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Survey: 9 in 10 Americans concerned pharma will leverage COVID-19 to increase drug prices

Nearly 9 in 10 U.S. adults are "very" (55%) or "somewhat" (33%) concerned that the pharmaceutical industry will leverage the COVID-19 pandemic to raise drug prices.

18 Jun 2020

Financial hardships are associated with more ER visits, shows ACS study

A new American Cancer Society study finds higher medical and nonmedical financial hardships are independently associated with more emergency department visits, lower receipt of some preventive services, and worse self-rated health in cancer survivors.

18 Jun 2020

$Elderly patients with hip fracture at higher risk of suicide, study suggests$

Elderly patients with hip fracture at higher risk of suicide, study suggests

Older adults who suffer a hip fracture requiring surgery are at a higher risk of suicide, suggests a study in the June 17, 2020 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer.

17 Jun 2020

Awareness campaign aims to alleviate unnecessary fears about calling 9-1-1 in pandemic

As new COVID-19 cases continue to rise in 22 states and strain emergency departments nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) suggest ER visits in April were down 42% across the country compared to the same period last year.

16 Jun 2020

Study: Gender dysphoria can persist for years before patients undergo treatment

Gender dysphoria manifests early in childhood and can persist for years before patients undergo counseling and treatment, a Cedars-Sinai study has found.

16 Jun 2020

Many Americans face high out-of-pocket medical costs for COVID-19 hospitalizations

If past hospitalizations for pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses are any guide, many Americans could face high out-of-pocket medical costs for COVID-19 hospitalizations despite the fact that many insurers have waived their cost-sharing requirements, a study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests.

16 Jun 2020

Romosozumab offers considerable added benefit for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis

Romosozumab is a bone-forming monoclonal antibody used in women after menopause for the treatment of severe osteoporosis if there is a high risk of bone fractures.

15 Jun 2020

Factors that determine COVID-19 mortality

A potentially important new study by MIT researchers and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 shows that COVID-19 death rates in U.S. states correlate with several factors like commuting to work, temperatures, and geographical location, but not with ICU beds, obesity or poverty. This work, if validated, could help identify the actual contributing factors that shape mortality rates across the USA.

14 Jun 2020

If you’ve lost your health plan in the COVID crisis, you’ve got options

The coronavirus pandemic — and the economic fallout that has come with it — boosted health insurance enrollment counselor Mark Van Arnam's workload. But he wants to be even busier.

12 Jun 2020

Study provides evidence to support survival benefit of open surgery for early-stage cervical cancer

A study led by researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center confirms that minimally invasive surgery for early-stage cervical cancer is linked to higher rates of recurrence and death compared with open surgery.

11 Jun 2020

COVID ‐19 stay‐at‐home orders influence health behaviors of patients with obesity

Shelter-in-place orders to reduce the spread of COVID-19 put unusual strains on people with obesity, making it more difficult for them to eat properly and manage their weight, according to a UT Southwestern study.

11 Jun 2020

Reports highlights financial challenges facing households of children with ASD

An autism diagnosis can present a number of challenges for families from learning about the neurodevelopment disorder and accessing support services and resources to financial struggles.

10 Jun 2020

COVID-19 pandemic impacts mental, physical health of people with obesity

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on people with obesity as they struggle to manage their weight and mental health during shelter-in-place orders, according to research led by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and UT Southwestern.

10 Jun 2020

Smoking more than doubles the risk of stroke in African Americans

Current cigarette smoking and the number of cigarettes smoked per day are associated with more than twice the risk for all stroke - ischemic and hemorrhagic - among African Americans compared to nonsmokers, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association.

10 Jun 2020

When a doctor no longer accepts Medicare, patients left holding the bag

Pneumonia. Heart problems. High cholesterol. Betsy Carrier, 71, and her husband, Don Resnikoff, 79, relied on their primary care doctor in Montgomery County, Maryland, for help managing their ailments.

9 Jun 2020

Baltimore’s ‘squeegee boys’: ‘If we don’t go out, we don’t eat’

On the corner of South President and East Pratt streets in Baltimore a little over a month ago, a young man in a black hoodie stood out on an otherwise empty intersection.

8 Jun 2020

Blood pressure medications offer survival benefit for even the frailest elderly people

Taking blood pressure medication as prescribed helped even the frailest elderly people (65 and older) live longer, and the healthiest older people had the biggest survival boost, according to a large study in northern Italy published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

8 Jun 2020

Study provides data on hydroxychloroquine outcomes for COVID-19 patients

A study of electronic medical records from US Veterans Health Administration medical centers has found that hydroxychloroquine--with or without azithromycin--did not reduce the risk of ventilation or death and was associated with longer length of hospital stay.

5 Jun 2020

Social media fears about lack of coverage for protest injuries may be overblown

Thousands of protesters thronged the streets in recent days to express their anger over the killing of an African American man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis.

5 Jun 2020

Coronavirus surprise: IRS allows midyear insurance and FSA changes

The economic upheaval and social disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic have upended the assumptions many people made last fall about which insurance plan to sign up for, or how much of their pretax wages to sock away in health or dependent care flexible spending accounts.

1 Jun 2020