In the News

July 20, 2026

Oops and oops

The parasitic outbreak that is sweeping the country has been linked to produce.  The FDA announced last week that iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms tested positive as a source of the parasites.  The lettuce was sold to Taco Bell.  Needless to say, both companies have taken a huge financial hit.  Per the FDA now, that was a false positive finding.  It was not this lettuce that was the source of the infection.  Good luck undoing the financial harm.

Two men had DNA testing which showed that they were accidentally switched soon after birth 38 years ago at a North Dakota hospital.  They are suing the hospital.

July 17, 2026

Holding your breath is not an option

Canadian wildfires are covering large parts of the northeast and eastern United States in thick smoke.  The smoke has been described as a toxic brew of gases and particulates.  Authorities are urging residents in affected areas to stay indoors or to wear masks, if they have to go outside.

July 16, 2026

Keep it moving

An observational study from England of over 91,000 patients found that prolonged sitting was associated with an increased risk of dying of cancer.  The more often a sedentary person arose from sitting and began to perform even light tasks, the greater the reduction in the incidence of cancer deaths.

July 15, 2026

Vitamin K and bleeding in newborns

More and more parents are refusing to allow their newborn infants to receive Vitamin K shots.  This is an outgrowth of the anti-vax movement.  Vitamin K in newborns reduces the risk of bleeding, especially brain bleeding.  Now a study from Sweden of over 2,000,000 live births during a nearly 20 year period has found that children who did not receive a Vitamin K shot had a 1.5 times greater chance of experiencing a bleeding event and a nearly 3 times greater risk of an intracranial bleed.

July 14, 2026

Be the right candidate

People getting cataract surgery are often offered a number of choices for the lens the surgeon will implant.  Standard lenses are usually covered by insurance and are good for distance vision.  The patient may still need glasses for reading or close work.  Newer lenses offer more options in terms of being able to see up close as well as far away, but they cost more and are often not covered by insurance.  While the newer, more expensive lenses offer better vision, they are not for everyone.  Only those patients who are good candidates can obtain the promised benefits.  Others will be disappointed.  Some medical practices push the more expensive lenses for obvious reasons, even when they are not the best choice for the patient.  If you want the newer, more expensive lenses, be sure you get a surgeon who will spend the time necessary to fully evaluate your eyes and determine you are a good candidate for them.

July 13, 2026

This is scary

According to the World Health Organization, 80% of newly diagnosed cases of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo have no known relationship with existing cases of the disease.  If they had no contact with infected people, how are they getting the disease?  The most likely explanation is that the newly identified Ebola patients contracted the disease from people who had it but had not be diagnosed with it.  In other words, there are many, many people with infective Ebola walking around and infecting others.

June 22, 2026

More fake nurses on the loose

In the middle of a trial in which prosecutors showed that they had a strong case, a Florida woman pleaded guilty to selling almost 3,000 fake nursing degrees.  The woman ran two nursing schools in Florida and sold diplomas certifying successful completion to thousands of persons who had not completed the necessary coursework and training.  An undetermined number of those receiving the undeserved degrees undoubtedly used them to get state licenses to practice nursing.  It is going to take some work to identify them and take away their licenses.

June 19, 2026

Another synthetic opioid threatens us

Nitazines, a synthetic opioid, were developed in the 1950’s as a potential painkiller but were so strong that they were never approved for use.  Nitazines are 40 times stronger than Fentanyl and 100 times stronger than heroin.  They are being used in the United States as an additive to painkillers sold illegally on the street.  A drug purchaser never knows whether nitazines have been added to the drugs he is buying so has no idea how strong the drugs are.  This is leading to many accidental overdoses.  The United States has reported finding 29 different nitazines in drugs found on the street and has counted at least 1,100 fatalities related to nitazine use.  Since nitazines are not routinely tested for when a drug overdose death occurs, the actual number of nitazine-related deaths may be substantially higher.

June 18, 2026

Delayed screwworm response

The New World screwworm, a flesh eating pest which attacks cattle, is spreading through herds in Texas and New Mexico and threatening to spread even further.  The Department of Agriculture is the federal agency responsible for addressing the threat.  According to former officials there, the Trump Administration’s federal spending reviews with their resulting budget cuts and personnel losses slowed the department’s response to the screwworm threat.  The administration spokespeople say it is all Biden’s fault.

June 17, 2026

Sharing microbiota among roommates

Living with another person, even if it is not a romantic partner, requires sharing.  Turns out that we are sharing more than just the kitchen and living room.  We are also sharing our oral and gut microbiome species with our roommates.  And if the roommate is a romantic partner, we share even more of the oral microbiome than we do with non-romantic roomies.  Take care of yourself as you are sending your microbiomes to your partner.

June 16, 2026

Infant mortality rates are improving, but still have a long way to go

The infant mortality rate in the United States has dropped to its lowest level ever.  In 2025, it was slightly lower than 5.4 deaths per thousand births.  This translates to about 19,000 infant deaths in 2025.  Infant mortality is based on the number of deaths that occur in the first year of life per thousand births.  While this is certainly good news, the reality is that our rate of infant mortality lags far behind that of most of the rest of the industrialized world.  For example, it is nearly twice as high as the rates in Spain, Italy, Sweden, and Japan.

June 15, 2026

Some unfortunate chickens are coming home to roost

Two trends are coming together at a Northern Virginia hospital chain.  They are likely to happen in many other locations over next year or two.  The hospital chain has terminated the contract it had with an emergency medicine group to staff its emergency departments.  The chain is replacing the group with a private equity firm that will staff the ER’s for a lower price.  The chain emphasized that the termination was not the result of dissatisfaction with the care being provided but was made necessary by reduced Medicaid reimbursements under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last summer.  It was predicted at the time that the bill would result in loss of coverage and services for many lower income people and that has proved true.  The private equity firm offered jobs to the emergency physicians whose group lost the contract, but the offers were for lower pay, fewer benefits and fewer hours.  Never underestimate the power of Congress to make our already shaky health care delivery system worse.

June 12, 2026

,People still struggling to afford health care

According to a report by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, regardless of insurance type, nearly half of working adults in the United States struggled to afford health care for their families.  The problems were more pronounced in black and Hispanic families.  Many families reported going without needed health care due to the cost.  We should be ashamed.

June 11, 2026

Unnecessary surgeries in Virgina

The CEO of a hospital in Chesapeake, Virginia has resigned as part of the fallout from multiple civil suits and a federal criminal complaint alleging that he and some of his predecessors allowed a surgeon at the hospital to perform unnecessary surgeries over a ten year period.  The OB/GYN surgeon whose conduct is at issue is serving a lengthy prison sentence after being convicted of multiple counts of healthcare billing fraud and exploiting his patients for monetary reasons.

June 9, 2026

What a difference a year makes

There has been a sharp drop in the percentage of Americans who trust health recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control.  A year ago, in the Spring of 2025, 77% of Americans reported that they trusted the CDC.  Today, only 50% of the population trusts the CDC.  What a shame.

June 8, 2026

Acetaminophen or ibuprofen?

Depending on the source of your pain, it may make a difference whether you take acetaminophen or ibuprofen.  Although both are pain relievers, they work differently and neither one is best for all situations.  Here is a story about how to decide which is most appropriate for your pain or problem.

June 5, 2026

Not good

Since January of 2025, 2,000,000 fewer children are enrolled in state Medicaid programs or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.  This is a serious blow to child health and has the potential to lead to increased illnesses for these children going forward and increased medical costs to society as a whole.  These losses come in advance of the reshaping of state Medicaid programs which have lost huge amounts of funding to pay for the Administrations other programs and tax cuts.  Many, many more children will lose coverage as the effects of these cuts become manifest.

June 4, 2026

Bad news, good news

The bad news is that the birth rate in the United States declined by 1% last year.  This decline is in keeping with worldwide trends among industrialized nations.  We need these new members of society to sustain our economic productivity and to care for our aging population.  The good news is that most of the decline was driven by a 7% drop in teen pregnancies.  Teen pregnancies are rarely a good thing.

June 3, 2026

GLP-1 inhibitors reduce the need for knee replacement

Taking GLP-1 receptor agonists is not only associated with significant weight loss, it is also associated with a reduced incidence of knee replacement.  And the longer a person takes the drugs, the greater the reduction in the likelihood of a knee replacement.  However, due to a lack of data, it is not clear whether the reduced incidence of knee replacement is due to the effects of weight loss alone or due to some other effect of the drugs.  Lots more to learn about these drugs.

June 2, 2026

The decline vaccinations is starting to bite

Doctors are seeing a surge of diseases most of them have never or only rarely ever seen before.  Almost all of them are diseases which were nearly unheard of during our period of mass vaccination.  Many of the diseases are appearing in children whose parents chose not to vaccinate them or who are too young to have been vaccinated.  The fact that most doctors have not seen these diseases before or only rarely presents diagnostic challenges.  More tests are necessary, more antibiotics are necessary and hospitalizations are longer as a result.  It is not just children.  Doctors report more adults who refuse tetanus shots after suffering an injury which might have exposed them to tetanus,  Roughly one in ten people who develop tetanus will die.  As the rate of vaccinations continues to decline, herd immunity will be lost and these diseases will become far more common.

June 1, 2026

Inhaled insulin product approved by the FDA

The FDA has approved the first inhaled insulin product for children and adolescents with Type 1 diabetes.  According to the company that makes it, inhaled insulin more naturally mimics the body’s production of insulin in response to changing blood sugar levels associated with mealtimes and snacks.  Inhaled insulin reaches the body more quickly than injected insulin and is suggested as a means of dealing with unplanned meals or snacking.

May 21, 2026

Surgery is a tough business

A study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons found that over an eight year period, 10% all surgeons left the practice of surgery.  This is a troubling figure and points to a loss of access to good surgical care.

May 20, 2026

What are they thinking?

The Trump administration is considering a plan to automatically enroll 65-year-olds in a Medicare Advantage plan instead of in traditional Medicare.  Republicans continue to argue that Medicare Advantage plans, which are run by the largest insurance companies, are more efficient and less costly than traditional Medicare.  This assertion flies in the face of the recent finding by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission that in 2025 the system paid $76 billion more for care for Medicare Advantage enrollees than if the same people had received their care through traditional Medicare.

May 19, 2026

FDA analysis of pediatric deaths after Covid vaccination

The FDA conducted an analysis of all pediatric deaths following the administration of a Covid shot.  Before the actual data was released at the insistence of Senator Ron Johnson, the FDA had stated that at least ten children died as the result of a Covid shot.  The actual data told a different story.  After 137 million shots being administered to children under the age of 12, there were no deaths that were certainly the result of a Covid shot.  There were five deaths that were possibly related and two that were probably related, but even as to the two that were “probably” related, other causes could not be ruled out.  All of the deaths involved cardiac issues.  Anti-vaxxers are alive, well and driving policy at the FDA.

May 18, 2026

It’s not us, it’s them

As health care costs continue to rise, lawmakers are under increasing pressure to do something about the problem.  Drugmakers and health insurance companies do not want to be in the crosshairs when Congress finally acts so they are throwing hospitals under the bus.  According to them, it is hospitals that are the driver of the rapidly increasing costs and hospitals that should be the subject of any regulation coming out of Washington.  Hospitals are not amused.

May 13, 2026

GLP-1 inhibitors may have a beneficial impact in breast cancer

A 10-year-long observational study found lower all cause mortality in breast cancer patients who took GLP-1 inhibitors.  While there may be something here, critics point out that this was an observational study only, that similar benefits have not been reported by other studies, and that there were plenty of possible confounding factors that might explain the mortality results.  Lots more to study and learn about GLP-1 inhibitors, but there is plenty to be encouraged about.

May 12, 2026

Diet Coke kills cancer cells?

President Trump has a known affinity for Diet Coke.  So do I, but I don’t  justify my preference by claiming that, since Diet Coke kills grass, it must also kill cancer cells in the body.  According to Dr. Oz, that is one of the president’s excuses for drinking a lot of Diet Coke.

May 11, 2026

Cruise ship viruses

Oceangoing cruise ships put you in pretty close contact with a lot of other people for days at a time.  Viral outbreaks are not uncommon.  Another Norovirus outbreak has already sickened over a hundred passengers on a Princess Cruise.  Less common is the Hantavirus outbreak on an oceangoing vessel known for its stringent health protocols.  Normally, Hantavirus cannot be transmitted from person to person, but this Andean variant can.  Hantavirus is normally spread through the droppings of infected mice.  It is believed that the source of the virus on the vessel was two passengers who embarked in Argentina and were probably already infected.  Sadly, they both died of the infection while the vessel was sailing in the Atlantic Ocean.  Other passengers were sickened and one died.  All passengers are being disembarked and isolated for observation and treatment.  There is no cure for Hantavirus but supportive measures can help.

May 8, 2026

Only 20 states are well-prepared to respond to a health emergency or natural disaster

Trust for America’s Health, a non-profit focused on health and wellness in the United States, publishes an annual list of those states which are prepared to respond to a health or natural disaster emergency.  Only twenty states are in the top tier of state’s well-prepared to respond.  See where your state is and do something about it, if it is not in the top tier.

May 7, 2026

Hospital Safety Grades

Leapfrog Group is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting safety in the hospital setting.  It publishes safety grades for hospitals across the country.  Its latest grades are out and a number of Arizona hospitals earned an A rating.  The grades are based upon a review of errors, accidents, injuries and infections.  As the Leapfrog group points out, a hospital may have the best surgeons, but if it cannot keep its patients safe before and after the operation, it is failing in its responsibilities.

May 6, 2026

Loss of trust

For many, many years Americans had great trust in the Food and Drug Administration.  Sadly, that trust is getting to be a thing of the past.  The head of the Department of Health and Human Services is a known vaccine skeptic.  He has influenced FDA policies with regard to vaccines in ways that align with his skepticism rather than actual science.  The most recent news is that the FDA has withdrawn studies showing the effectiveness and safety of the Covid-19 and shingles vaccines.

May 5, 2026

There is a new narcotic on the street

There is a new narcotic on the street and it is bad.  It is a synthetic opioid and is ten times as powerful as Fentanyl, which is itself a very powerful and dangerous drug.  The new drug is an orphine and it comes in several varieties.  It can cause very rapid respiratory failure and unconsciousness.  Some users just keel right over.  Although it can be reversed with Narcan (Naloxone), it will probably require multiple doses due to its strength.  It cannot be detected with routine drug tests and is therefore hard to interdict.  It is highly addictive.  As with Fentanyl, it is being used most often as an additive to other illicit drugs, such as methamphetamine, but may also be distributed standing alone.  Because its users are probably not expecting it, it can surprise them and cause overdoses in even cautious drug addicts.  Beware.  You never know how strong a street drug is before you take it.

May 4, 2026

It’s the hospitals, stupid

Study after study shows that the biggest driver of health care costs in the United States is hospital bills.  Since 2000, they have increased three times faster than inflation.  They have increased faster than prescription drug prices and faster than the cost of visits to the doctor.  The surge is due to reduced competition among hospitals as merger fever has gripped the sector.  There have been over 1,300 hospital mergers since 2000.  It is time to rein them in.

April 14, 2026

The red light is on

Turns out there is an actual scientific basis for some of the claims being made for red light therapy.  It can help address a number of conditions, including pattern hair loss, skin aging, cold sores, some types of inflammation, and some bodily responses to radiation and chemotherapy.  The FDA has also recently approved its marketing for treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration.  That said, caution is advised as marketers of red light devices often make wildly exaggerated claims for their products.  If you can name a condition, someone will promise that their red light treatment will fix it for you.  Here is a good article about the uses of red light and some caveats and suggestions.

April 13, 2026

Achieving Poophoria

Forty percent of Americans have bowel issues that affect their daily lives.  Here is a book by a gastroenterologist about how to achieve “poophoria,” or ideal pooping comfort and bowel health.  Dr. Trisha Pasricha offers tips in her book about how to have pain-free pooping and a healthy gut.  It starts with eating enough fiber.  Most of us don’t.  Also, don’t spend more than 5 minutes sitting on the throne or you increase your chances of developing painful hemorrhoids.  Avoid highly processed foods as those increase the likelihood of developing irritable bowel syndrome.

April 3, 2026

Bacteria continue to develop antibiotic resistance

Chlorhexidine digluconate (CHG) is a widely used antiseptic in medical intensive care units and elsewhere in hospital environments.  As with so many other antibiotics, it appears it is losing its effectiveness and, as a result, many bacteria are spreading in hospitals and sickening patients.  The resistant bacteria are spreading on surfaces and through the air.  Drains are of particular concern as breeding grounds for resistant and tolerant bacteria.

April 2, 2026

A new variation of Covid-19 is spreading

Covid-19 is still with us, even though we don’t hear that much about it these days.  Covid is highly changeable and is continually developing new mutations, which defeat to a certain extent current vaccines and past immunity.  Fortunately, it has been around long enough that most people have developed some immunity, either due to getting Covid or receiving a vaccine.  This means that, while someone may still contract Covid, the disease will not be as severe as it was when the entire population of the world was exposed to it for the first time.  The latest variation has been named Cicada and is spreading throughout the world, including the United States.  Right now it is being monitored but does not appear to be causing more severe illness than the other strains which are circulating.  If you are at high risk of developing a severe illness if you get Covid, get a booster shot of the vaccine at the beginning of the summer when Covid seems to spread more easily.

April 1, 2026

Health care coverage for all!

In a surprise move, the House and Senate have unanimously passed legislation guaranteeing health care coverage for all Americans.  President Trump is expected to sign the landmark bill into law later today.  Universal health care should not be an April Fools joke, but it is.

In actual news, 450 hospitals face closure or serious reductions in services as a result of cuts in health care spending made by President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill.  The cuts were necessary to pay for the tax cuts that were both enacted and extended by the bill.  The joke is that health care coverage is being reduced for Americans instead of expanded.

March 31, 2026

Pay to play pardons

A clear pattern has developed when it comes to pardons issued by President Trump:  Pay to Play.  If you have made a lot of money from defrauding the government and regular citizens and are willing to spend some of that money benefiting President Trump or his family or in hiring high powered and well-connected lobbyists, you may get a pardon, which includes wiping away your obligation to repay the government and other people whom you defrauded.  Good for you but bad for the taxpayers and the others defrauded by you.  Isn’t it great to be rich?

March 30, 2026

What if we lost vaccine access?

There is a truly frightening model out there showing what would likely happen in this country over the next 25 years, if vaccines for polio, measles, rubella and diphtheria were no longer available.  Nearly 300,000 would die from measles and 23,000 would be paralyzed by polio.  Mothers who develop rubella early in pregnancy have a 90% chance of delivering a baby with congenital heart defects, blindness or deafness, or all three.  About a third of those babies would die before their first birthday.  Diptheria would likely take the lives of 138,000 people over 25 years, if access to the vaccine were lost.  Vaccine policies in the United States might cause some vaccine manufacturers to no longer sell their vaccines here.

March 25, 2026

The pesticide-laden Dirty Dozen

Agriculture uses a lot of pesticides to get our produce to the table.  If you are not eating only organic produce, you are being exposed to pesticides, but not all produce is equally affected.  The Environmental Working Group, a health non-profit, publishes a list each year of the produce that contains the most pesticides, “The Dirty Dozen.”  This year’s list is led by spinach, kale and mustard greens, strawberries and grapes.  The EWG also publishes a “Clean Fifteen,” the produce items with the smallest amounts of pesticides.

March 24, 2026

It is not just vaccine skepticism

It isn’t just vaccines that some parents are refusing for their children.  According to pediatricians, they are seeing a range of important newborn interventions refused by parents who are buying in to vaccine and science skepticism.  For example, Vitamin K shots, which have been used without problem since the early 1960’s to prevent potentially deadly bleeding, are being refused by some parents.  Ditto for Hepatitis B shots and an eye ointment to prevent blindness.  Parents, your children depend on you.  Get the facts and weigh the benefits against the risks.

 

March 23, 2026

Protect your eyes

Your eyes can get sunburned.  It can happen anytime you are in sunny conditions.  Think the beach or the ski slopes.  The damage manifests itself as eye pain, redness and light sensitivity.  It will usually heal over the next couple of days, but repeated injury can cause long-term damage.  Ophthalmologists recommend that anytime you need sunscreen, you also need sunglasses that protect against UV rays.

March 20, 2026

Obesity drug trials are in trouble

The best form of drug trial is a double-blind study in which participants are randomly assigned to take either the subject drug or a placebo.  Results are then compared by researchers who are also blinded to who is actually receiving the drug and who is receiving the placebo.  The problem for the obesity drug trials is that the drugs are so effective, those who are taking the placebo can figure it out pretty quickly when they don’t lose any weight.  Many of the placebo-assigned patients are then choosing to drop out of the tests and get the real weight loss medication.

March 19, 2026

It used to be cigarette butts

There is a new form of litter taking over bars and pretty much everywhere else.  It is the nicotine pouch.  These are small pouches containing nicotine salts and are used by many people as a substitute for smoking.  The pouches have soared in popularity.  Sales rose by 641% between 2019 and 2022.  All those used pouches have to go somewhere and, unfortunately, that somewhere is not usually the trashcan.  Bars are the worst.  There you will find used pouches on the floor, in the urinal, in empty and partly empty glasses and stuck to the underside of tables.  People who would never think of littering spit these out anywhere.  They apparently don’t think of these pouches as littering, perhaps because of their small size.  It is a big problem that is only getting bigger.

March 18, 2026

Medical record abuse

One of the intended advantages of the use of electronic medical records (EMR) is their portability.  A patient can access his or her records on line.  One doctor can send the patient’s records to another doctor in a matter of seconds.  It is easy for a current health care provider to get access to the patient’s old records.  Unfortunately, that very portability makes it easier for scammers and bad actors to get access to what should be confidential medical information.  Recently, Epic, a major provider of EMR software, sued a company that was mining confidential medical records and then sending the information to personal injury law firms, which used the information to recruit the patients as clients.  This does not appear to be an isolated incident.  All involved should be prosecuted.

March 17, 2026

Fibermaxxing

Apparently it is a thing on social media and refers to eating lots and lots of fiber.  It is not only a thing, it is a good thing.  Very few people get enough fiber in their diet.  The more fiber the better, according to gastroenterologists.  Just make sure to get it in as unprocessed a form as possible.

March 16, 2026

A small price to pay

Federal law prohibits drug manufacturers from paying or otherwise rewarding doctors for prescribing their products.  This practice has been found to increase prescriptions and the cost of health care.  Notwithstanding the law, drug companies continue to give these kickbacks to doctors.  When the government discovers a kickback scheme, it fines the drug company or enters into a settlement with the company in which the company makes a payment to the government.  A recent study of the fines and payments over a period of 2020 to 2025 shows, however, that the fines and payments amounted to only 2% of the revenue generated by the kickbacks.  This is a ludicrously small penalty and only applies to those companies that got caught.  Given these numbers, drug companies are fools not to engage in kickback schemes.

March 12, 2026

Americans are cutting back to pay for health care

Gallup routinely surveys Americans about various subjects, including the effects of health care costs.  Even before the expiration of the premium subsidies for those buying ACA plans and the cutting of Medicaid enrollment, health care costs have been rising and affecting the lives of everyday Americans.  These recent changes are expected to significantly add to health care costs.  Gallup’s most recent survey found that nearly one-third of respondents reported cutting back on a wide range of other expenses and borrowing to pay for health care.  It is only going to get worse.

March 11, 2026

The safest hospitals in Arizona

Every year Healthgrades identifies the top 10% of hospitals in the United States that have the lowest rate of occurrence of 13 preventable patient safety events.  There are eight this year in the state of Arizona.  In no particular order they are:  Banner Ocotillo Medical Center; St. Joseph’s Hospital; Oasis Hospital; Arizona Spine and Joint Hospital; Western Arizona Regional Medical Center; Havasu Regional Medical Center; The CORE Institute Specialty Hospital; and the Mayo Clinic Hospital.

March 10, 2026

Weekend catch up sleep is bad for your health

We continue to learn more about the importance of good sleep habits to our overall health.  One of the health risks we face is insulin resistance, a condition in which the body produces insulin in response to the presence of glucose in the blood, but the body can no longer use it effectively.  This can lead to the development of Type 2 diabetes.  Recent studies show that getting right around 8 hours of sleep a night is ideal for avoiding insulin resistance.  Using the weekend to catch up on missed sleep during the week is associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance.  Too much sleep is bad for you as is too little.  Be like Goldilocks and choose just the right amount.

March 6, 2026

Polio virus travel warning

The polio virus is circulating in some countries and even people who have been immunized against polio may want to take precautions, according to the CDC.  The countries include many of the usual suspects from the less-developed world but also some European countries, including Germany, Finland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Poland.  The CDC recommends that you be sure your polio immunization is up to date before visiting these countries and that you may wish to consider a lifetime booster dose of the polio vaccine.

March 5, 2026

Healthcare effects of the attack on Iran

Among the impacts on healthcare from the attack on Iran, authorities are warning hospitals to be on the alert for cyberattacks by Iranian actors.  Additionally, some health products manufactured in India are being delayed because of the risks associated with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.  More disruptions likely to follow, if this drags on.

March 4, 2026

Avoid ultraprocessed foods for your young child

A study of over 2,000 Canadian children found that the higher the amount of ultraprocessed foods a 3 year-old child consumed, the greater the likelihood of adverse behavioral and emotional symptoms at age 5.  Never seems to be any good news when it comes to ultraprocessed foods, but there sure is a lot of bad news.

March 3, 2026

Get your colorectal cancer screening, youngster

According to the American Cancer Society, nearly half of all new colorectal cancer diagnoses are made in adults under the age of 65.  This is a significant shift in the age at diagnosis.  Researchers are not sure what is driving the increased diagnoses among younger adults, but believe it is likely due to environmental factors, including diet and widespread use of antibiotics in the food supply.  By way of contrast, colorectal cancer diagnoses and deaths have been declining among those over 65 due to increased screening, which leads to prevention or early detection.  Doctors are now recommending routine screening beginning at age 45 for those at average risk.  Colonoscopy is the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening.

March 2, 2026

It isn’t just CTE football players need to worry about

A cross-sectional study of almost 4,000 football players showed that the more years a person played and the higher the level of play, the more likely the person was to do poorly on computerized cognitive function tests and to display neuropsychiatric symptoms.  Compared with controls, the football players also displayed more depressive symptoms and had more subjective concerns about their cognition.  “These findings support an association between football play and worse later-life cognitive and neuropsychiatric function.” wrote the researchers.

February 24, 2026

The canary in the coal mine

Infectious diseases experts are calling the measles epidemic breaking out across the United States “the canary in the coal mine” because its existence means that vaccination rates are down and that other highly contagious diseases are soon to follow.  Children usually get vaccinated for a number of communicable diseases at the same time.  If they are not getting their measles’ vaccination, it is unlikely they are getting the others either.  Doctors expect to see an increasing number of cases of whooping cough, polio, meningitis, rotavirus, rubella, tetanus, and RSV.  Another example of humans ruining a perfectly good scientific advance out of ignorance or lack of concern for others.

February 23, 2026

Pot not so harmless for adolescents

Cannabis use among adolescents was linked to a significantly increased risk of developing bipolar, psychotic, anxiety and depressive disorders by age 26 according to a recent study.

February 20, 2026

Judge orders takeover of Arizona prison health care

A Federal District Court judge has ordered that Arizona give up control of health care in its prison system.  The lawsuit out of which this order arises has been going on for 14 years.  In the suit, prisoners allege the state provides inadequate medical care to them which violates their constitutional rights.  In 2022, the judge found in favor of the prisoners and ordered the state to make changes and to improve care.  She has now concluded that the state has failed to follow her orders and has forfeited the right to continue to control health care delivery in the prison system.  The state has 60 days to submit a list of candidates to assume control of the health care delivery.

February 19, 2026

Exercise is truly the wonder drug

Our bodies were meant to move.  Millions of years of evolution cannot be denied.  It has been shown to reduce the risk of many diseases, to improve mood and even to protect against dementia.  Cancer patients can benefit as well.  Cancer survival rates improved with exercise, even for sedentary patients who did not begin to exercise until after their diagnosis.  Hit the gym or just go walking.

February 18, 2026

Only in Medicare Advantage

While it can never happen in traditional Medicare, people in Medicare Advantage plans can discover that the insurance company sponsoring their plan has decided to shut it down for economic reasons.  This is called “forced disenrollment” and means that the participant must find another plan willing to take him or her or must enroll with traditional Medicare, if they can afford to do so.  The rate of forced disenrollment has been increasing for a couple of years.  It was 1% as recently as 2024, almost 7% last year and is 10% this year.  That is a lot of forced disenrollments.  As is so often the case in health care, rural residents got the short end of the stick and had higher rates of forced disenrollment than their city-living counterparts.  For example, almost 92% of Medicare Advantage participants living in Vermont lost their coverage as insurers fled the state.  For those forced to find other coverage, the change may mean they can no longer see their doctor or may no longer have access to the same formulary of approved medications.  The sicker the participant is, the harder it will be to find a good substitute for their lost coverage.

February 17, 2026

“Medical Freedom” means more preventable deaths among children

The South Carolina measles outbreak is fast becoming the largest outbreak in the United States in the last thirty years.  Doctors are being forced to see suspected measles patients in the hospital parking lot to prevent transmission to crowded ER waiting rooms.  They blame the outbreak on lower rates of immunization brought on by demands for “medical freedom,” reaction to the Covid pandemic, misinformation about vaccines on social media and anti-vax activities by the agencies overseen by noted anti-vaxxer RFK, Jr.  There have been almost 1,000 cases so far with more to come.  Health experts are also predicting outbreaks of other infections for which we have effective vaccines.

February 14, 2026

Read, read, read

Lifelong learning, reading, visiting museums, doing puzzles are all tied to a significant reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and dementia.  If someone who did these things over the course of their life did get Alzheimer’s or dementia, it usually came on later in life and was milder.  Story is here.

February 13, 2026

Colorectal cancer a leading cause of death in young people

The rate of colorectal cancer among young people is skyrocketing.  It is now the third leading cause of death among young adults.  The rate is increasing by about 2% per year.  The increase is believed due to sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, and increased consumption of highly processed foods and red meat.  Eat that fiber, young people.

February 12, 2026

Mass Gathering Medicine

Mass Gathering Medicine is the name given to the specialists who plan for the inevitable medical needs that arise during mass gatherings, such as the Olympics.  As you would expect, a lot of planning goes into preparing for the arrival of hundreds of thousands of spectators, athletes and support personnel.  The arriving people must be fed, housed and transported.  Some will get sick and some will be injured.  There may even be a mass casualty event that could result from fire, stampede, building collapse, natural disaster, or terrorism.  The Mass Gathering Medicine specialists must anticipate all of these and develop a plan for dealing with them.

February 11, 2026

Trump to end protections against greenhouse gasses

The Trump administration is rescinding the finding that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses endanger human health by causing the climate to change.  The move is being billed as a massive deregulation that will save consumers over a trillion dollars, mostly in lower car prices as there will no longer be a need to meet pollution standards.  Legal challenges are a certainty.

February 10, 2026

New law limits Pharmacy Benefit Managers

President Trump has signed legislation that greatly limits the economic impact of pharmacy benefit managers (PBM’s).  PBM’s are another good idea gone bad.  They were created to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers so as to obtain reduced prices and discounts for the health plans and health insurers that hired them.  They were compensated by keeping a portion of any discounts they obtained.  In practice, PBM’s increased prices for everyone.  Drug manufacturers increased list prices so they would have room to negotiate.  PBM’s benefited from high list prices as they could claim they obtained large discounts.  Those without insurance ended up stuck with the high list prices rather than the prices the drug manufacturer would have charged but for the presence of the PBM’s.  Under the new law, PBM’s won’t be able to link compensation to discounts and must pass discounts on to the health plan or insurer.

February 3, 2026

Timing is everything

The human body is a wondrous machine about which we still know so little.  A recent example is a study reported out of France involving lung cancer patients receiving immunochemotherapy.  Those patients who received their therapy in the morning lived twice as long as those who received their therapy in the afternoon or evening.  The researchers believe this effect is due to the increased presence of immune system cells in the body in the morning hours due to the effects of the circadian rhythms of the body’s cells themselves.  These immune system cells are able to absorb the therapy and have a greater beneficial effect.  The beauty of the finding is that it provides a more effective treatment without increasing costs at all.  All you have to do is change the timing of the therapy to gain and improvement.

February 2, 2026

Direct to consumer tests are not protected by federal privacy laws

More and more Americans are choosing to take a direct hand in their health care and order testing for all sorts of conditions directly from private vendors.  Privacy advocates are cautioning that the results of these tests are not protected by the same federal laws that protect confidential patient information and that the results may be bought and sold among commercial interests to the great detriment of the customer.  For example, genetic information may be accessed by life insurers and used to deny life insurance to certain people or to raise premiums for them.

January 21, 2026

Medicare continues to negotiate drug prices

As part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Medicare was finally authorized to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers.  It was only allowed to negotiate prices on 10 drugs each year and the negotiated prices would not take effect for the first time until 2026.  Among the drugs for which price reductions were negotiated were insulin, Jardiance, Xarelto and Eliquis.  The savings are expected to save Medicare beneficiaries $1.5 billion.  A second set of drug prices were negotiated last year and go into effect in 2027.  Medicare is currently negotiating a third set of ten drugs for 2028.

January 10, 2026

HHS is changing childhood vaccination policy

Robert Kennedy, Jr. is a longstanding vaccine skeptic.  He has appointed numerous other vaccine skeptics to important positions for making vaccine policy.  The HHS entitites to which he has appointed people have recommended doing away with certain childhood immunizations.  Medical groups, including pediatrician groups, have resolved to continue to recommend the usual vaccinations to their parents.

January 1, 2026

GLP-1 weight loss is not permanent

Researchers have found that weight loss produced by GLP-1 inhibitors is not permanent.  They now believe that obesity is a chronic condition and that to continue to maintain the weight loss brought on by GLP-1 medications, the patient must continue to take them indefinitely.