Category: Health/Traditional Medicine

Don't blame crowded emergency room conditions on the uninsured, according to a new study.

The 47 million Americans who lack health insurance are the reason emergency departments are crowded all the time – right? And only the uninsured visit the emergency department for minor complaints, because it’s easier than going to a doctor – right?

Volunteers in Medicine is easing the pain of the healthcare crisis by opening free clinics across the country.

In over 66 communities across the country, 250,000+ retired physicians and 350,000 retired nurses are now providing a solution to the healthcare crisis. Volunteers in Medicine (VIM), an organization whose mission is to promote and guide the development of a national network of free clinics, is utilizing retired medical professionals and lay volunteers to care for the uninsured within a culture of caring.

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Dr. Frank Bowen examines a pediatric patient at The Volunteers in Medicine Clinic in Hilton Head, NC.

Only Vermont, Montana and New Hampshire earned an A, according to a new report from the Center to Advance Palliative Care. Three states - Oklahoma, Alabama and Mississippi - got an F.

America does a mediocre job caring for its sickest patients. The nation, says a new report, gets a C.

Hospital palliative care programs make patients facing serious and chronic illness more comfortable by alleviating their pain and symptoms and counseling patients and their families.

Training in emotional intelligence could help medical residents and fellows become more sensitive toward their patients, according to a commentary in the September 10th issue of the "Journal of the American Medical Association."

Patients are less likely to complain and more likely to have positive health results if their physician communicates well with them. For these and other reasons, medical schools include interpersonal and communication skills in their training programs. According to an article in the September 10th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, medical education needs to delve even deeper to help doctors relate better.

A bacterial molecule that initially signals to animals that they have been invaded must be wiped out by a special enzyme before an infected animal can regain full health, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

A bacterial molecule that initially signals to animals that they have been invaded must be wiped out by a special enzyme before an infected animal can regain full health, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

Using a genetically engineered mouse model, the team found that simply eradicating the infection-causing bug isn’t enough to restore an animal’s immune function. Lipopolysaccharide, or LPS, the dominant bacterial “signal” molecule that heralds the invasion, must also be inactivated. The findings are to appear online Sept. 11 in Cell Host & Microbe.

New research strongly suggests that a mix of preventative agents, such as those found in concentrated black raspberries, may more effectively inhibit cancer development than single agents aimed at shutting down a particular gene.

New research strongly suggests that a mix of preventative agents, such as those found in concentrated black raspberries, may more effectively inhibit cancer development than single agents aimed at shutting down a particular gene.

Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center examined the effect of freeze-dried black raspberries on genes altered by a chemical carcinogen in an animal model of esophageal cancer.

A study shows that hospitals often do not adhere to their own policies regarding the uninsured.

A case study of three health care institutions - public, for-profit and not-for-profit - within one metropolitan area found that self-pay patients must navigate a system that provides no guarantees medical centers will follow their own policies for providing uncompensated care.

The study is published in the August issue of the journal Medical Care.

"We know from previous research that the uninsured have poor outcomes on a number of measures and they are less likely to seek care when they need it," said Dr. Saul Weiner, University of Illinois at Chicago associate professor of pediatrics and internal medicine, and lead author of the study. "But we know less about what actually happens when the uninsured try to obtain health care in various settings, and more specifically, how institutions deal with these patients."

As new evidence becomes available, healthcare providers are becoming increasingly aware that ongoing opioid therapy for chronic pain might actually worsen the pain in some patients – a condition called Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia or OIH.

Opioid medications are essential for helping to relieve all types of serious pain. However, relatively recent evidence suggests that in some patients they can paradoxically worsen the pain.

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In some patients, opioid analgesics paradoxically make pain worse.

According to recent research, Americans are likely to be exposed to unacceptable side effects of FDA-approved drugs because of fatal flaws in the way new drugs are tested and marketed.

Americans are likely to be exposed to unacceptable side effects of FDA-approved drugs such as Vioxx in the future because of fatal flaws in the way new drugs are tested and marketed, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

Potentially preventable medical errors that occur during or after surgery may cost employers nearly $1.5 billion a year, according to new estimates.

In a study published in the July 28 issue of the journal Health Services Research, AHRQ’s William E. Encinosa, Ph.D., and Fred J. Hellinger, P.D., found that insurers paid an additional $28,218 (52 percent more) and an additional $19,480 (48 percent more) for surgery patients who experienced acute respiratory failure or post-operative infections, respectively, compared with patients who did not experience either error.