A friend of mine recently had a very sore throat. She knew how to manage her symptoms–lozenges, warm tea and the like. But she was worried she might have strep and would therefore need antibiotics. That should be a simple question to answer with a quick trip to the primary care clinic. Except that her…
Because of Obamacare, more Americans have healthcare insurance and therefore more people are able to pay for medical care when they receive it. As a result, there has been a $5.7 billion drop in uncompensated hospital care just in those states that, per Obamacare, expanded Medicaid eligibility:
Recovering from surgery can be painful. That’s why lots of surgeons give patients narcotics post-operatively. But that is also the time when people can get hooked on narcs. Here is a picture of how many patients take narcotics for at least 3 months following a surgical procedure: Perhaps orthopedic surgeons should ask for help from…
Cigarette smokers have rights. No one should be able to tell an adult that she can’t spend her hard earned money on cigarettes. But non-smokers have rights, too. Specifically, they shouldn’t have to pay to subsidize health care costs of people who choose to smoke. In fact, smokers hurt non-smokers by racking up health care…
Is medical marijuana legal in your state? That probably means less narcotic use and abuse: Something to keep in mind as we fight our opiate epidemic.
We probably have a shortage of physician in the U.S., especially primary care providers. Our population is rising faster than the number of docs. But we don’t seem to be suffering from a shortage of healthcare administrators: Oh in addition, doesn’t look too convincing that all those administrators are finding ways to reduce healthcare spending….
My son was underperforming at school, and I was gently encouraging him to try harder (if gesticulating like an over caffeinated Italian qualifies as gentle encouragement). He could not understand why I was upset: “Dad, most of my friends are doing drugs and engaging in unprotected sex. You should be rewarding me for being such…
According to recent research, a hug a day could keep the doctor away. According to another study, twitter can predict the chance that people will experience heart attacks. A normal blogger would look at these two findings and tell a story about the relationship between stress and health. I’m not normal. I looked at these…
Diabetes is a dangerous disease, putting people at risk for heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, amputation…plenty of serious stuff. Fortunately, pills and injections can reduce blood sugar and thereby reduce the risk of those awful sequels. Unfortunately, doctors sometimes treat blood sugar too aggressively, lowering it beyond the point where it helps avert heart…
Here is an article from the University of Indiana student newspaper, showing that even young adults in United States realize we have a price transparency problem in the U.S. healthcare system. Very exciting to see how many people care about this topic! Infections aren’t the only thing to have gone viral around hospitals lately. The…