Federal Speech Rulings May Embolden Health Care Workers to Call Out Safety Issues Harris Meyer Karen Jo Young wrote a letter to her local newspaper criticizing executives at the hospital where she worked as an activities coordinator, arguing that their actions led to staffing shortages and other patient safety problems. Hours after her letter […]
Category: News
Paying Billions for Controversial Alzheimer’s Drug? How About Funding This Instead?
Paying Billions for Controversial Alzheimer’s Drug? How About Funding This Instead? Judith Graham July 6, 2021 If you could invest $56 billion each year in improving health care for older adults, how would you spend it? On a hugely expensive medication with questionable efficacy — or something else? This isn’t an abstract question. Aduhelm, a […]
Hospital Prices Must Now Be Transparent. For Many Consumers, They’re Still Anyone’s Guess.
Hospital Prices Must Now Be Transparent. For Many Consumers, They’re Still Anyone’s Guess. Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News A colonoscopy might cost you or your insurer a few hundred dollars — or several thousand, depending on which hospital or insurer you use. Long hidden, such price variations are supposed to be available in stark […]
Doctors’ Lobby Scores ‘Major Victory’ on Bill to Hold Physicians Accountable
Doctors’ Lobby Scores ‘Major Victory’ on Bill to Hold Physicians Accountable Samantha Young SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The board that licenses and disciplines doctors in California is failing to hold bad actors accountable, endangering patients in the process. That’s the verdict of state lawmakers and patient advocates who have been working for years to reform […]
No Vacancy: How a Shortage of Mental Health Beds Keeps Kids Trapped Inside ERs
No Vacancy: How a Shortage of Mental Health Beds Keeps Kids Trapped Inside ERs Martha Bebinger, WBUR One evening in late March, a mom called 911. Her daughter, she said, was threatening to kill herself. EMTs arrived at the home north of Boston, helped calm the 13-year-old, and took her to an emergency room. Melinda, […]
In a Murky Sea of Mental Health Apps, Consumers Left Adrift
In a Murky Sea of Mental Health Apps, Consumers Left Adrift Jenny Gold, Kaiser Health News June 22, 2021 In the eyes of the tech industry, mental health treatment is an area ripe for disruption. In any given year, 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience a form of mental illness, according to federal […]
Hemmed In at Home, Nonprofit Hospitals Look for Profits Abroad
Hemmed In at Home, Nonprofit Hospitals Look for Profits Abroad Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News June 22, 2021 Across the street from the Buckingham Palace Garden and an ocean away from its Ohio headquarters, Cleveland Clinic is making a nearly $1 billion bet that Europeans will embrace a hospital run by one of America’s marquee […]
‘It’s a Mission’: Volunteers Treat Refugees Massing at the Border
‘It’s a Mission’: Volunteers Treat Refugees Massing at the Border Heidi de Marco, Kaiser Health News June 21, 2021 TIJUANA, Mexico — El Chaparral Plaza once teemed with tourists, street vendors and idling taxis. But the plaza, just outside the San Ysidro port of entry on the Mexican side of the border, now serves as […]
Device Makers Have Funneled Billions to Orthopedic Surgeons Who Use Their Products
Device Makers Have Funneled Billions to Orthopedic Surgeons Who Use Their Products Fred Schulte, Kaiser Health News and Elizabeth Lucas, Kaiser Health News June 17, 2021 Dr. Kingsley R. Chin was little more than a decade out of Harvard Medical School when sales of his spine surgical implants took off. Chin has patented more than […]
Violent Colorado Arrest Puts Spotlight on How Police Treat Disabled People
Violent Colorado Arrest Puts Spotlight on How Police Treat Disabled People Leigh Paterson June 15, 2021 Nearly a year after police officers in Loveland, Colorado, injured an elderly woman with dementia and then laughed at footage of her arrest, two of those officers are facing criminal charges while the rest of the department undergoes […]