Beating back the Aedes aegypti mosquito
Scientists are taking a multipronged approach to tackle this dangerous carrier of dengue, yellow fever and other noxious viruses Deep in northwestern Africa, a high-pitched hum pierces the moist forest. It is the mosquito Aedes aegypti, laying its eggs inside water-filled tree holes and feeding on various animals, posing little danger to any person it encounters. But that is a scene from the distant past. Everything changed about 5,000 years ago, scientists reckon, when the African climate shifted, and this area — the Sahel — like the Sahara region farther north, became a drier place. Even A. aegypti, whose eggs can dry out and survive for months, couldn’t tolerate nine months of hot, dry...
Jupiter Medical Center and Hospital for Special Surgery join forces
Jupiter Medical Center (JMC) and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) are teaming up to expand access to the highest quality musculoskeletal care in South Florida. The alliance brings together Jupiter Medical Center, the region’s leading independent medical center, and HSS, ranked No. 1 in orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report for 16 straight years. Together, they will offer patients comprehensive orthopedic care—from diagnosis and surgery to rehabilitation—delivered with the highest standards of quality, safety and patient experience. “Jupiter Medical Center and HSS share a commitment to excellence in patient care,” said Amit Rastogi, MD, MHCM, President and CEO of Jupiter Medical...
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These 3 policy moves are likely to change healthcare for older people
Month after month, Patricia Hunter and other members of the Nursing Home Reform Coalition logged onto video calls with congressional representatives, seeking support for a proposed federal rule setting minimum staff levels for nursing homes. Finally, after decades of advocacy, the Biden administration in 2023 tackled the problem of perennial understaffing of long-term care facilities. Officials backed a Medicare regulation that would mandate at least 3.48 hours of care from nurses and aides per resident, per day, and would require a registered nurse on-site 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The mandated hours were lower than supporters hoped for, said Hunter, who directs Washington...
ProPublica’s Rx Inspector tool is helping people find critical safety information on generic drugs
The calls came over the span of a single month in 2004, patient after patient with strikingly similar complaints. Some told Oregon psychiatrist James Hancey that their new generic medication for depression had stopped working. Others described unexpected reactions — dizziness, flu-like symptoms and electric shock sensations in the brain. “That started to tell me, ‘This drug is no good,’” Hancey said. “You get all these phone calls where people are saying the exact same thing.” Hancey suspected that the generic was ineffective, and that his patients were suffering from abrupt withdrawal. But he had no easy way to confirm exactly where the pills came from or the safety record of the factory...
