Cardiac patients may wish to take to heart how news reports have undercut federal regulators’ claims that they provide the most rigorous oversight to medical devices that treat complex conditions in ways that pose the greatest risk. With certain heart pumps and defibrillator units, both implanted in patients, the Federal Food and Drug Administration deserves….
Continue ReadingArchives for May 2019
Congress and White House find a bipartisan target in medical bills and prices
Doctors, hospitals, health insurers, and Big Pharma have become so abusive to patients with their billing and pricing that they may have accomplished what many consider a political impossibility ̶ angering Democrats and Republicans in Congress as well as the White House, pushing them all toward bipartisan legislation and executive actions. Don’t bet on the….
Continue ReadingPrescriptions for this painkiller abound. Evidence of its effectiveness doesn’t.
Patients’ struggles with medical pain are a major problem. So, too, is the proclivity of Big Pharma, doctors, hospitals, insurers, and many others to respond to pain not only by pushing more prescription pills but also by overstating their benefits and downplaying their costs and potential harms. As the nation grapples with an opioid painkiller….
Continue ReadingHigh court leaves it to Congress to restore service members’ basic rights
The U.S. Supreme Court has left it up to Congress to decide if service members may pursue in the civil justice system claims that they have suffered harms while seeking medical services, a fundamental civil right now denied to military personnel. Justices Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsburg — who rarely agree on much —….
Continue ReadingWalmart sees a bigger picture with costly imaging: frequent misdiagnosis
As Walmart tries to work with its 1 million-plus U.S. employees in controlling health care costs, the retailing giant has not only struck a blow for quality medical treatment, it also has raised key questions about a costly and booming specialization in health care: medical imaging. Walmart decided to shake up this diagnostic field by….
Continue ReadingGeneric drugs ensnared in price-fixing and shoddy manufacturing claims
With Big Pharma pressing the limits in promoting and pricing prescription medications, patients and their advocates long have hoped that generic drugs might be difference-makers on costs and practices. Those positive wishes, however, may be dying out by the day. The attorneys general of dozens of states have sued major generic makers including Teva, Pfizer,….
Continue ReadingPreventable hospital deaths’ terrible toll: at least 160,000 lives each year
Although the fatalities have declined, preventable hospital deaths kill more than 160,000 Americans annually — four times as many lives as were lost to vehicle wrecks in 2017, more than twice the deaths attributable to opioids and drug overdoses that year, and more than the toll of stroke or Alzheimer’s disease. The disturbing new report….
Continue ReadingTerps draw new fire for staying mostly mum about a fatal viral outbreak
Just as the nation grapples with the worst measles outbreak in a quarter century, the University of Maryland and public health officials are drawing fire for the way they handled the strange confluence of mold infections in dorms and the spread of an contagious virus among students on the College Park campus. The university and….
Continue ReadingFor cancer patients in online support groups, another grief: illness fakers
For all the benefits that the cyber world has bestowed on billions of users, it also has brought out trolls and bullies aplenty. It also potentially has created a new category of sick people. They use online forums to fake illnesses and gain sympathy and even money. There’s even a new term for it: Munchausen….
Continue ReadingHospitals rip employer health plans with prices up to 3 times what Uncle Sam pays
Big businesses, which beat on their employees to be more cost-conscious, efficient, and productive, may need to take a page out of their own books if they hope to better control the soaring health care costs that they’re also shoving off onto their workers. That’s a key takeaway from new research by the independent, nonprofit….
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