Is overdiagnosis behind the increase in melanoma cases?
Is the tremendous increase in melanoma diagnoses a cancer epidemic, or an "epidemic of overdiagnosis"? More
Blog
Departing CEO paid $5.2 million ‘retention’ bonus by nursing home chain that lost 2,800 residents to covid
Nearly 3,000 residents of Genesis Healthcare nursing homes have died from covid-19. The company's CEO got a $5.2 million "retention" payment in October, then announced he was retiring in January. More
Azar’s ‘Sunset Rule’ will bring a dangerous new dawn for health regulation
The Sunset Rule would force HHS to accomplish a herculean task: reassess the impacts of its 17,000-plus regulations every 10 years. More
Comparison of All-Cause Mortality Rates and Inequities Between Black and White Populations Across the 30 Most Populous US Cities
This cross-sectional study examines city-level data from the 30 most populous US cities regarding all-cause mortality rates and racial inequities within cities and seeks to determine whether these measures changed during the past decade. More
Exhausted hospital chaplains bring solace to lonely, dying
Inside hospital rooms across America, where the sick are alone without family to comfort them, the grim task of offering solace falls to overworked and emotionally drained hospital chaplains who are dealing with more death than they’ve ever seen. More
Challenges of a Supplemental Private Option Under National Health Insurance—Observations From Australia
This Viewpoint describes the role of private hospital insurance in Australia, a country with universal government-sponsored insurance. More
Pandemic reveals tale of 2 Californias like never before
California has long been a picture of inequality, but the pandemic has widened the gap in ways few could have imagined. More
Black Americans Are Getting Vaccinated at Lower Rates Than White Americans
Black Americans are receiving covid vaccinations at dramatically lower rates than white Americans in the first weeks of the chaotic rollout, according to a new KHN analysis. More
The Shkreli Awards for health care dysfunction and greed
Each year the Lown Institute calls for nominations from health care experts, journalists and others. This year an outstanding panel of judges selected 10 egregious examples of profiteering. More
Are more people surviving Covid-19 because doctors are doing less?
Few treatments, even widely hyped ones, fail to arrest the progress of Covid-19. Prevention has trumped the so-far failed quest for a cure. More
Why we need to ask more than, “Does this treatment work?”
In a perspective piece in the Washington Post, Dr. Daniel Morgan, explains why shared decision making requires us to ask, "How likely is this treatment to work?" and why the answer to that question can be tricky. More
Cancer Screening Tests and Cancer Diagnoses During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This cohort study describes the number of patients undergoing cancer screening tests and of ensuing cancer diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic in 1 health care system in the northeastern United States. More
Shkreli Awards: “Dishonorable Mentions”
In case you missed it, the 2020 Shkreli Award winners, the top ten examples of profiteering and dysfunction in health care, were released earlier this month. But what about nominations that didn't make the top ten? More
Therapists Donate Their Time to Counsel Distressed Health Care Workers
This Medical News article describes organizations that have recruited therapists to offer free or discounted mental health services to health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. More
Problematic Promotion of Medications by Nurse Ambassadors—Legal and Ethical Issues
In August 2020, the pharmaceutical company AbbVie agreed to pay California $24 million to settle a whistleblower case that involved its nurse ambassador program for adalimumab (Humira), while not admitting any wrongdoing. More
Black US doctor is fired after complaint about talk on racism in medicine
A doctor has been fired from her “dream job” as a small group facilitator at a medical school in California after she shared personal and historical incidents of racism during a talk with students More
Tracking Progress on Person-Centered Care for Older Adults: How Are We Doing?
Analyzing the 2014 and 2016 Health and Retirement Study, we measure the extent to which older adults experience person-centered care, and how receipt of person-centered care affects overall health care satisfaction and service utilization. More
Unsupported Price Increases (UPI) of prescription drugs in the United States
Out of 10 identified drugs that had substantial 2019 price increases on top of already high current spending, seven were not supported by new clinical evidence; the net price increases on these seven drugs alone cost Americans an additional $1.2 billion in annual drug spend. More
One Ambulance Ride Leads to Another When Packed Hospitals Cannot Handle Non-Covid Patients
A Kansas woman thought she’d find help at her local emergency room. What she found instead was a packed hospital and an ambulance ride to someplace else. More
Study suggests nonwhite, poor, less educated at high risk for COVID death
Nonwhite Americans, those with low incomes or less than a high school education, and veterans were much more likely to die of COVID-19 than others in a simulation study published yesterday in PLOS Medicine, backing the findings of previous research. More