The pain and suffering that a flawed medical device can cause can last a long time. A Dallas jury provided a timely reminder of that, deciding six California plaintiffs should be paid more than $1 billion for the harm they suffered because of metal-on-metal hip replacement hardware made by Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Orthopedics unit…..
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Women need better care, research on head trauma, advocates say
It may sound macabre. But advocates say a critical step to address important gender disparities in the care and research on concussions’ harms may rest in convincing more women to donate their brains to science. This has already helped to prove the debilitating and deadly effects of head trauma among men in pro sports. In….
Continue ReadingSurgeon jailed in Dallas, as details unwind still of his terrible spine surgery spree
Just how difficult can it be to stop a highly credentialed but dangerous doctor from hop-scotching around a metropolitan area to perform brutal spinal surgeries in different hospitals, including a respected academic medical center? Just ask crippled patients, neurosurgeons, medical licensing officials, and prosecutors in Dallas what it took to derail Dr. Christopher Duntsch. As….
Continue ReadingSouth Dakota high court won’t force hospitals to disclose why they let a bad doctor operate on patients’ spines
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 ReadingFederal 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 ReadingKnee-pain surgery, performed 400,000 times a year, deemed ‘useless’
Surgeons’ propensity to perform a common procedure may transfer patients’ knee discomfort to their wallets. The New York Times, in its Upshot column, pulls together a growing body of research that indicates that surgeries for meniscus tears are “useless.” The arthroscopic procedure, however, is popular with the middle-aged and older when afflicted with knee pain,….
Continue ReadingDubious data hyped NFL program to protect kids from head trauma
As a former president used to say with finger pointed and head cocked: Well, there they go again. That same angry but resigned tone should be applied to the National Football League, and its dissembling use of data. The NFL keeps damaging its own reputation as it seeks to persuade the public that it recognizes….
Continue ReadingWhat imperils both pro wrestlers and synchronized swimmers? Head trauma
Two sports that could not be more extreme to each other─balletic synchronized swimming and bombastic professional wrestling─share an ugly health peril: dangerous head injuries. Interest groups in both are taking steps to better protect athletes, including through litigation in the civil justice system. Although many fans long may have winked about whether shenanigans in the….
Continue ReadingLessons learned from ‘The Greatest’
As the world mourns the death of Muhammad Ali, this remarkable public and sporting figure left two more key lessons as part of his legacy: George Skelton, the Pulitzer Prize-winning state government columnist of the Los Angeles Times, left his usual topics to argue that Ali’s boxing-related Parkinson’s should serve as a reminder of the dangers….
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….
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