Yahoo! News:
Hospital ‘code blue’ deadlier at night- This article basically says that if you could pick a time that you definitely don’t want your heart to stop it would be the night shift. The article goes into pretty good detail about possible explanations: fewer staff members or more tired staff. I can definitely understand these as I saw it during my rotations. Unless you have worked consecutive 80+ hour weeks it’s hard to understand how tired you are at 2 AM when someone comes in.
New York Times:
Gentlemen, 5 Easy Steps to Living Long and Well- “The behaviors are abstaining from smoking, weight management, blood pressure control, regular exercise and avoiding diabetes.” Basically, don’t smoke, eat less, and exercise more. As much as the Times (and the authors) would like to make this a big deal, I think this can be applied to the general population. It’s something I always tell people when they ask me for medical advice.
Wall Street Journal:
Glaxo Cuts Prices on AIDS Drugs for the Poor- GlaxoSmithKline has continued its policy of cutting HIV drug prices in third world countries. Not to criticize GSK because this is completely tangential, but as great as this is in terms of PR, I wonder when people will put more focus on eliminating the behaviors that cause the spread of the disease. Without education and proper infrastructure to support those initiatives, the number of people with HIV/AIDS in developing countries will continue to rise (due in part to a statistical twist as these drug programs increase lifespan for HIV/AIDS individuals leading to higher prevalence).
Early Adopters Warm to Retail Clinics, But Public’s Still Cool- We at Health Care Watch have been staunch advocates of in-store clinics and it appears that there is enough demand to sustain the current batch and allow for future growth. However, as one of the commenter notes the post looks at a survey and there can be a big difference between a survey response and real-life decisions. We will continue to follow this story as we think in-store clinics could be a key driver in bringing down health care costs.
