As Walmart tries to work with its 1 million-plus U.S. employees in controlling health care costs, the retailing giant has not only struck a blow for quality medical treatment, it also has raised key questions about a costly and booming specialization in health care: medical imaging. Walmart decided to shake up this diagnostic field by….
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Telemarketing “free” back and limb braces for seniors adds up to a $1.2 billion Medicare fraud
Federal authorities have busted up what they say is a $1.2 billion Medicare fraud that should give taxpayers and patients pause about long-distance medical consultations and the huge sums of cash washing around the medical device industry. Two dozen people, some of them doctors, have been charged in a complex ploy to gull seniors into….
Continue ReadingWhat’s prodding contact sports’ big shifts on head trauma? Insurance companies’ ‘panic’
Parents and young athletes may have wrestled with the decision whether to play contact sports, as research shows the injuries that players can suffer from blows to the head. But lesser known parties to the games may be the undoing of professional and organized soccer, hockey, and football: Insurance companies. The firms, which provide necessary and….
Continue ReadingWho didn’t see this coming? Patient anger grows over knee surgery hype
With a graying nation projected to see millions of patients undergoing knee replacements each year at an annual cost to taxpayers running in the billions of dollars, it may be past time to ask if surgeons and hospitals promote and perform these popular procedures to excess. Liz Szabo, in a story written for the nonprofit,….
Continue Reading‘Bleed Out’ details how daunting the pursuit of justice can be for harmed patients
When doctors, hospitals, insurers, and their captive lawmakers howl about how unfair malpractice lawsuits allegedly can be for modern medicine, patients who have suffered harms while seeking medical services should require loved ones, friends, and members of their community to view Bleed Out. This new HBO documentary details the decade-long quest by comedian Steve Burrows….
Continue ReadingCommon sense on kids and concussions, adult heart disease, frats and booze
Common sense and moderation can matter a ton in maintaining good health, as recent news reports show, particularly with kids and concussions, middle-aged adults and heart disease, and collegiate alcohol abuse. With youngsters returning to school and so many of them participating in sports and recreation programs, it’s good that the federal Centers for Disease….
Continue ReadingWith a knee you can see: Yes, Obamacare helps to cut costs and improve care
Federal regulators may be forced to reconsider their plans to curtail a cost-containing experiment that affects some of the most commonly performed surgeries — knee and hip replacement procedures that hundreds of thousands of seniors undergo annually through their Medicare coverage at a cost to taxpayers of billions of dollars. Under the Affordable Care Act,….
Continue ReadingAs 2018 season kicks off, college football reckons with head trauma harms
College football has kicked off its fall season with a flourish, but the signs are increasing that concerns about players’ health and safety may slash at the game’s size, spectacle, and importance. Just as the pro leagues were forced to answer in court for the harms that athletes suffer due to repeated blows to their….
Continue ReadingMaryland tragedy underscores need for tough safeguards for players’ health
In College Park, Md., new cooling tents have sprouted on the University of Maryland’s football practice field, where the training staff also is taking pains now to provide adequate cold drinks and breaks to players. Observers say the pre-season regimens, however, are not only marked by greater attentiveness to the young athletes’ needs, they’re also….
Continue ReadingNFL settlements raise new questions on head trauma and Parkinson’s and ALS
The National Football League, which long has resisted the growing reality that game-related head blows can cause major harms to its players, may be providing yet new and unintended warnings about the sustained damages of concussions. The Los Angeles Times reported that pro football’s pay-outs, as part of its billion-dollar head-injuries settlement with NFL players….
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