The coronavirus pandemic has not only caused sustained damage to the U.S. health workforce, it also apparently has accelerated a looming crisis in nursing care, as has been shown by a three-day strike by 15,000 private-sector nurses in Minnesota. Theirs was the largest such walkout by nurses and it sought to underscore how pay inequities,….
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When Big Pharma opens its big checkbook, life-saving disclosures vanish
Big Pharma loves to blast away at opposition lawyers and their clients, criticizing them for seeking justice in the civil system over claims of significant harms. But, c’mon, man, as a certain top political leader likes to say to express his flabbergasted skepticism. Wealthy corporations and their counsel marshal enormous, costly legal resources to bully,….
Continue ReadingHospital shielded heart surgeon with 21 malpractice claims, probe finds
He cut a dashing figure in ads and billboards for a New England community hospital, which had an administration desperate for a lucrative heart care program in a region with famous academic medical centers. Dr. Yvon Baribeau, a Canadian-trained heart surgeon, seemed a perfect fit for the Catholic Medical Center, a place where he told….
Continue ReadingU.S. judge cites religious freedoms in striking down insurance coverage for HIV drugs
While increasing numbers of Americans tell pollsters that they are forgoing religion and seeing its practice diminish in importance in their lives, those with religious fervor are finding a federal judiciary willing to delve into the complexity of faith and medicine in deeply polarizing ways. The looming midterm elections, pollsters say, already have been upended….
Continue ReadingMedicine struggles with hype, disinformation, and miscommunication
The quality of medical-scientific information is strained — and patients should know this, be warned, and watch for ways to protect themselves from bungled communication, bluster, hype, misinformation, and disinformation. Although regular folks may have unprecedented access via the internet to resources on medical services and developments, a trio of recent news articles underscore the….
Continue ReadingGen Z becomes stoner generation with record-high pot and hallucinogen use
Generation Z and young millennials have become the nation’s leading group of stoners, setting record highs for their use of marijuana, hallucinogenic drugs, nicotine, and booze. This has occurred even as federal regulators have gotten called out for failing to crack down, after chest-thumping promises to do so, on the noxious but popular practice among….
Continue ReadingAs U.S. gears up for fall pandemic battles, a disease-fighting leader retires
This fall our nation will go once more into the breach, with federal officials hoping that another big push for vaccinations against the coronavirus and flu will stave off the deadly surges of contagions that have caused the fundamental health measure of life expectancy to plummet in a historic way. Still, the announced retirement of….
Continue Reading3 giant drug store chains hit with $650-million judgment for opioid harms
CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart are getting expensive lessons about corporate responsibility in filling prescriptions, as federal courts in San Francisco and Cleveland separately have faulted the companies for inundating communities with staggering quantities of addictive painkillers. Those drugs caused such great harm that the three major drug chains must pay two Ohio Counties $650.5 million,….
Continue ReadingWhen claims of harms rise, more corporations are diving into bankruptcy
They were a tortured part of the opioid abuse and drug overdose crisis. They have become a painful aspect of the push to hold nursing home owners and operators accountable for the shambolic response to the coronavirus pandemic. And they soon may be an obstacle to military veterans’ attempts to get justice for defective devices….
Continue ReadingD.C. drivers need to learn a key safety lesson: Slow down near schools
With students returning to classes in a few weeks, motorists need to make an important safety pledge to youngsters and their communities in Washington, D.C.: Please, for goodness’ sake, slow down. This is not happening as it should, putting kids at heightened risk, a new study has found. As the Washington Post reported: “D.C. drivers….
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