Category: patients
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STAT+: The federal directory of doctors and hospitals is coming this year
STAT+: The federal directory of doctors and hospitals is coming this year After years of grand ambitions, the federal government disclosed that it is months away from rolling out a centralized list of doctors and hospitals filled with up-to-date contact and insurance information. Details of how the national provider directory will work are scant —…
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Do mornings make cancer immunotherapy more effective? Study: Maybe
Do mornings make cancer immunotherapy more effective? Study: Maybe Over the last few years, researchers have noticed that cancer patients who get immunotherapy infusions in the morning seem to do significantly better than those who get treated later. Many scientists, even some who had published such observations, were doubtful that time of day could truly…
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Medicare proposes new transplant system rules that might spur use of less-than-perfect organs
Medicare proposes new transplant system rules that might spur use of less-than-perfect organs WASHINGTON — The government proposed new rules for the nation’s transplant system Wednesday that aim to increase use of less-than-perfect organs and set additional safety standards for donor groups. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the proposal would strengthen its oversight of organ procurement…
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STAT+: How accurate is HBO’s ‘The Pitt’? Mass. ER doctors and nurses describe the reality of their jobs
STAT+: How accurate is HBO’s ‘The Pitt’? Mass. ER doctors and nurses describe the reality of their jobs Emergency room staff cut the clothes off an unresponsive homeless man, and several rats leap from his body onto the floor. Doctors examine a child who won’t wake up and discover he ate one of his father’s cannabis…
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Opinion: The complicated truth about urinary tract infections in the elderly
Opinion: The complicated truth about urinary tract infections in the elderly Recently, a former patient contacted me about his wife. “She had a recent stroke which has caused cognitive decline along with slow-growing dementia,” he told me via text. “Never, ever had a urinary tract infection in her life, she has now had four in…
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An advocate who offered a window on the experience of living with brain cancer dies at 43
An advocate who offered a window on the experience of living with brain cancer dies at 43 In 2018, I wrote a profile of a patient advocate named Adam Hayden. A few years earlier, at the age of 34, soon after he and his wife had had their third child, Adam was diagnosed with terminal…
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Opinion: Everything is changing in dementia diagnosis and treatment
Opinion: Everything is changing in dementia diagnosis and treatment Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Jason Karlawish, who writes STAT’s Neurotransmissions column. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode…
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STAT+: Why so many primary care doctors are switching between two Harvard-affiliated hospital systems
STAT+: Why so many primary care doctors are switching between two Harvard-affiliated hospital systems Six primary care providers at a single Mass General Brigham practice are moving to rival Beth Israel Lahey Health in January, raising to at least 18 the total number of such defections from the state’s largest health care system to the second largest…
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NIH funding cuts have affected over 74,000 people enrolled in experiments, a new report says
NIH funding cuts have affected over 74,000 people enrolled in experiments, a new report says NEW YORK — Over 74,000 people enrolled in experiments have been affected by the National Institutes of Health’s funding cuts, according to a new report. Between the end of February and mid-August, funding ceased for 383 studies that were testing treatments for conditions…
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Advocates decry intersex exceptions in trans health bans
Advocates decry intersex exceptions in trans health bans The scars have been there as long as Emory Hufbauer can remember. When Hufbauer was a baby, doctors performed an operation that Hufbauer describes generally as one that took away their fertility and their ability to produce their own hormones; they also describe it emphatically as intersex…
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Opinion: These bioethicists want to start a conversation on ‘faking’ CPR
Opinion: These bioethicists want to start a conversation on ‘faking’ CPR Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Jason Wasserman and Parker Crutchfield. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode…
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STAT+: UnitedHealthcare drops remote monitoring coverage in defiance of Medicare policies
STAT+: UnitedHealthcare drops remote monitoring coverage in defiance of Medicare policies Beginning in January, UnitedHealthcare will no longer pay physicians to remotely monitor the data that patients collect at home about chronic conditions like hypertension. The updated medical policies for both Medicare and commercial health plans from the country’s largest insurer were posted in September…
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Trump team takes aim at state laws shielding consumers’ credit scores from medical debt
Trump team takes aim at state laws shielding consumers’ credit scores from medical debt The Trump administration took another step Tuesday to weaken protections for Americans with medical debt, issuing new guidance that threatens ongoing state efforts to keep that debt off consumers’ credit reports. More than a dozen states, including Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado,…
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STAT+: Enhertu pushes into early breast cancer, as antibody-drug conjugates move up the line
STAT+: Enhertu pushes into early breast cancer, as antibody-drug conjugates move up the line BERLIN — Enhertu has become a staple treatment in advanced breast cancer, but new data presented Saturday at the European Society for Medical Oncology’s annual conference show the drug can have powerful benefits for patients when given earlier in the disease,…
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Opinion: When patients don’t want to treat their cancer
Opinion: When patients don’t want to treat their cancer Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” episode with Joy Lisi Rankin and Samyukta Mullangi about decision-making around breast cancer treatment. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts…
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STAT+: House speaker backs emergency care law as GOP targets immigrant medical treatment in shutdown fight
STAT+: House speaker backs emergency care law as GOP targets immigrant medical treatment in shutdown fight WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday that Republicans don’t want to change a law requiring hospitals to provide care to any individual experiencing a medical emergency, including immigrants without legal status. His remarks capped off more…
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STAT+: UnitedHealth taps Duke scientist to lead AI efforts
STAT+: UnitedHealth taps Duke scientist to lead AI efforts UnitedHealth Group has tapped a Duke University artificial intelligence expert to be its chief AI scientist as the health care giant ramps up the use of the technology across its sprawling network of businesses, according to a memo obtained by STAT. Michael Pencina, chief data scientist…
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Home hospital programs in ‘terror’ as they grind to halt ahead of government shutdown
Home hospital programs in ‘terror’ as they grind to halt ahead of government shutdown On any given day, dozens of patients waiting for hospital rooms line the hallways of the emergency department at UMass Memorial Medical Center’s University Campus. It’s one reason the Worcester-based health system dove into delivering home hospital care four years ago. …
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STAT+: Patients set to lose hospital care at home if government funding isn’t extended
STAT+: Patients set to lose hospital care at home if government funding isn’t extended WASHINGTON — If Congress doesn’t fund the government by the end of the day on Tuesday, patients across the country who have been receiving hospital-level care at home will be placed back in hospitals. The Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative…
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Trump administration to close Miami organ donation group it calls ‘failing’
Trump administration to close Miami organ donation group it calls ‘failing’ WASHINGTON — The Trump administration moved Thursday to shut down a Miami organ donation group, calling it “failing” because of underperformance, unsafe practices and paperwork errors. The Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency is one of 55 organ procurement organizations, or OPOs, nonprofit agencies around…
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STAT+: Democrats introduce bill to break up health care conglomerates like UnitedHealth Group
STAT+: Democrats introduce bill to break up health care conglomerates like UnitedHealth Group Democrats in Congress are proposing legislation that would bar health insurers from buying medical practices through their subsidiaries and require them to separate their insurance and provider businesses. Filed by Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), the bill is aimed at breaking up companies…
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STAT+: Novo Nordisk links to telehealth providers for patients seeking Wegovy
STAT+: Novo Nordisk links to telehealth providers for patients seeking Wegovy Novo Nordisk has taken the next step in selling its drugs directly to patients by pointing them to telehealth providers that can write prescriptions for its popular obesity medication Wegovy. The company now links to select virtual providers on the NovoCare direct-to-patient pharmacy website…
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STAT+: DOJ and UnitedHealth reach settlement on $3.3 billion Amedisys deal
STAT+: DOJ and UnitedHealth reach settlement on $3.3 billion Amedisys deal The Department of Justice and state officials have reached a proposed settlement agreement with UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys that would allow the companies to complete their $3.3 billion combination so long as they agree to sell 164 home health and hospice locations across 19…
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STAT+: Health care and tech companies promise CMS they’ll make patient data more accessible
STAT+: Health care and tech companies promise CMS they’ll make patient data more accessible On Wednesday, over 60 health tech companies signed a pledge orchestrated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to make health data-sharing easier and to build apps for patients to access and act on their health data. CMS Administrator Mehmet…
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Major Alzheimer’s group says some blood tests may be used in place of brain scans for diagnosis
Major Alzheimer’s group says some blood tests may be used in place of brain scans for diagnosis A major Alzheimer’s disease medical group is recommending that specialists may use certain blood tests to help diagnose patients with cognitive impairment in lieu of more complex and invasive tests, a move that could lead more people to…
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STAT+: For many Duchenne families, halt to gene therapy is heartbreak upon heartbreak
STAT+: For many Duchenne families, halt to gene therapy is heartbreak upon heartbreak Jennifer Hill Blair recognized the Cincinnati number on her buzzing phone and slipped out of the school meeting, excited to finally learn when her son Cayse would receive a therapy she believed would change his life. Blair, a second-grade teacher in southern…
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STAT+: After explosive federal report, Congress fears plummeting trust in organ donation
STAT+: After explosive federal report, Congress fears plummeting trust in organ donation WASHINGTON — Members of a congressional oversight committee said Tuesday that they fear public trust in organ donation has been fractured after a federal report found that an organ procurement organization ignored signs of life in patients when authorizing attempted organ removals. The…
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PEPFAR keeps millions of people with HIV alive and may be spared from Trump spending cuts
PEPFAR keeps millions of people with HIV alive and may be spared from Trump spending cuts The program known as PEPFAR is one of the most effective and popular U.S. foreign aid projects in history, and the government says it has saved the lives of over 25 million people around the world with HIV. But…
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Federal judge reverses rule that would have removed medical debt from credit reports
Federal judge reverses rule that would have removed medical debt from credit reports NEW YORK — A federal judge in Texas removed a Biden-era finalized ruled by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that would have removed medical debt from credit reports. U.S. District Court Judge Sean Jordan of Texas’s Eastern District, who was appointed by Trump, found on Friday…
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Trump administration cuts undocumented immigrants’ access to range of federally funded programs
Trump administration cuts undocumented immigrants’ access to range of federally funded programs WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday announced it would further curtail undocumented immigrants’ access to federally funded programs, including health care clinics, early childhood education, and nutritional support. The decision reverses a federal practice that has been in place for decades, and is…
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STAT+: Health insurers promise to reduce barriers to care under pressure from Trump administration
STAT+: Health insurers promise to reduce barriers to care under pressure from Trump administration WASHINGTON — Last week’s pledge from more than 40 health insurers to cut down on prior authorizations came after some behind-the-scenes convincing from the Trump administration. The administration pushed insurers to sign a voluntary pledge to cut back on prior authorizations…
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Opinion: Can dying people really will their body to stay alive for a final event?
Opinion: Can dying people really will their body to stay alive for a final event? Earlier this spring, Pope Francis was hospitalized for more than five weeks. A pneumonia riddled both of his lungs, and his doctors thought he was in imminent danger of death. But he recovered enough to return to the Vatican and…
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Opinion: What it’s like to have measles, mumps, whooping cough, and other vaccine-preventable illnesses
Opinion: What it’s like to have measles, mumps, whooping cough, and other vaccine-preventable illnesses When I was recently at the vet’s office, I started eavesdropping a little on the conversation between two older women. When they started talking about the measles outbreak in Texas, I couldn’t help it. I joined in. One of the women,…
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STAT+: GOP hits resistance on Medicaid cuts, and a brewing plan to lower drug prices
STAT+: GOP hits resistance on Medicaid cuts, and a brewing plan to lower drug prices You’re reading the web edition of D.C. Diagnosis, STAT’s twice-weekly newsletter about the politics and policy of health and medicine. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A horse named Journalism was favored to win the…
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Doctors remove pig kidney from an Alabama woman after a record 130 days
Doctors remove pig kidney from an Alabama woman after a record 130 days WASHINGTON — An Alabama woman who lived with a pig kidney for a record 130 days had the organ removed after her body began rejecting it and is back on dialysis, doctors announced Friday — a disappointment in the ongoing quest for animal-to-human transplants.…
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STAT+: As more patients get automated test results, researchers seek ways to calm their nerves
STAT+: As more patients get automated test results, researchers seek ways to calm their nerves Editor’s note: This story contains a description of self-harm. Oncologist Mark Lewis has never had much of a poker face. When he walked into his cancer patient’s visit in 2022, he was wearing a big smile: The nodules in his…