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,….
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Medical hype can be lethal, as ‘minimally invasive’ chest surgery shows
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….
Continue ReadingHospitals, cancer centers ripped for ‘tear-jerker’ hype and clinical trial ‘sell out’
With cancer care raining down more than $200 billion in billings on providers, giant hospitals and specialty treatment centers are resorting to unacceptable marketing and advertising hype, including pitches that “sell out” the credibility of science and a pillar of medical practice, commentators say. Credit’s due to journalist Steve Salerno and the Wall Street Journal….
Continue ReadingDoctors must give patients more help with medical uncertainty and complexity
Although Americans may love to wager on ponies, lotteries, and even church bingo games, they’re getting restive and confused about playing the odds with their health — and doctors need to step up their game a lot to help patients better cope with medical uncertainties. Dhruv Khullar, a physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and a researcher at….
Continue ReadingWill opioid crisis raise red flags for long-term antidepressant use?
Even as the nation enters an even scarier phase in its battle against the raging opioid abuse epidemic, new and sterner warnings are flying about antidepressants. The costs of these powerful drugs add up, as does the toll of depression and its care. Users say antidepressants are a nightmare to get off of. And medical….
Continue ReadingPartnering with your doctors to keep your care up to date
IN THIS ISSUE For your health’s sake, don’t let your doctor turn into a medical fossil When medicine advances, but your doctor lags How patients can be informed, prepared partners in health care A little gray can be OK And what to do for shy patients BY THE NUMBERS 73 days Estimated time in year….
Continue ReadingWhy are some ER doctors refusing to give stroke patients ‘brain-saving’ care?
It’s no April Fool joke: Emergency doctors across the country, according to the New York Times, have been defying widely accepted standards of care and withholding a drug that rigorous clinical trials and medical specialists long have recommended for stroke victims. Administration of the drug, tPA or tissue plasminogen activator, helps to prevent brain injury after a….
Continue ReadingHigh-tech advances? They may prod you to get your medical records, asap
Although enthusiasts still wax on about how technology will improve lives, patients may want to be wary about purported advances that may end up complicating and even compromising crucial parts of their medical care — including how their medical records are kept and how payers decide if they’re covered. Let’s start with some kudos for….
Continue ReadingWhy are doctors operating, needlessly and so often, on frail seniors?
Although patient advocates long have pressed Big Medicine to eliminate unnecessary care — waste in the health care system that some experts estimate adds as much as $765 billion annually in needless costs — it may be past due for a public condemnation of a notably extreme example of this practice: The all too frequent,….
Continue ReadingWinter Games and Super Bowl offer health takeaways, too
The Winter Olympic Games and the Super Bowl can offer fans not just exciting sports spectacles but also important health insights and information— everything from the risks of viruses and the value of hand washing to the dangers of head blows and why Americans may be slowly changing their minds about how they feel about….
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