Author's posts
In Tennessee, a Medicaid mix-up could land you on a ‘most wanted’ list
Medicaid enrollment swelled during the pandemic. And some states are being especially aggressive at policing their rolls.
Hospitals contracted with private companies are cutting costs by relying on nurses
More and more hospitals are contracting with private companies to run their emergency departments. To save money, many are increasingly relying on nurses and physician assistants instead of doctors.
Damaged and diseased organs: The agency overseeing transplants faces intense scrutiny
The agency overseeing organ transplants is under fire. A probe found transplants are canceled over lost or damaged organs, and lax oversight allowed at least 70 people to die by contracting diseases.
Transplant agency is criticized for donor organs arriving late, damaged or diseased
A probe found troubling lapses in the country’s organ transplant system. Blood types mismatched, diseased organs accidentally transplanted and donor organs lost or damaged in transit.
Buy a rural hospital for $100? Investors pick up struggling institutions for pennies
Some rural hospitals are in such bad shape, they’re selling for next to nothing. One company is snapping several distressed or closed hospitals in rural Tennessee, hoping to turn a profit.
Overdose reversal drugs gain support at music festivals, but not fentanyl test strips
Festival promoters are allowing lifesaving medication as fentanyl deaths surge, but volunteers are often left to distribute it, and more controversial forms of harm reduction aren’t openly allowed.
Even with risky survival rate, shortages of ECMO machines cost lives, study finds
For COVID patients, ECMO is a last-ditch respiratory treatment in which only about half survive. Yet a new small study suggests many lives would still have been saved if there had been more machines.
Fights over the role of state medical boards
State medical boards have an obligation to investigate complaints about doctors, including those who spread COVID misinformation. But GOP lawmakers in some states want the boards to back off.
As state medical boards try to stamp out COVID misinformation, some in GOP push back
State medical boards have an obligation to investigate complaints about doctors, such as those who spread COVIC misinformation. But in Tennessee and other states, lawmakers are saying ‘not so fast’
For travel nurses, jobs at home can’t come close to pay they get on the road
The pandemic pay for traveling nurses was too good to pass up for many RNs. But some are ready to settle down at home, and they’re finding full-time jobs aren’t keeping up with salary increases.
