Literature Review

Hearing on “Improving kidney health through better prevention and innovative treatment” U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health; written testimony fo Dr. Robert Taylor; 3/18/26

Social Media Watch 3/20/26

MedPAC: March 2026 Report to CongressMedPAC Reports; 3/12/26Medicare Benefit: National health care spending grew rapidly in 2023 and 2024, by 7 percent in each of these years. By 2024, national health care spending totaled $5.3 trillion. Health care spending has made up an increasing share of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) over time, rising from about 13 percent of GDP in 2000 to 18 percent in 2024. Medicare spending grew more rapidly than national health care spending in 2023 and 2024 (by 9 percent and 8 percent, respectively), in part due to changes in Part D financing that shifted more of the cost of prescription drug coverage from beneficiaries to the federal government. By 2024, Medicare spending totaled $1.1 trillion—equivalent to 21 percent of national health care spending and 3.8 percent of GDP. (Please see the full report here for additional detail.)

* CEO, Hildegard House, nonprofit, Louisville, KY

Characteristics of United States Food and Drug Administration drug recalls involving opioid medications, 2002-2025Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety; by Julio C Nunes, Gabriel P A Costa, Joao P De Aquino; 3/26We reviewed more than 20 years of recall data from the United States Food and Drug Administration and found 286 recalls involving seven commonly used opioids, affecting over 350 million tablets, capsules, patches, and injectable products. Nearly half of these recalls occurred because products failed basic quality checks, while others involved incorrect doses, contamination, mislabeling, or defective delivery systems. The most serious recalls, those carrying risk of serious injury or death, were concentrated among fentanyl, morphine, and hydromorphone. Many recall notices lacked important details, including the number of units affected, making it difficult to understand how these issues may impact patients. Our findings show that opioid recalls happen regularly and often reflect manufacturing problems that could influence treatment safety or effectiveness.

Nursing home profit status and pain among residents living with dementiaPain Management Nursing; by Sorah Levy, Barbara Resnick, Elizabeth Galik, Kelly Doran, Tara McMullen, Sarah Holmes; 2/26Nursing home (NH) residents living with dementia experience pain that is often sub-optimally managed. Nearly one in five nursing home residents with dementia experience pain symptoms.There is a known relationship between NH organizational factors, such as profit status, and quality of care. However, little attention has been paid to understanding the relationship between NH ownership profit status and pain among residents living with dementia. NH ownership profit status was not significantly associated with pain ... 

State POLST program maturity status and dying in the nursing home or hospice in the United States: An event time studyJournal of the American Medical Directors Association; by Komal Patel Murali, May Hua, Patricia W Stone, Andrew Dick, Tadeja Gracner; 2/26State Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) programs ensure documentation of orders for treatment are documented for the provision of goal-concordant care at the end of life. The national POLST organization tracks the maturity stages of state programs and categorizes them as developed (beginning of use) and endorsed (benchmarks and standardized use). Examining the association between POLST program maturation and the likelihood of dying in place can help clarify how implementation stage may affect end-of-life care and place of death. POLST program maturity is associated with a higher likelihood of NH residents dying in place or in hospice, potentially supporting goal-concordant care and reducing burdensome hospital transfers near the end of life.

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.  ~Charles R. Swindoll

Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley grief services coordinator discusses deeper meaning for spring cleaning North Country Now, Potsdam, NY; by Kate Favaro; 3/26/26 There is something about those first few spring days in the North Country that makes us want to throw all the windows up and let in the fresh air and sunlight. Spring cleaning has become a ritual of sorts. ... Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley offers the following when considering a deeper meaning behind spring cleaning: ... widen your idea of what spring cleaning can involve. Start with the basics and work out from there. Clean out a drawer. Label a photograph. Update a document or password. Tell a trusted person where they can find the important papers. Sometimes the most meaningful spring cleaning happens where no one else can see it, but everyone you love will one day feel its impact.