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man holds gauge of some kind while sitting down

Sid Covington, of Austin, Texas, had a mechanical pump implanted in his heart in January 2022 due to advanced heart failure. Covington says the device, called HeartMate 3, has helped him keep an active lifestyle but that it also requires close attention and care. “Dealing with this thing is a pain in the ass, but it’s allowing me to live my life pretty substantially the way I did before I had it,” he says. | CALLIE RICHMOND/KFF HEALTH NEWS

Patients facing death are opting for a lifesaving heart device — but at what risk?

An analysis of the FDA’s database of medical device incidents found more than 4,500 reports since August 2017 in which the HeartMate 3 may have caused or contributed to a patient’s death

Dec 19, 2023

a white woman's hands clutch a pillow in a hospital bed

ALEXANDER GREY / PIXABAY

Thousands of patients may be undergoing vascular procedures too soon or unnecessarily

Researchers contend that some doctors were overusing — potentially even abusing — invasive vascular procedures, increasing patients’ chances of complications, which include amputation or even death

Dec 14, 2023

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Rift over when to use N95s puts health workers at risk again

CDC and workplace safety officials differ on infection control guidelines in health care settings

Dec 14, 2023

Sarah Barak is portrayed outside of her home on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, in Seattle. | KUOW PHOTO/MEGAN FARMER

Some Seattle doctors are ditching the scale. They say focusing on weight drives misdiagnoses

Research and some anecdotal evidence has some people rethinking how weight is cited in patient care

Dec 14, 2023

THOMAS BREHER/PIXABAY

Wyden and Jayapal lead inquiry that finds pharmacies fail to protect medical privacy

Northwest lawmakers want the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to improve federal privacy regulations

Dec 14, 2023

Woman hold pro-choice signs in protest at nation's capital.

A reproductive rights protest in Washington D.C. on Oct. 2, 2021. | SHUTTERSTOCK

US Supreme Court to decide fate of medication abortion access nationwide

Justices' decision to hear the case puts abortion access back in front of the nation’s highest court just before voters head to the polls for the 2024 presidential election

Dec 14, 2023

Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon, on Nov. 21, 2023. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Feds' threat to decertify state hospital over safety is not the first

Inspectors fault state hospital for adopting bad policies and then not following them, as well as unlocked doors and unsupervised patients. State leadership say they're addressing the issues.

Dec 14, 2023
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PHOTO COPYRIGHT PORTLAND TRIBUNE; PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION.

Former Oregon governor John Kitzhaber opposes CareOregon merger

Influential health leader says the Oregon nonprofit's absorption by a California Medicare insurer would undermine care for low-income people. Leadership of the two entities say the critics are off-base.

Dec 14, 2023
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Elizabeth Flick, a seamster, inside the clothes store at Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon on Nov. 21, 2023. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

With a sewing machine and creativity, state hospital seamster helps patients on journey

A seamster at the Salem psychiatric facility gives patients a little more control over something that’s easy to take for granted: how they dress

Dec 14, 2023

LYNNE TERRY/THE LUND REPORT

Legacy Health employees are unionizing at blinding speed

More groups of employees across the eight-hospital system are moving to join unions even as their management talks to OHSU about potentially being absorbed

Dec 12, 2023
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