The Milton Independent – Cites a 2012 Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care study, which found Vermont has the fifth lowest hospice utilization rate in the nation at 32 percent. The national average is 49 percent; at 65 percent, Arizona’s rate is the highest.

Times-Enterprise – Continued coverage of comments by David Goodman, professor of pediatrics, community and family medicine, and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, in an article about recent research which found that people with knees worn out by arthritis will get more pain relief from joint replacement surgery, but it has more risks and there’s a good chance that less drastic approaches would also help. Goodman notes that the results of the study give “convincing” evidence that surgery helps, but that there are trade-offs on risks, and offers advice to patients weighing their options.

The Caledonian Record – A feature story on Samuel Kesseli, Geisel ’17, who is completing his six-week rotation in family medicine at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital’s Corner Medical Practice in Lyndon, Vt. Kesseli notes that attending school at Dartmouth was a great fit for him due to the rural setting and approachability of the faculty, and that he has enjoyed his rotation at Corner Medical Practice.

MSNBC – Catherine Milliken, program director of the Perinatal Addiction Treatment Program (jointly run by the Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center), is a guest on MSNBC to discuss the importance of prescription monitoring and access to substance treatment resources in fighting drug overdoses, following recent remarks made by President Barack Obama on dealing with the country’s heroin epidemic.

USA Today – Quotes Lisa Schwartz, professor of medicine, community and family medicine, and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, about how the American Cancer Society is recommending fewer mammograms. The American Cancer Society updated their guidelines on Tuesday to state that women at average risk of breast cancer should begin annual mammograms at age 45. Schwartz noted that most women overestimate how much mammograms actually help, and that mammograms reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer by as little as 15% to as much as 40%, depending on which studies people consider.

New Hampshire Union Leader – Article quotes Seddon Savage, adjunct associate professor of anesthesiology and director of the Dartmouth Center on Addiction, Recovery and Education, in an article discussing how two physician groups—and a task force associated with New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan’s own commission reviewing the state’s opioid crisis—have written letters to the Board of Medicine to rush rules into effect that restrict the ability of doctors to write opioid prescriptions. Savage encouraged the Board of Medicine to take the traditional rulemaking route, which involves public hearings, public input and review by a legislative committee. “Based on our evolving review, it is clear that various mandated policies related to opioid prescribing can have significant impact on patient care that may be positive, but that can result in significant unintended negative consequences as well,” says Savage.

Med Page Today – Coverage of a study conducted by researchers at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, related to a lawsuit that 293 patients are filing against three doctors at a cardiology practice in Munster, Ind., claiming that the doctors performed needless procedures. The study showed that Munster had some of Indiana’s highest rates per capita for cardiac catheterizations and coronary angioplasties, procedures that, in many cases, can be elective. When investigators studied rates per capita for procedures that must be treated—a hip fracture, for instance—Munster was below average in the state.

The Wall Street Journal – Quotes H. Gilbert Welch, professor of medicine, community and family medicine, and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, in an article about how more researchers are suggesting “active surveillance” for certain patients instead of surgery, and whether Americans are being over-treated for early-stage malignancies or precancerous lesions that could possibly have been left alone with little risk of negative effects. “We go too far and end up creating more problems than we solve,” when medicine treats small harmless lesions, says Welch

Naples Daily News – Quotes Steven Woloshin and Lisa Schwartz, both professors of medicine, community and family medicine, and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, on a recent announcement from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that average-risk people can stop getting mammograms for breast cancer and colonoscopies for colon cancer around 75. And, after 65, most women can forget about Pap tests for cervical cancer. “So you don’t have to worry so much about (cancer) screening because you’re more likely to die of something else,” says Woloshin. “That’s a hard conversation for doctors and patients to have.”

Jezebel – Cites research conducted by H. Gilbert Welch, professor of medicine, community and family medicine, and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, published in a 2010 New England Journal of Medicine article, on the merits of screening mammographies.