« an ecological digression | Home | no-hitting newshour »
healthy newsbites, sept ‘09
By | September 17, 2009
news you can use! please click on the links to read originals in all their explicative glory.
flu shot news:
Clinical trials are showing that the new H1N1 swine flu vaccine protects with only one dose instead of two, so the vaccine supplies now being made will go twice as far as had been predicted… Adults who got only a single dose were protected within 8 to 10 days.
pet therapy news:
The [Fayetteville, NC] City Council’s decision Tuesday to tear an autistic boy from his pet [potbellied] pig seems at first blush hard-hearted. The council deadlocked at 5-5 on whether to modify the city code to allow the pet inside the city limits… 8-year-old Anthony Pia… finds comfort in his porcine friend. His parents say Loopey has a therapeutic affect on the boy… At the Tuesday meeting, [a councilmember] said that a potbellied pig was not a service animal by law, and allowing this one could open up a “Pandora’s box.”
now for completely different pigs:
Pork producers suffering from low prices will get some government help when USDA buys an additional $30 million in pork products for its nutrition programs.
antibiotics-are-not-food dept:
A new bill, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act… would… sharply restrict the routine feeding of antibiotics to farm animals… The legislation is drawing strong opposition from the farm lobby since the restrictions would make it much harder for industrial farms to crowd thousands of animals together in confined, inhumane and unhealthy quarters.
…A strain of drug-resistant staph… has been found in the U.S. for the first time… Seventy percent of 209 pigs and nine of 14 workers on seven linked farms in Iowa and Illinois were found to be carrying the ST398 strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
yes, in your back yard dept:
Marilyn Roberts, PhD, and other microbiologists from the University of Washington in Seattle examined sand and water samples that were collected from 10 Washington beaches between February and September of 2008. They identified Staphylococcus aureus on nine public beaches, and seven of the 13 samples were multidrug resistant.
so-shower-already? dept:
Researchers from the University of Colorado sampled gunk, which they call biofilm, from 45 germy showerheads in nine U.S. cities… “What we show is the showerhead biofilm contains Mycobacterium avium concentrations relative to other organisms 100-fold higher than in water [before it comes out of the showerhead],” says Norman R. Pace, the study’s senior author.
gender instability alert:
South African runner Caster Semenya has gone into hiding and is receiving trauma counselling in the wake of claims that gender tests have shown she is a hermaphrodite. Semenya, 18, won the women’s 800 metres at the World Championships in Berlin… But her masculine build raised questions about her gender… [Tests] showed that the 800-metre world champion has a chromosomal abnormality that means she has no womb or ovaries but internal testes… The spokeswoman said Semenya has cancelled all engagements and interviews. “She is receiving trauma counselling. Every day she meets with psychologists who are trying to help her through what is happening around her. We are concerned for her wellbeing.”
fact check:
There are around 46 different types of “intersex” conditions that can result in individuals having both male and female characteristics… As many as one in 3,000 are born with some kind of intersex.
it’s suicide prevention week:
Each year, more people killed themselves than by any other forms of violence, including war, terrorist activities and homicides, an official from the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday… The suicide rate in European countries and countries in the Asian Pacific region were declining, however, because of national suicide prevention strategies.
oregon focus:
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Oregon youths ages 15 to 24. We’re losing more than 500 people a year statewide… In a 2009 survey commissioned by the Lane County Department of Health and Human Services, 23 percent of Lane County respondents said that either they or someone they knew had had thoughts of suicide, 10 percent knew of a suicide attempt, and 9 percent knew of a suicide… For more details on suicide risk factors, resources, training and a suicide risk questionnaire that includes signs of depression, visit the Lane County Prevention Web site at lanecounty.org/prevention/suicide.htm.
and the beat goes on:
There were 110 reported active duty Army suicides from January 2009 through August 2009… For the same period in 2008, there were 89 suicides among active duty soldiers… “Effective suicide prevention programs and resources that are accessible to our soldiers and families are a crucial part of our effort, and we’re making progress in these areas,” said General Peter W. Chiarelli, Army Vice Chief of Staff.
don’t take your organs to heaven – we need them here:
Just 38 percent of licensed drivers in the United States are registered as organ and tissue donors, according to a report this year by Donate Life America… One person’s decision to donate organs can save eight lives, and tissue donation can help 50 people, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
…[Kris Patterson, a spokeswoman for the Donor Network of Arizona]… recalls a woman who lost her son when he was just 17 and who then met the recipient who received his heart. “They are friends now,” Patterson said. The mother and the recipient have dinner together from time to time, she said, and “when he comes to the door, she said she loves to hug him because she can hear her son’s heart beating.”
presidential workout news:
Obama said he works out six days a week: two cardio days and four weightlifting days split between the upper and lower body… “My blood pressure is pretty low, and I tend to be a healthy eater,” he said in the interview. “So I probably could get away with cutting (my workouts) back a little bit. The main reason I do it is just to clear my head and relieve me of stress.”
he-men of the reformation dept:
A proposal to change the nation’s $2.6 trillion health care system… was unveiled Wednesday… full of Republican ideas.
alternative healthcare-delivery models – france:
[Victor G. Rodwin is a professor of health policy and management at the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University and co-director of the World Cities Project, International Longevity Center-USA. He teaches courses on health system comparisons and has widely published on the French health care system.]
Based on data for the year 2000, France was ranked No. 1, with the lowest rate of avoidable deaths… When it comes to timely access to primary care, the French are superb.
An important and well-recognized measure is avoidable hospitalizations. People should not end up in the hospital for failure to manage routine, controllable conditions such as asthma, bacterial pneumonia, diabetes or congestive heart failure… Comparing Paris and Manhattan, we have 2.5 times the rate of avoidable hospitalizations that they do in Paris. Moreover, when it comes to specialty care… the French provide higher rates of bypass surgery and angioplasty than we do.
… It’s not government run but government financed. Like Medicare and Social Security, it is funded by compulsory payroll taxes with some income tax contributions. But doctors work predominantly in private, office-based, fee-for-service practices, and there is a mix of public and private hospitals. The main difference from Medicare is that the entire resident population is covered and the benefit package is more generous.
…The French have no choice among insurers for the basic plan. But French National Health Insurance [NHI] gives them more choice of doctors and hospitals than the average American has… There are no deductibles. French National Health Insurance typically pays 70 percent of an office visit… Co-insurance is waived for all patients with serious chronic medical conditions.
…There are no waiting lists for specialized hospital treatments. There is very easy access, perhaps too easy, to specialized services. An important characteristic of the French system is that the sicker you are, the better you’re reimbursed… The entire population legally residing in France is covered.
alternative healthcare-delivery models – japan:
[John Creighton Campbell is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Michigan and a visiting researcher at the Tokyo University Institute of Gerontology.]
Japan has about the lowest per capita health care costs among the advanced nations of the world… People pay premiums proportional to their income to join the insurance pool.
… Reimbursement rates to doctors and hospitals are negotiated and set every two years… Primary care is more profitable than highly specialized care, so Japanese doctors face different incentives than U.S. doctors. As a result, the Japanese are three times more likely than Americans to go to the doctor, but they receive many fewer surgical operations.
trouble-in-socialist-paradise dept:
Unless you’re a senior, you may not be aware that many providers don’t accept Medicare; this means that, perhaps by design, the Medicare (MC) provider “network” is limited… One of the “solutions” currently on the table is the so-called Public Option, and a lot of providers are beginning to say that they’re not going to accept PO patients, either… Now why would these docs dig in their (collective) heels on this issue?
It’s simple, really: Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government’s Cash for Clunkers program… The program offers up to $4,500 to shoppers who trade in vehicles… Dealers pay the rebates out of pocket, then must wait to be reimbursed by the government. But administrative snags and heavy paperwork have created a backlog of unpaid claims… The group’s dealers have been repaid for only about 2 percent of the clunkers deals they’ve made so far. Many dealers have said they are worried they won’t get repaid at all, while others have waited so long to get reimbursed they don’t have the cash to fund any more rebates.
preexisting broken jaw?:
It is still legal in nine states for insurers to reject applicants who are survivors of domestic violence, citing the history of domestic violence as a pre-existing condition.
update, please!:
An informal survey in 1994 by the staff of the Subcommittee on crime and Criminal Justice of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that 8 of the 16 largest insurers in the country used domestic violence as a factor when deciding whether to issue insurance and how much to charge.
down and dirty:
It’s one thing to see a rowdy health care town hall meeting on TV. It’s another to have your boss tell you to go to one. Yet that’s what Consumer Watchdog… is alleging that two major health insurers have done… They asked California Attorney General Jerry Brown… to investigate whether United Healthcare and Wellpoint have violated the California Labor Code… Said the Watchdogs: “Both companies are urging their employees to lobby members of Congress and offering corporate assistance in doing so, including talking points and even the placing of phone calls for the employees.”
mum’s the word:
A fascinating report published in the September issue of Milbank Quarterly shows that fewer than 40% of 5,000 patients surveyed complained to healthcare insurance plans when a problem arose, even when it cost them upwards of $1,000 in out of pocket expenses or if care (or lack thereof) led to a more serious health condition. What’s more, less than 15% of patients took steps to opt out of their current plans and search for a more palatable option.
the empire strikes back:
Every major sector of the health care industry… is working quietly to scuttle or reshape some element of the administration’s [health-insurance reform] proposals that might hurt profits – usually some measure aimed at cost control… Drug makers abhor one of its cost-cutting components: a government initiative to study the effectiveness of treatments… The A.M.A.’s lobbyists are also working to extinguish the idea of a government-run insurer, which doctors fear could eventually push down their fees… Hospitals are haggling with the Senate Finance Committee over another proposal: a newly empowered Medicare oversight board that could impose payment reductions… [and so on].
fun facts to know and tell:
The National Center For Vital Statistics shows that after 4 years of gay marriage, Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the nation. The rate of 2.0 divorces per 1000 marriages puts it at the lowest rate since 1940.
census-bureau backstory:
The 2010 Census will not be the first in which same-sex couples have identified themselves as married. But it will be the first in which the raw numbers are publicly reported, reflecting an evolution in the way the Census Bureau keeps track of American lifestyles.
The issue of counting same-sex unions first arose in 1990, when the Census Bureau added the category of “unmarried partner,” primarily to count heterosexual couples living together. Since no state permitted same-sex marriage, the Census Bureau “edited” the sex of one person in each same-sex couple. For instance, if two women said they were spouses, the Census Bureau changed the sex of one to male.
In 2000, in what was considered a more enlightened approach, the Census Bureau re-categorized those same-sex couples who said they were married, counting them as unmarried partners. But it didn’t release the numbers. That was prohibited by the Bush administration… The Obama administration reversed that interpretation and ordered the Census Bureau to release the raw data when it becomes available in 2011.
what goes up:
The average family premium for health insurance offered through an employer surpassed the $13,000 mark this year… Over the past 10 years, premiums have risen 131 percent while wages have increased just 38 percent.
census report factoid:
The percentage of people covered by private health insurance was 66.7 percent in 2008 – down from 67.5 percent in 2007.
…which means:
For the eighth year in a row, fewer Americans are covered by private health insurance. [emphasis added]
your public options:
Government insurance programs, known in some quarters as “socialized medicine”… keep the numbers of uninsured from being even higher. Approximately 30 percent of all Americans are now insured by either Medicare or Medicaid, government-run, single-payer health insurance systems.
medicare numbers:
A typical person who was born in 1944, began work at age 21 in 1965, and in 2009 retired at age 65 and enrolled in Medicare… This typical person paid around $64,971 in Medicare payroll taxes over his lifetime… He’ll receive around $173,886 in lifetime Medicare benefits. The net? He can expect to receive around $108,915 more in benefits than he paid in taxes over his lifetime.
Median earnings for White, non-Hispanic women working full-time, year round were… 73% of the earnings of White, non-Hispanic men.
Median earnings for Black women working full-time, year round were… 61.4% of the earnings of White, non-Hispanic men.
Median earnings of Hispanic women working full-time, year-round were… 52.4% of the earnings of White, non-Hispanic men.
before the “recession” hit:
The typical American household made less money last year than the typical household made a full decade ago… Median household income fell to $50,303 last year… In 1998, median income was $51,295. All these numbers are adjusted for inflation… In the four decades that the Census Bureau has been tracking household income, there has never before been a full decade in which median income failed to rise.
brief review of certain socialistic, anti-free-market handouts:
In the 1930s FDR fought for and obtained the right of the government to establish electric co-ops and provide electricity, the most important ingredient for a standard-of-living increase, to the rural areas that private utilities would not service. It simply wasn’t profitable for a company to string five miles of wire for one farmer. Do our rural areas have electricity? Has our standard of living improved? Are our private electrical utilities broke? Look upward; can you still see the sky?
not over troubled waters:
In recent years, violations of the Clean Water Act have risen steadily across the nation… The violations range from failing to report emissions to dumping toxins… An estimated 19.5 million Americans fall ill each year from drinking water contaminated with parasites, bacteria or viruses, according to a study published last year in the scientific journal Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. That figure does not include illnesses caused by other chemicals and toxins… Last year, 40 percent of the nation’s community water systems violated the Safe Drinking Water Act at least once… Fewer than 3 percent of Clean Water Act violations resulted in fines or other significant punishments by state officials. And the E.P.A. has often declined to prosecute polluters or force states to strengthen their enforcement.
…For an interactive [map], which can show violations in any community, visit www.nytimes.com/toxicwaters.
child birth news:
Two recent studies of home birth have generated a lot of attention online. The first, published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology… [found] that after controlling for confounding factors (maternal and gestational age, parity, ethnic background, and socioeconomic status), there was no significant difference between groups on measures of perinatal mortality, and no significant difference between planned home vs. planned hospital groups on risk of NICU admission [in the The Netherlands, where approximately 30% of women give birth at home].
…A recent retrospective cohort study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, was conducted in British Columbia, Canada… [and] found no statistically significant differences in the low risk of perinatal mortality between the 3 groups, at 0.35/1,000 for planned home birth, 0.57/1,000 for planned hospital birth with a midwife, and 0.64/1,000 for planned hospital birth with a physician. There were no deaths from 8-28 days of life. The authors also observed lower rates of obstetric interventions for planned home births with midwives than with either hospital group.
child psych news:
The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer agreed to pay $2.3 billion to settle civil and criminal allegations that it had illegally marketed its painkiller Bextra… The government charged that executives and sales representatives throughout Pfizer’s ranks planned and executed schemes to illegally market not only Bextra but also Geodon, an antipsychotic… The $2.3 billion fine amounts to less than three weeks of Pfizer’s sales.
…Geodon is FDA-approved only to treat patients ages 18-65 diagnosed with schizophrenia or acute manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar disorder. However, according to the whistleblower suit… Pfizer targeted pediatrics and adolescents to expand off-label use and maintained on its payroll an army of more than 250 child psychiatrists nationwide.
coming soon to a telephone pole near you:
the vision thing:
A 60-year-old US grandmother, blind for nearly a decade, has recovered her sight after surgeons implanted a tooth in her eye… The medical team extracted Thornton’s canine or “eyetooth” and surrounding bone, shaved and sculpted it, and drilled a hole into it to insert an optical cylinder lens. [eyetooth, get it?]
movin’ on up:
St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, used Twitter to keep family members aprised of a surgical patient’s status during her hysterectomy… St. Luke’s is following the lead of other hospitals that have used Twitter during a surgery to educate and inform the family or the general public. A member of the hospital’s PR department sent 310 tweets during the surgery to the family… St. Luke’s also uses the web to post wait times for its urgent care clinics and ER.
the south won’t do it, again:
The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday upheld the state’s ban on the sale of sex toys… saying public morality was a legal reason to regulate sales.
tortillas, drugs and rock and roll:
The U.S. Forestry service has issued an apology for its insensitivity last month when it… warned forest visitors to beware of campers who eat tortillas, drink Tecate beer and play Spanish music because they could be armed marijuana growers.
medical marijuana news part 1:
Two new TV ads featuring patients who have benefited from medical marijuana began airing today in media markets covering key New York Senate districts. Rejected by ABC, CBS and Fox, the spots will nevertheless air on WNBC in New York City and on cable outlets around the state.
part 2:
Iowa, America’s breadbasket, home to liberal scion Tom Harkin and conservative contrarian Charles Grassley, is vetting the issue of medical marijuana politically like no other previous state has by conducting a series of public testimonies, convened by the Iowa Pharmacy Board.
part 3:
Reports continue to come in of federal raids of medical marijuana dispensaries up and down the West Coast… On 25 Aug 09 the California Senate passed a “joint resolution” calling for the federal government to cease and desist… On 11 Jul 09 Barney Frank introduced The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act (HR 2835) in Congress. The latter would remove medical marijuana from the purview of The Controlled Substances Act… [and] would reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II, allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana as they do pharmaceuticals.
fda promotes the straight and narrow:
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted unanimously today to recommend approval of an experimental drug to treat Dupuytren’s contracture, a disabling disorder in which the fingers curl… Auxilium is also conducting clinical trials of the drug to treat Peyronie’s disease, a curving of the penis.
one-grand-gesture dept:
Harvey Cox, Hollis Professor Emeritus of Divinity, exercised his 300-year-old right to graze his cow in Harvard Yard yesterday… In front of a crowd of students, faculty and onlookers the cow, a Jersey named Faith, ate grass while a band of tubas played in celebration of Cox’s retirement.
dr leigh does the ‘i told you so’ dance:
Spanking one-year-olds leads to future aggressive behavior and lower cognitive development during ages two and three… When paired with a mother’s emotional support, verbal reprimand leads to increased cognitive ability, according to researchers.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
