How common is burnout among physicians? It depends on how it’s defined
A new study finds that small changes to the definition of "burnout" leads to wide variations in how common it is among medical residents. More
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Coronavirus Tests Are Supposed to Be Free. The Surprise Bills Come Anyway.
Congress sought to ensure that patients would not face costs connected to the virus. But rules are not always being followed. More
Without an ‘ounce of empathy’: Their stories show the dangers of being Black and pregnant
Black women are dying in childbirth 2.5 times more often than white women, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics. More
Drug and device makers paid teaching hospitals $832 million in 2018, creating potential for conflicts of interest
Industry payments can encourage the uptake of new medicines and devices in some of the most influential medical institutions in the country. More
The Disasters That Built the FDA and Where We Go From Here
A series of disasters shaped the FDA into what it is today. We need to make sure that this pandemic moves the agency in the right direction. More
Why We Need More Black Doctors—and How to Get There
Valerie Montgomery Rice, head of Morehouse School of Medicine, on training the next generation of physicians, and how to bring more Black men into the field. More
Latinos make up 71% of coronavirus cases in largely white Marin County. Will new equity efforts help?
Many residents of San Rafael’s heavily Latino Canal neighborhood work on the front lines and live in crowded apartments. Their experience mirrors that of Latinos across the Bay Area and country, who contract the virus at higher rates than other ethnic and racial groups. More
Guest post: If we are dissatisfied, that’s a good sign
Why clinician satisfaction should be a metric of quality, from guest writer John Corsino, PT. More
Black Americans, suffering disproportionately from COVID-19, face a mounting mental health crisis
Black and Hispanic Americans — who have disproportionately suffered from COVID-19 and its economic fallout — appear to be shouldering an even heavier mental health burden as a racial justice movement has ripped open centuries-old wounds of systemic oppression. More
In pandemic era, the term palliative care is even more scary for some. So specialists want to rename it.
People erroneously think that they are being sent to physicians who will help them die. More
Perfect storm of politics, PR, polluted messages to the public
"That was the title of a seminar presentation I made for the Georgetown University Health and the Public Interest program last week. It was delivered via Zoom for the graduate students in the program and for a broader Zoom audience beyond the University." More
Trump’s covid vaccine dilemma: how public skepticism threatens to undermine a possible cure
Public health experts say that while companies may be legally covered, they still have a high degree of interest in showing a vaccine is effective. “For many drugs, trials are oriented to showing efficacy and a minimal level of safety, then our system allows them to be released into the wild, into the marketplace,” said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Massachusetts that advocates for health care reform.
If any of the current vaccine trials show high efficacy there could be political pressure to rush it to market to save lives and help return the country to normal. “We desperately need a vaccine. It would be a game-changer,” said Saini.
“So, what we face is a genuine trade off that is now being distorted horrendously by the politics. We may get a signal of efficacy before we get a signal of safety,” said Saini.
That presents a dilemma for whoever is president. "Trying to time good news results around Election Day for political advantage is not a Trump thing or a Biden thing. That’s what politicians do. And it’s been dirty business long before Trump,” Saini said.
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Urinary culture intervention linked to lower antibiotic prescribing
An intervention to reduce antibiotic treatment for asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) at a Toronto hospital was safe and associated with reduced exposure to unnecessary antibiotics, Canadian researchers reported this week in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. More
Nonprofit and for-profit hospitals provide similar levels of charity care, study finds
A new study finds that for-profit hospitals are spending the same amount proportionally on charity care as nonprofits. More
Well Leaders Lead Well: How to Create and Sustain a Culture of Wellness During COVID-19 and Beyond
The epidemic of clinician burnout and the COVID-19 pandemic are making each other worse. More
Why Black Aging Matters, Too
Older Blacks are perishing quietly, out of sight, victims of the pandemic and a lifetime of racism and its attendant adverse health effects. More
Community health workers are a ‘lifeline’ to pregnant people with COVID-19
A nationwide patchwork of women workers has become indispensable to immigrant parents. More
Sent Home to Die
In New Orleans, hospitals sent patients infected with the coronavirus into hospice facilities or back to their families to die at home, in some cases discontinuing treatment even as relatives begged them to keep trying. More
Debate rages over whether FDA should use emergency powers to clear a coronavirus vaccine early
Speeding the process could save thousands of lives, but some say it might also make it easier for the White House to push regulators to clear an unproven vaccine before Election Day. More
A Litany for Survival
Giving birth as a black woman in America More