Dan Frith

The Society for Vascular Surgery, representing the nation’s 2,400 vascular surgeons, is now recommending 3 separate screening tests for patients 55 years of age or older who have cardiovascular risk factors. The risk factors include high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol, known cardio-vascular disease, or family history of abdominal…

A new study shows that while prostate-specific antigen (PSA) measurement remains an important monitoring tool, it performs poorly in distinguishing those who will develop lethal prostate cancer from those at low or no risk of disease progression. The results are reported in the April 4 issue of the Journal of…

We have said it here before but the main problem with nursing homes is that the owners refuse to hire enough staff to provide good care for the residents. The corporations which own America’s nursing homes put profits ahead of people.This recent article about a state owned nursing home in…

Is your local hospital constantly reducing its staff to make more money? My local hospital, Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, is the largest hospital in western Virginia and is constantly trying to reduce it costs and increase its profits. Overcrowded hospitals that are pushing too hard to streamline and cut costs…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is examining whether Eli Lilly & Company provided it with accurate data about the side effects of the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa, a potent medicine that has been linked to weight gain and diabetes. The FDA has questions about a Lilly document from February 2000…

There is some new technology on the horizon for women. For many years the gold standard for breast screening has been the mammogram. However, while many doctors believe the mammogram has saved lives the biggest problem has been the discomfort which results from the required compression of breast tissue.A new…

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 1998 that nursing homes repeatedly harm residents without facing sanctions. Unfortunately, a new report due out next week reaches the same conclusion. The Bush administration rarely uses its authority to deny payment to homes with a history of compliance problems and typically imposes…