What Geriatric Emergency Departments Do Differently

It had been a rough few months. Cynthia Tompkins was hospitalized in May for osteomyelitis — a bone infection — then spent six weeks in a rehabilitation facility. “It was a struggle,” she said. “I didn’t bounce back too well.” Tompkins returned to her home in San Diego, but she was still taking antibiotics, along…

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Pre-Surgical Complications (Part 6) — The Decision

By MATTHEW HOLT Strap in for the tale of why your hero is spending most of his life down YouTube rabbit holes of cardiology videos while blundering his way around many many medical centers and exposing many problems with American health care even before he gets close to the operating table. Yes it’s Matthew Holt’s…

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Gounder Brings Clarity to Egg Freezing, AI Virus Creation, and New Trump Vaccine Order

Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed Americans’ skepticism toward public health experts and President Donald Trump’s executive order on childhood vaccines on CBS News 24/7 and CBS News’ CBS Mornings, respectively, on Aug. 11. On Aug. 10, Gounder discussed the risks and benefits of egg freezing on CBS Mornings. Gounder also…

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Trump Team’s Use of Arcane Budget Rule Threatens Medicaid Coverage

About 200,000 low-income Arkansans could see major changes to their health coverage next year after the Trump administration recently informed state officials it will not renew a key Medicaid agreement with the federal government. The decision by federal officials, citing authority granted under President Donald Trump’s signature tax-and-spending law, suggests the GOP-led state’s predicament could…

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My Husband Was Kicked Out of Hospice for Dying Too Slowly

“No more operations,” he said. It was mid-January 2026, and my then-73-year-old husband, Mike Salmon, had just started bouncing back from a three-month ordeal of three operations related to aortic aneurysms, sepsis, and a terrifying descent into delirium tied to a stay in the intensive care unit. Now, after another potentially fatal aortic aneurysm and…

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