A Virginia hospital has found an eyebrow-raising solution to some of its struggles with elderly, poor, and sick patients who take up beds and medical resources that might generate more revenue and less headache for the institution: Administrators hired a law firm and turned to the courts to strip legal control over the frail seniors….
Continue ReadingArchives for November 2019
On the road, in the kitchen, at the table — have a safe, healthy holiday!
With the launch of a season of eating, drinking, getting together with friends and family, and celebrating, it may be worth a moment to ponder how to keep those you care most about as healthy and safe as possible, but with a good dollop of fun too. Herewith some suggestions: Food safety When it comes….
Continue ReadingIgnore doctors’ malpractice claims history? The U.S. did. 66 patients died. It cost $55 million.
Although doctors, hospitals, and insurers may howl about the professional harms they claim to suffer due to medical malpractice lawsuits, research studies show that it’s just a tiny slice of MDs who lose in court and must pay up for injuring patients. Further, the data show that the problem few doctors don’t rack up one,….
Continue ReadingOn vaping, gun violence, and health insurance, the big talk flows, but action, not so much
When it comes to key health concerns of the American public, President Trump and his administration have offered evidence anew that whatever they say may not last to the next political moment, that inaction is its own powerful kind of action, and that what officials say they’re doing may be exactly the opposite. This is….
Continue ReadingFor safety’s sake: Pedestrians, put down the phone! Bikers, put on the helmet!
With the pedestrian death toll climbing to scary levels and bike-vehicle accidents zooming up too, individuals may need to take common sense steps to safeguard themselves and not rely on motorists or traffic planners for their safety. Just as drivers need to put away electronic devices while they’re on the road, so, too, should folks….
Continue ReadingU.S. orders price postings in hopes of curbing hospitals’ trillion-dollar costs
Tthe Trump Administration deserves credit for doing something right on hospital prices — but with what likely will be ineffective results. The president and Alex Azar, the head of the sprawling Health and Human Services agency, have rolled out delayed new federal rules that will order hospitals, starting in 2021, to make public the discounted….
Continue ReadingSuperbugs’ deadly rise has plunged planet into risky ‘post-antibiotic’ era
Federal officials have put out some scary new findings about the state of patients’ health in the 21st century: Superbugs may be more common and potent than previously believed. And we may now have plummeted into what experts are calling the perilous “post-antibiotic age.” This all amounts to far more than a hypothetical menace. It….
Continue ReadingDrugs are better for heart patients than surgery (except in mid-heart attack), study finds
Tens of thousands of patients with serious but stable heart disease soon may see themselves treated more with prescription drugs and less with rushed surgeries, especially bypass procedures or operations that seek to open clogged blood vessels with wire cages called stents. A possible shift away from stents — which have come under question for….
Continue Reading13 million and one reasons why simultaneous operations should be barred
A big Boston hospital has offered 13 million and one ways to try to make good with a former orthopedic surgeon who assailed the respected institution and colleagues for performing simultaneous operations in which doctors went from suite to suite, working for hours on multiple patients at once. Massachusetts General Hospital insisted this practice was….
Continue ReadingBig Pharma under fire over quality, safety, and patents on costly brand drugs
When Big Pharma insists its sky-high prices are justified, patients may want to keep in mind key findings just revealed about prescription drugs and their makers: Expensive brands may not be manufactured by name firms, and instead, may be cranked out in dirty and risky secondary facilities. And the research that leads to expensive products….
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