“When I got home, I realized that I didn’t know a multivitamin from an immunosuppressant.” -Greg Duggins, transplant patient.
Drug restriction policies that discourage use of expensive, new medicines cut costs, but more study needs to be done to see how they affect patient health, researchers say.
How companies use FDA rules to force long-used, inexpensive drugs off the market.
And the discounts they offer may not be such a deal.
Coupons for brand-name drugs can cut your co-pay, but in the end could drive up health costs and premiums overall.
It used to work like this: Doctors decided what to prescribe. Drug companies…tried to influence doctors. Patients did what they were told.
More than half of drug-related deaths in King County last year involved the use of prescription opiate drugs that are most often prescribed for pain control, according to a new report. Often the drugs are obtained without a prescription. The annual report was put together by the Community Epidemiology Work Group. a collaboration of public [...]
How can you find out if a medication has been tested for safety in children? What’s the right dose? Are over-the-counter medicines safe? In this Q & A, Dr. Dianne Murphy, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Pediatric Therapeutics, answers those and other questions you might have about giving a medication to [...]
One out of every five prescriptions written today are to treat a condition for which the drug has not been approved. Such “off-label” use of drugs is common because under the law doctors are given considerable freedom to use their clinical judgement when it comes to practicing medicine. Still, taking a drug for a condition [...]
LocalHealthGuide is a health news and information web service for Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. We are independent and unaffiliated with any hospital, medical association or insurer. If you have questions or if your group has an upcoming event that you would like us to cover, please let us know by going to our "Contact Us" page and dropping us a note. -- Michael McCarthy, Editor
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Seattle Times Health News
Lost in translation: Lack of trained interpreters can lead to medical errors
Interpreter services at hospitals and other medical settings are often inadequate, forcing family members, including children, to step in, or the task falls to medical staff members who may not speak the language well.
Some insurers deny ER coverage to people who have been drinking
Laws in more than half the states permit insurers to deny payment for medical services related to alcohol or drug use. Faced with the prospect of not getting paid for care, some ER personnel sidestep the problem by simply not testing patients’ blood or urine for alcohol.
Travel insurance can protect your wallet — and your health on vacation
Think your regular health insurance policy will cover you if you get into medical trouble overseas?
Don’t bet on it.
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