How States Can Expand Access To Palliative Care
Conclusion
The policies discussed in this Blog post are intended to serve as a framework for policymakers and other stakeholders interested in doing more to support palliative care in their states. Here are a few considerations for those interested in exploring potential options:
None of the policies and initiatives described above would have been possible without efforts from key stakeholders such as the state hospice and palliative care associations, and local funders, researchers, and advocates. Champions such as Colorado’s Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC), the Coalition for Compassionate Care of Cal...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - January 30, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Stacie Sinclair and Diane Meier Tags: End of Life & Serious Illness Long-term Services and Supports Medicaid and CHIP Payment Policy Quality California End-of-Life Care Palliative Care States Source Type: blogs
Chronic Pain and the Opioid Epidemic: Wicked Issues Have No Simple Solutions
Written By Myra ChristopherMy mom was a steel magnolia (i.e., southern and perfectly charming), but she had a steel rod up her back. After her first surgery for stomach cancer at age 53, she refused pain medication because she said that she “could take it.” She was young and strong and committed to “beating cancer.” After nearly two years of chemotherapy, radiation and two more surgeries, the cancer won. Eventually, I watched her beg nurses to give her “a shot” minutes before another was scheduled and be told they were sorry but she would have to wait. I could tell by the expressions on ...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - January 23, 2017 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Practical Bioethics Tags: Health Care chronic pain Opioid addiction Opioid Epidemic Opioid prescriptions syndicated Source Type: blogs
Fighting the injustice of health disparities: Honoring the legacies of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. & Dr. John M. Eisenberg
For the past several years I have run this post and just as it was those years, it is this year a very important message.
We, as a nation, have made progress and I believe Dr. King would be proud. But our work is far from complete – particularly where health care is concerned. Another doctor, Dr. John M. Eisenberg, a physician of tremendous stature whose life was also tragically cut short (not by an assassin’s bullet but by brain cancer) was equally passionate about the dignity of life and justice for all Americans. Dr. Eisenberg, who among other things, served as the Director of the Agency for Health Care Policy and R...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - January 16, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Advocacy Choice Source Type: blogs
Health Insurance
I am very concerned about the potential changes in the national health insurance program that is in place. In principle I like the idea of national health insurance so that patient ' s are not victims of their health insurance company or are tied to jobs they hate just to keep their health insurance.I also like the idea of no pre-existing condition clauses, young adults can stay on their parents insurance longer, and no lifetime insurance caps. And I want all of these items to stay. I also want every American to be able to get health insurance if they want.I would like to see changes that help reduce costs of insurance and...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - January 13, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: being a patient changes health insurance Source Type: blogs
First Longitudinal Study to Examine Progression from Vaping to Smoking among Young People Finds No Effect of Vaping
The first longitudinalstudy that examines progression from vaping to smoking among young people has been published in the journalAddictive Behaviors. The study followed college freshmen at Virginia Commonwealth University for one year to examine whether vaping at baseline was associated with the progression from never smoking to ever and/or current smoking at follow-up.(See: Spindle TR, et al. Electronic cigarette use and uptake of cigarette smoking: A longitudinal examination of U.S. college students.Addictive Behaviors 2017; 67:66-72.)As reported by Dr. Stan Glantz, the major finding of the study was that:" controlling f...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - January 6, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
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My first published piece of creative nonfiction literature also happens to be quasi poetry. Here is me, in a word.As published in aptFavorite drug: OxyContin. Second favorite drug: Cinnabon. Most painful drug: chemotherapy. Second most painful drug: Cinnabon. Drug I consumed most: Benadryl. Person who has consumed most Benadryl in world history: me. Number of uses of Benadryl: infinite.Favorite food: pizza. Favorite topping: pepperoni. Practice never followed: kosher. Feeling experienced during bar mitzvah: nervousness. Substance wished knew about during bar mitzvah: whiskey.High school sport: tennis. Sport too short to su...
Source: cancerslayerblog - January 2, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: writing/speaking Source Type: blogs
In a Word
My first published piece of creative nonfiction literature also happens to be quasi poetry. Here is me, in a word.As published in aptFavorite drug: OxyContin. Second favorite drug: Cinnabon. Most painful drug: chemotherapy. Second most painful drug: Cinnabon. Drug I consumed most: Benadryl. Person who has consumed most Benadryl in world history: me. Number of uses of Benadryl: infinite.Favorite food: pizza. Favorite topping: pepperoni. Practice never followed: kosher. Feeling experienced during bar mitzvah: nervousness. Substance wished knew about during bar mitzvah: whiskey.High school sport: tennis. Sport too short to su...
Source: cancerslayerblog - January 2, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: writing/speaking Source Type: blogs
Unpacking the 21st Century Cures Act
By STEVEN FINDLAY
President Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act into law this week. It’s the largest piece of health legislation since the Affordable Care Act. No doubt you’ve heard or read that—and it’s true.
But while the legislation was three years in the making and much hyped, it became the best recent example of that old saying that passing federal laws is akin to sausage making: You don’t really want to watch what goes into it.
(An aside: I made venison and bacon sausages from scratch for the first time this year and can attest to the “visceral” nature of that exercise.)
There’s some...
Source: The Health Care Blog - December 15, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Despite Long Record of Misadventures, Johnson and Johnson to Receive Award for " Ethical Leadership?! "
What does it take for a big pharmaceutical/ device/ biotechnology company to get an ethics award?Reported by Sheila Kaplan at Stat (but for subscribers only), and first noticed by Carl Elliott and justdiscussed on his Fear and Loathing in Bioethics blog, it appears that the giant Johnson and Johnson pharma/ device/ biotech company will get an award in " ethical leadership " from and " organization called Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics, or FASPE. "The Stat report, quoted by Dr Elliott, stated:FASPE Chairman David Goldman, an attorney in New York, said he wasaware of the pharma giant ’s vario...
Source: Health Care Renewal - December 14, 2016 Category: Health Management Tags: crime health care ethics Johnson and Johnson legal settlements Source Type: blogs
The treatment to give people more time
I was about 13 years old. I heard that she had cancer and I went to the hospital to visit her. Her name was Sister Pat, and she was my former principal and my favorite teacher from elementary school. I don’t think she had reached her fortieth birthday. I was too young and uninformed to ask about any of the details. However what stuck with me and I remember so many years later is that on her dying bed her lament was she wished she had more time. There was so much more she wanted to do.
That encounter cemented my career choice. I was going to be a medical doctor, a career I felt drawn to since the age of 7 but wave...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 10, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/monique-rainford" rel="tag" > Monique Rainford, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Primary care Source Type: blogs
MKSAP: 32-year-old woman with a history of nonmelanoma skin cancer
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 32-year-old woman is evaluated at a well-patient visit. Both her parents have a history of nonmelanoma skin cancer within the past year, and she is seeking counseling regarding skin cancer prevention. She has a history of remote sunburns and had previously tanned as a teenager. She requests advice on how to approach sun protection to limit both future skin cancer risk as well as to prevent wrinkles and cosmetic photodamage.
The patient has no other significant medical history and takes no medications.
On physi...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 10, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/mksap" rel="tag" > mksap < /a > Tags: Conditions Dermatology Source Type: blogs
MR-HIFU and ThermoDox to Treat Recurrent Childhood Tumors: Interview with AeRang Kim, Principal Investigator
Children’s National Health System and the Celsion Corporation (Lawrenceville, NJ) have recently announced a Phase I clinical trial in the US to determine a safe and tolerable dose of ThermoDox in conjunction with non-invasive magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU). The trial is aimed on young adults and children with recurring solid tumors.
ThermoDox technology consists of liposomes loaded with doxorubicin, a conventional chemotherapeutic drug. Liposomes are small lipid structures which can be used to encapsulate and deliver drugs through the bloodstream. While liposomal doxorubicin formu...
Source: Medgadget - December 6, 2016 Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Nanomedicine Oncology Source Type: blogs
A Reasonable Perspective on Cryonics
In this article, one of the scientists involved in our rejuvenation research community outlines a very reasonable view on cryonics and cryopreservation. Cryonics is the low-temperature preservation of at least the brain following death, done these days with the use of cryoprotectants and vitrifiction to minimize ice crystal formation. It offers an unknown chance at a future restoration to life: technology marches onwards year after year, and for so long as the structures that encode the data of the mind are preserved, there is the possibility of living again in a future age that has mastered the technologies needed for res...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 2, 2016 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Best Post of October 2016: Brain Cancer Surpasses Leukemia as #1 Pediatric Cancer Killer
The next in our " Best of the Month " series comes from October 18, 2016:The following post appeared on the Johns Hopkins Neuropathology Blog last month. The author is Andrew Black:New data from the CDC shows the mortality rates for pediatric cancers is in decline. A study published by the CDC found that during 1999 –2014, the cancer death rate for patients aged 1–19 years in the United States dropped 20%. What is also changing are the type of patients dying. In 1999, leukemia was the leading killer of childhood cancer. That has been replaced by brain cancer. Numerous other trends were also observed in the st...
Source: neuropathology blog - November 28, 2016 Category: Radiology Tags: Best of the Month series facts and figures Source Type: blogs
Dishonesty of Vaping Opponents (Health Agencies) is Out of Control; Urgent Action is Needed
The misleading information being spread to the public by vaping opponents, including prominent health agencies like federal, state, and local health departments, has become out of control. It threatens to do immense public health damage by protecting cigarette sales at the expense of a much safer alternative - electronic cigarettes - and at the same time it also threatens the reputation of public health agencies.Today, I highlight four examples of misinformation about electronic cigarettes from vaping opponents, representing four levels of health groups: international, national, state, and local.InternationalWorld Health O...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - November 28, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
