For parents who struggle to ensure their kids eat right, news reports in recent days have offered some notable insights: They may wish to pack school lunches with whole fruit, and be wary of youngsters’ over-consumption of fruit juices. They also may want to cast a skeptical eye on claims for “organic” milk. And, even….
Continue ReadingArchives for May 2017
Trump Administration takes a worrisome delay in crackdown on e-cigarettes
The Trump Administration has sent disturbing signals on whether it will keep Big Tobacco from hooking more Americans on high-tech, nicotine-addictive products—so-called e-cigarettes used, especially by the young, for “vaping,” as well as cigars and hookahs. The federal Food and Drug Administration, almost exactly a year ago, announced it would crack down, in particular, on….
Continue ReadingCongress boosts NIH funding but CDC, drug czar’s office aren’t faring as well
Although its battles over health insurance have dominated the headlines, Congress also provided a glimmer of good news on funding for medical research. Lawmakers, at least for this fiscal year, shunned President Trump’s request to slash the budget of the National Institutes of Health. Instead of giving it the billion-dollar haircut the Administration sought, Congress….
Continue ReadingOne easy way to cut drug costs? Boot Big Pharma’s sales reps from hospitals
Patients’ pocketbooks benefit when hospitals take simple steps to prevent Big Pharma from swaying what gets scribbled on doctors’ prescription pads: Just by curbing drug sales people’s free access to hawk their wares, teaching hospitals have found that their doctors tended to order fewer promoted brand-name drugs and instead prescribed less costly, more generic versions,….
Continue ReadingTrumpcare fight shifts to Senate after House advances some disturbing beliefs
It’s up to the U.S. Senate now whether tens of millions of Americans get stripped of the health insurance they obtained under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, or what kind of coverage they might have under some version of the American Health Care Act aka Trumpcare. News organizations have posted some good, factual summaries….
Continue ReadingStates may be key battleground to combat deadly sepsis complications in kids
Although public health officials have launched national campaigns against sepsis, it may be that new initiatives at the state and local levels will be more effective in battling the deadly scourge, particularly as it harms kids. Sepsis, experts say, happens when the body is overwhelmed by infection and responds by shutting down key organs. It can lead to….
Continue ReadingThere may be no place like home after joint replacements
Hip and knee replacements, especially among seniors, have become so prevalent that almost 7 million Americans by 2010 had undergone the surgeries. With the cost to Medicare of knee replacements running between $16,500 and $33,000, and with roughly half of the procedures’ expense occurring post-operatively, there’s some good news for patients on saving money—and staying….
Continue ReadingState botches complaint disclosures on its consumer site on nursing homes
For policy-makers and politicians who seek to offer robust, transparent information about the quality and safety of all too often troubled nursing homes, a newspaper investigation in Oregon underscores how poor execution guts good intentions. The Oregonian deserves praise for discovering that a highly praised public health initiative in the Pacific Northwest foundered due to….
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