Female Doctors’ Patients Live Longer, But They’re Still Paid 8% Less Than Male Colleagues
A new study finds that patients tend to do better with a female doctor. While the researchers weren't exactly sure why, they say the improved quality of care, if the techniques women use are broadly accepted as industry standards, could save 32,000 lives a year.
The Associated Press:
Does A Doctor's Gender Affect Your Chance Of Survival?
What if your doctor's gender could influence your chance of surviving a visit to the hospital? A big study of older patients hospitalized for common illnesses raises that provocative possibility — and also lots of questions. Patients who got most of their care from women doctors were more likely to leave the hospital alive than those treated by men. (12/19)
In other national health care news —
The New York Times:
Harnessing The U.S. Taxpayer To Fight Cancer And Make Profits
Enthusiasm for cancer immunotherapy is soaring, and so is Arie Belldegrun’s fortune. Dr. Belldegrun, a physician, co-founded Kite Pharma, a company that could be the first to market next year with a highly anticipated new immunotherapy treatment. But even without a product, Dr. Belldegrun has struck gold. (Richtel and Pollack, 12/19)
The Wall Street Journal:
GlaxoSmithKline’s New Drug Challenges AIDS Treatment Orthodoxy
GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s ViiV Healthcare announced positive phase-three trial results for its new HIV drug in a dual-drug regimen, supporting the company’s audacious bet that it can shift the AIDS treatment orthodoxy away from three-drug combinations. U.K.-based Glaxo said its HIV pill dolutegravir plus Johnson & Johnson’s rilpivirine suppressed the virus as well as traditional three- or four-drug combinations in two identical, yearlong trials, each involving around 500 patients. (Roland, 12/20)
Morning Consult:
Kaine To Serve On HELP Committee Next Congress
Sen. Tim Kaine, the former Democratic nominee for vice president, will serve on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee next Congress. The Virginia Democrat made the announcement Monday in Richmond, while speaking at a roundtable with health care providers and advocacy groups. He noted the post will give him an opportunity to work on health and education issues, which he said were “two longtime passions.” (McIntire, 12/19)
Stat:
52 Weeks, 52 Faces: Obituaries Narrate Lives Lost To The Opioid Epidemic
As the death toll from the opioid crisis mounts, families are increasingly weaving desperate warnings into the obituaries of loved ones about the horror that can result when people abuse painkillers, heroin, and synthetic drugs such as fentanyl. Many words of remembrance have been transformed into pleas for help — directed at lawmakers, families suffering similar experiences, and the general public. Families are using these public notices to push for better and more treatment options while spreading the message that addiction is a disease and not something to be endured in shameful silence. (Armstrong, 12/20)