Medical Treatments
Colonoscopy May be Linked to Increased Risk of Appendicitis
By STEVEN REINBERG, HEALTHDAY, FEB 08, 2018. A colonoscopy can save your life by detecting and removing colon cancer, but it might also trigger appendicitis, a recent study suggests. Experts aren’t sure exactly why that… Read More
Surgery for Blocked Arteries Is Often Unwarranted, Researchers Find
Drug therapy alone may save lives as effectively as bypass or stenting procedures, a large federal study showed. By Gina Kolata, The New York Times, Nov. 16, 2019. The findings of a large federal study… Read More
Common Joint Pain Treatment May be More Harmful Than Thought
The shots may speed up the progression of arthritis and hasten the need for surgery. By Jacqueline Stenson, NBC Health News. Oct. 15, 2019. A common therapy for joint pain may not be as safe as experts believed,… Read More
From Hope to Medical Nightmare
Despite FDA warnings, state boards lag in taking action on controversial MS treatment By John Fauber of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Kristina Fiore and Matt Wynn of MedPage Today. March 28, 2018. In 2012, James McGuckin Jr. performed a risky, unproven… Read More
Hormone Therapy During Menopause Raises Breast Cancer Risk for Years, Study Finds
By Megan Thielking, STAT News, Aug 29, 2019. A sweeping new analysis adds to the evidence that many women who take hormone therapy during menopause are more likely to develop breast cancer — and remain at… Read More
Doctors Sound an Alarm Over Leg-Stent Surgery
Johns Hopkins researchers analyzing Medicare data say they’ve detected physicians performing what look like unnecessary vascular procedures. Source The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 10, 2019 Now that unnecessary heart stent procedures happen significantly less often, doctors… Read More
Stem Cell Company Persuades Employers To Steer Workers Toward Controversial Therapy
By Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News. A Midwestern grocery chain, Hy-Vee, is taking an unusual — and highly controversial — approach to reducing health care costs. Before employees in certain cities can undergo knee replacement,… Read More
Fecal Transplant Is Linked to a Patient’s Death, the F.D.A. Warns
By Denise Grady, The New York Times. Two patients contracted severe infections, and one of them died, from fecal transplants that contained drug-resistant bacteria, the Food and Drug Administration reported on Thursday. As a result, the… Read More
Beware of Worthless Procedures and Epidural Steroids for Your Back Pain
By CATHRYN JAKOBSON RAMIN, for CONDITIONS. An excerpt from Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting on the Road to Recovery. Near my office, there’s a breakfast-and-lunch joint where strangers sit down at shared tables. When Joseph,… Read More