As tens of millions of Americans struggle with workplace medical insurance that provides them with little benefit when they most need it, consumers may wonder just how naïve their employers may be in overlooking industry SPIFFs, SPIVs, and other little-discussed payments that jack up costs and may reduce benefits. Before any confusion arises, don’t think….
Continue ReadingArchives for February 2019
Doctors, Big Pharma and FDA ripped for bungling control of potent painkillers
A steady flow of news reports shows how our nation’s opioid crisis can be fairly blamed on just about every actor in the medical field that should have known better: Big Pharma, doctors, hospitals, and regulators. It’s been a toxic mix of incompetence, indifference and out-and-out deceptive conduct that produced the epidemic that now claims tens….
Continue ReadingBlood and spit, vampires and dead family secrets
Funny the mischief that can happen with a little blood and spit. Seemingly unrelated medical stories last week brought home the lesson of the law of unintended consequences. Those consequences abound everywhere, in health care most especially. So with blood, we’re learning about a bizarre new fountain-of-youth treatment, with echoes of vampires, for seniors who….
Continue ReadingWhen Juul won ‘nicotine arms race,’ did it ace out FDA regulatory threats, too?
Punked, dunked, and owned — if you’re young enough, that’s how you say your team has crushed a competitor. The lingo might well describe, too, the situation for now between e-cigarette maker Juul and Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the federal Food and Drug Administration. He has talked tougher and tougher with Juul as part of….
Continue ReadingMothers get a big boost for counseling to help with childbirth depression
Roughly 1 in 7 moms, who, during or after pregnancy, suffer debilitating depression — losses of energy or concentration, changes in sleeping and eating patterns, feelings of worthlessness or suicidal thoughts — now may get counseling that has proven helpful to women and their babies. Preventive health experts have called on medical providers to guide….
Continue ReadingAmericans rely on health coverage from work. It’s not getting the job done.
Republicans got their heads handed to them in the midterms because they bungled a decade of efforts to eliminate public options on health insurance, the House minority leader has conceded. But he and other lawmakers, as well as corporate bosses, may face greater political fallout for failing to deal with a bigger health coverage nightmare for ….
Continue ReadingPlain Talk for Seniors: Supplements can’t ‘cure’ Alzheimer’s or cancer, or anything else
Seniors and their friends and companions should consider reality versus magical thinking about the power of pills. The blunt truth: Over-the-counter dietary supplements can’t cure diseases. Not Alzheimer’s, not cancer, not diabetes, not any known disease. They don’t extend your lifespan either. Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the federal Food and Drug Administration, not only has warned a….
Continue ReadingLook out, below: A load of dietary super bunk is raining down from celebrities
If you’re such a die-hard fan you slogged through that pro football championship that was perfect for the new Year of the Boar, please don’t be so sheepish in your celebrity adoration as to get gulled by quarterback Tom Brady’s health and diet bunk. His oddball theories well might go into a flaming dumpster, along….
Continue ReadingPutting a little ‘heart’ into public investments in health really can pay off
Take heart, Americans. Taking care of ourselves makes a difference, making us healthier — and saving us money. New research supports policies for spending on the wellness of the elderly, improving heart care, and how smart interventions can reduce rising overall health costs. This evidence-based approach to figuring the government’s optimal role in individuals’ health….
Continue ReadingWhy are medical bills soaring? Blame a 42% hike in hospital prices.
Patients and reformers attacking skyrocketing health care costs may want to focus less on doctors and more on big, shiny hospitals, where in just five years prices soared by 42 percent for inpatient care versus the still sizable 18 percent price hikes that MDs scored. Those findings are part of a new study that examined….
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