The government statistics paint a persistently grim picture of the nation’s health, notably as it is measured in a fundamental way — our plummeting, average life expectancy. But who wants to be another tragic bit of mortality data? Can we resolve to stay healthier in the year ahead — especially by slashing the skyrocketing numbers….
Continue ReadingArchives for December 2021
Hospices a hot investment as profiteers seek a buck to life’s very end
Profit-raking private investors, aka hedge funders, have taken aim at operations intended to help the elderly, desperately ill, and grievously injured experience a dignified death. The rapacious takeover of the hospice industry nationwide ought to be setting off political and regulatory alarms in a rapidly graying nation. As is typically the case when MBA-driven interests….
Continue ReadingSenator from small, poor state roils big plan to improve U.S. health
Record numbers of poor, working poor, and middle-class Americans are signing up to receive federal help to get affordable insurance to safeguard their health and finances. But will congressional politicking cost them this invaluable coverage — just before the nation goes to the polls for midterm elections? For months now, President Biden and the Democrats….
Continue ReadingOmicron tears across country, as Delta rips unvaccinated skeptics
The Omicron variant swiftly has become the nation’s dominant strain, with coronavirus infections skyrocketing from coast to coast. Officials are anxiously awaiting data to gauge the severity of Omicron infections and if the sharp rise in cases involving this variant will mean overwhelming numbers of patients requiring care in hospitals, too many of which already….
Continue ReadingWomen MDs face lifetime pay gap of $2 million less than male colleagues, and patient care suffers as a result
They excel through four years of rigorous undergraduate study, then battle their way through four more years of tough, tough medical school. They cram to pass their medical boards and grind through exhausting internships. They also pursue years more of exacting, sleep-deprived training in residencies and fellowships. But, wait a minute: Women doctors earn over….
Continue ReadingCO poisoning a rising risk as consumers buy more home generators
If you or someone you know has concerns enough about extreme weather events and the electrical failures that too often accompany them to look into buying a portable generator, be sure to take great care to examine the pricey device’s safety features. Thousands of consumers have been poisoned or killed by carbon monoxide (CO) fumes….
Continue ReadingBig Pharma slapped back in two separate tries at buck-raking
Fortunately for desperate regular folks, Big Pharma doesn’t always carry the day with its rapacious schemes. Just look at how a federal judge has upended a plutocratic family’s ploy to shield themselves from a wave of lawsuits over their company’s deceitful inundating of the country with powerful painkiller, or how public furor has pummeled a….
Continue ReadingMake the season bright: Get those shots and tests, and stay healthy!
It’s that time of year to offer seasonal greetings and best wishes for happiness, prosperity, hope, peace, and goodwill. May many good things especially go to the courageous, beleaguered, and stalwart folks struggling with the coronavirus pandemic 24-7 (including through the holidays), notably in health care, as first responders, and, of course, in service for….
Continue ReadingNursing homes hide violations with behind-scenes maneuvers
The battle to safeguard the elderly, sick, and injured residents of the nation’s nursing homes and other long-term care facilities is far from over — and the fight may be even tougher than advocates for the vulnerable may have imagined. That’s because the facilities employ aggressive tactics to contest safety and other violations found by….
Continue ReadingU.S. panel rips drug prices as ‘unsustainable, unjustifiable, unfair’
Regular folks have known it, chapter and verse, forever. They experience it every time they pay for their prescription drugs. But Democrats in the U.S. House report in a 269-page study that they have spent three years on, have concluded that Big Pharma runs a world-class cash-raising racket that would make street crooks blush. Well,….
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