15 Life-Saving Items That Nurses Say You Should Keep At Home
Part of what makes medical emergencies so scary is that, by nature, they can happen completely unexpectedly. Staying prepared with a fully-stocked first aid kit, supplemented with other potentially life-saving essentials, can be a great way to manage your anxieties, save you a trip to the emergency room or, at the very least, act fast […]
AMA Debates Value of Natural Immunity to COVID
During the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates annual meeting, members debated whether natural immunity or previous infection with SARS-CoV-2 was sufficient for the merit of immunity credentials. Gregory Pinto, MD, a delegate from New York, called for policy recommending “that vaccination credentials be provided on the basis of natural immunity or previous SARS-CoV-2 […]
One in Six Families Face Over $5K in Out-of-Pocket Childbirth Costs
After his second daughter was born, Kao-Ping Chua, MD, PhD, was hit with a big surprise — a medical bill for $5,000. Chua, a pediatrician and health services researcher at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, switched to a high-deductible health plan right before his second daughter was born. The premium was so much […]
Prescribing the abortion pill without restrictions is safe and effective, study finds: Researchers say Canada’s experience offers a roadmap for other countries
Abortion remains safe after Canada removed restrictions on the medical abortion pill mifepristone in November 2017. That’s one of the key findings from a UBC-led study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study used comprehensive government health data to examine 315,000 abortions in Ontario between 2012 and 2020. An analysis showed […]
AMA Calls for Greater Police Accountability in New Report
CHICAGO — The American Medical Association (AMA) adopted new policies calling for greater police accountability and increased community involvement in policing practices, during its House of Delegates special meeting on Tuesday. “The AMA is strongly invested in the betterment of public health and remains committed to advocating for actionable reform to eliminate excessive police violence […]
Doctors Sue Hackensack Meridian for Age Discrimination
Three doctors terminated from Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, a part of Hackensack Meridian Health, are suing their former employer, claiming they were fired because of age discrimination. The emergency pediatric physicians — Usha Avva, MD, Nina Gold, MD, and Kathleen Reichard, MD — were 56, 55, and 53, respectively, at the time. […]
Texas Medical Association Sues Feds Over Surprise Billing
The Texas Medical Association (TMA) is challenging a federal law designed to shield patients from surprise medical bills, arguing in a new lawsuit that regulators have stacked the deck against healthcare providers in their implementation of the No Surprises Act. Essentially, TMA takes issue with the arbitration process for settling out-of-network bills, arguing that the […]
What Medications Are Used to Treat Alcoholism?
How do I know if I am an alcoholic? Alcoholism or alcohol use disorder is a medical condition in which you consume progressively larger amounts of alcohol. It is a condition that can be chronic and have other serious social, familial, and medical consequences. However, there are many different treatments, including medications that you can […]
Doc Groups Unhappy With HHS Rule on No Surprises Act
Some medical groups are none too happy with the “surprise billing” interim final rule issued yesterday by the Biden administration. The rule — issued jointly by the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury — implements part of the No Surprises Act, passed by Congress in December 2020 as part of a larger […]
America’s Amputation Crisis May Soon Get Much Worse
Few medical procedures are as life-altering as an amputation. But statistics show hundreds of thousands of Americans have their limbs surgically removed each year because they don’t have access to adequate vascular screening and care. In the rural communities of North Carolina that we serve, the nearest “in-hospital” alternative to our office-based treatment locations is […]