U.S. Is Most Dangerous Place In Developed World To Give Birth — And States’ Efforts Are Falling Far Short Of Fixing Problem
If states address the issue at all, the panels usually end up blaming the mothers' health conditions and lifestyle choices rather than looking at hospitals and the quality of care delivered by providers. For example, In Louisiana — the deadliest state in America for pregnant women and new mothers — the state’s 2012 report on maternal deaths emphasized suicide, domestic violence and car crashes.
USA Today:
Maternal Deaths: What States Aren't Doing To Save New Mothers' Lives
If you were going to try to stop mothers from dying in childbirth, you might try what most states in America have done: assign a panel of experts to review what’s going wrong and offer ideas to fix it. But that hasn’t worked. Death rates among pregnant women and new mothers have gotten worse, even as wealthy countries elsewhere improved. Today, the U.S. is the most dangerous place in the developed world to deliver a baby. (Ungar, 9/20)
In other public health news: kidney stones, IVF, Apple's heart-monitoring watch, and more —
The New York Times:
Kidney Stones Are More Beautiful Than You Might Think
Kidney stones, the painful urinary deposits that affect more than 10 percent of people worldwide, are surprisingly dynamic, forming much like microscopic coral reefs, according to new research that could provide insights into how to better diagnose and treat the condition. The findings, published last week in the journal Scientific Reports, challenge assumptions by many doctors that kidney stones are homogeneous and insoluble. Instead, they resemble nanoscale coral reefs or limestone formations: complex, calcium-rich rocks with strata that accumulate and dissolve over time, researchers found. (Baumgaertner, 9/19)
NPR:
IVF And Other Reproductive Tech Linked To High Blood Pressure In Kids
When patients come to Dr. Molly Quinn for infertility treatments, they usually aren't too interested in hearing about the possible downsides, she says. They just want to get pregnant. Still, she always discusses the risks. For example, there's an increased likelihood of twins or triplets — which increases the chances of medical complications for both moms and babies. And stimulating the ovaries to ripen extra eggs can, in a small number of cases, cause the ovaries to rupture. (Gordon, 9/19)
The New York Times:
Apple Watch Series 4 Review: Faster, Bigger, With A Promise To Be Healthier
A few days ago, I sat in a medical recliner at the University of California, San Francisco. A cardiologist placed 10 stickerlike electrodes onto my limbs and chest and then connected the wires to a dated-looking contraption with a screen and a keyboard on a cart. About a minute later, a printer produced a chart of my heart’s electrical activity on red graph paper. The procedure I had undergone was an electrocardiogram, or an EKG, which is used to diagnose cardiac problems like arrhythmia and heart attacks. (Chen, 9/19)
Kaiser Health News:
Despite Red Flags At Surgery Centers, Overseers Award Gold Seals
At his surgery center near San Diego, Rodney Davis wore scrubs, was referred to as “Dr. Rod” and carried the title of director of surgery. But he was a physician assistant, not a doctor, who anesthetized patients and performed liposuction with little input from his supervising doctor, court records show. So it was perhaps no surprise, in 2016, when an administrative judge stripped Davis of his license, concluding it was the only way to “protect the public.” State officials also accused two former medical directors of Pacific Liposculpture of enabling Davis to act as a doctor. (Jewett, 9/20)
Politico:
Pulse Check At Work: Data Scientist
Health care is awash in data. And we’re all being tracked, maybe in ways we don’t even realize, by a new class of analysts, armed with increasingly savvy tools. So who are these people — these data scientists — and what exactly do they do? That's what we'll answer on this episode of "Pulse Check: At Work." (9/20)
