The more patients they cover, the sicker we get.
Category: HEALTHCARE/MEDICAL
F.B.I. Investigates Whether Harm From Surgical Power Tool Was Ignored
A doctor confirmed that the F.B.I. has spoken to him about morcellators, power tools that can slice tissue into tiny pieces for easier removal, but could also scatter undetected cancer cells.
Five perspectives on HIV prevention pill awaiting Australian approval
Australia’s ambitious goal of no new cases of HIV by 2020 will be a tough deadline to meet given rates have been steadily increasing since 2000. Here, the ABC hears five perspectives on a major breakthrough in the fight against the epidemic — the preventative drug known as PrEP.
Scientists Discover Evidence Of A 435,000-Year-Old Murder
Scientists say it’s not just a murder from another era, but also part of one of the earliest mass graves.» E-Mail This
Australian researchers find new hope for ovarian cancer treatment
Australian researchers say they now know why ovarian cancer becomes resistant to chemotherapy and some drugs.
FBI Is Investigating Hysterectomy Device Found to Spread Uterine Cancer
The morcellator surgical tool was found to spread uterine cancer, and the FBI is examining what the largest maker of it, Johnson & Johnson, knew about the hazards The FBI is investigating a surgical device that was found to spread cancer in women, including looking into what the largest manufacturer of it, Johnson & Johnson, knew about the tool’s hazards before pulling it off the market last year, according to people who have been interviewed by the agency. It is unclear what stage the inquiry is in.
FDA Okays Two Drugs for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
(MedPage Today) — Both treat IBS accompanied by diarrhea
Medicaid Plans Get New Quality and Performance Measures
(MedPage Today) — But proposed adoption of medical loss ratio proves controversial
Price’s Health Reform Hit From The Right
I recently discussed Rep. Tom Price, MD’s Empowering Patients First Act in quite positive terms. Not everyone is on board. My good friend Dean Clancy labels the bill Health Care Cronyism: Section 401, for example, authorizes new federal “best practice” guidelines written by medical societies, designed to give physicians extra protections from malpractice lawsuits. These guidelines aren’t merely educational, though. They’re established as powerful litigation tools in state courts. If a physician can show he followed them, his accuser must meet a higher burden of proof to establish negligence. That may be a good idea, but it’s unconstitutional. The power to regulate civil justice is reserved to the states under our federal system. There’s neither a legal nor a practical justification for federal
Former Congressman Alleges Capitol Physicians Failed To Alert Him To Cancer Threat
SOURCE: Kaiser Health News – Read entire story here.
Health Affairs Web First: Are Marketplace Enrollees Sicker Than Those With Employer-Sponsored Insurance?
To date little is known about the health status of the 7.3 million Americans who signed up for health insurance through either federal- or state-run exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). One effective way to gain information is to examine their use of prescription drugs. A new study, being released by Health Affairs as a Web First, compared prescription data from January to September of 2014 of more than one million Marketplace enrollees. The study reviewed the characteristics and medication use of early enrollees (October 1, 2013 through February 28, 2014) and those enrolling later (between March 1 and May 31, 2014), and compared those findings with a sample of some one million Americans enrolled in employer-sponsored health coverage. There were three key findings, which have implications for understanding the