Americans hoping for relaxed, healthful summer days, instead may be getting steady and unwelcome reminders that, despite much publicized claims about regulators’ protective programs, the safeguarding of the nation’s food and water supplies remains a flawed work in progress. The list only keeps growing of well-known commercial brands affected by tainted food claims, now including:….
Continue ReadingArchives for July 2018
For women, more reasons to consider HPV test, while fertility rates decline
Women and their doctors may need to give even more consideration to a test for the human papilloma virus (HPV) because research increasingly shows that it detects precancerous cervical changes sooner and better than the long used and widely accepted Pap smear. The latest findings on the HPV test’s benefits could lead to improvements in….
Continue ReadingFDA fails to police its elite MD-advisers’ ‘pay later’ deals with Big Pharma
The federal Food and Drug Administration has turned a blind eye to tens of millions of dollars paid by Big Pharma to doctors who play crucial roles in advising the nation’s prescription drug watchdog on the safety and effectiveness of medications sold for billions of dollars annually to the American public. Science magazine deserves credit for….
Continue ReadingSummer’s discontent: Evidence defies partisans on ACA, Medicaid expansion
The evidence accumulates that partisans’ persistent attacks on the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid run counter to their constituents’ needs and wishes, but will Republicans course-correct or will voters soon force them to? It may be inconvenient in these polarized times for public policy to be rooted in research and fact, rather than bluster and….
Continue ReadingBlame drug makers for ER shortfalls in caring for patients in ‘trauma season’
As the nation struggles through the “100 deadliest days,” the summer season of medical traumas, hospitals are warning anew that they’re not faring well in their constant battles to stock drugs that patients need for their care, notably in emergency rooms. The New York Times reported that ERs across the country can’t find and keep….
Continue ReadingNHL sells its players short by failing to acknowledge harms of head blows
The 2018 Stanley Cup may rest for a bit as the pride and joy of enthusiasts in the nation’s capital and of its title-winning team. But as fans of the pro and amateur game look to the future, they may have reason to be downcast about hockey’s most important component: its players. Author Ken Dryden….
Continue ReadingWill medical researchers turn away Big Tobacco’s billion-dollar Trojan horse?
Big Tobacco seems to have a shiny new billion-dollar Trojan horse. The question now: Will medical scientists be savvy enough to avoid a credibility catastrophe by rejecting funding from Tobacco’s wealthy new foundation? Rita Rubin, a seasoned health care writer, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that Philip Morris, a global hawker of….
Continue ReadingRegulators want to ease safety standards for hospital infections that still sicken millions
As many as 2 million already ailing Americans will acquire an infection while hospitalized, with 90,000 of them dying as a result. Hospital acquired infections (HAIs) will add to the cost of an individual patient’s care anywhere from $1,000 to $50,000, while they will impose a direct hit of anywhere from $28 billion to $45….
Continue ReadingHigh-deductible nightmares: the health insurance crisis partisans ignore
While political partisans pound without pause for extreme changes in the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and other government programs that seek to assist the poor, sick, children, and others with access to health care, they’re ignoring the medical nightmare that’s afflicting ever-rising numbers of middle- and upper-class Americans who get their health coverage at….
Continue ReadingA billion reasons to worry that rushed FDA approvals put patient safety at risk
Big Pharma has thrown a billion-dollar biscuit at the nation’s prescription drug watchdog, and with the admirable goal of possibly getting sick Americans faster pharmaceutical help, the federal Food and Drug Administration may be rushing risky, unsafe medications to market. ProPublica, the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative site, has posted a deep dig into the increasing warning….
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