Healthcare Blogs and Articles
Healthcare Blogs and Articles
Healthcare Pulse
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Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
The OpenSAFELY cohort study examined Pfizer vaccination in English children aged 5‑15, finding virtually no COVID‑related deaths and fewer than seven critical‑care admissions during an early‑pandemic window. Vaccine impact was limited to modest, short‑term reductions in infection and a slight dip in emergency visits and hospitalizations. Myocarditis cases appeared exclusively in vaccinated participants at roughly 27 per million after the first dose and 10 per million after the second. The blog argues that these safety signals were buried in tables and omitted from the paper’s conclusion, skewing the perceived risk‑benefit balance.
CoverMyMeds senior manager Kimberly Howard explains that aligning hub services with field reimbursement teams creates a seamless patient‑support workflow. Hubs handle benefit investigations while field reimbursement managers guide providers through prior‑authorizations, and shared data bridges the two functions. When manufacturers...
![Why Early Detection Matters: Transforming Lung Cancer Care [PODCAST]](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://kevinmd.com/wp-content/uploads/unnamed-2-7.jpg)
Early detection of lung cancer, especially through low‑dose CT screening, can cut mortality by 20% and prevent one death per 320 screened. Yet only 18% of eligible U.S. patients undergo screening, due to awareness and access barriers. Eli Lilly’s senior oncology...
U.S. medical schools allocate fewer than 20 hours to nutrition education, leaving many GI fellows without formal diet training for inflammatory bowel disease. A one‑hour online module dramatically improved fellows' knowledge, confidence, and intention to refer patients to nutrition services....
The author invites a high‑stakes debate on whether COVID‑19 vaccines produced a net mortality benefit, demanding analysis of all‑cause mortality data from mid‑2021 to the end of 2022. Participants must rely on up to three official government datasets and five...
Alberta has tabled the Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act, which would bar medical assistance in dying (MAID) for anyone under 18, for patients whose sole condition is a mental illness, and for cases where death is not...
The blog reports that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is likely to be ousted from the Health and Human Services post after a federal judge blocked his revised vaccine schedule, with 43% of Americans supporting his removal. It also notes the...
The FDA has introduced the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) pilot, offering ultra‑fast approval pathways for drugs that align with the current White House policy agenda. The program could slash review times for qualifying products, giving participating companies a market...
Physician residents are forming unions to confront entrenched hierarchies, unsustainable workloads, and a culture of silent endurance in academic hospitals. The article rebuts a recent JAMA Viewpoint that framed unionization as a perk‑seeking entitlement, emphasizing that burnout persists because systemic...
Manufacturers concentrate patient support on the launch window, emphasizing financial aid and onboarding within the first 30‑60 days. Tina Valbh highlights that this front‑loaded model neglects the evolving barriers patients face throughout long‑term therapy. Without a holistic, multi‑phase strategy, programs...
A retrospective series of 5,317 pediatric spinal deformity surgeries (1992‑2024) found intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) alerts in 4.2% of cases, most often during correction. The study recorded 237 alerts and 348 interventions, with raising mean arterial pressure (MAP) being the most...
Dr. Christie Mulholland challenges the entrenched binary that medicine must be a self‑sacrificial calling, proposing instead a two‑dimensional matrix of calling intensity and job satisfaction. The model creates four quadrants—The Calling, The Craft, The Wound, and The Wall—each describing a...
Glaukos announced that Epioxa™ HD/Epioxa™ is now commercially available, marking the first FDA‑approved, incision‑free topical drug for keratoconus. The therapy uses a riboflavin solution with the O₂n™ System and Boost Goggles, eliminating the need to remove the corneal epithelium. By...
Pfizer announced that the Phase 3 TALAPRO‑3 trial met its primary endpoint, showing that TALZENNA (talazoparib) combined with XTANDI (enzalutamide) significantly improved radiographic progression‑free survival (rPFS) in patients with HRR gene‑mutated metastatic hormone‑sensitive prostate cancer. The combination achieved a hazard ratio...
The NHS has partnered with AstraZeneca, Chiesi, GSK and Sanofi in a £10 million Respiratory Transformation Partnership (RTP) to improve care for asthma and COPD patients. The co‑funded programme will use data analytics and digital tools to identify high‑risk patients, expand...
The article explains how physicians must balance financial risk by distinguishing between risk capacity—their ability to absorb setbacks—and risk tolerance—their personal comfort with uncertainty. It outlines four common physician profiles and offers targeted strategies such as debt reduction, reserve building,...
Artificial intelligence is rapidly entering clinical workflows, from diagnostic algorithms to administrative tools, but its adoption creates a new attack surface for cybercriminals. Sensitive health records used to train AI models are attractive ransomware targets, and third‑party AI platforms often...
The essay chronicles how a succession of U.S. health‑care statutes—from the 1946 Hill‑Burton Act to the 2010 ACA provision—has incrementally constrained the industry. It quantifies each law’s impact, noting $4.6 billion in Hill‑Burton grants, 36 states retaining Certificate of Need (CON)...
Swedfund has pledged $600,000 to Jacaranda Maternity, a Kenyan provider of low‑cost maternal care, to accelerate its network expansion. The funding will finance new hospital openings, upgrade neonatal units, and improve existing facilities serving Nairobi’s low‑ and middle‑income neighborhoods. Jacaranda...
In March 2026 a sudden surge of invasive meningococcal disease hit the University of Kent, producing one of the fastest‑growing meningitis clusters in recent UK history. Within a single weekend, dozens of students fell ill and several deaths were reported,...
Predictive Health Intelligence and Sano Genetics have completed recruitment for the LiveWell study, enrolling 996 participants from a single NHS site in under a year by leveraging PHI’s hepatoSIGHT case‑finding software and existing NHS blood‑test data. The digital workflow enabled...
The article highlights the growing risk of drug over‑dosage in older adults as age‑related changes in metabolism make standard adult doses unsafe. It cites real‑world cases, such as an elderly man bleeding from excessive ibuprofen, and outlines FDA guidance that...
A new NBER paper analyzes physician earnings in the United States, Canada, Sweden, and the Netherlands using tax‑file data. It finds that doctors rank among the top earners in each country, with U.S. physicians earning the highest absolute salaries. The...
A recent Lancet analysis of over 540,000 Finnish and UK adults found that obesity drives a substantial share of infection‑related mortality. Roughly 8.6% of all infectious disease deaths in 2018 were attributable to obesity, rising to 15% during the COVID‑19...
Microsoft showcased its Dragon Copilot at HIMSS 2026, positioning it as a unified AI‑driven hub for clinical workflows. The platform now integrates trusted medical content from Wolters Kluwer and Elsevier, adds partner‑powered AI apps through the Microsoft Marketplace, and offers...
A recent Substack post explains that the common complaint of "brain fog" is often a manifestation of burnout rather than a neurological disease. The author, a psychiatrist, describes how prolonged high workloads, minimal breaks, and chronic stress overload the brain’s...
Merck Animal Health announced that the FDA has approved an expanded label for its once‑yearly injectable parasite control, Bravecto Quantum, adding treatment and control of Asian longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) and Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum) for 12 months. The product...
![Politics and Fear Have Replaced Science in U.S. Pain Management [PODCAST]](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://kevinmd.com/wp-content/uploads/Design-4-scaled.jpg)
Patient advocate Richard A. Lawhern and neurologist Stephen Nadeau argue that U.S. opioid policy has been shaped by politics rather than scientific evidence. They claim CDC, FDA and DEA guidelines promote weak addiction‑treatment drugs for pain, despite limited efficacy, while...
Colorectal cancer diagnoses among adults under 50 have risen about 30% over the past two decades, driven by lifestyle, obesity, and genetic factors. Screening guidelines have shifted, lowering the start age to 45 for average‑risk individuals and introducing non‑invasive tests....
The article ranks the 30 biggest publicly traded healthcare firms by employee headcount, highlighting UnitedHealth’s 400,000 staff and $447.6 billion revenue as the top entry. It notes a 56% jump in global healthcare deal volume to $403 billion in 2025, despite fewer...
Clinicians are overwhelmed by EHR documentation, eroding patient interaction and clinical teaching. AI‑driven scribes promise to offload clerical work, freeing preceptors to engage more directly with patients and students. The article argues that while AI is not a cure‑all, it...
Families USA has launched the Stop the Bleed campaign to solicit concrete commitments from political candidates on reducing health‑care costs and curbing corporate greed. The initiative asks a single, open‑ended question and will publish candidate responses beginning in April 2026....
Tom Frieden’s blog post introduces a free, semester‑long public‑health curriculum built around his book *The Formula for Better Health*. The package includes instructor guides, ten chapter outlines, case studies, test banks and slide decks that map to CEPH competencies. It...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has opened an investigation after a patient died following self‑injection of Laennec, an allogeneic placental extract imported from Japan. A similar fatality occurred in Russia involving health influencer Anna Kolyada, whose companion fell seriously...
Advocates are urging the public to sign a petition calling for the repeal of the 1986 liability shield that protects medical product manufacturers from lawsuits. The campaign highlights two pending bills—S.3853 introduced by Rand Paul and H.R.4668 by Rep. Gosar—aimed at restoring...
Reform‑oriented politicians are increasingly at odds over health‑care strategies, with some pushing universal coverage and price controls while others favor market‑based solutions. The debate has intensified as think tanks and advocacy groups publish competing policy briefs, reflecting broader shifts toward...
The Trump administration’s 2027 Notice of Benefit & Payment Parameters (NBPP) would allow ACA Marketplace insurers to sell “non‑network” plans that set a fixed payment amount for services instead of contracting with providers. Under the proposal, patients would be responsible...
The Iranian‑linked Handala Team launched a wiper attack on Stryker Corporation on March 11, destroying the Lifepak cardiac monitor network that links ambulances to hospitals. The outage halted real‑time ECG transmission in Maryland, jeopardizing STEMI patients and exposing the shared vulnerability...
Governor Ron DeSantis' attempt to roll back Florida vaccine mandates has encountered federal legal and regulatory barriers, limiting the state's ability to alter existing health program requirements. The push, framed as a "medical freedom" initiative, now faces challenges that could...
The post argues that surgeon awareness creates interest, which leads to adoption and ultimately reshapes orthopedic markets. OTW positions itself as a catalyst by showcasing research to the most influential spine surgeons. It invites researchers to submit their work through...
Valbenazine (Ingrezza®), an oral selective VMAT2 inhibitor from Neurocrine Biosciences, received FDA approval for treating tardive dyskinesia and Huntington’s disease‑associated chorea. In the Phase 3 KINECT‑3 trial, a once‑daily 80 mg dose produced a statistically significant reduction in AIMS dyskinesia scores after...
Aetna has introduced a black‑box algorithm that automatically downcodes physician claims, lowering payments for high‑severity ER visits without chart review. The system reclassifies Level 5 services to Level 4, forcing doctors to submit appeals to the same insurer that made the reduction....
A Tennessee bill that would have treated abortion as criminal homicide failed to advance, not because of public opposition but due to procedural inaction. The proposal, which could have exposed women to the death penalty, highlights how even the most...
Dr. Paul Marik, known for his outspoken views on pandemic policy, has launched a Substack newsletter dedicated to cancer prevention and treatment. The newsletter emphasizes simple lifestyle and dietary changes, especially vitamin D adequacy, as ways to lower cancer risk....
On November 20, 2020 Johnson & Johnson’s Verb division unveiled OTTAVA, a six‑armed robotic platform designed for minimally invasive surgery. The system combines modular hardware with AI‑driven control to perform simultaneous tasks, promising greater precision and efficiency. Early trials indicate up to...
A recent Indian study of 91 patients exposed to alternative medicines found that 39.6% developed acute‑on‑chronic liver failure (ACLF), with a 38.9% mortality rate among those cases. Heavy‑metal contamination exceeded WHO limits in many products, and 27.7% contained undeclared pharmaceutical...
In 2026 healthcare cyberattacks escalated from IT nuisances to clinical emergencies, with ransomware and system intrusions forcing hospitals to cancel procedures and revert to manual processes. The convergence of AI-driven tools and sophisticated ransomware amplified attack vectors, making recovery slower...
Researchers from Griffith University and biotech firm Marinova evaluated brown and green seaweed polysaccharides for their ability to block norovirus attachment. Fucoidan, a sulfated fiber from brown seaweed, demonstrated the strongest and most consistent inhibition of virus‑like particles binding to...
An Oscar‑nominated Iranian film clip showed a pregnant woman denied emergency care because the hospital demanded cash, echoing similar payment barriers faced by U.S. patients. While outright refusals are illegal in the United States, American hospitals still use urgency assessments...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued guidance allowing insurers to reallocate unspent Section 1303 segregated abortion premiums to general revenue after the coverage year ends. This ends years of accumulated “abortion funds,” which analysts estimate could total between...
