During several inspections over the past five years, federal regulators cited the five local hospitals tracked by the Orange County Register nearly 100 times for infection control violations. The most common problems were incorrectly sterilized surgical tools and dirty operating rooms and equipment.
A year after Thomas Eric Duncan died from Ebola after seeking care at a Texas hospital, what’s different about health preparedness in the U.S.? Reporter Anna Almendrala set out to answer that question, and found a series of heartbreaking stories of loss along the way.
Dr. Gupta was performing a procedure in which a pacemaker is inserted through a patient's blood vessels. But he skipped a key step, and the patient's condition steadily worsened. The case is a reminder that the skills a physician has earlier in their career don’t always remain sharp toward the end.
C-sections are still considered way too common at a majority of hospitals throughout the country. In this first of a two-part series, 2015 California fellow Danielle Venton looks at how a hospital in Marin County has successfully tackled the problem.
In a watershed development on Tuesday, the American Cancer Society announced it was backtracking on its aggressive breast cancer screening recommendations. The new guidelines are much more aligned with the practice of Slow Medicine, and they should change how we talk to patients about screening.
India-West’s examination of the impact of diabetes within the Indian population continues with a look at an attempt to legislate efforts to reduce sugar consumption, how one diabetic patient lived with the disease for nearly 25 years, and ways to manage the chronic condition.
Last week, columnist William Heisel criticized the new California Healthcare Compare's website for how it rates hospitals on childbirth, noting that the tool focused too heavily on C-sections and breastfeeding. This week, he offers five indicators that would give potential patients a fuller picture.
Last week, the New England Journal of Medicine published a landmark study by CDC researchers on the safety of dietary supplements. The new study stands as a strong challenge to our current regulatory framework, as our Slow Medicine contributors explain.
Across the country, patients who receive out-of-network care can face “exorbitant” charges for medical services compared to Medicare’s rates for the same procedures, and the prices can vary dramatically. But what explains these differences? It depends on who you ask.
C-sections have been in the news a lot lately, and the seemingly conflicting messages are enough to sow confusion. But the fact remains that the procedure is way too common in the majority of hospitals throughout the country. And that has consequences for both moms' health and health care costs.
