San Diego news from inewsource Journalism for the common good
A state legislator who is leading an inquiry into the escalating rates of diabetes and heart disease highlighted inewsource data. Read More »
Health
Diabetes-related amputations: How we crunched the data
To identify the increase in diabetes-related amputations in California, inewsource analyzed data from the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, the agency that collects information about the care provided to patients discharged from California hospitals. The data, compiled at the request of inewsource, includes more than 100 separate billing codes, by body part and procedure, detailing patients treated ... Read More »
Diabetes-related amputations up significantly in California — and San Diego
Clinicians are amputating more toes, legs, ankles and feet of patients with diabetes in California — and San Diego County in particular — in a “shocking” trend that has mystified diabetes experts here and across the country. Statewide, lower-limb amputations increased by more than 31 percent from 2010 to 2016 when adjusted for population change. In San Diego County, the ... Read More »
San Diego Hospice: The end of a journey
It’s been a long goodbye for San Diego Hospice, an institution that helped people die with dignity and without pain. Read More »
Doctors debate danger of popular diabetes drug after FDA amputation warning
Some doctors are taking their patients with diabetes off of Invokana because of black box warning about higher risk of toe, foot, ankle and leg amputations. Read More »
New Medicare website measures quality of hospice care
For the first time, Medicare officials have posted online quality scores for some 3,800 hospice providers — including about two dozen in San Diego County. The scores are on a website launched Wednesday called Hospice Compare. And most San Diego hospices did well on most measures compared with national averages. Kate Goodrich of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ... Read More »
California’s ambitious single-payer plan isn’t dead — yet
Despite rumors of its death, the Healthy California Act, a bill that would create a massive single-payer insurance system for nearly all 39 million Golden State residents, is alive and, in the eyes of its supporters, imperative. Read More »
Medicare boosts incentives to promote weight loss, prevent diabetes
Lifestyle coaches will teach beneficiaries with prediabetes how to prevent diabetes by losing weight and exercising over three year program Read More »
Should psychiatrists be allowed to publicly analyze Donald Trump’s sanity?
It’s no secret Donald Trump is an unusual president, one whose late night tweets, comments and vitriol have prompted some to question his sanity. All that noise has led clinical psychiatrists to be asked by the news media and others to weigh in on the president’s mental health. Does the nation’s leader have a serious disorder that influences how he ... Read More »
Spending on diabetes drugs is ‘skyrocketing’
Medicare pays $5 billion more on purchasing drugs for beneficiaries with diabetes than for patients without diabetes. Insulin drugs are increasing fastest. Read More »