It may be surprising that the questions went unasked before. The outcomes may be less than shocking. But patients, in a new and nationally representative survey, have told hospitals to bug off with their relentless grubbing for donations from the people they care for. Doctors and ethicists long have been wary of the huge energy….
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Lung-cancer test may be advisable for more smokers and quitters, experts say
Tens of millions of Americans who have not kicked the harmful smoking habit or who have only recently done so may want to keep a watch on the work of a blue-chip advisory group as its medical scientists consider how much lung-cancer screening best benefits tobacco users. The panel is seeking expert comment on its….
Continue ReadingNew twists with job-related health coverage for unemployed and vulnerable
Wall Street investors may be seeing their portfolios flush again. But the Covid-19 pandemic has left tens of millions of Americans jobless. And if the once-flourishing health care business has not snapped back into rosy condition as it so often has in difficult times, the battle of the last decade over health insurance will haunt….
Continue ReadingBuyer beware: J&J pulls its baby powder, as officials warn about vapeware
Consumers have gotten stark reminders of the safety risks of two different kinds of products, one a household classic and the other a bootlegger’s nightmare. Caveat emptor about baby powder and street-purchased vaping devices. As for Johnson and Johnson’s family familiar talc, the company may have timed well its decision to yank it from shelves….
Continue ReadingGlobal vaping snub suggests other nations are learning from United States’ bad example
Here’s a glimmer of good health news: It seems that nations around the world may be avoiding what, just a blink ago, was one of the United States’ significant public health concerns — vaping and e-cigarettes. Juul, the San Francisco-based company at the heart of this controversy, has seen doors shut in its face as….
Continue ReadingFor 70+ women and their MDs, more reasons to rethink routine mammograms
As Americans live longer, clinicians may need to reconsider whether they need to subject older patients to routine screenings that may trigger even more costly, invasive, painful, and unnecessary medical testing and procedures. For women 70 and older, for example, yet more new evidence raises doubts about mammograms designed to detect breast cancers. As the….
Continue ReadingHere’s why the U.S. surgeon general and WHO want smokers to quit, asap
Cigarette smokers got yet more chiding from public health officials about why and how they should quit an addictive and destructive habit. To do so isn’t easy, and a “shocking” number of doctors aren’t helping enough, the Surgeon General of the United States conceded. But there are big reasons to give up the nasty vice,….
Continue ReadingGood news on cancer shows why the battle against smoking matters. A lot.
There’s good news out on declining deaths caused by one of the nation’s leading killers. But experts warn that the country will need to work hard to sustain a sharp drop in cancer mortality rates — mostly due to smokers quitting their nasty habit. That’s because other factors like rising obesity may undo the recent….
Continue ReadingNeed simple, clear, and direct ideas to be healthier? Heed these 48 words
Bravo, brevity. Four dozen words is all it takes for a doctor and noted writer on diet and obesity to offer plenty of sound advice on how to get and stay healthy. Here are the suggestions from Yoni Freedhoff, associate professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa, founder and medical director of Ottawa’s….
Continue ReadingWith teens’ health at risk, White House plays politics with vaping
The Trump Administration kicked off the new year with a whimper not a bang with yet another of its attempts to corral the health nightmare of e-cigarettes and vaping by the nation’s young, while not upsetting the industry too much. Starting Feb. 1, the federal government announced it will forbid the sale of most flavored cartridges….
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