Health Care Policy
The Worst of Americana: Black Friday
No other day quite sums up the stupidity and materialism of American consumers quite like the Friday after Thanksgiving
Non-emergent Pediatric Visits Contribute to ER Crowding
As recent as 2004, 25% of all US ER visits were by pediatric patients (and their parents) of which an estimated 58-82% were not for emergent conditions. Why? A study from UT Southwestern in Dallas (shout out!) found that a lack of medical insurance or access to a pediatrician were almost never the reasons for [...]
DIY Colonoscopy?
The on label use of this handy device is for inspection of hard to reach places like pipes and areas between and under walls and floors. Butt the off label possibilities are very exciting for this device which features “Up-front camera controls for true one-hand operation” and “Rugged, detachable 3’ water-tight flexible shaft.”
Be the first [...]
Do Nurse Practitioners Really Reduce Health Care Costs?
Multiple studies have shown that nurse practitioners (NPs) have quality and outcome measures that are equivalent to those of physicians in primary care. In addition, NPs tend to spend more time with patients and tend to manage chronic conditions and keep track of preventive measures better than MDs. Additionally, the conventional wisdom is that NPs [...]
Why Physicians are Unhappy.
Another year, another survey that shows just how disgruntled physicians are with the state of their profession. About 50% of nearly 12,000 docs surveyed said that they plan to see fewer patients or retire completely in the next 3 years and 60% would NOT recommend medicine as a career.
Many cite increasing paperwork and bureaucratic burdens [...]
Younger, liberal, and healthy.
The healthiest city (lowest rates of lifestyle diseases like obesity) is Burlington, Vermont. The unhealthiest is Huntington, West Virginia. Both are predominately white but Burlington has a younger median age, a better socioeconomic climate, and a much more socially liberal attitude.
What comes first; prosperity or liberalism? What about more education and less religion? These things [...]
Americans unclear on what is a “right” and what in an entitlement.
According to a recent phone survey only one American in 1,000 was able to name all five rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. If you extrapolate this finding to the whole of the country then you find that only 300,000 Americans out of a population of about 300 million know all of their First Amendment [...]
Illness Brings Bankruptcies Part II.
Follow up; Bankruptcy and medical bills
I’ll plug this story one more time because I think it’s important. First there was the Harvard study that found that about 50% of all U.S. bankruptcies could be attributed to medical bills. Then there was my critique of the study. In particular I raised the possibility that most of [...]
Illness Brings Bankruptcies
Half of personal bankruptcies ASSOCIATED with illness/injury - (Via Carotids). A new Harvard University study raises some disturbing questions about catastrophic insurance.
More than 75 percent said they were insured at the start of their illness, but 38 percent had lost coverage, at least temporarily by the time they filed for bankruptcy. The researchers said health [...]
FDA Saves Merck from Self.
OTC Mevacor; Rejected!
Doing what big businesses are designed to do, Merck had petitioned the FDA to allow it to market a low dose version of its cholesterol lowering medication Mevacor (Lovastatin) over the counter in an attempt to make big bucks and expand the market. However, in an increasingly rare moment of clarity the FDA [...]
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