The group received 90 percent of its $5 million in funding in 2010 from the drug and medical-device industry, and its guides for patients, journalists and policymakers had played down the risks associated with opioid painkillers while exaggerating the benefits.
A review of records at 29 Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals found that only half the nurses had documented proper skills to care for patients.
Why does U.S. health care costs so much? How do insurance companies decide to refuse you coverage? How do Medicare scams work? ProPublica rounds up the best articles looking for answers to these and other questions.
HHS Inspector General faults drug companies for aggressively—and illegally—marketing these products to doctors for treatment of dementia and other off-label uses.
Professional groups like the Heart Rhythm Society write guidelines on treatments and the use of medical devices, but researchers say their acceptance of sponsorships and grants from drug and device makers poses a conflict of interest that many patients never consider.
The Army is facing a “critical” shortage of neurologists, partly because of recent policy changes designed to improve diagnosis and treatment of mild traumatic brain injuries, according to a new military medical memorandum.
With so much money paid to physicians — typically in exchange for public speaking events or professional education seminars for other doctors — medical ethics experts say doctors essentially push drugs or medical devices developed by the drug makers from which they are accepting cash.
Dialysis patients die or are hospitalized every year as a result of catastrophic hemorrhages.
Louisiana GOP Sen. David Vitter has pushed the EPA to slow its process of updating a 20-year-old health assessment of formaldehyde.
Last year, 47% of people between age 19 and 34 went without insurance at some point: 1-in-3 is uninsured now.
Sarah Goodwin, 25, has chronic fatigue syndrome and relies on Medicaid for coverage.
The reforms being proposed could put some upward pressure on premiums . . .
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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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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