Valleywide Legal Blog

Hospital Consolidation Is Driving Up Health Care Costs.

Last week I wrote about hospitals not knowing exactly what their costs were for various procedures.  Without that information, they cannot make informed decisions about pricing.  Without informed decisions about pricing, there can be no price competition.  There also can … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, General Health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Hospitals, Medical Costs, Medicare, Rationing |

I’ll Take Lobbying for $2 Billion, Alex.

The answer is, “They spent $2.3 billion on lobbying over the last 20 years.”  If you answered, “What is the pharmaceutical lobby?,” you won.  Actually, you didn’t win.  You lost because all that drug money flowing into Washington did exactly … Read More

Posted in drug companies, General Health, Health Care Costs, Medical Costs, medical ethics, Medicare |

Big Pharma and You.

Forgive me for getting on my insulin soapbox again.  Because of my young grandson’s Type 1 diabetes, I am very interested in all things Type 1 related.  I am especially interested in what it takes to keep him alive.  Every … Read More

Posted in drug companies, General Health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Medical Costs, Medical Devices, Type 1 Diabetes |

Finding the Right Hospital

Hospitals vary greatly in terms of the quality of their care.  In some hospitals infection rates are low and few patients need to be readmitted after discharge.  Exactly the opposite is true for some other hospitals.  You do not want … Read More

Posted in General Health, health, Hospitals, Medicare, Medication Errors, never events, Nurses, Secrecy |

Health Care Providers Are Often Victims Too.

In this blog, I often write about patients who have been injured as the result of malpractice at the hands of health care providers.  Increasingly, it is the other way around.  Here is an article from Politico about violence directed against … Read More

Posted in Doctors, General Health, Health Care Costs, Hospitals, Medical Costs, Nurses |

Good News for Type 1 Diabetics!

Last week I wrote about one of the problems facing Type 1 diabetics: the ever increasing cost of the insulin they need to stay alive.  Today, I am writing about some good news that may reduce the need for insulin.  … Read More

Posted in drug companies, General Health, health, healthy living, medical research, science news, Type 1 Diabetes |

Beware Lasik!

If you have been following our blog for any period of time, you know that one of the things we often discuss is the fact that medicine is a business and the patients are its customers.  Like almost all other … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fraud, General Health, lasik, medical research |

Pay More, Get Less

The United States spends more per person on health care than any other developed country.  At the same time, our life expectancy is less than that in other developed countries.  What is going on? Let’s start with the cost of … Read More

Posted in drug companies, General Health, health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, healthy living, Hospitals, Medicare, Obesity, obesity epidemic |

Health and Wealth Go Hand in Glove

Numerous medical studies link all sorts of things to good health.  Lots of exercise.  Fresh air.  Health insurance and access to health care.  A good diet.  Ample rest.  Low stress.  Happiness.  Family support.  The list goes on and on and … Read More

Posted in General Health, Uncategorized |

Genomic Testing in Prostate Cancer

There were approximately 165,000 new prostate cancers diagnosed last year in the United States.  During the same time period, there were 29,000 deaths from prostate cancer.  The deaths were almost entirely due to highly aggressive forms of the disease.  Most … Read More

Posted in Doctors, General Health, genetic testing, healthy living, Prostate Cancer, prostate cancer testing, science news |