Health Headlines for Thursday, March 17
Cuomo scoffs at Health Republic bailout
Democrat and Chronicle
Gov. Andrew Cuomo offered little sympathy to health insurers and hospitals looking for a bailout after the demise of Health Republic last year as part of New York’s health exchange.
Patients in Pain, and a Doctor Who Must Limit Drugs
New York Times
Susan Kubicka-Welander, a short-order cook, went to her pain checkup appointment straight from the lunch-rush shift. “We were really busy,” she told Dr. Robert L. Wergin, trying to smile through deeply etched lines of exhaustion. “Thursdays, it’s Philly cheesesteaks.”
A Strong Response to the Opioid Scourge
New York Times
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week released well-reasoned guidelines for how doctors should prescribe opioid painkillers. The voluntary standards could make a difference in curbing the alarming increase in prescription drug deaths.
Senator moves to expand new medical marijuana program
Capital New York
Roughly two months into New York’s implementation of its medical marijuana program, one of the sponsors of the law that kicked it off has introduced a package of legislation to expand it.
Now There’s Proof: Docs Who Get Company Cash Tend to Prescribe More Brand-Name Meds
Pro Publica
Doctors have long disputed that the payments they receive from pharmaceutical companies have any relationship to how they prescribe drugs.
Health care and the illusions that power it
Albany Times Union
The most common element of magic tricks is misdirection. The magician draws your attention to one thing so you won’t see what he is doing with something else.