Research Studies Category Archives — Page 2 of 68 — DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog Published by Washington, D.C. Personal Injury Lawyers

November 29, 2022

Cautions increase on link between problem pregnancies and heart disease

As cardiologists and other medical specialists grow increasingly aware of big differences in the heart and circulatory health of men and women, researchers also are prodding doctors who take medical histories of female patients to be sure to ask simple but important questions about their experiences with problem pregnancies.

That’s because vital preventive information can be surfaced, if clinicians learn, for example, that their patients had preeclampsia, “a complication that occurs in about 5% of pregnancies and in which dangerously high blood pressure can lead to seizures, organ failure, and death,” according to Stat, a science and medical news site. As Stat reported:

“Women who have preeclampsia have more than twice the chance of developing cardiovascular disease later in life compared to women who had pregnancies without it …Today, a growing subset of care providers is advocating for closer follow-up of the millions of people who have had preeclampsia and other complications during pregnancy that signal an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Given that about one in three women in the U.S. have cardiovascular disease, better screening of people with pregnancy complications could help protect them before they develop the disease in the first place.

November 27, 2022

College sports organization prevails in an early, difficult case on head injuries

by Patrick A. Malone

Armchair quarterbacks of the legal kind have raced onto the field, arguing that a Los Angeles jury verdict will help shield the National Collegiate Athletic Association from a potential avalanche of claims asserting the group did too little to protect young players from debilitation and death due to head trauma.

Maybe, maybe not.

Jurors rejected the case seeking $55 million from the NCAA, accusing the body that oversees collegiate athletics of failing to safeguard Matthew Gee, a University of Southern California linebacker on the 1990 Rose Bowl-winning squad.

November 25, 2022

As marijuana gains wide acceptance, new study details health concerns

by Patrick A. Malone

Marijuana, as the kids say, isn’t as dope as users would like it to be.

Instead, a new study finds that marijuana can do greater damage to humans’ respiratory system than cigarette smoking — a nasty habit that research also has proven to be a major cause of cancer, heart and circulatory damage, and other health harms.

To be sure, the researchers’ observations about pot’s harms were based on a relatively small sample size of 56 Canadian patients who smoked both cigarettes and marijuana and had their chest scans scrutinized by at least two radiologists who were blinded to information about the patients whose images they were reviewing. As the Wall Street Journal reported of the study, published in the medical journal Radiology:

November 9, 2022

FDA knew of, but didn’t act on little devices’ deadly racial problems

by Patrick A. Malone

Until the coronavirus pandemic struck, few regular folks knew about pulse oximeters, much less had one on hand for urgent use. The devices, which fit over a finger, are supposed to give fast readings on the levels of oxygen in patients’ blood — a key measure of their respiratory wellness.

But the devices, whether in relatively inexpensive consumer versions or in medical-grade units used in doctor’s offices, clinics, and hospitals, are far from perfect. They suffer major inaccuracies when used by those with darker skin.

Federal regulators have known about this flaw for years. But at a time when patients, families, doctors, and hospitals relied on the devices routinely to make critical treatment decisions affecting those struggling with likely coronavirus infections, an information chasm opened. Doctors urged people to pop by drug stores and other retailers to pick up the devices, saying that they could be helpful in letting them know when their oxygen levels were dipping in concerning enough fashion that they should seek emergency treatment.

November 2, 2022

Fungi posing bigger health risks, as drugs’ potency wanes, experts warn

by Patrick A. Malone

People around the planet must be more wary of the fungus among us, because the too often overlooked pathogens are becoming “increasingly widespread, resistant to treatment, and deadly.”

That’s the view of the World Health Organization, as reported by the New York Times and other media organizations. WHO has sought to heighten awareness about an array of fungal infections because fewer of them can be treated well with familiar therapeutics, the newspaper reported:

“The health agency listed 19 invasive fungal diseases, including four it described as a ‘critical priority,’ that collectively kill 1.3 million people and contribute to the death of five million others each year. Many of those deaths occur among people with HIV, cancer, tuberculosis, and other underlying health conditions that leave them vulnerable to infection. Health officials say the death toll from fungal infections is likely much higher because many hospitals and clinics, especially in poorer countries, lack the diagnostic tools for detecting them. ‘The bottom line is that invasive fungal infections are becoming more prevalent, but frequently they are not recognized in patients and not correctly treated,’ Dr. Carmem L. Pessoa-Silva, a WHO official focused on disease surveillance and control, said at a news conference …’We do not have a real sense of the size of the problem.’”

October 26, 2022

U.S. Surgeon General’s novel prescription? Healthier jobs and workplaces

by Patrick A. Malone

Although the still-chugging U.S. economy is providing workers with more employment opportunities than many economists expected, it is always tough to leave a job, even with the highly publicized trend of “quiet quitting” supposedly in full force.

Still, no less an authority than Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, has warned Americans that too many of their workplaces put their health and mental health at risk. He has called on employers large and small to practice the Golden Rule, better share companies’ good fortunes, and to improve regular folks’ work-life balance. Stat, a science and medical news site, quoted Murthy’s statement on toxic workplaces and needed changes, thusly:

“As we recover from the worst of the pandemic, we have an opportunity and the power to make workplaces engines for mental health and well-being. It will require organizations to rethink how they protect workers from harm, foster a sense of connection among workers, show workers that they matter, make space for their lives outside work, and support their growth. It will be worth it because the benefits will accrue for workers and organizations alike.”

October 25, 2022

A reckoning for FDA fast drug approvals and moms’ mistreatment

by Patrick A. Malone

Federal regulators have hit a highly public reckoning for their policies to provide speedy approvals for prescription drugs, benefiting Big Pharma’s profits but not necessarily patients — notably women in serious need of help with a shame of the U.S. health care system: the nation’s dismal state with injuries and deaths to expectant moms and infants.

The federal Food and Drug Administration 11 years ago gave Covis Pharma an expedited review and approval to market its prescription drug Makena, which the maker promoted as a rare medication to prevent preterm births.

In exchange, the company was supposed to conduct broader, rigorous, and more detailed studies to prove definitively that Makena prevents moms from delivering before 37 weeks, which is a serious problem that affected 1 in 10 births in 2020 alone, the New York Times reported. The newspaper also noted that preterm births are a greater problem for black women:

October 16, 2022

U.S. sees shameful rise in ‘maternity care deserts,’ study finds

by Patrick A. Malone

The national disgrace of expectant moms and infants suffering excessive, preventable injuries and death can’t be blamed on mysterious causes. Indeed, a leading advocacy group has put out yet another of its damning research studies, reporting on the disturbing increase in what it terms “maternity care deserts.”

The March of Dimes says it has analyzed data county by county to discover that too many areas of this country have “no hospitals providing obstetric care, no birth centers, no obstetrician/gynecologist, and no certified nurse midwives.”

The nonprofit organization classified an unacceptable number of counties “as having low access to maternity care services,” meaning they have “one or fewer hospitals offering OB service and fewer than 60 OB providers per 10,000 births, and the proportion of women without health insurance was 10 percent or greater.”

October 14, 2022

U.S. toughens law to ensure patients’ full access to their medical records

by Patrick A. Malone

Patients have hit a red-letter day in the long, too-difficult struggle to win control of a crucial part of their care — their electronic medical care records. Hospitals and other caregiving institutions no longer can block access to these documents, with federal law now holding them accountable for any runarounds they may try.

As Stat, a medical and science news site, reported:

“Under federal rules taking effect [Oct. 6,2022], health care organizations must give patients unfettered access to their full health records in digital format. No more long delays. No more fax machines. No more exorbitant charges for printed pages. Just the data, please — now. ‘My great hope is that this will turn the tide on the culture of information blocking,’ said Lisa Bari, CEO of Civitas Networks for Health, a nonprofit that supports medical data sharing. ‘It’s a ground level thing to me: We need to make sure information flows the way patients want it to.’”

October 12, 2022

A newly diagnosed apnea patient finds healthy sleep costly and treatment aids questionable

by Patrick A. Malone

With millions of patients struggling with long delays in getting replacements for night-breathing devices recalled by their manufacturer over the machines’ potential health risks, a seasoned health journalist has reported an intriguing, personal counterpoint on the growing prevalence of the problem of sleep apnea and its routine, costly, inconvenient care.

Jay Hancock, who has been a senior correspondent for the independent, nonpartisan Kaiser Health News service (KHN) for a decade and has reported on health care, business, finance, and the U.S. State Department for the Baltimore Sun and the Virginian Pilot, penned his piece in admitted self-interest. That’s because he suffered bouts of drowsiness during the day and his wife told him he snored.

He decided to undergo exams to see if he had sleep disorders. Tests gave him a diagnosis of moderate apnea. Because of his journalistic background, he wrote that he decided he needed to learn more, reporting: