health care
Flo's boss backs medical-marijuana effort in Massachusetts
By adamg - 2/8/12 - 8:00 amThe Patriot Ledger reports the chairman of Progressive Insurance has contributed $525,000 to a group pushing a ballot question to legalize the medical use of marijuana here. The group has raised $1,167 from other sources.
Local Susan G. Komen affiliate: Planned Parenthood's never asked us for money, so we're cool, right?
By adamg - 2/1/12 - 7:30 pmSusan G. Komen for the Cure Massachusetts posts on its Facebook page that the national group's decision to stop giving money to Planned Parenthood for mammography screenings because of, oh, trumped up allegations by Republican congressmen won't affect anything in Massachusetts because the local Planned Parenthood never asked it for money.
Of course, if Planned Parenthood did ask Susan G. of Massachusetts for money, well:
It is our hope that any investigations that impact our ability to fund organizations will be resolved in an expedited manner so that we may continue funding services for our residents through whichever programs best serve their needs.
Mass. General, Brigham and Women's not doing us any favors with newly announced rates
By adamg - 1/22/12 - 9:56 amPaul Levy, who complained loudly about Partners Healthcare when he was CEO of Beth Israel, marvels at what he says is the spin on its recently announced contracts with Tufts and Blue Cross, that what the hospital holding company says is a willingness to rein in costs only perpetuates a system in which consumers and employers pay more than they should.
Looking back over the past decade, it is not unreasonable to posit that this system has added in the range of two billion dollars to the health care costs paid by the state's businesses and individuals. The newly announced deals change little in that regard, extending that hidden tax for years to come.
There's a downside to being America's Drunkest City
By adamg - 1/1/12 - 4:08 pmFord Vox, medical director of the acute inpatient acquired brain injury program at New England Rehabilitation Hospital, reports:
Alcohol contributed to the vast majority of traumatic brain injury cases I treated this year.
The $676 bag of salt water
By adamg - 1/1/12 - 10:13 amMike the Mad Biologist analyzes the bill from a recent four-hour ER visit, including a %676 charge for a bag of saline solution.
When a doctor's wife is diagnosed with breast cancer
By adamg - 12/22/11 - 10:13 amDr. John Halamka at Beth Israel reports on his wife's diagnosis and plans - with her consent - to blog about her treatment:
Last Thursday, my wife Kathy was diagnosed with poorly differentiated breast cancer. She is not facing this alone. We're approaching this as a team, as if together we have cancer. She has been my best friend for 30 years. I will do whatever it takes to ensure we have another 30 years together.
She's has agreed that I can chronicle the process, the diagnostic tests, the therapeutic decisions, the life events, and the emotions we experience with the hope it will help other patients and families on their cancer treatment journey.
Group fails to get enough signatures for ballot question to repeal health-insurance mandate
By adamg - 11/28/11 - 4:41 pmWBUR reports on a group called MAIM that wanted to eliminate the requirement than individuals buy health insurance if they don't have employers who provide it.
Blue Cross patients could lose access to Tufts Medical Center
By adamg - 11/15/11 - 7:19 pmCommonHealth reports on the collapse of contract talks between the hospital and the insurer.
1,111 boxes of Cheerios on 11/11/11
By adamg - 11/11/11 - 8:20 amFranklin Matters reports the Franklin Federated Church was trying to collect all those boxes for a program at Boston Medical Center for little kids who need extra nutritional help.
Why H1N1 killed otherwise healthy kids
By adamg - 11/7/11 - 1:31 pmCommonHealth alerts us to a Children's Hospital study that found kids infected with MRSA seemed to be especially at risk to death by flu. In some areas, up to 9% of kids now have the antibiotic-resistant bacteria living in their noses; such kids had an eightfold risk of severe and sometimes fatal H1N1 flu infections. And this, they say, is why kids need to get flu shots.
