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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The CDC's vaccine guidelines put people with type 1 diabetes further down the list than people with type 2 diabetes. More
An at-home test for colon cancer is as reliable as the traditional screening, health experts say, and more agreeable. More
Links between vitamin D deficiencies and coronavirus infections have been seen in studies, but “correlation doesn’t prove causation.” More
As the nation copes with Covid-19, it sorely needs a plan to allow family visits to and communication with hospitalized loved ones. More
Pharma companies have inked a series of federal settlements over payments to charity organizations, which the federal government argues are a “conduit” to boosting drug sales. Now, after an opioid investigation, two Senators want all those charity payments disclosed publicly. More
New York City-based Northwell Health will rescind thousands of lawsuits filed against patients for unpaid medical bills amid the pandemic, the system told Becker's Hospital Review. More
In today’s episode, Dr. Rita Redberg, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, and Editor-in-chief at JAMA Internal Medicine, explains why a healthy lifestyle and regular exercise are much more important for preventing heart attacks and strokes than a daily cholesterol pill. More
Do the most privileged Americans get the best care in the world? A new study has some surprising results... More
Greedy corporations, uncaring hospitals, individual miscreants, and a task force led by Jared Kushner were dinged Tuesday in the Lown Institute's annual Shkreli awards, a list of the top 10 worst offenders for 2020. In third place: four California hospital systems that refused to take COVID-19 patients or delayed transfers from hospitals that were out of beds. "In the midst of such a pandemic, to continue that sort of behavior is mind boggling," said Saini. "This is more than the proverbial wallet biopsy." Connecticut internist Steven Murphy, MD, ran COVID-19 testing sites for several towns, but conducted allegedly unnecessary add-ons such as screening for 20 other respiratory pathogens. "As far as I know, having an MD is not a license to steal, and this guy seemed to think that it was," said Brownlee. More
A local health care watchdog group has bestowed its annual dubious distinction on vaccine maker Moderna Inc. and the president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital for what it calls "greed and profiteering" during the pandemic. More
If you missed the live Shkreli Awards countdown on January 5th, don't fret! You can watch the full recording below. More
This Medical News Quick Uptake examines the debate about a link between vitamin D and COVID-19 risk. More