The federal Food and Drug Administration too often fails to protect patients from defective and dangerous medical devices because it lets manufacturers self-police themselves, cozies up to companies rather than trying to compel safety fixes, and inadequately informs the public and medical community about problem products. If that sounds like too broad and harsh an….
Continue ReadingArchives for August 2021
U.S. outspends other nations by far on health care but lags badly in outcomes
The U.S. health care system, again, ranks last among 11 high-income countries — the seventh such time it trailed its peers since a leading, independent nonprofit conducted its first study in 2004. The Commonwealth Fund, in its latest published research, says it examined 71 different measures to study health systems in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the….
Continue ReadingFinally: Tide turns for vaccine mandates for nursing-home health staff
From the It’s-about-time department: Nursing homes and long-term care facilities finally have started to require their health workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported as of Aug. 6 that ~1.6 million long-term care residents and 1.3 million health workers in the care facilities were fully vaccinated…..
Continue ReadingDelta variant-surge embroils kids and parents in politicized pandemic disputes
Kids are flocking back to school for in-person, fall classes — and they are getting eye-opening views of how grownups continue to react to the gravest public health crisis in a century. What kinds of lessons are the next generations taking away from us? Public health officials are moving with urgency not only to get….
Continue ReadingBiden Administration reinstates stiff fines for nursing home safety violations
The Biden Administration has ended another egregious health-related policy of its predecessor, reversing the leniency the Trump Administration gave to nursing homes in penalizing them for putting residents at risk or injuring them. Regulators may now return to slapping owners and operators of problem facilities with mounting, costly daily fines, rather than giving them a….
Continue ReadingFDA may be letting medical device makers fudge safety reports, study finds
The federal Food and Drug Administration may be putting patients’ safety at serious risk by allowing medical device makers to self-police their products, notably in making crucial determinations in reporting to the agency the severity of harms the devices inflict. Using artificial intelligence techniques to scan a sampling of filings made by makers to the….
Continue ReadingSummer optimism wilts as contagious Delta variant rages in unvaccinated
The sunny optimism that the coronavirus pandemic might finally be quelled is fading as fast as a two-scoop ice cream cone in the summer swelter. The stark rise of the Delta variant, with its fast-surging infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, has reminded experts and the public of the pandemic’s gravity, as well as its ability to….
Continue ReadingOlympians offer golden insights on the importance of mental health for all
The early coverage of the 2021 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo has been dominated by an unexpected but rising concern — the importance of mental health to our overall wellbeing. Courageous efforts by young women superstars like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka have helped raise consciousness globally about the importance of this issue, especially for….
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