Kevin Zelnio is a science writer with a degree in marine biology. He is the father of two children. And, like many in this country, he has no insurance. Earlier this week, his 6 year-old developed pneumonia.This is his account of what happened.
posted by Laminda on Feb 11, 2012 - 201 comments

The term never event describes when something happens in a medical setting that should never occur. The list of never events (formally called "Serious Reportable Events) released by the NQF includes mistakes such as performing surgery on the wrong body part (or the wrong patient!), or patient suicide while under care. Despite their moniker, "never" events do happen. [more inside]
posted by Deathalicious on Nov 28, 2011 - 53 comments

Dirty Medicine — How medical supply behemoths stick it to the little guy, making America’s health care system more dangerous and expensive. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Jul 12, 2010 - 14 comments

Not just for religious pharmacists anymore: the Department of Health and Human Services proposes a rule that protects anyone who refuses to provide medical services on moral or religious grounds. [more inside]
posted by casarkos on Aug 23, 2008 - 207 comments

A new medical bill payment reporting system called MedFICO is said to be going live this summer. This system is being developed by the health care industry in an effort to judge a patient's ability to pay. Healthcare Analytics, a healthcare actuarial company, is developing the score in conjunction with Tenet Healthcare, credit scoring company Fair Issac, and venture capitalists. [more inside]
posted by uaudio on Jan 19, 2008 - 55 comments

Paul Krugman: The best places to get sick A dozen years ago, everyone was talking about an American health care crisis. But then the issue faded from view: A few years of good data led many people to conclude that HMOs and other innovations had ended the historic trend of rising medical costs. But the pause in the growth of health care costs in the 1990s proved temporary. Medical costs are once again rising rapidly and the U.S. health care system is once again in crisis. So now is a good time to ask why other advanced countries manage to spend so much less than we Americans do, while getting better results.
posted by Postroad on Apr 17, 2005 - 67 comments

Intellectual property laws and the fight against disease Lots of news, data and commentary at the "Health Care and Intellectual Property" page from the Consumer Project on Technology. Conflicts of Interest in Biomedical Research is also worth a look.
posted by mediareport on Dec 1, 2002 - 1 comment