September 25th, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Evidence-Based Health Reporting, Gary Schwitzer, HealthNewsReview.org, Inaccurate Health Reporting, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA, Preventive Medicine, Preventive Screening, Screening Tests, Sound Health Journalism
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One part of the health care law that took effect this week is widely reported as “establishing a menu of preventive procedures, such as colonoscopies, mammograms and cholesterol screening, that must be covered without co-payments.” For example, one of my local papers, the [St. Paul, Minnesota] Star Tribune, wrote: “Some people will no longer have to pay for copays, coinsurance or meet their deductibles for preventive care that’s backed up by the best scientific evidence.” (emphasis added)
That phrase should always include a huge asterisk, like the one hung on Roger Maris’ 61st home run. The best scientific evidence according to whom?
Time magazine reports, “Procedures, screenings and tests that are considered ‘preventive’ will be determined by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the Centers for Disease Control (for vaccines) and the Health Resources and Services Administration.” As written, that is incorrect and inaccurate at worst and misleading at best. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
September 24th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: General Medicine, Happy Hospitalist, Malls, New York City, NYC, Public Awareness, Public Beaches, Public Health, Public Parks, Public Playgrounds, Public Safety, Public Smoking Ban, Smoking Outdoors, Smoking With Minors In The House, The Big Apple
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It looks like New York City is leading the way for public health safety by introducing a public smoking ban in all public parks, malls, plazas, beaches and playgrounds or risk a $50 fine:
Research showed, he said, that someone seated within three feet of a smoker — even in the open air — was exposed to roughly the same levels of secondhand smoke as someone sitting indoors in the same situation.
What took so long? Go, New York. I hope you succeed. Next up: Charging parents who smoke in their homes occupied by minors with child negligence.
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
September 24th, 2010 by DavedeBronkart in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed
Tags: Boston Globe, Consumer Vigilance, Dave deBronkart, Deceptive Health Websites, Detoxification, Drug Users, e-Patient Dave, e-Patients.net, Federally Mandated Drug Tests, Gilles Frydman, Health Information on the Web, Health Website Credibility, Lisa Neal Gualtieri, Online Health Information, Public Awareness, Stephen Sharp, Urine Temperature, Urine Test, US Airways Express Pilot, Yourintheclear.com
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By Lisa Neal Gualtieri. (Her earlier much-commented post on this subject is here.)
The Boston Globe reported this month on the sentencing of a former US Airways Express pilot, Stephen Sharp, “for selling a powdered drink mix over the Internet that he claimed was ‘100 percent’ effective in helping drug-using truck drivers, pilots, and train engineers pass federally mandated drug tests.” The ungrammatically-named “yourintheclear.com” no longer seems to exist.
Mindful of ongoing debate by Gilles Frydman and others about indicators of health website credibility, I searched for other sites selling similar products (there is no shortage) and looked on sites like Craigslist where people post questions about how to pass drug tests and how to detoxify. Based on a quick perusal, I found answers ranging from product advice that I suspect is similar to what “yourintheclear.com” sold to more than I ever want to know about urine temperature to what seemed like common sense advice. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net*
September 24th, 2010 by Dinah Miller, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Athlete's Health, Boston University, Brain Damage, Brain Pathology, Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, CTE, Depression, Dr. Dinah Miller, Football, Head Injury, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Neurology, Owen Thomas, Psychiatric Diagnosis, Psychiatric Disorder, Shrink Rap, Sports Medicine, Sports-Related Concussions, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide, University of Pennsylvania
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In psychiatry, we’ve had a hard time drawing precise links between brain pathology and psychiatric disorders. We can do it for groups of people: “Disease X” is associated with changes in brain structure of “Brain Area Y” or metabolic changes in “Brain Area Z.” But it’s groups, not individuals, and it’s an association, not a cause-and-effect, or a definite. We still can’t use this information for diagnosis, and there are still patients with any given psychiatric diagnoses who will have brains where “Area Y” is the same size as those without the disorder. We’re learning.
From what I read in this New York Times article, Owen Thomas was a bright, talented young man with no history of psychiatric disorder and no history of known concussion. In April, he committed suicide — a tragedy beyond words.
Sometime people commit suicide and everyone is left to wonder: There was no depression, no obvious precipitant, no note left behind, and every one is left to wonder why. The guilt toll on the survivors is enormous, as is the grief for their families and communities. In this case, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the young man was apparently struggling with the stress of difficult school work and concerns about his team and employment.
Owen’s family donated his brain to Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. They discovered that Owen’s brain showed damage similar to that seen in older NFL players — he had a condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Shrink Rap*
September 24th, 2010 by JenniferKearneyStrouse in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Research
Tags: ACP Internist, Cause Of Death, Elderly, General Medicine, Geriatrics, ICD, International Classification of Diseases, Mortality Data, Mortality Statistics, Multiple System Failure, Old, Old Age, Very Advanced Ages, Washington Post
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The Washington Post asks whether “old age” should be reconsidered as a legitimate cause of death for the elderly. Because more people are dying at very advanced ages with multiple system failure, it’s often harder for physicians to pinpoint the specific underlying cause, but using “old age” as a catch-all term could make mortality data less meaningful, the article said.
An upcoming revision of the International Classification of Diseases might provide some guidance: “Each revision of the ICD is the right moment to reconsider this question,” the co-head of the ICD’s mortality statistics committee told the Post. (Washington Post)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
