Over the past few decades, the price of insulin has skyrocketed, creating a desperate situation for many Americans with diabetes. How has COVID-19 affected those who depend on insulin to survive? More
Hospitals including University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami as of Friday were still doing elective surgeries. More
As tribal leaders around the country gear up for the pandemic’s spread in their communities, they worry the federal agencies that are supposed to help protect them aren’t ready. More
Across the country, health care workers aren't being given the equipment they need to stay safe while treating patients in the era of Covid-19. More
Rural hospitals may not be able to keep their doors open as the coronavirus pandemic saps their cash, their CEOs warn, just as communities most need them. More
Across the nation, hospitals, nurses and physicians are sending out desperate pleas for donations of personal protective gear as supplies dwindle in the regions that have emerged as hot spots for the fast-spreading new coronavirus. More
With delays in testing hampering the country’s ability to accurately track the new coronavirus and shelter-in-place orders keeping many Americans at home, startups are swooping in with a seemingly ideal solution: at-home tests. More
A hunger strike in Newark and word of quarantined corrections officers in Hackensack offered a new source of COVID-19 anxiety on Thursday: whether New Jersey jails can protect the incarcerated amid the outbreak.
Prisons are poorly equipped to handle the disease, said Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, a health care think tank in Brookline, Massachusetts. And a lack of testing in the U.S. is making it even harder to keep out, he said. “Once it’s out in the community and transmitting cryptically, you don’t have any real predictability,’’ Saini said. While most infections won't lead to a severe illness, others will, and "everything we are seeing in the literature is that it can come on relatively quickly," he said. "Prisons are not places that are really equipped to monitor people in terms of their medical status if it were to take a turn for the worse."
Investment bankers have been candid about the opportunity to raise drug prices on critical drugs and medical supplies. More
Getting hospitalized in the U.S. for COVID-19 may cost thousands. How much of that you'll pay depends on your insurance. More
Even with an unfolding pandemic, there’s no shortage of overreaching public relations news releases to mislead the public. More
Let’s be honest. Most American hospitals are unprepared to treat a sudden surge in very sick and contagious COVID-19 patients. More
Eliminating Medication Overload: A National Action Plan, a report issued by the Lown Institute, is based on input from national experts, and highlights the risks of overprescribing and overuse of medications, particularly in older adults. The report is both a wakeup call and a roadmap that offers policy recommendations and guidance for health care institutions, clinicians, and older adults to reduce harm from multiple medication use. More
The prevalent framing of "risks vs benefits" may give physicians and patients the wrong message... More
There are no photos of Mubashir Hasan and Dr Bernard Lown together, but their mutual affection and respect is apparent when they speak of each other. More
Some doctors are calling for the boycott of inferior vena cava, or IVC filters — and patients are suing manufacturers. More
My very vibrant and blessed life was obliterated by a perverse cascade of errors via a broken medical system. This affected my loved ones’ lives as profoundly as it did mine. More
Doctors often prescribe an antibiotic for children with pneumonia, but a new study suggests the drugs are not always needed. More
To all of the clinicians and health care workers putting their health and lives on the line, we want to acknowledge your immense sacrifice and bravery. More
Sure, hospitals should be paid for the services they provide, but that simple axiom crumbles when one looks closely at the complexity and contradictions built into healthcare, e.g., “… the widespread acceptance at the top of health care organizations that being ‘business-like’ is a virtue…,”says Vikas Saini, MD, the president of the Lown Institute and a Harvard-trained cardiologist. More