These days there is an app for everything. In fact, with the touch of a button, you can borrow someone else’s car. This is known as car-sharing, and it is growing in popularity in major cities, such as Washington D.C. After all, it offers residents a convenient way to get around without the stressful components….
Continue ReadingArchives for October 2019
For patients, a glimpse into data on the quality and safety of surgery centers
They may be more appealing and convenient because they’re located in the neighborhood with better hours and more parking. They also may be less costly because they lack the high overheard of big hospitals. But those booming same-day surgery centers have patient safety issues of their own. Their doctors and nurses may not be as….
Continue ReadingWho will step up to deal with dementia and Alzheimer’s?
With as many as 14 million Americans potentially suffering from various forms of dementia by 2040, including the common Alzheimer’s disease, and with the costs of the care for them forecast to soar soon to more than $500 billion, a frenzied race is on for ways to deal with the debilitating cognitive syndromes. But will….
Continue ReadingAs FDA warns of implant perils, new questions arise about 3D mammograms
Angry women, anxious that officials were failing to protect their health, besieged a federal Food and Drug Administration hearing in the spring. That unusual outcry may have helped push regulators off their bureaucratic backsides, getting them finally to warn about risks of one of the most commonly used medical devices for women: breast implants. But….
Continue ReadingLawmakers order schools to give teens more time for California dreaming
If millions of young folks in the nation’s largest state seem even sunnier than before, that may be because they are getting a wee bit more needed shut eye: California has become the first state in the nation to order public schools to roll back their start times, so middle school classes generally won’t start….
Continue ReadingSeniors are getting urine over-tested and joints over-injected
It’s the 21st century, and excellent information is more available than ever due to communication and technology advances. But doctors and hospitals keep harming patients by testing and treating them in ways that are unsupported by rigorous medical evidence, and by carrying out safety recommendations in extreme ways. Just consider: Hospitals have become so obsessive….
Continue ReadingCaveat emptor: It’s not only an open season ‘for’ but also ‘on’ health coverage
Americans in coming weeks will make important decisions on the national and personal level about how best to safeguard themselves and their loved ones with a crucial component of the U.S. health care system: their insurance coverage. Though the exact timing of the open enrollment season varies by geography and plan, it’s that key time….
Continue ReadingBillions from landmark opioids case? It’d be just a start in dealing with crisis
Tens of billions of dollars. Those sound like hefty sums. But will it ever be enough? Will, say, $50 billion offer justice and appropriate recompense to a nation wracked by an opioid and overdose crisis? These figures aren’t pulled from thin air. They’re part of the reported settlement under negotiations to resolve more than 2,300….
Continue ReadingFlu shot urgency rises with warnings from Down Under and vaping illnesses
It’s an imperfect predictor, health officials concede. Still, a nasty season of infections Down Under has increased the urgency of their recommendations to the U.S. public to get the annual flu shot before Halloween and certainly before everyone sits down for Thanksgiving dinner. Although concern already had been growing about bad months ahead in the….
Continue ReadingGet ready, Washingtonians — 20,000 scooters soon may be part of cityscape
In the cooler, rainier autumnal weather, transportation officials may be planting the seeds of significant change for the health, safety, and way that residents and visitors get around Washington, D.C. They may allow a smaller number of private companies to double the number of scooters zipping around the nation’s capital by the new year. By….
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