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Monday, July 6, 2009

Health

Swine flu takes a backseat to other summer ills - but it's still around (06/30/09)
Southeast Missouri public health officials are busy tracking summer illnesses, but they haven't forgotten about the new flu -- officially called H1N1 and nicknamed swine flu. Though summer is generally a time when flu cases abate, the close quarters of summer camps have spurred outbreaks...
Cape autism center aims to speed diagnosis of children; parents want more services (06/27/09)
The Southeast Missouri State University Autism Center for Diagnosis and Treatment, expected to open in December, is getting mixed reactions from parents of children with autism. While the parents are excited that new services are coming to the region, some are wary of expecting too much from the new center...
Take a walk: Heading for a healthier lifestyle, one step at a time (06/23/09)
PELHAM, N.H. -- Brian Bishop was eating and stressing himself to death until a heart attack at age 28 got his attention. Now, after losing more than 100 pounds, he is a poster child -- literally -- for a national program to walk to a healthier lifestyle...
Obama signs tough tobacco law (06/23/09)
WASHINGTON -- President Obama cited his own long struggle to quit the cigarettes he got hooked on as a teenager as he signed the nation's strongest-ever anti-smoking bill Monday and praised it for providing critically needed protections for children...
Health calendar 6/23/09 (06/23/09)
This week's health events
Democrats may go it alone on government insurance plan (06/22/09)
WASHINGTON -- Emboldened by polls that show public backing for a government health insurance plan, Democrats are moving to make it a politically defining issue in the debate over the future of medical care. Behind-the-scenes attempts to get a deal with Republicans on nonprofit co-ops as an alternative to a public plan have led only to frustration, complains a key Democrat. He and his colleagues may have to go it alone, said Sen. Chuck Schumer...
Sebelius says children may get swine flu shots first (06/17/09)
WASHINGTON -- Schoolchildren could be first in line for swine flu vaccine this fall -- and schools are being put on notice that they might even be turned into shot clinics. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday she is urging school superintendents around the country to spend the summer preparing for that possibility, if the government goes ahead with mass vaccinations...
Surviving the sun: Keys to summer skin protection (06/16/09)
One of the great things about living in Southeast Missouri is the beautiful spring and summer weather and wide variety of outdoor activities to experience. Unfortunately, being outside leads to exposure to the sun that can damage the skin, causing wrinkles and potentially skin cancer. ...
Doctors' boos show Obama's tough road (06/16/09)
WASHINGTON -- President Obama isn't used to hearing boos. For all the president's popularity, the response he got Monday from doctors at an American Medical Association meeting was a sign his road is only going to get rockier as he tries to sell his plan to overhaul the nation's health-care system...
Health calendar 6/16/09 (06/16/09)
Health events for the week.
Hospitals wary of Obama's Medicare cuts (06/14/09)
WASHINGTON -- President Obama said Saturday he wants to help pay for his health-care overhaul by slowing Medicare and Medicaid spending, but hospitals, medical technicians and others are resisting. The high-stakes struggle over medical care is heating up as Obama declares the status quo unacceptable...
Obama confronts critics on health-care overhaul (06/12/09)
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- President Obama challenged Republican critics Thursday to offer alternative plans for overhauling U.S. health care, declaring he's "happy to steal people's ideas" but that doing nothing about out-of-reach costs and uninsured Americans is not an option...
Almost no alternative health remedies work, studies find (06/11/09)
BETHESDA, Md. -- Ten years ago the government set out to test herbal and other alternative health remedies to find the ones that work. After spending $2.5 billion, the answer seems to be that almost none of them do. Echinacea for colds. Ginkgo biloba for memory. ...
Supply in demand: When summer heats up, the number of blood donors slows down (06/09/09)
People manage to make time for several activities in the summer, but it's the thing they stop doing this time of year that has the American Red Cross of Southeast Missouri a little nervous.
Sources say House Dems consider taxing benefits (06/09/09)
WASHINGTON -- Despite a less-than-rousing reaction from the Obama administration, House Democrats are considering a new tax on employer-provided health benefits to help pay for expanding coverage to the uninsured. Several officials also said an outline of emerging legislation envisions a requirement for all individuals to purchase affordable coverage, with an unspecified penalty for those who refuse and a waiver for those who cannot cover the cost...
Health calendar 6/9/09 (06/09/09)
Health events for the week
Missouri medical providers not garnishing tax refunds (06/08/09)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A 2007 Missouri law allows hospitals and other medical providers to seek to garnish the tax refunds of people with overdue medical bills. But so far, no one has tried to use the law. The Missouri Department of Revenue says it has not offset anyone's tax refunds because of medical bills...
Obama plan would provide health care for all (06/04/09)
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama says he's open to requiring all Americans to buy health insurance, as long as the plan provides a "hardship waiver" to exempt poor people from having to pay. Obama opposed such an individual mandate during his campaign, but Congress increasingly is moving to embrace the idea...
FDA reviewing conclusion on safety of bisphenol-A (06/03/09)
WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing its conclusion from last year that a much-debated chemical used in baby bottles and food containers is safe for infants. The news came hours after two influential Democrats sent a letter Tuesday questioning that decision to new FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg. She has pledged to restore confidence in the agency by putting science first in its decision-making process...
White House frames health care as economic problem (06/02/09)
WASHINGTON -- Fixing the economy requires overhauling the U.S. health care system, a White House report concludes -- just the message the administration needs to help implement a sweeping new social welfare program during a recession. The report by the White House Council of Economic Advisers says that health care costs -- now about 18 percent of the gross domestic product -- will rise to 34 percent in 30 years if left unchecked, wreaking havoc on the federal deficit, businesses and working Americans.. ...
Packing on too many or too few pounds during pregnancy can cause problems (06/02/09)
WASHINGTON -- Eating for two? New guidelines are setting how much weight women should gain during pregnancy -- which is little if they're already overweight. The most important message: Get to a healthy weight before you conceive, says the Institute of Medicine in the first national recommendations on pregnancy weight since 1990. ...
Health calendar 6/2/09 (06/02/09)
Health events this week
National CPR and AED Awareness Week continues (06/02/09)
National CPR and AED Awareness Week continues National CPR and AED Awareness Week continues through Sunday. According to the American Heart Association, emergency medical services almost 295,000 victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest annually in the U.S. An automated external defibrillator is a computerized medical device that can check a person's heart rhythm and advise treatments. Visit www.semissourian.com/calendar for CPR training opportunities...
Gov. Nixon touts plan to increase health education (05/29/09)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon said a program designed to increase health-care education in Missouri will be a first step to addressing the shortage of health-care workers in the state. During a visit to the University of Missouri-Kansas City on Thursday, Nixon touted the "Caring for Missourians" program, which directs $40 million to the state universities, colleges and community colleges for more health-care classes, teachers and equipment. ...
Utah and Arizona report swine flu-related deaths (05/21/09)
SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah officials reported the state's first death associated with swine flu and Arizona recorded that state's third victim, pushing the national death toll to 10 people. David Sundwall, executive director of the Utah Department of Health, said a 21-year-old man with swine flu died Wednesday morning at a Salt Lake City hospital. ...
Health news
  • Calif. regulators warn of pot's cancer capability
    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- It might take Californians a puff or two to get their heads around an apparent contradiction recently enshrined in state law.
  • Jackson kids face hurdles to coping with his death
    CHICAGO (AP) -- No matter how unusual their lives may have been so far, Michael Jackson's children now face a universal trauma felt by all kids who suddenly lose a parent.
  • Mexico wins praise for swine flu response
    CANCUN, Mexico (AP) -- As swine flu runs rampant in the Southern Hemisphere winter, world health experts are concerned that some hard-hit countries have been reluctant to take forceful measures to protect public health.
  • Scrub tech may have exposed thousands to hepatitis
    DENVER (AP) -- A former surgery technician may have exposed thousands of Colorado patients to hepatitis C when she swapped her own dirty syringes for ones filled with a powerful narcotic, federal authorities said Thursday.
  • Study: New flu inefficient in attacking people
    WASHINGTON (AP) -- With swine flu continuing to spread around the world, researchers say they have found the reason it is -- so far -- more a series of local blazes than a wide-raging wildfire.
  • Federal probe finds problems with chelation study
    A federal investigation has found that heart attack survivors enrolled in a study of a controversial alternative medicine treatment were not told enough about potential dangers from the drug being tested, including death.
  • Advocates are back with real health care stories
    CHICAGO (AP) -- When carpenter Greg Douglas crashed his pickup truck, his toolbox hit him and smashed his ribs and collarbone. After a month in the hospital, the medical bills hit him even harder, totaling $165,000.