Care
Substituting one drug for another – say, a generic version for a brand name – often is perfectly fine in terms of what’s best for the patient. But when a Veterans Affairs hospital in West Virginia replaced certain psychotropic drugs with older versions, it put patients at risk, because the priority wasn’t good care, it….
Continue ReadingMedicare Continues to Complicate Patient Status and Billing
Hospital bills are more complicated and impenetrable than gravitational wave theory. As a study by AARP recently found, Medicare only adds to the confusion, leaving patients at risk of overpayment and undertreatment. If you get Medicare, and you go to the hospital, there’s a huge financial difference between a being classified as an inpatient or….
Continue ReadingDialysis May Not Be the Best Choice for Older People with Kidney Failure
Dialysis is a life-saving process that filters impurities from the blood when the kidneys no longer are able to perform that vital function. But a lot of older people whose conditions require kidney dialysis are opting out, choosing a better quality of life over a longer life. A recent story in the New York Times….
Continue ReadingCataract Surgery Does Not Require the Pre-Op Tests Doctors Like to Perform
Surgery to remove cataracts is a common procedure accompanied by, apparently, an equally common preoperative routine of testing that appears to be wholly unnecessary. According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, (NEJM) “preoperative testing is not recommended for patients undergoing cataract surgery, because testing neither decreases adverse events nor improves outcomes.”….
Continue ReadingPatients Undergoing Scans Seldom Told of Full Radiation Risks
Another unsettling study indicates that people undergoing diagnostic scans involving radiation are not given information about the risks of the procedure. As reported by AboutLawsuits.com, less than half of those patients are aware of the scan’s potential health risks. The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology, found that 1 in….
Continue ReadingConfused by Use-by/Sell-by Dates?
Unless your sense of smell is on vacation, it’s pretty clear when you stick your nose into a quart of milk if it’s still safe to drink. But as the 48 million estimated cases of food poisoning every year attest, smell and taste are not good indicators of whether or not a food is safe….
Continue ReadingGenetic Testing for Cancer Can Help … and Confuse
The more we know about genetics, the better we get at diagnosing and treating disease. At least that’s the way it’s supposed to work. But the line from someone’s genetic profile to a personalized cancer treatment is hardly straight. Genomic tests look for thousands of gene mutations that might cause or promote cancer growth, but….
Continue ReadingImproving Weekend Surgical Outcomes
Unless it’s an emergency, having surgery on a weekend is not common, and it’s usually not a good idea. Patients who go under the knife over the weekend generally stay longer in the hospital, are more likely to be readmitted within 30 days and have higher mortality rates, according to the American Association for the….
Continue ReadingDoctor Challenges Drug Database Monitors on Privacy Grounds
The epidemic of accidental deaths due to overdosing on opioid medicines has been well-documented. The perils of chronic pain management are the subject of Patrick’s patient safety newsletter this month. One way authorities are dealing with the problem is via a database of controlled drug use, so that practitioners and pharmacists can see if patients….
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