MEDICINE AND RX Archives - Page 2 of 10

He Returned to the US for His Daughter’s Wedding. He Left With a $42,000 Hospital Bill.

KFF Health News – Last June, Jay Comfort flew to the United States from his home in Switzerland to attend his only daughter’s wedding. But the week before the ceremony — on a Friday evening — Comfort said he found himself in “excruciating pain.” “I tried to gut it out for three hours because of the insurance situation,” said Comfort, a retired teacher and American citizen who has Swiss insurance. When the pain became unbearable, Comfort...

Salve Lucrum: The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health Care

JAMA – In the mosaic floor of the opulent atrium of a house excavated at Pompeii is a slogan ironic for being buried under 16 feet of volcanic ash: Salve Lucrum, it reads, “Hail, Profit.” That mosaic would be a fitting decoration today in many of health care’s atria. The grip of financial self-interest in US health care is becoming a stranglehold, with dangerous and pervasive consequences. No sector of US health care is immune from the...

Hospital’s water purification system stripped out chlorine, killing 3 patients

ARS TECHNICA – Water purification systems installed in two ice machines in a Boston hospital were supposed to make the water taste and smell better for patients on a surgery floor—but it ended up killing three of them, an investigation found. The purification systems inadvertently stripped chlorine from the municipal tap water, allowing bacteria normally found at low levels to flourish and form biofilms inside the machines. This led to infections in four vulnerable cardiac-surgery patients...

Ozempic for Weight Loss: Experts Answer 9 Common Questions

Despite its popularity, heath experts warn against using Ozempic off label for weight loss.

Enjoying nature may lessen need for some medications, study finds

After eight years, the researchers found having access to the most green space reduced the women’s death rate by 12% — and improved their mental health.

Want to email your doctor? You may be charged for that

WASHINGTON (AP) — The next time you message your doctor to ask about a pesky cough or an itchy rash, you may want to check your bank account first — you could get a bill for the question. Hospital systems around the country are rolling out fees for some messages that patients send to physicians, who they say are spending an increasing amount of time poring over online queries, some so complex that they require...

Here are 4 common drugs that are in shortage right now

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), some commonly used medications, including albuterol, Adderall, Tamiflu and Amoxicillin, are facing supply chain issues.

$38,398 for a Single Shot of a Very Old Cancer Drug

KAISER HEALTH NEWS – Dr. Josie Tenore and Paul Hinds were introduced by a mutual friend in 2017 and hadn’t been going out long when she laid down the law: He had to get a physical. “I don’t date people who don’t take care of their health,” said Tenore, who practices cosmetic dermatology and functional medicine in suburban Chicago. One of Hinds’ blood tests that summer came back with an alarming result: His prostate-specific antigen, or...

These Doctors Admit They Don’t Want Patients With Disabilities

Lisa Iezzoni, a professor of medicine at Harvard, wanted to understand why people with disabilities kept reporting receiving substandard care. “I thought I needed to start talking to doctors,” she said.

The Death Dilemma: Are Hospitals Overtreating Patients Nearing the End?

THE WALRUS (CANADA) – I CAN’T RECALL a time as a paramedic when I pronounced someone dead without complete confidence. Back then, it was a relatively easy decision to make. The Ministry of Health in Ontario, where I served on ambulances and helicopters for a decade, had a list of things that qualified someone as being “obviously dead.” It’s the type of list paramedic trainees have to recite for exams, and I knew it colloquially as...

Hospital Rules Inflate Costs, Provide Little Benefit

Northwestern University – If health care facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes don't follow patient safety rules set by The Joint Commission (TJC)—the independent organization responsible for accrediting health care facilities—they may lose their accreditation, and consequently, lose patients and millions of dollars every year in funding. But what if those rules aren't supported by evidence? A new Northwestern Medicine study found of the new rules issued during a one-year period by the TJC, many...

Her First Colonoscopy Cost Her $0. Her Second Cost $2,185. Why?

The Affordable Care Act was supposed to make preventive health care such as mammograms and colonoscopies free of charge to patients without cost sharing ... KAISER HEALTH NEWS – Elizabeth Melville and her husband are gradually hiking all 48 mountain peaks that top 4,000 feet in New Hampshire. “I want to do everything I can to stay healthy so that I can be skiing and hiking into my 80s — hopefully even 90s!” said the 59-year-old...

Hospitals push for higher prices while hiding real rates from consumers

Views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill. THE HILL – American hospitals are reportedly looking to increase their prices by up to 15 percent, in line with historical trends that have seen them raise rates by roughly double the prevailing inflation rate. Hospital prices are already outrageous, regularly throwing patients into bankruptcy and financial ruin. Significantly increasing hospitals’ prices and negotiated rates will further burden healthcare consumers — including patients,...

1 in 4 physicians experience workplace mistreatment

MEDICAL EXPRESS – According to new research from Boston Medical Center and Stanford University School of Medicine, almost a quarter of physicians who responded to a survey at Stanford Medicine experienced workplace mistreatment, with patients and visitors being the most common source. The research, published in JAMA Network Open, found mistreatment was common among all physicians, but there were disparities in mistreatment by gender and race. Women were twice more likely to report mistreatment than men....

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