While critics long have ripped the Food and Drug Administration for its weak oversight of medical devices and its too cozy relationships with their makers, the federal agency and a Dutch global conglomerate have given millions of U.S. consumers a big, infuriating, prolonged exposure to just how bungled the oversight of this industry can be…..
Continue ReadingSleep
A newly diagnosed apnea patient finds healthy sleep costly and treatment aids questionable
With millions of patients struggling with long delays in getting replacements for night-breathing devices recalled by their manufacturer over the machines’ potential health risks, a seasoned health journalist has reported an intriguing, personal counterpoint on the growing prevalence of the problem of sleep apnea and its routine, costly, inconvenient care. Jay Hancock, who has been….
Continue ReadingSome sensible guidance on exercise, diet, sleep and weight gain
We’re barraged by so much health hokum that it’s a relief when common-sense reminders come along about crucial wellness concerns like exercise, diet, and sleep. Timely information on these issues has been reported by the Washington Post (here on movement myths and here on sleep and weight), the Athletic on a soccer nutritionist’s insights on….
Continue ReadingAs recall of sleep apnea devices expands, U.S. prods firm to act faster
Federal officials have ramped up the pressure on a Dutch conglomerate over its expanding but slow recall of sleep apnea breathing devices relied on by millions of increasingly angry U.S. patients. The Justice Department has issued a subpoena to Royal Philips NV in preparation for an undetermined investigation of the company’s CPAP machines and their….
Continue ReadingRoads turned deadly during the pandemic. And, tragically, they’re staying so.
The nation keeps zooming toward a tragic and preventable fatality measure: Our roads are staying as deadly as they became during the coronavirus pandemic, and 2021 is racing to be one of the most lethal vehicular years in a decade. As the Washington Post reported of data on the year’s first quarter from the National….
Continue ReadingMillions stuck in nightmarish recalls of sleep apnea breathing devices
Millions of patients with serious, diagnosed sleep disorders now are wrestling with a daytime nightmare: Medical devices designed to help them avoid damage from their conditions have been recalled for major and concerning defects. But consumers complain that they’re getting poor and too little information about their health options until the device maker more fully….
Continue ReadingU.S. consumer agency cracks down on baby sleepers tied to dozens of deaths
One of the federal government’s top consumer watchdogs has roused itself from its torpor and, finally, moved to ban what a leading independent group calls “dangerous infant sleepers and other products that do not align with expert medical recommendations for safe sleep.” As Consumer Reports said of the new orders by the federal Consumer Product….
Continue ReadingLife grinds to a halt as Americans start to deal with gravity of Covid-19 spread
Across the nation, and throughout the DC region, Americans — finally — have started to come to grips with the gravity of a fast-spreading, new respiratory virus’ infections. The novel coronavirus has infected almost 150,000 internationally, killing thousands as part of what now is officially a global pandemic and a national emergency. Cases of Covid-19….
Continue ReadingLawmakers order schools to give teens more time for California dreaming
If millions of young folks in the nation’s largest state seem even sunnier than before, that may be because they are getting a wee bit more needed shut eye: California has become the first state in the nation to order public schools to roll back their start times, so middle school classes generally won’t start….
Continue ReadingCutting resident doctors’ hours doesn’t harm quality of patient care, study finds
Will the medical educators finally get that it makes no sense to force residents to toil like field animals? Yet another study, this latest from Harvard experts, finds that keeping residency training hours at more humane levels does not significantly affect quality of patient care, including inpatient mortality. Let’s be clear: The grueling preparation for….
Continue Reading