In the near future, medical malpractice insurance for obstetricians and gynecologists could become so expensive that only hospitals could afford coverage for birthings. Ob-gyns face sky-high medical malpractice premiums and the possibility of those rates doubling or tripling if they lose a major malpractice case. The trend has caused many of them to rethink their practice or leave the field.
Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, has moved toward ousting the leaders of its West Coast affiliate. The power struggle could affect hundreds of thousands of California workers and the state's strained healthcare industry. The labor leaders have clashed over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's failed healthcare plan and over bargaining tactics with hospitals, nursing homes and other employers.
Recent analyses suggest the meteoric rise of angioplasty during the past three decades has ended. Three major studies indicate that using the procedure to open blocked arteries to treat chest pain, or angina, may be riskier and no more beneficial than medication. The research also suggests angioplasty is used too often, and in many cases, the modest benefits don't justify the procedure's cost.
Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ironclad control over Iraq's health system has come under renewed scrutiny following recent clashes between his Mahdi Army militia and the Iraqi army. Iraq's hospitals and clinics have been at the center of some of the country's worst sectarian violence, although recent improvements in security have made Iraqis less afraid to seek medical attention. The turmoil in the health sector has severely damaged Iraq's ability to care for its sick.
If nurses at a Tenet Healthcare Corp. hospital in Houston vote yes to a nursing union, the move would probably send reverberations across North Texas hospitals. The California Nurses Association collected enough signature cards at Tenet's hospital in the Cypress-Fairbanks suburb of Houston to force the union election. Twenty-two percent of Tenet's employees already are unionized, according to the hospital system's 2007 annual report.
The Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut has launched an online television campaign to satirize what the foundation calls the nation's broken healthcare system. The ad campaign is the latest in a series from the foundation that mixes humor with a serious call for comprehensive healthcare reform.