Communication

August 21, 2019

Glimmers of hope in new therapies to battle killer Ebola and lethal TB strain

Rare good news on destructive infections is emerging from Africa: Medical scientists, Good Samaritans, and public health officials are hailing the successes of powerful new therapies in treating a deadly and extremely drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis and Ebola, a killer viral hemorrhagic fever that spreads like wildfire.

Americans may skip over dispatches about these “foreign” news developments. They would be wise not to do so, because they have heightened importance these days, domestically, including in providing key lessons to be learned about how to safeguard the public health.

The TB care that is winning great attention overseas requires patients to take three drugs in a regimen in which they take five pills a day for six months. That already is a boon compared with other, now common therapies in which they might need 40 pills a day for as long as two years, or daily antibiotics shots with bad side effects like deafness, kidney failure, and psychosis.

August 20, 2019

As NFL talks up lesser head harms, study shows repeated slams injure brains

by Patrick A. Malone

Although commentators and pro football itself have argued that rule changes by the National Football League have notably reduced possible head harms, new evidence from college athletes shows that even knocks that aren’t severe enough to be deemed concussions may injure young brains.

Those findings come from a University of Rochester study based on brain scans and helmet data from members of the school’s Division III football team (shown above), the New York Times reported.

Researchers scanned the athletes’ mid-brain area twice, once before the season kicked off and at its end. They did so because that region would most likely show the effects of impacts, including those that might be tougher to gauge in other areas of the brain. They also compiled data from special equipment on players’ helmets, registering the number and intensity of every impact — not just from player collisions but also when athletes hit the ground.

August 14, 2019

For patients’ sake, U.S. must slap down Big Pharma chiseling on tests, trials

by Patrick A. Malone

Big Pharma is testing crucial boundaries in the way that the nation determines the safety and effectiveness of prescription medications. And regulators, for patients’ sake, need to shove back — hard.

The concerning incidents involve “pay to play” clinical trials and “manipulated” data submitted to the federal Food and Drug Administration by maker Novartis as part of the approval process for a gene therapy drug with a sky-high price.

Neither instance, officials insist, had immediate effects in endangering patients. But both show extreme practices and conduct that regulators should slam to a halt.

August 12, 2019

Gun violence is a public health crisis. Research and treatment are needed now.

by Patrick A. Malone

With back-to-back-to-back incidents of mass gun violence killing almost three dozen children, women, and men, can this nation muster the political courage to treat this lethal scourge as a public health menace?

Can it, finally, green light and fund rigorous research that could inform public policies that both could protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights while also reducing the estimated 40,000 or so firearm deaths that occurred in 2018 alone?

For what it is worth, there is considerable and (what should be) convincing evidence that:

August 9, 2019

Another abuse scandal may change ‘The Talk’ with college-bound students

by Patrick A. Malone

It’s that time of year when parents send their kids off to schools and opportunities near or far away. While this should be a mostly welcome happening, sadly grownups may want to have The Talk with their young adults before they go to college or university.

No, they won’t be discussing just the birds and the bees. They may be talking about an ugly necessity — how young people must know appropriate boundaries and acceptable conduct by adults with responsibilities for their care, specifically athletic coaches and health providers at colleges and universities. This is an issue of rising concern for young women and men.

Yet another sexual abuse scandal has erupted involving dozens of young men in track and field programs, spanning the globe for decades, ESPN reported. The tawdry incidents focus on Conrad Montgomery Avondale Mainwaring, now 67 and hobbled by hip problems.

August 7, 2019

Loneliness, debilitation, and depression blamed for seniors’ rising suicides

by Patrick A. Malone

The nation’s rising suicide crisis torments seniors, too, with just under one out of five such deaths in 2017 occurring with individuals 65 and older. Men 65-plus, experts say, face the highest suicide risk, while seniors 85 and older, men and women, rank No. 2 in groups most likely to die by taking their own lives.

As the nation grays — 10,000 baby boomers a day turn 65, in a trend that will persist until 2029 — the already high concern about suicide, especially among seniors, is rising, National Public Radio reported.

NPR, noting that suicide already is the 10^th leading cause of death among all Americans, said that experts see loneliness, bereavement, grief, and depression as key factors in cases in which older individuals kill themselves. They find themselves isolated, overwhelmed, and with unending sadness when spouses and friends die. Their children, grandchildren, and other family members often live far away. They also struggle with their lives due to age’s increasing debilitation. As NPR reported:

August 2, 2019

Government watchdog, finding abuse complaints doubled, criticizes nursing home oversight

by Patrick A. Malone

With complaints of nursing home abuses doubling between 2013 and 2017, the federal agency with oversight of these facilities must improve significantly its efforts to protect millions of vulnerable seniors, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found.

That recommendation, from one of Uncle Sam’s top watchdogs, infuriated members of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, which called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to act fast on six recommendations to address its failures in regulating nursing homes.

Sen. Thomas Carper, a Delaware Democrat, described these as including “CMS – the agency charged with ensuring that these facilities meet federal quality standards – often cannot access information about abusive incidents after they occur and, therefore, cannot take the necessary steps to remedy the situation.”

July 31, 2019

Juul denies it’s like Big Tobacco. But it just got caught targeting kids. Again.

by Patrick A. Malone

Juul, the nation’s dominant maker and seller of vaping devices, may want to deny it looks, acts, or models itself after Big Tobacco. A U.S. House subcommittee, however, has caught the San Francisco-based company in one of the prime profit-boosting practices of its health-killing precursor: targeting young users.

Though it insists it neither wants nor has it sought older teens as its customers, Juul spent tens of thousands of dollars and campaigned in recent months with what was purported to be a health education curriculum to reach out to show itself in most favorable fashion to young people in schools, summer camps, and youth programs, House investigators assert.

They told U.S. representatives on the economic and consumer policy subcommittee that they reviewed 55,000 documents to determine that “Juul operated a division that persuaded schools to allow the company to present its programming to students and paid the schools in several instances at least $10,000 to gain access to students during classes, summer school and weekend programs. The effort ended last fall and involved about a half dozen schools and youth program,” the Washington Post reported.

July 30, 2019

Voluntary recall of textured device raises more alarms about breast implants

by Patrick A. Malone

An Irish medical manufacturer voluntarily withdrew its textured breast implant and related tissue expanding devices from markets after the federal Food and Drug Administration tracked a spike in a rare cancer and deaths tied to the products and asked that they be recalled.

U.S. regulators, the New York Times reported, lagged their European counterparts by almost a year in acting to protect women seeking cosmetic and reconstructive procedures involving the Allergan implant:

“Worldwide, 573 cases and 33 deaths from the cancer have been reported, with 481 of the cases clearly attributed to Allergan Biocell implants, the F.D.A. said. Of the 33 deaths, the agency said its data showed that the type of implant was known in 13 cases, and in 12 of those cases the maker was Allergan.”

July 28, 2019

Can lives be saved with lessons learned from a space pioneer’s botched care?

by Patrick A. Malone

Neil Armstrong served as a naval aviator, test pilot, federal administrator, and a university professor. He earned his place in history as space pioneer — the first astronaut to walk on the moon. The American hero, who spoke the legendary phrase about “one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind,” also now offers a textbook case about nightmares in health care. Can others avoid these by learning about what happened to him?

As the nation celebrates the 50^th anniversary of Armstrong’s Apollo 11 flight, an anonymous tipster has disclosed information to two news organizations that his death was due to botched care. His family, which included a lawyer who represented their interests, reached a $6 million settlement with the community hospital involved.

Armstrong was known for keeping out of the media and public glare. His family kept that tradition in keeping private how he died in 2012, why, and the tense negotiations that resulted in the sizable payment to them by the hospital. Full information about his case may never be fully disclosed. But it already provides a possible series of check points for patients to protect themselves and their loved ones in dealing with doctors and hospitals: