While the Covid-19 pandemic rages on, other major killers of Americans — threats posed by vehicles and guns, as well as searing weather and nasty critters like mosquitoes — have not stopped. People need to be aware and safeguard themselves as they can from these risks. The data keep growing and the news, for example,….
Continue ReadingBack/Spine Surgery
13 million and one reasons why simultaneous operations should be barred
A big Boston hospital has offered 13 million and one ways to try to make good with a former orthopedic surgeon who assailed the respected institution and colleagues for performing simultaneous operations in which doctors went from suite to suite, working for hours on multiple patients at once. Massachusetts General Hospital insisted this practice was….
Continue Reading‘Any One of Us’ shows harsh realities and hope for spinal cord injury patients
Extreme sports may be to blame. Or it might be a falling tree, an error with a surgery, or an auto wreck. As the title of the tough, direct, and new HBO documentary makes clear, “Any One of Us” might suffer from a calamitous spinal cord injury (SCI). The 1-hour and 25-minute work by first-time….
Continue ReadingWalmart sees a bigger picture with costly imaging: frequent misdiagnosis
As Walmart tries to work with its 1 million-plus U.S. employees in controlling health care costs, the retailing giant has not only struck a blow for quality medical treatment, it also has raised key questions about a costly and booming specialization in health care: medical imaging. Walmart decided to shake up this diagnostic field by….
Continue ReadingIt’s not a stretch: Avoid those over-use boo-boos, older yogis are warned
For seniors who may be rushing to squeeze in a few more pretzel-twisting sessions to ease their stress from a hectic holiday season, this is a gentle reminder: Take it easy with the yoga. It can be good for you, but don’t overdo it or you may hurt yourself. The Washington Post reported that the….
Continue ReadingDoes modern medicine give patients with major brain trauma really fair care?
Nick Tullier once was a handsome, strapping sheriff’s deputy in Baton Rouge, La. Then, in a blink, he and five others were gunned down by a former Marine and black separatist who had come from Missouri to Louisiana to kill cops. Tullier was one of three deputies who survived the attack. What happened next to….
Continue ReadingFor young athletes, head contact and infections can pose costly risks
Parents happily send their eager youngsters off to a demanding array of sports activities, in the belief that athletics will improve their health and well-being. But, especially for active young men, life as a jock can carry costly long-term risks and immediate infection perils. A Yale economist and colleagues have scrutinized available public data and….
Continue ReadingLow back pain? Try exercise before drugs, doctors say
Back pain is one of Americans’ leading debilitating complaints, prompting us to spend billions of dollars annually for relief and costing more than $100 billion, especially in lost work and wages. But an influential physicians’ group, joining a growing number of other experts, now recommends that we buck up, exercise, keep moving—and stay away from a….
Continue ReadingMore spent on health care in U.S. than on everything in Britain
What if you bought the hottest car around, only to find a neighbor found a model just as sporty and paid much less? How would you react if you opened your credit card bill and learned that the family budget was in tatters because your daughter commuted a few blocks to school by taxi, and….
Continue ReadingSurgeon jailed in Dallas, as details unwind still of his terrible spine surgery spree
Just how difficult can it be to stop a highly credentialed but dangerous doctor from hop-scotching around a metropolitan area to perform brutal spinal surgeries in different hospitals, including a respected academic medical center? Just ask crippled patients, neurosurgeons, medical licensing officials, and prosecutors in Dallas what it took to derail Dr. Christopher Duntsch. As….
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