Big hospitals and hospital chains that enjoy the financial and reputational benefits of nonprofit or charitable status have taken major fire for maximizing profits while piling on patients’ crushing medical debt and exploiting the poorest and most vulnerable of the injured and sick. Medical economists, in recent times, have zeroed in on hospitals and their….
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Strike by 15,000 in Minnesota a clear sign of growing crisis in nursing
The coronavirus pandemic has not only caused sustained damage to the U.S. health workforce, it also apparently has accelerated a looming crisis in nursing care, as has been shown by a three-day strike by 15,000 private-sector nurses in Minnesota. Theirs was the largest such walkout by nurses and it sought to underscore how pay inequities,….
Continue ReadingHospital shielded heart surgeon with 21 malpractice claims, probe finds
He cut a dashing figure in ads and billboards for a New England community hospital, which had an administration desperate for a lucrative heart care program in a region with famous academic medical centers. Dr. Yvon Baribeau, a Canadian-trained heart surgeon, seemed a perfect fit for the Catholic Medical Center, a place where he told….
Continue ReadingU.S. judge cites religious freedoms in striking down insurance coverage for HIV drugs
While increasing numbers of Americans tell pollsters that they are forgoing religion and seeing its practice diminish in importance in their lives, those with religious fervor are finding a federal judiciary willing to delve into the complexity of faith and medicine in deeply polarizing ways. The looming midterm elections, pollsters say, already have been upended….
Continue ReadingMedicine struggles with hype, disinformation, and miscommunication
The quality of medical-scientific information is strained — and patients should know this, be warned, and watch for ways to protect themselves from bungled communication, bluster, hype, misinformation, and disinformation. Although regular folks may have unprecedented access via the internet to resources on medical services and developments, a trio of recent news articles underscore the….
Continue ReadingWith Omicron vaccines approved, U.S. pushes for fall flu and Covid shots
As summer ends, millions of Americans should pop around the corner for a healthy double — that is, a pair of vaccinations, one targeted against the latest, widely circulating coronavirus Omicron variants and the other shot to fight the seasonal flu, federal health officials say. The newest booster for the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants….
Continue ReadingAs U.S. gears up for fall pandemic battles, a disease-fighting leader retires
This fall our nation will go once more into the breach, with federal officials hoping that another big push for vaccinations against the coronavirus and flu will stave off the deadly surges of contagions that have caused the fundamental health measure of life expectancy to plummet in a historic way. Still, the announced retirement of….
Continue ReadingAsk the doctors and they’ll fess up: MD misbehavior occurs too often
Patients may be reluctant to think ill of their doctors or to imagine that highly educated, rigorously trained professionals could mistreat or cause them harm. Doctors themselves know this picture is way too rosy for some of their colleagues. In a survey of 1,500 practicing MDs, all of whom voluntarily responded to an online questionnaire,….
Continue ReadingChief launches CDC shakeup, citing ponderous agency’s pandemic flubs
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the world’s premier public health agencies, will try to revamp itself after taking months of a political, scientific, and reputational battering for too often performing in shambolic fashion in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Rochelle Walensky (shown, right) appointed the agency’s chief in December 2020,….
Continue ReadingCoronavirus guidelines ease, as concerns persist about polio, monkey pox and flu
Federal health officials have eased guidelines for most regular folks on how best to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, even as monkeypox cases and vaccination efforts for that viral illness keep increasing and the detection of once-controlled polio raises concern. Indicators about the severity of the next influenza season also worry experts. With the coronavirus,….
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