Biologic drugs, made from living organisms, and the cheaper biosimilar drugs that mimic them are more complex than chemical drugs and their generic counterparts. The Food and Drug Administration says biosimilars are as safe and effective as the biologics, and doctors agree — but they are cautious about changing the treatment regimen of patients doing well.
Seattle’s Northwest Kidney Centers, which pioneered kidney failure treatment 50 years ago, now pairs dying patients with hospice services, without forcing them to forgo the comfort dialysis can provide.
College and grad students with chronic health conditions as common as asthma and diabetes may need to clear hurdles to make sure their health needs are covered by insurance if they go to school far from home.
Health plans’ coverage of the medication, branded as Wegovy — which has a $1,300-a-month price tag — is not a sure thing.
While covid is generally mild in children, doctors report a growing number of long-haul covid symptoms and MIS-C cases, particularly among Black and Latino children.
Long before covid, music therapists used singing and wind instruments to help COPD and asthma patients. These same therapies might help patients recover from covid’s lingering symptoms as well. And though it wasn’t clinical music therapy, singing with an online choir has helped me navigate long covid.
When estimating how well a patient’s kidneys are working, doctors frequently turn to an equation that depends on a question: Is the patient Black? Kidney experts are now debating how to remove the race adjustment and whether the question is a function of sound science. It’s considered just the first step in dismantling institutional racism in kidney care.
A significant number of post-covid patients suffer from syndromes that few doctors understand.
Experts offer advice on how seniors struggling with physical, emotional and cognitive challenges following a year of being cooped up can address issues such as muscle weakness, poor nutrition, disrupted sleep, anxiety and social isolation.
Medical experts are struggling to define or explain the lingering, debilitating symptoms some covid patients experience. Part of the problem is the wide range of symptoms, but doctors say getting a better understanding will mean tracking patients and their outcomes and establishing clinical trials.