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“Left in the Lurch” Show

Health Matters Radio Show
Health Matters Radio Show
Health Matters Radio Show

“Left in the lurch” describes a French board game where players “suffered a lurch” if they were left in a hopeless position from which they couldn’t win. We had Health Matters see patients in our region who are left in the lurch, with declining health resources and a diminishing life expectancy. We document this, talk about insurance companies left in the lurch, Alzheimer’s families left in the lurch, and then we end on a proud note, with a Native American tribe receiving a patent for a billion-dollar drug. Things have a way of working out, especially if you have sovereign immunity.

Tip: Children born in Appalachia in 2009 have a life expectancy of 76.9 years, 2.4 years lower than the rest of the US. This gap has widened from 7 months since 1992.

Links:

Declining life expectancy in Kentucky

Allergan transfers the patents for Allergan to the Mohawk tribe

Rural hospitals cut back on maternity care