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New York Post
4 days ago
- New York Post
FDNY hero who saved disabled woman from burning building killed in NYC hit-and-run
A hero city firefighter who once saved a woman in a wheelchair from a burning building was killed Thursday when he crashed his moped on the FDR Drive and was struck by a hit-and-run driver. Matthew Goicochea, 31 – a firefighter for about three years – was riding his 2023 Yamaha cycle north on the FDR approaching East 25th Street in Manhattan when he suddenly lost control and fell off the bike as it dropped to the ground, cops said. Another passing vehicle struck Goicochea as he lay on the pavement, and the motorist drove off without stopping, police said. Hero NYC firefighter Matthew Goicochea, 31, who previously saved a wheelchair-bound woman from a burning building, was killed Thursday when he crashed his moped on the FDR Drive and was struck by a hit-and-run driver. fdny Goicochea was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The driver has not been caught. 'The FDNY mourns the loss of Firefighter Matthew Goicochea, who tragically passed away early Thursday morning,' the department said in a statement. 'Goicochea was riding his motorcycle on the FDR drive when he collided with another vehicle. 'He joined the Department in September of 2022, and was a recipient of the Thomas Wylie Medal in 2024 for rescuing an unconscious victim from a fire in the Bronx,' the FDNY added. That blaze broke out around 1:15 a.m. Aug. 14, 2023, inside a building in the Morris Park section of The Bronx. The FDNY said that despite the 'blinding visibility,' Goicochea encountered the victim 'in a rear bedroom. 'Realizing the victim was entangled in a wheelchair, FF Goicochea worked quickly to begin removing the victim,' the department wrote in its 2024 Medal Day booklet. 'With conditions in the fire apartment rapidly worsening and no hoseline yet in place, FF Goicochea made his move past the now-extending fire while shielding the victim with his body.' The department commended Goicochea for his 'quick and decisive actions [that] led to the rescue' – all while putting himself 'at great personal risk.'
CBS News
6 days ago
- CBS News
FDR Drive closure at 23rd Street causes major delays in Lower Manhattan
A deadly crash is diverting traffic off the FDR Drive for the morning commute in Manhattan. All northbound lanes are closed at 23rd Street, causing heavy delays. Chopper 2 is over the scene, where traffic can be seen from the Manhattan Bridge up to 23rd Street. Police say the crash happened around 3:45 a.m. Thursday at the FDR Drive and 23rd Street. A 31-year-old motorcyclist was found lying on the ground and taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Check back for the latest updates on this developing story.
Medscape
16-07-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Your Patients May Lose Health Insurance: Here's How to Help
Medicaid cuts are coming. Over the next decade, nearly 12 million patients may lose their health insurance due to steep Medicaid cuts in a US budget package recently signed by President Donald Trump. Another 5 million could lose their Obamacare insurance because of policy changes in the legislation, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The projected consequences are dire: Hundreds of thousands of people will forgo preventive screenings, and an estimated 2 million patients will lose their primary healthcare providers. US patients change primary care providers for a variety of reasons, such as a job change, but the magnitude of the loss of regular providers due to the federal budget cuts may be unprecedented. Even patients who express little faith in the medical establishment tend to trust their primary care providers, so losing access to them risks worsening their distrust of the system. Research has linked lack of access to primary care providers to delays in seeking care and foregoing of preventative services, worsening of chronic conditions, and missed diagnoses. 'It's incredibly disruptive,' said Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, a primary care internist at Bellevue Hospital, New York City. 'It's soul-crushing for a physician to tell a patient they can't take care of them for reasons…they have no control over.' Yet even in these challenging situations, physicians can guide their patients, including their most vulnerable, through the healthcare options that may be left for them. Talk to Patients About Insurance The first thing to do when dealing with potential loss of insurance is to initiate conversations with patients about what may happen, said Sarah C. Nosal, MD, FAAFP, a family physician and the president-elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians. 'The medical community needs to be really bringing the conversation forward,' said Nosal. Such conversations can be awkward for physicians and patients alike. And some doctors may feel like they are steering toward a politically charged topic that may make them uncomfortable. 'But a patient losing vital medical coverage is not political,' said Nosal. 'This is health, and we need to really encourage all physicians…to open up this conversation irrespective of politics.' 'Take some time to empathize with the patient as to how traumatic it is for them,' said Ofri. Indeed, it's important to realize that patients who risk losing insurance are already under a significant amount of stress, said Ada Stewart, MD, a family physician in Columbia, South Carolina, and past president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Patients may be unable to keep up even with the treatments that they can access, said Stewart, who is no stranger to seeing patients lose coverage; her state didn't expand Medicaid. Her experience taught her never to blame the patient if they didn't keep up with their healthcare needs, she said, and to welcome back a patient who wasn't able to see her for a time and whose health may have worsened. Maximize Coverage Before It Lapses If patients losing coverage are acutely ill, doctors should treat them pro bono at least on a temporary basis even in office settings, said Ofri, until they can secure care elsewhere. Indeed, the American Medical Association's code of ethics states that doctors have a fiduciary responsibility to help ensure care continuity for their patients. (Doctors in emergency rooms are legally required to stabilize patients regardless of their ability to pay.) However, 'asking physicians to treat all these patients pro bono is not a solution, it's a Band-Aid for a flawed system,' Ofri said. When patients don't have acute or urgent needs, the priority is accessing as much care as possible before losing insurance. 'While people still have coverage, making sure that they're up-to-date on all of their preventative healthcare measures is one of the biggest things because it's such a big expense,' said Nosal. Doctors should advise that their patients schedule mammograms, colonoscopies, pap smears, and basic blood work as applicable, as well as any appropriate screenings for their age and existing conditions. 'Also, make sure their vaccines are up-to-date,' said Stewart. For patients with chronic conditions, doctors should recommend that they fill ongoing prescriptions before losing coverage, getting the longest course their insurance will authorize. They also should encourage patients to research whether any pharmacies, including online, offer discounts on their medications paid out of pocket, so they have a plan on where to get them once they are uninsured. Another important aspect is to make sure the patients have an accurate understanding of any conditions they may have, as well as a good record of their treatments, test results, and diagnoses. While electronic records are becoming better and more easily accessible, printing them out for the patient is best, especially because patients may not have access to a phone or computer, said Stewart. 'Don't send patients through the medical records Olympics trying to get copies of their records. Just give them copies,' said Ofri, who suggests patients keep printed copies of their medication list, test results, and after-visit summaries from their previous five visits. Nosal said she routinely does that for her patients, printing out after-visit summaries, medication lists, and any results of tests such as ECGs. She encourages her patients to keep a physical file with all their medical records, should they be unable to access digital ones. Help Patients Find Resources Doctors and clinics also can help their patients by guiding them toward resources available to uninsured individuals, such as federally qualified health centers. Medical practices can 'put together a list of all the free services or the services that use a sliding scale and at least provide some direction,' said Ofri, adding this effort shouldn't fall on individual doctors but on organizations such as state medical associations. Some government health systems, like New York City's, are preparing resources to offer to Medicaid patients at a risk of losing coverage. Clinicians can help their patients verify whether they qualify for aid and are up-to-date on the necessary paperwork. This often means assisting patients with some bureaucratic tasks too, such as guiding them through filling out applications. While necessary, all this support comes at a cost. '[It] takes people away from caring for the individual, and so it can be a hindrance for the overall care and for the practice in itself,' said Stewart, adding that it is yet another way in which Medicaid cuts end up affecting quality of care. 'It really takes a toll on our offices,' she said.
New York Times
14-07-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Footage of Inmate Suicide Captures Dysfunction on Rikers Island
As calls mounted for a federal court takeover of the Rikers Island jail system in New York City, what happened to Michael Nieves stood out as a case study in that system's dysfunction. Mr. Nieves, 40, was being held in the troubled jails on arson and other charges — his trial date repeatedly delayed by the pandemic and a series of mental health assessments — when he used a shaving razor to cut himself near the jugular vein and bled out on the floor as jail staff members waited for medical assistance. The fatal episode was foreshadowed by other incidents in his recent past. While being held in the Bellevue Hospital Prison ward, Mr. Nieves, who had schizophrenia, had used another shaving razor to cut a gash in his neck — surviving only after emergency surgery. And he had been placed on suicide watch just months before he died, after he was heard saying he no longer wanted to live. New York Times reporters filed a freedom of information request for video of Mr. Nieves's death and other cases of preventable harm in the jails, seeking to learn more about how jail staff members responded during the incidents. The Times then sued the city to force compliance with the state's open records law. The city provided the videos three years later, with the faces of detainees blurred and some information redacted. Made public here for the first time, they offer a window into a jail system in the grips of crisis. Mr. Nieves was one of 19 Rikers Island detainees who died by suicide, overdose or medical emergency in 2022, with most of the deaths deemed preventable by oversight officials. A city medical examiner found that the officers' inaction contributed to Mr. Nieves's death, but that he could have died even if he had immediately received emergency aid. The State attorney general's office declined to charge the officers, noting in a report that the correction department's policy on tending to severely bleeding inmates was unclear. Three years later, the department is building out a new 'medical emergencies' curriculum, a spokesman said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
India Today
10-07-2025
- Health
- India Today
The hidden danger of low blood pressure: What experts say you're missing
"It wasn't a heart attack. It was low blood pressure.'When 28-year-old architecture student, Aarti Arora fainted in a crowded Delhi metro station recently, commuters assumed it to be the result of dehydration or exhaustion. But doctors diagnosed chronic India, over 220 million people live with hypertension, making it a public health priority. Awareness campaigns, screenings, and even insurance premiums are often tailored around it. But what about those who are always dizzy, faint when they stand up too fast, or feel unusually fatigued despite 'being healthy'? That's where hypotension, the 'invisible dip', creeps 'There's an overemphasis on hypertension, which is justified, but the result is that hypotension often slips through the cracks. It happens especially in young or undernourished patients,' says Dr. Radhika Kulkarni, a senior internal medicine consultant at a private hospital in I HAVE LOW BP?Hypotension is medically defined as BP that is below 90/60mmHg. In some cases, reduced blood flow may deprive the brain, heart, and organs of vital oxygen and nutrients. Key warning signs include persistent fatigue, light-headedness when standing, blurred vision, nausea, and unmanaged, hypotension risks falls, brain fog, organ damage, and even shock from extreme drops. In other cases, low BP can also result in cardiac too long ago, we had the unfortunate incident of the passing of actress Shefali Jariwala at just 42. Following a day-long fast, the actress had administered her usual medications and an anti-ageing injection, despite being on an empty she suffered a severe drop in blood pressure, leading to cardiac arrest and collapse at home. Mumbai police reported that Jariwala 'began shivering' before her collapse and 'BP dropped drastically' shortly before being rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced passing is not just an entertainment headline — it's a stark reminder that sudden hypotensive episodes, often overlooked, can strike hard and fast. Even in otherwise healthy to noted cardiologist Dr. Naresh Trehan, there are two major culprits for sudden heart attacks: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or dilated cardiomyopathy and the other is inherited electrical irregularities, such as Brugada syndrome. This is where the heart's electrical system is unstable and prone to dangerous a healthy heart, a drop in blood pressure (systolic pressure falls below 100 mmHg) can compromise blood flow to the can low BP result in a cardiac arrest that could kill? "Yes, critically low blood sugar (especially during fasting), may also play a role," he tells HYPOTENSION IS MISDIAGNOSED'I kept hearing it's all in my head,' says Karan, 35, an ad executive in Chennai. It often takes a collapse or ER visit before anyone considers low patients are sent home with 'just drink water' or 'get more rest.' Matters are worse in rural India. Pulmonologist Dr. Sanjeev Kumar observes, 'Young women report dizziness or extreme fatigue, but no one checks BP unless it's high. In areas with high anaemia and dehydration, hypotension is often a quiet epidemic.'advertisementThe reason why it has become an epidemic in India is because hypotension is no longer restricted to elderly patients alone. Across India, low BP is commonly seen in young urbanites who regularly skip their meals, or are in a burnout regime. Women with anemia, PCOS, thyroid flaws, or rural communities grappling with malnutrition and heat, are also prone to such sudden dips in their blood SHOULD YOU DO?Experts advise an increase in routine BP checks. Building public awareness around hypotension is key. More health camps around the issue need to be organised, ABHA-enabled telemedicine, and corporate screenings must begin logging of low BP trends, not just high readings. AI-enabled BP monitors that trigger hydration nudges, and fire alerts for hypotensive dips in real time, can also go a long way in revolutionising early hypotension in heart-health campaigns — hashtags like #NotJustHighBP and #LowBPCanKill can drive social traction about the issue at is not always benign; integrated tracking in ABHA and telehealth could change outcomes,' adds Dr. Sheetal D'Souza, a digital health policy expert, you experience fatigue, light-headedness, chest unease, or fainting — don't chalk it up to stress. These could be signs that your blood pressure is dangerously a single episode shows how fast hypotension can turn fatal. Let's shift the focus: pressure isn't just about being high, even low can kill.- Ends
