Health officials caught expectant mothers, local politicians, and the D.C. community off guard by ordering the only full-service hospital in the southeast part of the District of Columbia to stop delivering babies and to shut its nursery for 90 days. Details weren’t provided as to why D.C. regulators slapped restrictions on United Medical Center’s obstetrics….
Continue ReadingArchives for August 2017
FDA, EPA jointly offer expectant parents counsel on safer fish eating
If you’re an expectant mom trying to diversify your diet and to eat healthier this summer, two federal agencies are offering evidence-based advice about seafood dining: Use a little caution with servings of certain fish like king mackerel, marlin, shark, swordfish, and bigeye tuna that tend to carry higher levels of problematic mercury. The federal….
Continue ReadingA timely reminder that courageous (and lonely) caregivers need our care, too
Pick up that phone. Dash off a text or an email. Issue a dinner invitation or make a date for a casual lunch. Or just drop by to see that friend or loved one who struggles with the burdens of caring for someone in poor physical or mental health. Why now? Why not? Paula Spann….
Continue ReadingEye safety will be a must while viewing Aug. 21 total eclipse of the sun
Weather permitting, Washingtonians soon will get a good view of a full eclipse of the sun — not the whole thing but a good chunk. Here’s hoping that all viewers of this much-anticipated astronomical event take due precautions so they don’t damage their eyesight. Residents around the nation’s capital can expect to see an 81….
Continue ReadingIt’s a sad day when special interests crow about their sway on laws to cut patient access to civil justice
Members of Congress and lobbyists are taking public and premature bows for debasing the nation’s democracy and potentially harming Americans’ health and well-being. The Washington Post has given readers a disturbing glimpse into what’s going on in the halls of the U.S. House these days, detailing how Republican representatives jammed through a bill that would strip….
Continue ReadingWith health care in tumult, patients should get their own records, GAO advises
Although patients can protect their own health by getting copies of their medical records, few consumers get them, and fewer still take advantage of the federal government’s push to make records easily available electronically, one of Uncle Sam’s big public protection agencies reports. The U.S. Government Accountability Office also warns that tumult in the nation’s….
Continue ReadingMoney’s big for Big Pharma — in settlements, lobbying, and product prices
Even as drug makers are settling or scrambling to resolve disputes with regulators over dubious ways they peddle products, Big Pharma is busting records for its spending to lobby lawmakers on skyrocketing prices, easing industry oversight, and other issues critical not only to the sector but also to tens of millions of consumers. It’s distressing….
Continue ReadingPost-mortem study confirms extensive damage to brains of NFL players
Football players and fans, if they had doubts before, have taken yet another hit to their favorite sport, with a retrospective study of hundreds of pro players’ brains finding a damaging disorder in a startling percentage of the donated organs. Experts reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that 110 of 111 brains….
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