Author's posts
Damaged Credit Delays the Dream of Buying a Home
Joe Pitzo was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018. After surgery, the bills topped $350,000. “This just took a major toll on my credit,” Joe said. “It went down to next to nothing.”
Patients Seek Mental Health Care From Their Doctor But Find Health Plans Standing in the Way
Despite a consensus that patients should be able to get mental health care from primary care doctors, insurance policies and financial incentives may not support that.
National Addiction Treatment Locator Has Outdated Data and Other Critical Flaws
Three years after a government site launched to connect Americans to treatment, finding addiction care is still a struggle.
Never-Ending Costs: When Resolved Medical Bills Keep Popping Up
A bill one family considered paid wrongfully resurfaced, resurrecting painful memories. It’s a scenario that’s not uncommon but grievously unsettling.
With Overdose Deaths Surging, Advocates on the Ground Push for Over-the-Counter Naloxone
Harm-reduction groups say that requiring a doctor to sign off on their orders of the overdose reversal drug is one of the biggest barriers they face in obtaining the lifesaving medication.
What Happens After a Campus Suicide Is a Form of Prevention, Too
The scientific term is “postvention,” and it informs how to navigate the emotional challenges that follow such a tragedy.
Colleges are turning to science to limit suicide contagion and help heal campuses
The new strategy is called “postvention.” It means having a plan built on truth, compassion and counseling that quickly addresses the mental health needs of friends and classmates after a suicide.
As Overdose Deaths Soar, DEA-Wary Pharmacies Shy From Dispensing Addiction Medication
A West Virginia pharmacy cleared a Drug Enforcement Agency investigation. But it shut down anyway, highlighting how the agency’s policies reduce the availability of buprenorphine, an important tool for recovery from opioid addiction.
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.
