The medical establishment needs to take a hard, long look at its failing efforts to combat obesity and overweight, conditions that now affect just under 40 percent of American adults (93.3 million people) and 20 percent of youngsters (13.7 million) in the U.S. That’s because doctors and medical scientists have “ignored mountains of evidence to….
Continue ReadingQuality outcome measures
Doctors too readily provide dubious treatments to vulnerable seniors
Doctors subject older patients to risky, costly, invasive, and painful tests and treatments, perhaps with good intention but also because they fail to see that the seniors in their care are individuals with specific situations with real needs that must be considered. If physicians too readily accept conventional wisdom in their field, for example, they….
Continue ReadingMaryland researchers set a new stage for clearer explanation of medical risks
What’s an internist to do when an 81-year-old patient, already in failing health with advanced emphysema, seeks a second opinion because he’s been told his prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels are unacceptably high? This senior also has been advised to schedule a prostate biopsy urgently to determine if he has cancer. Can this discussion with….
Continue ReadingFor sick seniors, hospitals and nursing homes can be nothing but bad news
In many parts of the developing world, families play a big part in patients’ hospital care. They not only sit for long hours with loved ones, supporting and encouraging their recovery. They also may help with direct services, bathing and cleaning patients, tending to their beds and quarters, and even assisting with their medications and….
Continue ReadingRegulators want to ease safety standards for hospital infections that still sicken millions
As many as 2 million already ailing Americans will acquire an infection while hospitalized, with 90,000 of them dying as a result. Hospital acquired infections (HAIs) will add to the cost of an individual patient’s care anywhere from $1,000 to $50,000, while they will impose a direct hit of anywhere from $28 billion to $45….
Continue ReadingA billion reasons to worry that rushed FDA approvals put patient safety at risk
Big Pharma has thrown a billion-dollar biscuit at the nation’s prescription drug watchdog, and with the admirable goal of possibly getting sick Americans faster pharmaceutical help, the federal Food and Drug Administration may be rushing risky, unsafe medications to market. ProPublica, the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative site, has posted a deep dig into the increasing warning….
Continue ReadingNo surgery is free of risks or complications, as breast reconstruction study reminds
Cancer and surgery — it’s little wonder that even the most resilient patients can buckle a bit when their doctors talk to them about these two issues together and urgently. That’s why new research may be valuable to women with breast cancer, providing them with better evidence-based insight about challenges in their reconstructive options. The….
Continue ReadingWhy are advance directives so key? Look at tough stats on ventilator survival
Grown-ups with the least bit of gray on them may want to step up their thinking on how they want to receive medical care under tough circumstances, especially if they consider a new, clear-eyed and hard-nosed study that dispels any myths about possible life-sustaining “miracles” of artificial breathing machines. A research team with experts from Boston,….
Continue ReadingLasik surgery: a study in medical risks, complications, lack of official followup
Caveat emptor, federal officials are reminding patients anew about an eye surgery that tens of millions of Americans already have undergone and all too many may believe ── wrongly ── is all but risk-free. In fact, significant numbers of the 9.5 million Americans who had laser-assisted operations, the so-called Lasik procedure, may show vision improvements,….
Continue ReadingFor early-stage breast cancer patients, dreaded chemo may be unneeded
Breast cancer patients may get a welcome respite from one of the disease’s dreaded aspects — its aggressive and costly treatments. New research suggests that thousands of women with early-stage breast cancer who now are told to get chemotherapy don’t need it, while a larger, significant number of patients can benefit by halving the time….
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