Doctors and hospitals have a right to blow their own horn a bit when they’re onto something good, don’t they? What’s the harm? Plenty, as reported by Healthnewsreview.org, an independent, nonpartisan health information watchdog site. As part of a series on patient harm from misleading media, Joy Victory, the site’s managing editor, details the tragic results….
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Big hospital ‘obsolescence’ may be nigh, but new care centers have woes, too
Although big, rich hospitals and their sprawling campuses jammed with shiny new buildings may be reaching a point where they’re unsustainable for competitive cost, safety, and efficiency reasons, a rising health care alternative already may be hitting its own major woes that can’t be ignored. The Wall Street Journal and New York Times have put up….
Continue ReadingSurgeons found to put patients at greater risk in simultaneous hip operations
Canadian researchers have come up with at least 2,500 reasons why elite surgeons should reconsider their own wishes and practices to protect patients undergoing hip surgeries from significant post-operative complications. They could do so by curbing even more their dual surgeries, in which they dash between two operating rooms. A new study has found a….
Continue ReadingOverzealous youth athletics can result in hobbled adults later
Here’s another painful reminder to grownups about youngsters and sports: Moderation matters, and youthful games are supposed to fun, diverting, and character building—and most definitely should not leave today’s aspiring athletes as tomorrow’s hobbled adults. The New York Times has reported on what a pediatric sports medicine expert has described as a “dirty little secret”….
Continue ReadingWhy are doctors and hospitals so quick to turn to heart stents and robotic devices?
Hundreds of thousands of times each year, doctors install stents (tiny wire cages) in blocked heart arteries, not only to provide better blood flow to the body’s most important muscle but also ostensibly to provide pain relief to patients. Surgeons also perform tens of thousands of different, minimally invasive procedures with the help of elaborate….
Continue ReadingAs breast cancer patients know, over-testing and over-treatment are big woes
Up to a third of medical spending goes for over-treatment and over-testing, with an estimated $200 billion in the U.S. expended on medical services with little benefit to patients. But getting doctors and hospitals to stop this waste isn’t easy, nor is it a snap to get patients to understand what this problem’s all about….
Continue ReadingIn heart care, new questions about a familiar test and a surgical option
Hospitals and heart doctors may need to rethink their common test to determine if their patients have suffered a heart attack, and whether a newer alternative open-heart procedure carries with it more risks than benefits. Health News Review, a health information watchdog site, has raised interesting questions as to why mainstream media outlets haven’t paid….
Continue ReadingWhy do so many boomers suffer knee, hip arthritis when our forebears didn’t?
Although grandma and grandpa and even older ancestors before them didn’t live as long nor usually as well as many of us do, they still can provide valuable insights into how modern Americans can avoid painful debilitation that now leads to some of the most commonly performed surgeries on seniors. Want to avoid an inconvenient,….
Continue ReadingThree common-sense ways to improve kids’ health and protect them from harm
We love our kids dearly, and most of us would do most anything for them. So why can’t folks with sway get it together to make some straight-forward, common sense changes that would significantly benefit young people? Here are three suggestions, based on recent reports: Congress should make clear that it not only supports but….
Continue ReadingThere may be no place like home after joint replacements
Hip and knee replacements, especially among seniors, have become so prevalent that almost 7 million Americans by 2010 had undergone the surgeries. With the cost to Medicare of knee replacements running between $16,500 and $33,000, and with roughly half of the procedures’ expense occurring post-operatively, there’s some good news for patients on saving money—and staying….
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