Enjoy the first installment of a new series entitled The Shackling of the Physician, about inane and laborious diagnostic coding excesses. Bitten by orca? Opera house as place of occurrence of external cause? Pecked by chicken? You have to be kidding ... Can anyone say #physicianburnout?
CDC
From 1986 to the present, the CDC has monitored pregnancy-related deaths. Surveillance data show a steadily increasing number of reported pregnancy related deaths up to 2012. The increase on its own may not turn heads, but in a global context, it depicts a slowly growing problem when compared to figures across other developed countries. And even more worrisome, experts have been unable to clearly identify the overall cause for the increase.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, roughly 88,000 Americans die each year from alcohol-related deaths, and that figure is on the rise. To put that in perspective, the death toll is nearly twice the number attributed annually to deaths stemming from opiate and heroin overdoses.
A new report highlights the number of Americans who are candidates for reducing their risk of heart and vascular disease because they have elevated LDL levels. It also reveals how many of them are actually taking lipid-lowering drugs, such as statins. And as it turns out, it's not enough.
The FDA and CDC are expressing concerns about the potential for rising rates of transfusion-associated infections, with both agencies calling for more testing and precautions. Cash-strapped blood banks are not nearly so concerned.
Good news abounds in 2015 on the vaccine front and the CDC announced some more this week. Vaccine coverage rates among American kindergardeners is very high in most of the country. However, keep that "mission Accomplished" banner at bay. There's still advocacy work to be done.
Bad news from the CDC according to the July 23rd issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a quarter of Americans expect an antibiotic prescription when they visit the doctor for a cold. Antibiotics do not fight viral infections like the common cold which is a
Rotavirus, which causes severe gastroenteritis, doesn t get the same degree of attention that others viruses like measles or chickenpox get, but it can be a troublesome infection especially for young children. The CDC lists a number of daunting statistics for children under 5. Rotavirus causes: 70,000 annual hospitalizations, more than 400,000 doctors visits and 200,000 emergen
CDC Follies, part two. No, part three. Well, whatever: our nation s chief repository of biological threats (i.e. bioterror weapons, potentially) resembles the gang that couldn t shoot straight. They keep spreading lethal organisms around.
A new report from the CDC s FoodNet surveillance system presents data about the frequency of foodborne illnesses in 2014, and compares it to those frequencies it found in 2006-2008.
The CDC has released its survey data on how many Americans are getting the recommended cancer screening test for cervical, breast and colorectal cancer. They believe too few are following their advice. We think the issue is more nuanced.
The latest report on the toll of cancer over the last quarter-century, by the American Cancer Society and the CDC, shows that cancer death rates are way down, and new cancer cases (incidence) as well, contrary to the doom-sayers predictions.