As the nation closes out 2020 and months of a raging coronavirus pandemic, will old acquaintances be forgot and never brought to mind? Covid-19, unchecked, has killed at least 330,000 Americans and almost 19 million of us have been infected with the disease. Those numbers likely are underestimated. Based on still tallying “excess deaths” in….
Continue ReadingArchives for December 2020
U.S. suit accuses Walmart of fueling deadly opioid crisis via its pharmacies
The stain of the nation’s opioid abuse and drug overdose crisis has spread now to Bentonville, Ark., as federal prosecutors have sued Walmart, accusing the nation’s largest retailer of improperly allowing its pharmacists to fill millions of suspicious prescriptions for potent painkillers. The pharmacists themselves complained to their corporate bosses that they were delivering opioids….
Continue ReadingHow does U.S. improve its health care if the president excuses wrongdoing?
Leave it to the extreme actions of the current White House occupant to disprove Shakespeare and the adage that the quality of mercy cannot be strained. Some of the dozens of President Trump’s latest acts of clemency, with more likely to be granted, are sending bad messages of who gets ahead in a rapacious U.S…..
Continue ReadingCoronavirus vaccinations lag behind plan as experts track contagious variant
Even as medical scientists have detected a new, potentially more contagious variant of the coronavirus that also may pose greater risks to children, the high hopes for a faultless roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines are getting tempered with unhappy doses of reality. Roughly 1 million Americans have been vaccinated already, most with a product from Pfizer….
Continue ReadingA wish for this somber holiday: gratitude for those who helped others, and an end to the attacks on science
These may be some of the most somber holidays in many Americans’ recent memory. They also may challenge the faithful to translate seasonal religious messages about hope, joy, compassion, and caring for others into practical action, particularly in how the nation treats people who have been battered by the coronavirus pandemic. While reaching out, past….
Continue ReadingPatients get unexpected year-end cheer — new curbs on surprise medical bills
The do-little U.S. Senate and the House gave Americans an unexpected cause for glee at year’s end. Lawmakers approved long sought relief from “surprise medical bills,” the charges, too often whopping in size, that individuals and families rack up for care from all kinds of providers that their health insurers have not approved. Multiple legislative….
Continue ReadingWith virus toll grim and shots starting, knowledge about vaccines can be key
The nation now has two potent vaccines to battle the coronavirus pandemic, and the federally approved Covid-19 vaccines are quickly getting into the arms of front-line health workers and vulnerable residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Experts have hailed the speedy arrival of clinically tested vaccines as a turning point in the….
Continue ReadingPlutocratic Sacklers say sorry but not our fault, when taken to task in hearing
A key component of the American legal system, in the criminal and civil systems, is the opportunity afforded to those most harmed to see those implicated in awful situations take responsibility for their conduct. It can be a key moment for the aggrieved to find closure and a measure of justice. The plutocratic Sackler family….
Continue ReadingFraudsters boost senior-care nightmares with ‘audacious’ hospice scams
With coronavirus infections and deaths rising anew in worrisome fashion from coast to coast, matters could not get worse with the nation’s long-term care, right? Guess again. Profit-mongering and “audacious, widespread fraud” apparently has run amok in hospice care in the Golden State. Because California, alas, too often serves as a trend-setting locale, patients, their….
Continue ReadingConsultants apologize for opioid hype, as pharma payments take more fire
Heaps of ignominy are not in short order for parties that played sketchy roles in fostering the nation’s deadly opioid abuse and drug overdose crisis. The stain has spread now to one of corporate America’s most-favored advisors — the giant McKinsey consulting group. The firm has issued a rare public mea culpa for its work….
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