Even with health reform, access to care to get worse, not better: “The American Medical Association estimates the country will be short 85,000 doctors in primary care, cardiology, oncology and general surgery by 2020.”
Going to an urgent care center or a doc-in-the-box to avoid higher-priced hospital emergency care? Surprise: You may get billed by the hospital anyway.
Getting it wrong the first time: Almost one-fourth of Medicare heart patients are readmitted within 30 days.
Almost one in ten surgeons have made “major” errors recently.
Study: Meditation reduces heart attacks and strokes.
Fattest state: Mississippi; Leanest state: Colorado.
A tiny silicone chip can analyze blood and diagnose dozens of diseases: Uses an amount of blood that could be collected with a prick of a finger instead of a syringe.
Consumption of alcohol in almost any quantity is associated with a nearly one-third reduction in the incidence of coronary heart disease in men: No effects for women, however.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises women not to deliver before 39 weeks but many women still choose to give birth between 37 and 39 weeks: Nonmedical reasons range from convenience to simply wishing not to be pregnant any longer.
Price of H1N1 can vary by a factor of three. It pays to shop.
Are caterpillar ovaries just as good as chicken eggs for growing the flu shot vaccine? Apparently.
Number of people living on a dollar a day has plummeted from almost 1 billion to about one-third that number. The reason: the spread of capitalism.
Physicians find more polyps in early-morning colonoscopies: Hour by hour, the results get worse as the day goes on.
Secret to successful dieting: Every other day, eat nothing.
Does posting calories reduce calorie consumption? Two studies say no and the third is inconclusive.
Fighting obesity may take a village: In France, it’s called Epode.
Drug companies are covering the patient copays on brand name drugs. Insurance companies don’t like it.
Does a positive mental attitude reduce the risk of heart attack? Apparently, yes.
Cost of war in Afghanistan: $1 million per soldier.
Hospital mistakenly declares man dead: Loses Social Security and Medicare.
Finnair is offering frequent flyers free plastic surgery in exchange for air miles. Breast enlargement costs 120 New York flights.
About 75 percent of America’s 17- to 24-year-olds are ineligible for military service: The reason: they are poorly educated, overweight and have physical ailments that make them unfit for the armed forces.
Embryo mix-up: Woman gives birth to a baby boy after being implanted with an embryo that wasn’t hers.
Fat pride: “The stigma is so heavy a burden that it took our community 40 years before it could go to Capitol Hill and lobby for ourselves.”
| Marilyn Wann, member of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance Image credit: Heidi Schumann/The New York Times |
You too can visit the Oval Office and even use the White House bowling alley. Cost: $30,400 or a pledge to bundle $300,000 of other peoples’ donations.
Pay the same price large insurers pay by using new online tools: You may even be able to pay Medicare rates.
Surprising study finding: After a patent expires, prices fall by 61%, but utilization doesn’t increase. Generics just replace branded prescriptions.
Why can’t you get the swine flu vaccine? Three major policy mistakes are part of the answer.
Halloween census update: America has 134,000 Wiccans, 33,000 Druids and 140,000 Pagans.
