Clyde Boyce has been hospitalized 14 times in the past four years. Boyce, 61, survived two strokes and five operations to unblock arteries around his heart, including three procedures in which doctors propped open his blood vessels with stents. He takes 18 pills a day and gets injections every two weeks with a powerful drug …
Growing a Baby After a Tumor
By ELLY LONON July 20, 2017 “It’s surprisingly hard to kill a person. They taught us that in med school.” That’s what my father, a retired physician, had said when my doctors found the first growth. The other doctors batted around words like malignant and aggressive. But they also used words like treatable and curable. It was …
The Risk of Exertional Heatstroke to Young Athletes
July 20, 2017 By JULIAN BAILES, M.D. Growing up as an athlete in Louisiana, I was one of many teenagers who took to the football field for summer two-a-day practices. In the nearly tropical summer heat and humidity, we would practice and play in triple-digit temperatures – almost always in full padding. Between sessions, my …
First Edition: July 20, 2017
Jul 20 2017 Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations. Kaiser Health News: Cruz Plan Gets Thumbs Up From HHS But Thumbs Down From Most Everyone ElseContradicting the opinion of most policy experts, a draft report from the Trump administration forecasts better enrollment and lower premiums for everyone who buys their own health …
These Preventive Measures Might Help Delay Dementia Or Cognitive Decline
In a landmark report, scientists have endorsed three strategies for preventing dementia and cognitive decline associated with normal aging — being physically active, engaging in cognitive training and controlling high blood pressure. This is the first time experts convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine have deemed scientific evidence strong enough to …
Cruz Plan Gets Thumbs Up From HHS But Thumbs Down From Most Everyone Else
Contradicting the opinion of most policy experts, a draft report from the Trump administration forecasts better enrollment and lower premiums for everyone who buys their own health insurance if a controversial amendment proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas were to become law. The draft surfaced just as Republican senators were lunching with President Donald …
Postcard From Capitol Hill: Lawmakers Put Women’s Health Care In Its Place
The atmosphere at a House Appropriations Committee lunch meeting on women’s health midday Wednesday was predictably charged. The Trump administration has proposed to defund Planned Parenthood and make severe cuts in other women’s health programs, such as Title X, a 40-year-old program that provides grants for family planning, and grants for teen pregnancy prevention. Much …
What Should Parents Make of the ‘Summer Bucket List 2017’?
July 19, 2017 Adolescence By LISA DAMOUR By now you may have heard about the “Summer Bucket List 2017” that was seemingly written by a teenage girl and reportedly discovered in an Urban Outfitters dressing room in Pittsburgh. The items on the list range from endearing (“Pet a giraffe”) to alarming (“Get crossfaded” — simultaneously …
Read CBO Score Of Repeal-Only Bill
Modern Love Podcast: Cynthia Addai-Robinson Reads ‘I Need to Woman Up and Do This on My Own’
July 19, 2017 Modern Love By THE NEW YORK TIMES On this week’s podcast, the actress Cynthia Addai-Robinson reads the essay “I Need to Woman Up and Do This on My Own,” first published in 2006. In it, Asha Bandele tells the story of a pregnancy punctuated by prison visits and the difficult choice she …
When You Know It’s Love: Our Readers Let Us Know
We asked our readers to describe how they first knew that they had fallen in love. Here’s what they shared.
The Best Hostess Gifts of the Summer
If you’re lucky enough to score an invitation for a weekend at the summer home of friends (or friends of a friend, or seasonally strategic acquaintances), it’s in your best interest to make it worth their while. Thankfully, being a charming houseguest is pretty simple. The golden rules are: Be nice, tidy up after yourself, …
Fraud And Billing Mistakes Cost Medicare — And Taxpayers — Tens Of Billions Last Year
Federal health officials made more than $16 billion in improper payments to private Medicare Advantage health plans last year and need to crack down on billing errors by the insurers, a top congressional auditor testified Wednesday. James Cosgrove, who directs health care reviews for the Government Accountability Office, told the House Ways and Means oversight …
Joe Jonas’ Core Workout Includes Getting Punched in the Abs, but Does It Really Work?
Crossfit may have just been one-upped as the most intense workout of all time. The new pain-inducing fitness trend? Taking hits straight to the abdomen. Earlier this week, Joe Jonas shared an Instagram video of the workout he’s doing while on tour in Tokyo. In the clip, Jonas does a series of leg lifts beside a personal trainer wearing boxing gloves. At the end of …
Train Like a Stark with This 'Game of Cones' Workout as You Watch Game of Thrones
This article originally appeared on People.com. You may not encounter any dragons or need to fight off sword-wielding attackers in your daily life, but you can still train for it with this Game of Thrones-themed workout. The next time you settle in for an hour (or ten hours if you’re binging, no judgment) of feuding …
Cinco poderosas razones por las que fracasó el proyecto de salud republicano
Siete años de votos republicanos para “derogar y reemplazar” la Ley de Cuidado de Salud Asequible (ACA) se desmoronaron el martes 18 de junio, cuando quedó claro que el Senado no podría reunir los votos necesarios para ninguna de las tres propuestas separadas que se estaban considerando. El fracaso, al menos por ahora, rompe una …
Obamacare Exchanges In Limbo
California’s Obamacare exchange scrubbed its annual rate announcement this week, the latest sign of how the ongoing political drama over the Affordable Care Act is roiling insurance markets nationwide. The exchange, Covered California, might not wrap up negotiations with insurers and announce 2018 premiums for its 1.4 million customers until mid-August — about a month …
Viewpoints: Mandating Parental Leave — A Bad Idea; U.S. Cigarette Pack Warnings Fall Short Of Those In Other Countries
Opinion writers offer their thoughts on a range of health issues. Bloomberg: Parental Leave Is Great. Just Don’t Mandate It.Workers who receive paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child experience significant benefits. They can bond with their child without having to worry about a steep reduction in household income. There’s evidence that …
Sizing Up Other Key Players: ‘Obamacare Republicans,’ An ‘Unhappy White House’ And, Of Course, Voters
Editorial pages feature different takes on how a range of people — from moderate GOP lawmakers and arch conservatives like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — have been center stage in this ongoing health policy debate. The Wall Street Journal: The ObamaCare RepublicansSenate Republicans killed their own health-care bill on Monday evening, and some are quietly …
Analyzing McConnell’s Health Plan Strategery: A Hail Mary Pass? Is The Game Over?
Opinion writers across the country take a hard look at the legislative tactics employed this week by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as his party’s health plan unraveled. Bloomberg: A Chance For A New Beginning On Health CareThey may have avoided the ditch, but Republicans have driven themselves into a cul-de-sac. After the failure …
Next Directions On Health Policy: Fixes Should Be Bipartisan; Improve The Health Law Or Move On
Opinion writers offer advice to lawmakers about what to do now that efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare seem to have stalled. The Washington Post: The Bipartisan Way To Strengthen Health CareYou’d think that Republican leaders would have learned their lesson after a second failed attempt to pass the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) — …
Parsing The Post Mortems: Is The GOP’s Health Bill Collapse A ‘Victory For The Truth’ Or A ‘Bipartisan Failure’?
There are no shortages of thoughts and opinions regarding what went wrong with the Republicans Obamacare repeal-and-replace effort. The New York Times: The Health Care Collapse Is A Victory For The TruthAfter Donald Trump won the presidency, many Americans despondently wondered whether facts mattered anymore. Trump, after all, won the presidency despite a constant stream …
Perspectives: A Nonprofit Drug Company? It’s Not As Wild An Idea As It Seems
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues. The New York Times: Escaping Big Pharma’s Pricing With Patent-Free DrugsHow’s this for a great deal? The United States government funded research and development of a new vaccine against Zika. But the Army, which paid a French pharmaceutical manufacturer for its development, is planning to grant exclusive rights to …
More And More, States Are Becoming Battleground For Drug Pricing War
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing. The Wall Street Journal: Drug Prices Under Fire, In The StatesAll eyes are on Washington as the Senate grapples with health care legislation. Investors in drug companies should give some attention to state capitals, where a wave of bills designed to limit drug price increases are …
Trump Administration’s Plan To Cut Hospital Payments To Curb Drug Costs Won’t Really Effect Patients Or Pharma
“If you look at the static effect, it has zero effect on pharmaceutical revenues, because they give the discounts anyway. All of the savings get yanked from hospital revenues and given back to Medicare and beneficiaries,” Peter Bach, the director of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Center for Health Policy and Outcomes. Stat: Trump Officials Say A …