Taxpayers and lawmakers may be grasping just how far in the wrong direction the federal Food and Drug Administration has gone in approving prescription drugs for sale on U.S. markets — in too much haste and with too little facts about whether the new drugs really work and are safe. The issue, of course, may….
Continue ReadingArchives for March 2022
Medical errors can be criminal, Tennesee nurse’s conviction shows
While nurses deserve patients’ gratitude and the highest praise for the valiant care they have provided during the coronavirus pandemic, a Nashville case has raised tough questions as to whether and when professional caregivers’ medical errors ought to be criminalized. Prosecutors decided that some mistakes rise to the criminal level, after considering the evidence against….
Continue ReadingIn pandemic lull, the push is on for shots for kids and older adults
After months of experiencing how the coronavirus vaccines safely can slash infections, avert serious illnesses that can lead to hospitalizations, and prevent epic numbers of deaths, young and older patients soon will be asked to show (again) their confidence in the life changing and life saving value of Covid-19 shots. The pandemic-weary U.S. public, though,….
Continue ReadingGood news for patients on credit reports and maybe that Medicare hike
Patients battered by sky-high health care costs are getting a bit of promising news: One set of federal regulators may have jawboned the leading credit reporting agencies to deal better with how they tell lenders about individuals’ medical debt and its significance for their hiring, renting, borrowing, and more. And another set of federal regulators….
Continue ReadingPatient safety’s new perils: Lack of medical staff and their mental wellness
The coronavirus pandemic and the wrenching demand this public health nightmare has put on the U.S. health care system and its people have become such a worry that staffing shortages and workers’ mental health have become top safety concerns in 2022. That is the evidence-based view of ECRI, aka the nonprofit, independent Emergency Care Research….
Continue ReadingFor Dept. of Veterans Affairs, an overhaul and time of reckoning on care
One of the largest, most important health care systems in the country has plans in the works for a huge revamp, including shutting down many of its big, aging hospitals or slashing services there, shifting to smaller clinics, and refocusing its caregiving to parts of the country where its patients live. Taxpayers will want to….
Continue ReadingVaccine makers seek OK for 4th shot as fears rise about another surge
Moderna and Pfizer have given a boost to the idea that Americans should get another dose of coronavirus vaccines. Pfizer is seeking federal approval for another dose for patients 65 and older and Moderna is calling for another shot for all adults, notably those who already have gotten three inoculations of its vaccine. The drug….
Continue ReadingAs ‘synthetic’ nicotine loophole shuts, warnings about cannabis edibles
Grownups have gotten stark reminders why they must stay vigilant against buck-raking enterprises that exploit young people’s experimentation with intoxicants. Even as Congress has shut a legal loophole used by the vaping industry to keep addicting its customers to harmful nicotine, other dealers are pushing candy-like marijuana edibles on youths. In passing a $1.5 trillion….
Continue ReadingMedical debt mires millions in a flood of red ink
Medical debt, one of the most shameful aspects of the U.S. health care system, has only become more so in recent times, drowning patients in an ever-rising flood of red ink now climbing past $195 billion. The money owed by millions of Americans to doctors, hospitals, labs, Big Pharma and others in healthcare and big….
Continue ReadingThe pandemic may be quieting, but its politics are not.
While the coronavirus pandemic keeps dimming into one of its quieter phases in some time, the political jostling over how best to battle the disease isn’t lessening. Congressional Democrats and Republicans made this clear with their inability to provide $15.6 billion request by the Biden Administration to pay for coronavirus vaccines (especially promised, global supplies), testing….
Continue Reading