South Dakotans will need their state lawmakers’ help now to pry open physicians’ iron grip on secret decisions about which doctors get to practice in hospitals and why. That’s because the state’s Supreme Court ruled this vital information must be kept confidential, even if releasing it would serve a wider good of disclosing possible criminal or fraudulent….
Continue ReadingBack/Spine Surgery
Federal auditors assail $359 million in Medicare costs for chiropractic care
Federal auditors have found that 80 percent of Medicare spending in a recent year on chiropractic care−some $359 million−was medically unnecessary. The federal insurance program for senior citizens should not have thrown taxpayer dollars at chiropractors to treat strains, sprains, or joint conditions, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General says. Its….
Continue ReadingS. Dakota high court asked to pry open hospitals’ secret approval of brutal MD
South Dakota’s highest court has been asked to reject hospitals’ attempts to keep secret why a doctor, who also is a convicted burglar with a checkered medical past that could have easily been uncovered, passed a peer review that permitted him to perform brutal, excruciating, and unnecessary spinal surgeries on dozens of patients. A lower court rejected….
Continue ReadingWhere are regulators as hundreds offer so-called ‘stem cell’ care?
Beneficial therapies can topple over to medical nightmares in a blink, especially when regulators seem to have looked askance or even shut their eyes and slumbered. The Food and Drug Administration may need to look into what is going on with the burgeoning business of so-called stem cell treatments. Two academics took to the Internet….
Continue ReadingFast-takes on health care developments worth watching
Here are some fast takes on some developments in health worth watching: Good news: Birth rates among teen moms have declined to historic lows, falling most sharply (by almost half) for blacks and Hispanics, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported. Many factors may have contributed to this important trend, including greater….
Continue ReadingTougher oversight needed on harms of medical devices
Problems with medical devices contribute to 3,000 Americans’ deaths annually, research shows, and fixing any one of the problem devices can cost hundreds of millions. So why aren’t government officials doing more and better in regulating them and protecting the public, a New York Times health policy columnist has asked. This health economist, Austin Frakt,….
Continue ReadingA $500-million medical fraud case paints ugly picture of caregivers, politicians
For anyone who has doubt about how low physicians and hospitals can stoop for a buck, a city magazine has offered a dismal portrait of breathtakingly bad conduct in a $500 million medical fraud. Prosecutors have accused some powerful California politicians of playing a part in this scandal. The report in Los Angeles magazine details….
Continue ReadingSimple steps to boost patient safety: Operate one at a time, and write prescriptions electronically
New reports show how physicians can improve patient safety and help themselves with two simple steps: Stopping the practice of conducting surgeries at the same time on different patients, and writing prescriptions electronically instead of by hand. Jamming up on complex surgeries Investigative journalists at the Boston Globe deserve credit for reporting on a dispute….
Continue ReadingFor those suffering with back woes, a therapy option to manage pain
It’s the most common cause of job absences and disability for Americans younger than 45. It hits most of us at some point, and experts estimate that we spend more than $90 billion annually on its diagnosis and treatment. As I’ve written before, a bad back is one of the most painful and debilitating health….
Continue ReadingResearch Your Doctor’s Payments from Drug and Device Makers
For patients in our home territory of the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, here are some quick links to look up your doctor’s payments last year from manufacturers of drugs and medical devices. District of Columbia. Virginia Maryland This comes from the ProPublica database, which has obtained the numbers from the federal government in….
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