Author's posts
6 Months to Live or Die: How Long Should an Alcoholic Liver Disease Patient Wait for a Transplant?
In a practice dating to the 1980s, many hospitals require people with alcohol-related liver disease to complete a period of sobriety before they can be added to the waiting list for a liver. But this thinking may be changing.
The Bill For His COVID Test In Texas Was A Whopping $54,000
A businessman from Dallas got a PCR test for the coronavirus at a suburban emergency room. The charge for his test was “egregious” but not illegal, say health care analysts. Here’s what happened.
A Covid Test Costing More Than a Tesla? It Happened in Texas.
A patient from Dallas got a PCR test in a free-standing suburban emergency room. The out-of-network charge: $54,000.
From Uber Vouchers to Patient Advocates: What It Takes to Increase ER Addiction Treatment
Despite widespread consensus on the importance of addiction treatment in the ER, many hospitals fail to screen for substance use, offer medications to treat opioid use disorder or connect patients to follow-up care. But some are working to change that.
Pandemic Unveils Growing Suicide Crisis for Communities of Color
Suicides have risen among Black, Hispanic and other communities of color during covid. But the rates were already escalating before the pandemic struck.
Many ERs Fail People Who Struggle With Addiction. These New Approaches Might Help
Starting treatment for addiction in the emergency room greatly improves the chances recovery will last, experts say. Cutting red tape, hiring advocates and Uber vouchers can all make a difference.
How ERs Fail Patients With Addiction: One Patient’s Tragic Death
Two intractable failings of the U.S. health care system — addiction treatment and medical costs — come to a head in the ER, where patients desperate for addiction treatment arrive, only to find the facility may not be equipped to deal with substance use or, if they are, treatment is prohibitively expensive.
A Tragic Death Shows How ERs Fail Patients Who Struggle With Addiction
ER doctors wanted to hospitalize the young man to help ease his withdrawal from opioid dependence. But he declined because he couldn’t afford it. His mom says no one told him he had financial options.
Women Now Drink As Much As Men And Suffer Health Effects More Quickly
Women aren’t just upping their drinking, researchers say. Increasingly they are “drinking to cope,” instead of for pleasure — which accelerates the risk of alcohol use disorder and its health damage.
Women Now Drink as Much as Men — And Are Prone to Sickness Sooner
Young women have closed the gender gap for excessive drinking. And that was before the pandemic. The trend is particularly troubling because women are at greater risk for blackouts, liver disease, cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers linked to alcohol use.
