As hospitals boost their size and power to push their profits even higher, they’re also raising alarms with federal regulators over their too cozy relationships with doctors who are pulling down big pay from them now as part of their staffs. Uncle Sam long has sought to ensure that the billions of tax dollars that….
Continue ReadingWhistleblowers
$1 billion+ may seem like a lot of money. It still can’t resolve many questions.
Although lawsuits can result in needed financial support and welcome recognition of harms suffered by patients seeking medical services, the civil justice system has its limits. They showed in cases in the news in which disputing parties agreed to more than $1 billion in resolutions that left issues unanswered. What to make of the: $270-million….
Continue ReadingExasperation abounds over lavish profiteering by doctors and hospitals
Doctors and hospitals have become nothing less than unhinged with the numbers they put into their medical bills compared to what rational, reasonable patients expect to pay, new media reports show. Kaiser Health News Service — and Vox, the online information site — deserve consumers’ thanks for their running exposes of excessive medical bills. These….
Continue ReadingFDA fails to police its elite MD-advisers’ ‘pay later’ deals with Big Pharma
The federal Food and Drug Administration has turned a blind eye to tens of millions of dollars paid by Big Pharma to doctors who play crucial roles in advising the nation’s prescription drug watchdog on the safety and effectiveness of medications sold for billions of dollars annually to the American public. Science magazine deserves credit for….
Continue ReadingMedicine needs to face up to sexism and sexual harassment in medical workplaces
The profession of medicine gets mixed reviews in rolling back the centuries of chauvinism, arrogance, and boorish behavior of top (male) doctors. It’s now generally if grudgingly recognized that health care, though it may be a life-and-death practice, needn’t be a rude and obnoxious one. Nurses, many of them women but many men, too, shouldn’t be….
Continue ReadingIn hospitals, angry guys with guns (even with badges) are a bad idea
Medicine and law enforcement can be a combustible combination, as a widely publicized incident in a Utah emergency room has reminded. The ugly incident has underscored the importance of hospitals keeping big, upset guys with guns cordoned off from caregivers, as well as the importance of front-line medical personnel knowing, respecting, and protecting patients’ privacy….
Continue ReadingMoney’s big for Big Pharma — in settlements, lobbying, and product prices
Even as drug makers are settling or scrambling to resolve disputes with regulators over dubious ways they peddle products, Big Pharma is busting records for its spending to lobby lawmakers on skyrocketing prices, easing industry oversight, and other issues critical not only to the sector but also to tens of millions of consumers. It’s distressing….
Continue ReadingFame, reputation and a med school dean’s secret life
Although smaller community hospitals may provide treatments that are as good and as safe, Americans flock to academic medical centers for specialized care and complex procedures. They’re lured to the big, pricey institutions by their stellar reputations, state-of-the-art facilities, and top-line specialists. These tall, shiny complexes, combining medical education, research and clinical care, also have….
Continue ReadingHospital safety and access are still big problems
Hospitals can be risky, troubled, and even downright scary spots, as some recent news and other reports indicate: Inspector general slams DC VA Medical Center Almost 100,000 patients of the VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C., have been put at unnecessary risk because hospital staff and administrators, a government watchdog said, failed to “ensure that….
Continue ReadingQuick tips for a safe and healthy Thanksgiving
As tens of millions of us set out to feast and give thanks, some thoughts about making the holiday safe and healthy: Turn off the e-devices when driving When driving to see friends and family, shut off the electronic devices, please, and forgo the apps on them, as long as you’re the one behind the….
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