Through the years, we’ve learned not to underestimate the lengths to which institutions and individuals will go to protect their bottom lines. We like to think that no bad behavior can surprise us anymore—but then we learn better. Last year, we found a pharmaceutical company seeking the financially advantageous “orphan” drug designation for a drug it said was for a rare disease. The disease was COVID-19.
When we put all the examples of Shkreli-like behavior together, they stop looking like anecdotes and start looking like evidence. That’s the point of the awards: to highlight the structural weaknesses in health care that allow this kind of behavior to occur.
This cohort study examines the frequency of use and persistent use of benzodiazepines among patients undergoing major and minor surgical procedures.More
Overuse is ubiquitous across medical specialties, and obstetrics and gynecology are no exceptions. Two recent studies shine a light on the problem of overuse in women's health. More
The Lown Institute Shkreli Awards spotlights the worst examples of profiteering and dysfunction in U.S. health care. Named for Martin Shkreli, the price-hiking “pharma bro” that everyone loves to hate, the awards have been issued each year since 2017. MORE SHKRELI: Archives | Current Year Hospital pressures cardiologists to keep referring pediatric patients for surgery […]More
“Overuse is ubiquitous,” said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute. “Nearly every hospital is doing at least some things that patients don’t really need.”
“There is improvement,” he added, “but it is very slow and it is very uneven.”
Saini, of the Lown Institute, said he hopes more attention on overuse will push hospitals to do better. “We’re trying to create new norms for what it means to be a good hospital,” he said.
The number of Americans 65 and older is expected to nearly double in the next 40 years. Finding a way to provide and pay for the long-term health services they need won’t be easy.More
Black women are three times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. Some of them look to Black doctors for a sense of safety and connection, while medical schools add anti-racism training.More
The US health system pushes treatment over prevention. This approach has many flaws, one of the most unfortunate and costly being overdiagnosis and overtreatment.More
In his new book, “The Black Butterfly,” public health scholar Lawrence Brown explores how urban housing and land use policies have been deployed as weapons of oppression against African Americans.More
The Lown Institute's report is yet another effort in a series of recent attempts to quantify and rank health care organizations' progress on achieving health equity. The authors delivered a bold and necessary message: Hospitals across the U.S. are racially segregated—that is to say, their Medicare patients' racial demographics don't match the demographics in their surrounding communities. These results might come as a shock to some—especially for those working at hospitals near the bottom of the list. But this data shouldn't be surprising.More
General anesthesia is necessary for some medical procedures, but can put children and older adults at risk of harm. In this guest blog, a medical student shares what they're learning about avoiding anesthesia overuse. More
Constant high-risk exposure to the virus, surrounded by death & long hours in sweat-drenched PPE kits that make even washroom breaks tricky, the struggle is nightmarish for doctors.More
What's causing segregation in our health system, and what can we do about it? Watch the recording of the Lown Hospitals Index racial inclusivity launch to find out. More
Two north Georgia hospitals fall among the 50 most segregated in U.S. metropolitan areas, and metro Atlanta tied for the largest number of such hospitals overall, according to a new study by the Lown Institute.More
