May 2010 - Health Beat - The Network of Care

When a Fire Breaks Out In the Operating Room

Summary: It is hard to imagine fire engulfing a patient on the operating table. But it does happen—even at highly respected medical centers. An electrical device is turned on while the patient is receiving oxygen . . . Or, electricity... Read More...

Published Sun, May 30 2010 4:39 PM by Health Beat

HCA/ Columbia’s Rick Scott – the Next Governor of Florida?

When I posted about Rick Scott in March of 2009, (http://www.healthbeatblog.com/2009/03/who-is-richard-scott-and-why-is-he-saying-these-things-about-healthcare-reform.html), I was surprised that he had survived the fall of HCA-Columbia to become a major...

Published Wed, May 26 2010 4:58 PM by Health Beat

Support for Berwick to Head Medicare Grows-- Only Congressional Conservatives Are Opposed

Summary: President Obama has tapped Dr. Donald Berwick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus has said that he hopes to hold confirmation hearings before the July 4 recess, though he is making... Read...

Published Wed, May 26 2010 2:17 PM by Health Beat

Shining a Light on Conflict of Interest in Biomedical Research

Last week Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health proposed important new rule changes for federally-funded investigators that are designed to increase transparency and remove many of the conflicts of interest that abound in...

Published Wed, May 26 2010 1:34 PM by Health Beat

A Bold Move: the FDA Suggests that Drug-Makers and Device Makers Share Information

Summary: When it comes to regulating drugs and devices, FDA Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein is the agency’s point man. Recently, he co-authored a “Perspective” for the New England Journal of Medicine which outlines the FDA’s proposal for greater...

Published Mon, May 24 2010 8:16 AM by Health Beat

"Better Safe Than Sorry": Taking Precautionary Action on Environmental Toxins

Last week I wrote about the President’s Cancer Panel Report which highlighted the “grievous harm” caused by environmental carcinogens and urged action that included removing the toxins from our food, water, and air that “devastate American lives.” Achieving...

Published Wed, May 19 2010 9:19 AM by Health Beat

Are New Yorkers Sicker Than Patients in Atlanta--or Are They Just More Likely To Be Diagnosed?

Summary: A startling study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals that just as doctors in some towns are more aggressive in treating their patients, physicians in some places are more likely to send patients for tests, and... Read More...

Published Tue, May 18 2010 2:19 PM by Health Beat

Med School Education in China (With a Sidenote on Medical TV Shows in the U.S.)

Over on Kevin M.D. Dr. Vineet Arora writes about what she learned while touring hospitals and a med school in China: http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/05/china-medical-school-residency-training.html “My husband and I recently traveled to Wuhan Medical...

Published Fri, May 14 2010 1:22 PM by Health Beat

Cancer Panel Focuses on the "Grievous Harm" from Environmental Toxins

The recent report from the President’s Cancer Panel, entitled “Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk,” took the bold step of focusing on environmental toxins and their role in causing cancer. In it, the authors charge that “the grievous harm from this group...

Published Wed, May 12 2010 1:41 PM by Health Beat

When Medicare “Cuts” are Medicare “Savings”

Summary: If hospitals pay more attention to how they discharge patients, and what happens to them after they leave, Medicare could save billions. Under the reform legislation, beginning in 2011 Medicare will refuse to pay for an excessive number of.....

Published Mon, May 10 2010 12:42 PM by Health Beat

“Nearly One in Four Americans Will Die of Cancer” (NYT)--Unless You Are a Woman, a Non-Smoker, Middle-Class or over 35 . . .

Summary-Not long ago, a New York Times editorial repeated a statistic that you may have heard before: one in four Americans are projected to die of cancer." Not true. For most Americans-including the vast majority of the Times' readers-- the...

Published Fri, May 07 2010 2:54 PM by Health Beat

A Break from Health-Care Wonkery

Over on “Movin’ Meat,” an ER doctor living in the Pacific Northwest tells a true story titled “Where romance and medicine collide.” http://allbleedingstops.blogspot.com/2010/04/where-romance-and-medicine-collide.html I suspect that many readers will view...

Published Thu, May 06 2010 4:15 PM by Health Beat

Myths & Facts about Health Care Reform: The Impact on Hospitals, Community Clinics, Nurses, Physician-Owned Specialty Centers, and Hospital Patients-- Part 4

Summary: In Part 3 of “Myths & Facts about the Impact of Reform on Hospitals and Patients Who Need Hospital Care,” I addressed the fear that cuts in Medicare spending will threaten the financial health of the nation’s hospitals. Reform’s... Read More...

Published Wed, May 05 2010 8:36 AM by Health Beat

The American Cancer Society’s Dr. Len Lichtenfield on Provenge & Prostate Cancer:

Summary: I’m crossing posting this piece from Dr. Len’s Cancer Blog http://www.cancer.org/aspx/blog/Comments.aspx?id=353 because it seems to me a very wise and balanced assessment of what Provenge means—and doesn’t mean—for patients, for Medicare and...

Published Sat, May 01 2010 11:36 AM by Health Beat

May 2010 - Health Beat

Syndication

Recent Posts

Tags

Archives