As a health care writer and data analyst, I hear frequently from patients who are being denied safe and effective pain care due to unscientific bias on the part of U.S. health care agencies—and sometimes on the part of otherwise once-reputable medical …
“Once it’s in your body, there’s no taking it back.” That’s what the infusion nurse told a friend of mine after administering the injection. She had just started a biologic medication for an autoimmune condition. Immediate…
“Will I be asleep or awake during my procedure?” This is the first question many patients ask before oral surgery. It reveals a common misconception: That anesthesia works like a light switch. It doesn’t. Anesthesia exists on a spectr…
Functional precision oncology is taking precision medicine to the next level. It is changing the way we fight cancer by testing a patient’s live tumor outside the body to determine the treatments most likely to work. This approach promises to dou…
I absolutely hate prescribing medication to children. I am quite worried when someone asks for my opinion on a sick child. I have some experience treating children during my internship and residency, yet I am pretty uncomfortable. However, living in a …
In recent years, psychiatric care has undergone a shift in the clinical mindset toward medication management for people living with schizophrenia and other chronic mental health conditions. As recognition grows for the breadth and depth of the clinical…
In a revealing snapshot of American mental health, the CDC recently reported that nearly 1 in 4 adults in the United States may be taking psychotropic medications. This staggering number should both draw attention and raise questions. Are we truly addr…
An excerpt from Your Body, Your Health Care. Tens of millions of American women—more than four out of five women who have had sexual intercourse—have used oral contraceptives, which are crucial for reducing unwanted pregnancies and the incidence of abo…
Everyone seems so scared of the word government regulation when it comes to health care. Why? In part, this is because those against regulations (everyone making money off health care) make sure to scare laypeople into equating such action with sociali…
The 340B drug discount program was enacted more than 30 years ago to lower the cost of medications so providers could deliver more comprehensive services for vulnerable patients. As care delivery has evolved greatly over that time, the program has not …
