Trump Health Plan Recycles GOP Staples And Adds A Populist Wrinkle
Donald Trump drew fire in recent debates for his lack of specifics on how he would change the country’s health care system. He released a plan Wednesday that is unlikely to satisfy critics.
Medicare Budget Woes Coming Sooner Than Experts Thought
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Americans are living and working longer than ever. And Medicare, the health plan that’s supposed to help senior citizens, is facing budget problems sooner rather than later. By 2023, about 70 million people will get health care paid for by Medicare, and their tab is expected to hit […]
Medicare Data Show Wide Variation In Hospital Pricing
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. When it comes to health care, the biggest of the big data are all about Medicare. So, it’s kind of a BIG deal when the government releases what individual hospitals charge Medicare — and what they actually get paid — for the most common diagnoses and treatments. In […]
Federal Judge Strikes Down Restrictions On Morning-After Pill
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. A federal judge in Brooklyn, N.Y., has ruled that the morning-after pill for emergency contraception must be made available over the counter to girls 16 and under. The ruling could end a more than decade-long battle over how easy or difficult it should be for teenage […]
Why N.Y. City ER Doctors Won’t Write That Painkiller Prescription
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Early this year, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said public hospitals there would take steps to reduce overdoses and abuse of opioid painkillers. The drugs have become a public health problem. Narcotic painkillers, such as Vicodin and Oxycontin, are involved in more than 16,000 overdose deaths […]
Need A Price For A Hip Replacement? Good Luck With That
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Let’s say your 62-year-old granny is feeling creaky. One of her hips has been giving her trouble, and her doctor tells her it’s time to get it replaced with an implant. There’s a catch. Grandma isn’t old enough for Medicare and she doesn’t have health insurance. She […]
Will Men And Their Doctors Change Course On PSA Tests?
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. The dust is nowhere near settled over advice that men of all ages should forgo a routine blood test to detect prostate cancer. The harms, such as false alarms and unnecessary surgeries that leave some men impotent and incontinent, outweigh the benefits of the PSA blood […]
FDA Leans On Device Makers To Cut X-Ray Doses For Kids
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. The Food and Drug Administration has a proposition for the companies that make X-ray machines. Make sure your new equipment has settings and instructions that minimize radiation hazards for kids, or the agency will look to slap a label on the machines that recommends they not […]
Pediatricians Recommend HPV Vaccination For Boys
The leading group of U.S. pediatricians says it’s now time for boys, as well as girls, to be vaccinated against human papillomavirus. The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its guidance to parents and doctors in favor of routine immunization for boys against the virus. Previously, the group had said it was OK to vaccinate […]
Shortage Of Research On When There’s Too Much Health Care
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. There’s little doubt that the U.S. wastes a lot of money on unnecessary health care. But pinning down the worst offenders isn’t easy, as a fresh analysis of the scientific literature finds. Published research on overuse is in pretty short supply, so rooting out waste by […]
Generic Lipitor Now At Stores Near You
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. It’s here. The cholesterol-fighter Liptor, the biggest hit in the history of the pharmaceutical industry, is now widely available in generic form. The Pfizer drug finally lost its U.S. patent protection at the end of November, opening the door for cheaper substitutes (atorvastatin, generically) and ending […]
FDA Pulls Approval Of Avastin For Breast Cancer
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has spoken. After more than a year of deliberations and an unprecedented public hearing in June, the agency has revoked approval of the biotech blockbuster Avastin, a medicine that chokes off the blood supply to various cancer cells, as […]
Drug Shortages Affect More Than Half A Million Cancer Patients
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Persistent shortages of life-saving drugs led President Barack Obama to issue an executive order last month to try to ease what one administration official called a “dire public health situation” that has created problems for patient care. So far this year, short supplies of more than 200 […]
Influential Panel Giving Thumbs Down To Routine PSA Test
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. The same group that caused a ruckus by recommending against mammograms for women in their 40s is about to tell men that a routine blood test for prostate cancer does most of them more harm than good. The problem is that the test doesn’t do enough […]
Ten Questions To Ask Your Doctor
Some doctors wince when patients show up with sheafs of Internet printouts. But a good conversation between doctor and patient can make a big difference in the quality of medical care provided. Here are some tips on what to ask.
Medicare Part D Saves Money On Hospital Care
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Researchers who analyzed Medicare claims before and after the addition of prescription drug coverage in 2006 found the benefit trimmed about $1,200 a year that would have been spent on care in nursing home and hospitals. The savings on medical care was calculated by comparing people […]
Quality Prescription For Primary Care Doctors: Do Less
A group of doctors who want to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of primary care tinkered with some Top 5 lists for of dos and don’ts for pediatricians, family doctors and internists. They found that less is often more.
Audit Finds Widespread Use Of Antipsychotic Drugs In Nursing Homes
About 14 percent of elderly nursing homes residents receives a so-called atypical antipsychotic medicine despite an increased risk of death when the medicines are used to manage dementia in older people.
3 In 4 U.S. Prescriptions Are Now For Generic Drugs
As more brand-name drugs lose patent protection, use of inexpensive generic medicines continues to rise. Later this year cholesterol-fighter Lipitor will become available as a generic in the U.S., a change that will add more fuel to the trend.
Americans Like Their Health Care, But Think The System Stinks
A majority of Americans give the country’s health system barely passing grades. Most people choose a hospital based on someone’s personal experience than looking at quality ratings. Yet when it comes to surgeons, people are evenly split on whether experience or data is the best guide.
