A growing shortage of common cancer treatments is forcing doctors to switch medications and delay some treatments, leading US cancer centers say. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network said Wednesday that nearly every center it surveyed late last month was dealing with deficiencies in carboplatin and cisplatin, a pair of drugs used to treat a range of cancers. Some are no longer able to treat patients receiving carboplatin at the intended dose or schedule. Kari Wisinski has had to turn to other treatments for some patients or change the order in…
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Toxic smoke from Canadian wildfires could impact the health of millions of people in the United States
Wildfires in the United States and Canada, fueled by record heat and drought, could seriously impact the health of millions. Smoke from wildfires in several Canadian provinces, including Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, has led to air quality alerts in several Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states. Also, the fires in Michigan and New Jersey they created thick fog and thick smoke. Inhaling toxic smoke and ash from fires could cause damage to the body, including the lungs and heart, and even weaken our immune systems, experts said. “The smoke from…
Read MoreShortages of cancer drugs in the United States are forcing doctors to ration life-saving treatments
A critical shortage of cancer therapies is forcing thousands of patients to lose life-saving treatments, several major health organizations have warned. There are 14 cancer drugs listed in shortage by US regulators, including the generic chemotherapy drugs cisplatin and carboplatin, which are first-line treatments for many common types of cancer. Julie Gralow, chief medical officer at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said hospitals were already rationing some drugs and doctors were being forced to make difficult decisions about delaying chemotherapy treatment or using replacement medicines, which may not be…
Read MoreTribal nations in the United States provide publicly funded opioid treatment to those who need it most
Open this photo in the gallery: Brent Simcosky, director of health services for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, looks on from the Jamestown Healing Clinic on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula May 24.Nathan Vanderklippe/The Globe and Mail A man-made stream trickles a tinkling chatter past the banks of freshly embellished plants to the exposed beams and huge glass windows that make up the Jamestown Healing Clinic. It could be a resort, set in a sunny lot on the outskirts of town, its soaring lobby decorated with open-air scenes of Washington state’s rugged…
Read MoreWelfare: while the United States tightens labor rules, California plans to loosen them
In summary State lawmakers want to relax CalWORK’s work requirements so people keep their cash benefits. Congressional debt limit agreement could curb that. Just as Republicans in Congress are moving to tighten work requirements for people on welfare, California lawmakers are moving to do the opposite. Included in a recent state Assembly budget proposal, and in a bill approved by the Assembly Wednesday, is a plan to redo CalWORKs, the federally funded cash assistance program that requires beneficiaries to work or look for work using an approved business list. Under…
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