Dan Frith

A recent article in Medscape Today reports that in 2005, there were 10.2 million cosmetic procedures performed in the United States, an increase of 11% from 2004 and 38% when compared with 2000. This number includes 3,839,387 Botox treatments, 1,033,581 chemical peels, 837,711 microdermabrasions, 782,732 laser hair removals, 589,768 vein…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should strongly warn the public about the risk of tendon rupture associated with the use of certain antibiotics. Public Citizen, a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, has filed a petition with the FDA requesting the warnings. The petition is the result of a review…

A Missouri company that owned 11 nursing homes and it former CEO recently pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to defraud Medicare and Medicaid by charging the federal government for nursing home care that was so poor as to be almost non-existent. The company, American Healthcare Management, Inc., and…

Back in June of this year we published a short article on the problems caused by drug-coated cardiac stents. Our article directed readers to a study reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine. It seemed there was a higher rate of blood clot formation with the use of drug-coated stents…

Ann Richards, the former Texas governor, recently died from complications arising from esophageal cancer. Esophageal cancer is one of the fastest-rising forms of cancer and, unfortunately, it is rarely diagnosed early. The form of cancer which killed Ann Richards, squamous cell, is often associated with a history of heavy tobacco…

Want to know some interesting facts about the nursing home industry? How about these?– 16,995 nursing home facilities– 52 percent of these are owned by a chain, with multiple facilities owned by one company– 107 beds is the average size of a nursing home– 83 percent is the average occupancy…

A federal law (OBRA) enacted in 1987 established a survey and inspection process for nursing homes which required the facilities to meet certain standards of care. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has responsibility for enforcing these standards but delegates the inspection and survey process to the various…

Let’s assume you are in an automobile accident and you forgot to wear your seat belt and your chest struck the steering wheel at impact. Or, your seat belt was used but the abrupt front-end collision resulted in pain across your chest from the seat belt engaging. Either way, you…

Let’s say your family doctor tells you that you have torn a ligament in you knee when you fell off that ladder while painting the kitchen. Or, the chest pain which resulted in a trip to the local emergency room lead to the diagnosis of a clogged cardiac artery and…