Tacoma General nurses plan weeklong boycott of extra shifts | Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune
Nurses at Tacoma (Wash.) General Hospital are refusing to take extra shifts or voluntary overtime to protest hospital work practices. The extra-shift boycott is scheduled for Nov. 10-17, according to a news release from the Washington State Nurses Association.
Three N.H. hospitals push closer to affiliating | Keene (N.H.) Sentinel
Three New Hampshire hospitals — Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough, Catholic Medical Center in Manchester and Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro — are one step closer to “affiliating” to form a partnership called GraniteOne Health.
Bedside ballots? At some hospitals, patients get one hand-delivered | Sacramento (Calif.) Bee
On Election Day, many voters will head to their neighborhood polling place or have already mailed in their absentee ballot. But what if you're stuck in the hospital, say, from a medical emergency or the birth of a baby? No worries. In some California hospitals on Tuesday, ballots will be hand-delivered to the patient's bedside.
HealthCare.gov straining to keep up with enrollees | Wall Street Journal
HealthCare.gov has been straining to handle this year's would-be enrollees, who are frequently being placed in holding areas on the site to avoid crashing the sign-up system, enrollment workers around the country say.
Midwives bringing laughing gas back into the delivery room | National Public Radio
Nitrous oxide, used to ease labor pains in the 1800s, was gradually replaced by more potent analgesics in hospitals and relegated to the dentist's chair. But it's making a comeback in some hospitals, partly because it gives women more control over their pain relief.
The bizarre reason two competing drug prices rose in tandem | Washington Post
Pharmaceutical companies often hike the list prices of brand-name drugs over time. But this odd price dynamic, in which competing drug prices rise around the same time, also occurs. There's nothing inherently illegal about it, but some legislators are starting to raise questions about whether a similar pattern of price hikes on other sets of drugs could be a sign of an antitrust violation.
Rocky Allen, surgical tech with HIV who stole syringe, sentenced to 6½ years in prison | Denver Post
A federal judge sentenced former surgical technologist Rocky Allen to 6-1/2 years in prison Monday for his theft of a syringe filled with powerful painkillers from Swedish Medical Center in Englewood.
UPS acquiring medical shipper Marken | Atlanta Journal Constitution
Sandy Springs, Ga.-based UPS is acquiring medical shipper Marken in a move to boost its position in the healthcare logistics and supply chain industry.
U.S. enforcing insurance law to help fight opioid abuse | New York Times
In one of President Barack Obama's last major health care initiatives, the administration is stepping up enforcement of laws that require equal insurance coverage for mental and physical illnesses, a move officials say will help combat an opioid overdose epidemic.
