Health Newsfeed – Johns Hopkins Medicine Podcasts

Anchor lead: There may be help for astronomical hospital charges, Elizabeth Tracey reports Now that the federal government has mandated that hospitals must publish a complete list of all of their charges so that patients can understand their bills, more work needs to be done. That’s according to Redonda Miller, president of the Johns Hopkins […]

Anchor lead: Does publishing lists of hospital charges help people understand their medical bills? Elizabeth Tracey reports Hospitals are now required to publish a complete list of all of their charges, the federal government has mandated, so that consumers can attempt to understand the often Byzantine bills and explanations of benefits they get after a […]

Anchor lead: Many people with cancer don’t tell their cancer doctor they are also using complementary and alternative therapies, Elizabeth Tracey reports Herbs, supplements, meditation…a range of what falls under the rubric ‘complementary and alternative therapies’ is used by many people with cancer, yet about one-third don’t tell their cancer doctor they are doing so, […]

Anchor lead: When is it time to stop treatment for cancer or simply not start it? Elizabeth Tracey reports Many people with advanced cancer end up in treatment, whether that’s surgery, radiation or chemotherapy, a recent study found. William Nelson, director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, says he understands why some treatments […]

Anchor lead: Can a novel psychedelic drug have broader clinical use than more common agents? Elizabeth Tracey reports Psilocybin and other drugs of this type are increasingly being found useful clinically, helping alleviate anxiety for end stage cancer patients or overcoming addiction. Now research by Alan Davis and colleagues at Johns Hopkins shows another, faster […]

Anchor lead: What can we learn from the prosecution of a nurse for a medication error? Elizabeth Tracey reports Two medicines with names beginning with the same letter can be dispensed on an inpatient unit, one of them for anxiety and another for paralyzing muscles. A nurse dispenses the wrong medicine, resulting in the patient’s […]

Anchor lead: How can we avoid emergency department visits related to edible cannabis products? Elizabeth Tracey reports Cookies, brownies, gummies…these types of cannabis products are behind the recent spike in emergency departments visits related to cannabis use. Ryan Vandry, a cannabis researcher at Johns Hopkins, calls for regulation. Vandry: There needs to be better control […]

Anchor lead: What’s behind increasing ED visits for cannabis? Elizabeth Tracey reports Many more people are turning up in emergency departments nationally with problems related to edibles, that range of products containing cannabis that are ingested. Ryan Vandry, a cannabis researcher at Johns Hopkins, says such acute toxicities arise because of misconceptions. Vandry: There’s a […]

Anchor lead: Are people who use cannabis at risk to develop psychosis? Elizabeth Tracey reports Cannabis use may cause people to develop psychosis, a state where it may be difficult to distinguish what’s real from what isn’t, a recent study found. Ryan Vandry, a cannabis researcher at Johns Hopkins, says neither this study nor any […]

Anchor lead: Does what children eat affect their asthma symptoms? Elizabeth Tracey reports Asthma can be a killer for children who live in cities. That’s because these kids spend much of their time indoors, where there are many more tiny particles in the air, called particulate matter or PM,  that are known to exacerbate asthma. […]