Doctors

Dr. Eduardo Ibarra checks the blood pressure of Carmen Garcia Lavoy in the Toa Baja area of Puerto Rico. He's been making house calls in the area with nurse Erika Rodriguez.

Lingering Power Outage In Puerto Rico Strains Health Care System

7:35pm October 30, 2017

by Jason Beaubien

The Puerto Rican government has prioritized getting power back to hospitals. Many clinics and doctors' offices, like other small businesses on the island, still don't have electricity.

Queue Listen Now

Dr. Ruth Berggren stands outside Charity Hospital in New Orleans in 2005, where she had earlier cared for patients during Hurricane Katrina.

A Doctor Who Weathered Katrina Now Tends Victims Of Harvey

3:23pm September 05, 2017

by Shefali Luthra

Dr. Ruth Berggren spent six days struggling to keep patients alive in in New Orleans' Charity Hospital after Hurricane Katrina hit. She's now caring for evacuees from Hurricane Harvey.

Across the state of Maine, the number of prescriptions for painkillers is dropping. But some patients who have chronic pain say they need high doses of the medication to be able to function.

Intent On Reversing Its Opioid Epidemic, A State Limits Prescriptions

9:34am August 23, 2017

by Patty Wight

Maine is among a handful of states putting limits on the painkiller dose that doctors can prescribe a patient. Some doctors and patients say the law is helping, while others say it goes too far.

Queue Listen Now

While doctors and nurses have an ethical duty to treat all patients, they are not immune to feelings of dread when it comes to patients who are hateful or belligerent. A well-known article from the 1970s spoke to this.

After Charlottesville, A Doctor Reflects On Hateful Patients And His Own Biases

1:15pm August 16, 2017

by John Henning Schumann

Medical professionals take pride in their commitment to care for all patients. But that pride doesn't shield them from the difficult ones.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals, based in Bridgewater Township, N.J., bought two specialty heart drugs used in emergency treatment from Marathon Pharmaceuticals in 2015, and then dramatically increased each drug's price.

47 Hospitals Slashed Their Use Of Two Key Heart Drugs After Huge Price Hikes

7:44pm August 09, 2017

by Sarah Jane Tribble

These two older drugs, nitroprusside and isoproterenol, are frequently used in emergency and intensive care situations and have no direct alternatives, say cardiologists.

Dr. Kurt Newman visits with 14-year-old Jack Pessaud, who's undergoing treatment for a cancerous tumor in his knee at Children's National Health System in Washington, D.C.

'Healing Children': A Surgeon's Take On What Kids Need

5:00am July 01, 2017

Dr. Kurt Newman has spent his career caring for children. In a new book, he argues that children are not just smaller adults, and the differences matter for their treatment.

Calls for tort reform in regards to medical malpractice are popular on the campaign trail. But research shows that costs from medical liability make up just 2 to 2.5 percent of total health care spending in the U.S.

This GOP Health Bill Proposes New Limits To Medical Malpractice Awards

5:00am June 28, 2017

by Michelle Andrews

The bill H.R. 1215 would limit awards for non-economic damages — such as pain and suffering — to $250,000. President Trump supports the bill, but many others across the political spectrum don't.

Dr. Vanessa Grubbs and Robert Phillips at their wedding in August 2005. Just a few months earlier, when his kidneys were failing, she gave him one of hers.

'Interlaced Fingers' Traces Roots Of Racial Disparity In Kidney Transplants

6:03pm June 24, 2017

by Michel Martin

When Dr. Vanessa Grubbs fell in love with a man whose kidneys were failing, he'd been waiting for a transplant for years. Her book explores the ways racial inequity is embedded in the system.

Queue Listen Now

In theory, "direct primary care" should result in better health for patients and lower health care costs overall. But some analysts say that approach just encourages the worried well to get more care than they need.

A Pioneer In 'Flat-Fee Primary Care' Had To Close Its Clinics. What Went Wrong?

6:40pm June 20, 2017

by michelle andrews

Many patients liked the Qliance approach, which gave them unlimited access to a provider for a modest fee and freed doctors from insurance paperwork. But critics say the approach may not be viable.

A 4-year-old regulation in New York state requires doctors and hospitals to treat sepsis using a protocol that some researchers now question.

Are State Rules For Treating Sepsis Really Saving Lives?

5:14pm May 30, 2017

by Richard Harris

Some states dictate how doctors must treat this life-threatening reaction to infection, and early intervention is helping. But scientific evidence may be changing too rapidly for the rules to keep up.