Heart health news grabbed a lot of headlines in recent days, especially as experts gathered for a major national conference in New Orleans. But skeptical readers would do well to scrutinize the reports on topics like: who should take statins, what’s the role of lifestyle and genetics in heart disease, and how heart-safe is a….
Continue ReadingPain
South Dakota high court won’t force hospitals to disclose why they let a bad doctor operate on patients’ spines
South Dakotans will need their state lawmakers’ help now to pry open physicians’ iron grip on secret decisions about which doctors get to practice in hospitals and why. That’s because the state’s Supreme Court ruled this vital information must be kept confidential, even if releasing it would serve a wider good of disclosing possible criminal or fraudulent….
Continue ReadingFederal auditors assail $359 million in Medicare costs for chiropractic care
Federal auditors have found that 80 percent of Medicare spending in a recent year on chiropractic care−some $359 million−was medically unnecessary. The federal insurance program for senior citizens should not have thrown taxpayer dollars at chiropractors to treat strains, sprains, or joint conditions, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General says. Its….
Continue ReadingPrice hikes and product hype: Big Pharma’s relentless push
Just how rapacious can Big Pharma be? Makers hype more drugs as nation faces opioid drug abuse epidemic In the face of an epidemic of opioid painkiller abuse, the drug industry’s answer appears to be: push even more pills on the public. The Washington Post notes that “six in 10 American adults take prescription drugs,….
Continue Reading‘Theater,’ video help to clarify risk-benefit of treatments like mammograms
Just as patients are unwell and struggling, their well-intentioned doctors may confront them with difficult choices about their care. They often do so with daunting data, and hard to decipher numbers that don’t really answer the vital question: How well does this treatment work, especially for me? Kudos to two Maryland experts, internist Andrew Lazris,….
Continue ReadingBaltimore confronts an epidemic of gun violence
A lethal epidemic is sweeping Baltimore neighborhoods, costing taxpayers millions of dollars, as well as demoralizing caregivers who struggle with its casualties daily. Researchers, tragically, are barred from developing detailed data about this scourge to try to curb its increasingly deadly harm. Kudos to the Baltimore Sun and reporter Justin George for investigating for a….
Continue ReadingS. Dakota high court asked to pry open hospitals’ secret approval of brutal MD
South Dakota’s highest court has been asked to reject hospitals’ attempts to keep secret why a doctor, who also is a convicted burglar with a checkered medical past that could have easily been uncovered, passed a peer review that permitted him to perform brutal, excruciating, and unnecessary spinal surgeries on dozens of patients. A lower court rejected….
Continue ReadingUgly details emerge on how Big Pharma fueled painkiller scourge
New information has surfaced about Big Pharma’s relentless campaign to sell the public on prescription, opioid painkillers─powerful, addictive drugs whose wide availability and abuse now has become a killer scourge that claims almost 80 Americans’ lives each day. These latest news reports, especially focusing on OxyContin, one of the most potent and abused painkillers, also….
Continue ReadingTen-year study on prostate cancer suggests “watchful waiting” is a reasonably safe option
A study involving more than 80,000 men followed for 10 years gives some important clues, but no final answers, on what patients with a diagnosis of prostate cancer should do. It’s long been a puzzle because prostate cancer is one of the most common and deadliest cancers for men, yet in many cases it’s so slow to….
Continue ReadingA gentle reminder to grown-ups: sports are supposed to be fun and safe for kids
Now that the Labor Day holiday has passed, it’s a perfect time to remind youngsters and their parents: Sports are supposed to be leisure and pleasure activities. And they need to be safe. Ryan Basen, a tutor to kids and a medical writer, has put together a pointed piece in the Washington Post about youngsters….
Continue Reading