FIU Pedestrian Bridge Collapse Thrusts S. FL Back Into the National Spotlight
WH
For the second time in as many months, a campus tragedy in South Florida became the top story for news outlets throughout the country. In February, the grim news came out
A brand new, 950-ton pedestrian bridge collapsed Thursday at Florida International University in Miami-Dade County.
of west Broward County where a deranged former student killed 17 at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. This time, the event occurred in west Miami-Dade County on the edge of the
Florida International University campus on
3/15/18.
FDA to Lower Nicotine in Cigarettes to 'Nonaddictive' Levels
WH
Alicia Ault reports for
Medscape on
3.15.18 that the
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking what it calls a historic first step toward eliminating cigarettes' addictive properties by seeking comments on the impact of lower nicotine levels, how lowering of nicotine levels might be accomplished, and whether doing so might have unintended consequences. The agency said last July that it would eventually propose nicotine reductions as part of a comprehensive overhaul of its regulation of tobacco products.
WIM "Cigarettes are the only legal consumer product that when used as intended will kill half of all long-term users prematurely," said
Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA's
Center for Tobacco Products, adding, "We've known for decades that cigarettes are highly engineered and designed to get users addicted."
Study Reveals True Drivers of U.S. Healthcare Costs
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It's no secret that the U.S. outspends its peers on healthcare without a commensurate improvement in outcomes. A
March 13, 2018JAMA post by
Irene Papanicolas, PhD, Liana R. Woskie, MSc and
Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH reveals that contrary to some explanations for high spending, social spending and health care utilization in the United States did not differ substantially from other high-income nations. Prices of labor and goods, including pharmaceuticals and devices, and administrative costs appeared to be the main drivers of the differences in spending.
WIM
Efforts targeting utilization alone are unlikely to reduce the growth in health care spending in the United States; a more concerted effort to reduce prices and administrative costs is likely needed.