The bong, er, gong, sounded early Wednesday morning for the nationwide sale of marijuana in Canada, only the second country in the world to legalize the drug and the first […]
Health
Posted inEnvironment
It’s Jaws all over again
THE FATAL SHARK ATTACK on 26-year-old boogie border Arthur Medici Saturday at Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet scared the hell out of me. Reading about the terrible incident, I could […]
Posted inThe Download
It’s Jaws all over again
The fatal shark attack on 26-year-old boogie border Arthur Medici Saturday at Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet scared the hell out of me. Reading about the terrible incident, I could […]
Posted inOpinion
E-cigs pose big danger to teens
NOW THAT MARIJUANA can be sold legally in Massachusetts, we want to remind you of an age-old problem: smoking in the boys’ room. Indeed it is a problem in the […]
Posted inOpinion
E-scripts for opioids save lives
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER recently signed into law a bill to mitigate the state-level effects of the ongoing opioid crisis. Like other such legislative efforts at both the federal and state […]
Posted inPolitics
Questions about ballot questions
WITH PRIMARIES OUT OF THE WAY and the November elections bearing down on voters, the push for two of the three referendums on the ballot is beginning to heat up. […]
Posted inThe Download
Questions about ballot questions
With primaries out of the way and the November elections bearing down on voters, the push for two of the three referendums on the ballot is beginning to heat up. […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Opioids’ path of destruction in construction
DIFFERENCES IN HEALTH patterns among different population groups is a well-established fact. Indeed, it forms the foundation for an entire field of health research, epidemiology, which has contributed enormously to […]
Posted inEconomy
Gateway Cities discover the power of food
PHOTOGRAPHS BY KEN RICHARDSON FOOD HAS ALWAYS LOOMED LARGE in the life of Dimple Rana. While growing up in Revere, she helped her parents, immigrants from India, work in Indian […]
Posted inOpinion
Time to undo failed family cap policy
MASSACHUSETTS IS ON the verge of repealing its welfare family cap statute. The family cap – also called the Cap on Kids – is the state law that denies a […]
Posted inPolitics
Gag rule impacts Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, we view abortion rights as settled law, though acknowledging that there are still pockets of deep opposition. The debate over abortion rights rarely rises to an issue in […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Gag rule impacts Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, we view abortion rights as settled law, though acknowledging that there are still pockets of deep opposition. The debate over abortion rights rarely rises to an issue in […]
Posted inOpinion
With junk insurance, you get what you pay for
INSPIRED BY MARCHES, movements (#MeToo, #TimesUp), and momentum (the unprecedented surge of females running for office), women are standing up for the issues that matter most to them. Let’s make […]
Posted inOpinion
Eat, play, live
OVER THE NEXT several weeks, funding for afterschool care will be among hundreds of line items considered as the Massachusetts Legislature hammers out the FY 2019 state budget. With the […]
Posted inOpinion
Taxpayers clean up Big Pharma’s mess
LAST YEAR, the United States saw a 13 percent increase in drug overdose deaths, from an estimated 60,147 lives lost in 2016, to an estimated 67,944 in 2017. For perspective, […]
Posted inOpinion
Arming doctors with a tool to save lives
“It is the curse of humanity that it learns to tolerate even the most horrible situations by habituation” – Rudolf Virchow, MD OVER THE COURSE of 1,000 days spanning 2014 […]
Posted inHealth Care
BI-Lahey merger gets a break on cost growth
STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS stripped language from a document that would have required the merger of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health to prove they’ll meet legislatively mandated cost […]
Posted inOpinion
Electronic opioid scripts save lives
A HEARING EARLIER this month on Beacon Hill underscored the critical need for Massachusetts-specific solutions to the nation’s opioid crisis. As the Legislature prepares next steps to address this critical […]
Posted inEconomy
Debit card payer pulls plug on pot dispensaries
THE HARDLINE STANCE from the top federal prosecutor in the state about pot enforcement has caused a company that processes debit transactions for medical marijuana dispensaries to stop accepting the […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Partners hospitals decry ‘legislative attack’
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Plans to tackle hospital pricing are emerging as a flashpoint in the Senate’s health care reform bill, with the head of Massachusetts General Hospital decrying an […]
Posted inOpinion
Alzheimer’s a growing public health crisis
STATE SEN. BARBARA L’ITALIEN’s mother, Claire, lived with her and her family for 20 years near the end of her life. Claire helped raise Barbara’s four children, enabled Barbara to […]
Posted inOpinion
Humira, a money-making machine, rolls on
IT IS WELL ESTABLISHED that US healthcare expenditures are dramatically higher than any other developed country by all measures. The total amount spent, the per capita cost, and the percentage […]
Posted inHealth Care
Senators stress health care in cost-effective settings
A WORKING GROUP of the Massachusetts Senate unveiled health care legislation on Tuesday that promotes the treatment of patients in more cost-effective settings while laying the groundwork for tougher regulatory […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
5 takeaways from health cost trends hearings
HAVING ATTENDED the Health Policy Commission’s annual cost trend hearings earlier this month, I came away thinking about five interesting moments, which I present in the chronological order in which […]
