Colorectal cancer remains the third most commonly diagnosed form of cancer in this country. It kills tens of thousands of Americans annually. Although detection of the illness is declining overall, and especially among older adults, specialists have expressed growing concern about its rising rates in younger patients. This has prompted experts to push for more….
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Even if pandemic lull lasts, more health care challenges are coming
The coronavirus pandemic does not have a magical on-off switch, and even if its current lull turns out to be longer lasting — and signs suggest this may not be so — the lethal infectious outbreak will keep sending shocks through the U.S. health care system that will affect us all. Experts are expressing growing….
Continue ReadingGood news in ’22: Patients mostly see end to ‘surprise’ medical bills
Here’s a bit of good news that may make patients jump for joy to start off 2022: Surprise medical bills mostly are supposed to end, effective Jan. 1. Consumers still must watch out for potential big hits on their emergency transportation costs and they will need to ensure scheduled services with medical providers occur “in….
Continue ReadingBiden extends special sign-up period for Obamacare with increased subsidies
The Biden Administration has further expanded a special sign-up season for health insurance plans offered on Obamacare exchanges, giving consumers until Aug. 15 to enroll in coverage that also may be much cheaper. The newly confirmed Health and Human Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement: “Every American deserves access to quality, affordable health care….
Continue ReadingWith costly medical over-testing, causes can be blurry, solutions complex
Although experts estimate medical over-testing adds more than $200 billion in wasted spending in the U.S. health care system, reducing it can be hard, as we can see from one example in eye surgery. Let’s zoom in on cataract surgery, a procedure in which eye surgeons (ophthalmologists) aim to relieve the visual clouding that many….
Continue ReadingClinicians are facing up to the preventable harms that ICU’s inflict on many patients in the process of saving lives
Doctors and hospitals finally are owning up to and treating mental and physical damages inflicted on some of the sickest and most vulnerable individuals in their care—the 5 million or so patients who get helped in intensive care units, published research shows. Although ICU patients may get dramatic emergency care that saves them from deadly….
Continue ReadingFDA warns surgeons against experimental robot-aided cancer operations
The federal Food and Drug Administration finally has pushed back at surgeons and hospitals for experimenting on patients, spending $3 billion a year for surgical robots. The devices should not be used for mastectomies and other cancer-related procedures without caution, regulators warn. The FDA acted after studies have shown that minimally invasive procedures for early-stage….
Continue ReadingPediatricians, with blast at FDA, warn of food additive and packaging risks to kids
Moms and dads who have tried to safeguard their kids’ health by emphasizing fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet may need to take yet more steps to protect youngsters from harms associated with chemicals found in common foods and their packaging. The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a formal, research-based caution to consumers….
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 ReadingAnesthesia residents offer eye-opening insights on drowsy MD perils
Some of the very medical specialists who are supposed to put patients to sleep experience big problems themselves staying awake, with more than half of anesthetic trainees reporting in a new national survey in Britain that they had crashed their cars or nearly done so while headed home after long night shifts. American doctors’ social….
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