Latest California Healthline Stories
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.
‘Grossly Unfair’? Widower Takes Ban On Military Injury Claims To Supreme Court
When a young Navy lieutenant died following low-risk childbirth, her husband claimed military doctors botched her care. But his wrongful death claim was dismissed because of a 1950 ruling that bars active-duty service members from suing the U.S. government — for any reason.
Influential Leapfrog Group Jumps In To Rate 5,600 Surgery Centers
In the wake of a KHN/USA Today Network investigation, Leapfrog will check the safety and quality of outpatient centers.
Must Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.
KHN Conversation On Overtreatment
Physicians estimate that 21 percent of medical care is unnecessary — a problem that costs the health care system at least $210 billion a year. KHN hosted a forum on how too much medicine can cause harm.
Despite Red Flags At Surgery Centers, Overseers Award Gold Seals
A decade ago, California stopped licensing surgery centers and then gave approval power to private accreditors that are commonly paid by the same centers they inspect. That system of oversight has created a troubling legacy of laxity, a Kaiser Health News investigation finds.
Doctor To The Stars Disciplined Over Use Of Controversial Menopause Therapy
Dr. Prudence Hall has made a name for herself in the field of “bioidentical hormones” — plant-based compounds purportedly customized for each patient’s needs. Experts say the popular approach is unproven; California regulators say she was grossly negligent in her care of two patients.
Avoidable Sepsis Infections Send Thousands Of Seniors To Gruesome Deaths
No one tracks sepsis cases closely enough to know how often these severe infections turn fatal. But the toll — both human and financial — is enormous, finds an investigation by KHN and the Chicago Tribune.
Readers And Tweeters Revisit Surgery Centers, Think Twice About Single-Payer
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Lax Oversight Leaves Surgery Center Regulators And Patients In The Dark
A Kaiser Health News and USA Today Network investigation finds that a hodgepodge of state rules governing outpatient centers allow some deaths and serious injuries to go unexamined. And no rule stops a doctor exiled by a hospital for misconduct from opening a surgery center down the street.