Health Care
Doctors face quandary of relieving pain, without feeding addiction
A growing number of health care groups in the Twin Cities are investing in strategies to make sure doctors don’t serve as unwitting spigots of medications for addicts. But there’s also concern that increased regulation could prompt physicians to stop prescribing medications to patients with legitimate pain-control needs.
Read MoreTreatment guidelines heavily influenced by Dr.’s with interest in drug companies
“Doctors with financial ties to drug companies have heavily influenced treatment guidelines recommending the most lucrative drugs in American medicine, an analysis by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and MedPage Today has found.”
Read MoreVA support coming too late to veterans
“The VA’s inability to pay benefits to veterans before they die is increasingly common, according to data obtained by the Center for Investigative Reporting.” “The data reveals, for the first time, that long wait times are contributing to tens of thousands of veterans being approved for disability benefits and pensions only after it is too…
Read MoreExtra Extra Monday: Student debt, river debates, lead contamination and opiate addictions
Milwaukee Journal SentinelThe Wrong-Way River“Biologists predict the number of unwanted organisms moving on the Chicago canal will only grow until the waterway is somehow plugged. And it is much more than a Great Lakes problem because biological pollution travels both directions on this invasive species superhighway.” The Morning CallAmazon warehouse workers fight for unemployment benefits“Its…
Read MoreMN state reps under scrutiny for ties to insurance firm
An investigation by MPR News has found that a “Republican state representative who steered legislation through the House to drop thousands of people from the state-run MinnesotaCare program is an independent contractor for an insurance brokerage firm that lobbied for the change.”
Read MoreDying For Relief: Reckless prescribing, patients endangered
According to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times, “By the time the medical board stopped Estiandan from prescribing, more than four years after it began investigating, eight of his patients had died of overdoses or related causes, according to coroners’ records. It was not an isolated case of futility by California’s medical regulators. The board…
Read MoreFake medical providers slip through Medicare loophole
According to an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “For years, officials at the agency that administers Medicare have known that fraudsters sign up as health care providers using UPS Store mailboxes and other post office box like addresses as their location. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says it lacks the technology to…
Read MoreCalifornia police ignored, mishandled sex assaults reported by disabled
In three dozen cases of developmentally disabled patients accusing caretakers of rape and molestation during the past four years, police failed to complete even the simplest tasks associated with investigating the alleged crimes, according to a California Watch investigation.
Read MoreAdvair boomed amid health risks
“A Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today investigation found the growth in Advair sales followed new asthma treatment recommendations that were written largely by doctors who received money from GlaxoSmithKline and other companies that market the drugs.”
Read MoreStorms increase insurance rates, but is it justified?
As homeowners begin to pick up the pieces following the destruction of Hurricane Sandy, their focus turns to insurance. Echoing the situation on the east coast, the Minneapolis Star Tribune investigated the topic of homeowner’s insurance premiums following natural disasters in the state of Minnesota. The Star Tribune found that rates were steadily hiked up…
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