What are the most common inaccuracies in medical records? How often do these errors have consequences for the patient?

By Alessandra Suuberg

Parasites take an enormous toll on human and veterinary health. But researchers may have found a way for patients with brain disorders and a common brain parasite to become frenemies.

By Bill Sullivan

Decency LLC’s issue summary on healthcare spending considers factors influencing—and implications of—the high cost of healthcare in the United States.

Category: Issue Summaries

Americans would no longer have to worry about medical debts dragging down their credit scores under federal regulations proposed Tuesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

By Noam N. Levey, KFF Health News

Where are pressure or coercion seen today in medicine? What forms do they take?

Category: In the News

Some states are seeking a better balance with respect to mandated reporting. The reasons include disproportionate harms and too many unfounded reports.

By Alessandra Suuberg

Complex systems are vulnerable to cascading failures. This can be true of financial networks, power grids, computer networks—and the healthcare system. How can healthcare providers avoid the snowball effect?

By Alessandra Suuberg

Headlines highlighting the UN’s Food Waste Index Report 2024 are not the only ones to show wide global disparities in access to food. Here are some of the stories making headlines in recent months.

By Alessandra Suuberg

By name, the Hippocratic Oath may be one of the most recognizable texts in medicine. But how many people, if asked, could pinpoint the “official” version, and how many could recite its contents? This may be a trick question.

Category: History of Medicine

A new bill in Ohio would approve the use of nitrogen gas for executions and protect execution identifying information from disclosure.

Category: Legislation in Context

At the end of January, Alabama made headlines by becoming the first U.S. state to execute a death row inmate by nitrogen hypoxia.

By Alessandra Suuberg

The purpose of life insurance is to provide a death benefit to beneficiaries when the insured individual dies. But what if the insured takes their own life? A seemingly simple legal clause—a term in an insurance contract—might have an important influence on public health.

By Alessandra Suuberg

From Gaza, Ukraine, and the UK, here are some of the stories that made headlines this fall.

Category: In the News

Guardianship is intended to protect individuals from exploitation and abuse. But the potential downsides include loss of control over personal decisions and finances, and the possibility that the arrangement will itself become abusive or be difficult to rescind.

By Alessandra Suuberg

Donors who got details like the date and the hospital were 10% more likely to donate again than people who were just thanked.

By Edlira Shehu and Karen Winterich

As publication media, websites and blogs are relatively fluid. What kinds of online tools will develop for tracing changes over time—publicly documented or not—in healthcare information presented online, and what can be learned from their use?

By Alessandra Suuberg

Yesterday’s mode of informed consent doesn’t quite fit today’s biobank studies.

By Robbee Wedow

Imagine yourself in the shoes of a mandated reporter, knowing that you could face consequences for failing to report possible child maltreatment. What do you do if the law says “suspicion” is enough to necessitate a report? What if the law only requires a report if you “believe” that abuse is taking place?

By Alessandra Suuberg

Whether you’re heading back to school, launching a bio-medical website, or navigating the manuscript submission process with a scientific journal, chances are you’ll run into questions about citation styles and reference lists. Here are some of the citation styles that you may see in medicine, biology, and other healthcare-related fields.

By Alessandra Suuberg

Decency LLC’s issue summary on abortion laws across the United States provides a general overview of the court decisions in Roe v. Wade and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, their impact, and the types of abortion restrictions and protections that define the post-Dobbs legal landscape.

Category: Issue Summaries