‘Put The Fire Under Us’: Church Spurs Parishioners To Plan For Illness And Death
Pastor Gloria White-Hammond wants to get all 600 congregants to write down their end-of-life wishes and discuss them with their families.
Terrifying Brush With Death Drives Doctor To Fight For Patients
Dr. Rana Awdish was completing a fellowship in critical care when she became critically ill herself. Now, she helps other doctors understand the patient’s perspective.
Wrecked And Retching: Obscure Vomiting Illness Linked To Long-Term Pot Use
Emergency room doctors are seeing a growing number of marijuana users with a mysterious condition that causes extreme vomiting and abdominal pain.
Frail Patients Losing Access To Dental House Calls
Dental hygienists who treat frail and elderly residents in nursing homes and other facilities are dropping out of California’s publicly funded dental program for the poor because of recent changes that cut their pay and create more administrative hurdles.
Sickle Cell Patients, Families And Doctors Face A ‘Fight For Everything’
Premature death, a dearth of treatments, mistreatment in emergency rooms and a woeful lack of funding are just a few of the problems confronting people with sickle cell disease.
Children’s Insurance, Other Health Programs Funded — For Now — In Bill
In a short-term spending bill, Congress extends money to the Children’s Health Insurance Program through March.
Infection Lapses Rampant In Nursing Homes But Punishment Is Rare
A Kaiser Health News analysis of federal inspection records shows that nursing home inspectors labeled mistakes in infection control as serious for only 161 of the 12,056 homes they have cited since 2014.
Medicare Penalizes Group Of 751 Hospitals For Patient Injuries
Each hospital will have its payments reduced by 1 percent for the year.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ 2017: The Year In Health Policy
In this episode of “What The Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss this week’s news, including health issues in the just-passed tax bill and a look back on the year in health policy.
Near Incineration Of Psychiatric Hospital Highlights Gaping Need For More Beds
Fire almost destroyed one of two acute care facilities in Ventura County — wiping out most of the region’s inpatient capacity. In California and nationally, such hospitals are strained by demand — and disasters.
Unregulated Herpes Experiments Expose ‘Black Hole’ Of Accountability
Controversial research methods by university researcher unlikely to prompt federal response or institutional change, experts say.
Arizona Declares Opioid Emergency, But Signals Are Mixed Over Best Response
Arizona is one of a few states that have declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency. There’s no uniformity in what that means from state to state, though, and even within Arizona, there’s a wide divergence of opinion on how best to tackle the problem.
When Nursing Homes Push Out Poor And Disabled Patients
Complaints are rising in California and other states about improper evictions and discharges. Advocates say some patients end up in cheap hotels, homeless or back in the hospital.
Telemedicine For Addiction Treatment? Picture Remains Fuzzy
One Indiana addiction specialist doesn’t shy away from telemedicine, but he still requires in-person visits to begin and maintain his patients’ Suboxone prescriptions.
El miedo compromete la salud y el bienestar de las familias inmigrantes
El clima político en derredor de la inmigración ha generado más estrés y temor en las familias que temen ser separadas por la deportación.
Fear Compromises The Health, Well-Being Of Immigrant Families, Report Finds
Interviews with immigrants from 15 countries and pediatricians in eight states reveal that fear of deportation is putting parents and children under heightened stress, impeding daily activities and jeopardizing long-term health.
Una epidemia ignorada: adultos mayores que toman medicamentos innecesarios
Algunos consumen hasta 27 píldoras por día, recetadas por distintos especialistas. Médicos lideran un movimiento para suspender medicamentos innecesarios.
An Overlooked Epidemic: Older Americans Taking Too Many Unneeded Drugs
Researchers estimate that 25 percent of people ages 65 to 69 take at least five prescription drugs to treat chronic conditions. But some doctors are trying to teach others about “deprescribing” or systematically discontinuing medicines that are inappropriate, duplicative or unnecessary.
In Era Of Increased Competition, Hospitals Fret Over Ratings
Hospitals are jockeying for patients and view the many different quality and safety ratings as a keen way to distinguish their services. But when those ratings nosedive, a hospital may retaliate.
Retirement’s Revolving Door: Why Some Workers Can’t Call It Quits
Baby boomers are deciding to return to the workplace because they miss the challenges, the accomplishments — and, most important, the people.
