November 3rd, 2009 by Dr. Val Jones in Health Policy, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed
Tags: Amy Wallace, Christian Science, LA Times, National Press Club, Newsweek, Paying For Prayer, Phil Davis Melinna Giannini, Snake Oil, War On Science, Wired Magazine
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Today the LA Times described a bizarre and troublesome healthcare reform bill provision that would require Medicare to pay for Christian Science Prayer as a medical treatment:
…a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses.
The provision was inserted by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) with the support of Democratic Sens. John F. Kerry and the late Edward M. Kennedy, both of Massachusetts, home to the headquarters of the Church of Christ, Scientist.
The measure would put Christian Science prayer treatments — which substitute for or supplement medical treatments — on the same footing as clinical medicine. While not mentioning the church by name, it would prohibit discrimination against “religious and spiritual healthcare.”
Of course, I had warned about this very thing over a year ago on KevinMD’s blog – something I wish the LA Times had picked up on then. Read more »
October 28th, 2009 by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News
Tags: Addiction Medicine, Chemical, Cigarettes, Gateway, Menthol, Primary Care, Pulmonology, smoking cessation, Tobacco
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I’m writing from the second conference on menthol and cigarettes, in Washington DC. This conference was organized to review the evidence on the effects of menthol in cigarettes and to discuss what further research is necessary and what actions should be taken.
To me, the presentations appeared to suggest that right now the evidence that menthol cigarettes are more harmful to health is weak. However, the evidence that menthol cigarettes are a starter product for youth and that menthol cigarettes can (under certain circumstances) be more addictive and harder to quit, is quite strong and getting stronger all the time. Read more »
This post, Menthol: Mounting Evidence That It Makes Smoking Cessation More Difficult, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D..
October 27th, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, News
Tags: CNA, H1N1, Lawsuit, Nursing, Pandemic, Putting Patients First, Strike, Unions
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Only in the United States could a virus like H1N1 bring out the worst in medical politics and greed. We are facing a “pandemic” that requires coordination, communication and the best of medical practice. But what are we getting? Strikes, lawsuits and anything BUT putting patients first!
The strong nursing union, California Nurse Association (CNA), is taking this opportunity to call a strike on three large Catholic hospital chains (including 34 hospitals) throughout California and Nevada. The union bosses say the chief concerns are a lack of protective gear, improper isolation techniques and staffing that requires nurses to work (oh horrors!) 12 hour shifts during the flu crisis.
Although the nurses seem to want to walk out during a pandemic to “protect patients”, the nurses in New York and Washington also filed a lawsuit over the idea that they should be required to get the flu vaccine. You can’t have it both ways, nurses! You either want protection or you don’t. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
October 27th, 2009 by Berci in News
Tags: AED, AED4EU, Automated External Defibrillator, Cardiac Electrophysiology, Cardiology, Database, iPhone, Locator
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Have you ever wondered what happens if there is a serious situation and you need an automated external defibrillator? According to Wikipedia:
An automated external defibrillator or AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electrical therapy which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm.
Now Lucien Engelen from the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, The Netherlands launched a great project, AED4EU. Users can add places where AEDs are located and this database can be accessed through a new application, AED4EU on your mobile phone. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
October 26th, 2009 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News
Tags: GE, General Electric, Phone, Pocket, Radiology, Ultrasound
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As we wrote yesterday, GE released a handheld ultrasound system unlike any other. Yesterday, at a GE press conference in New York, we saw the device first hand and we brought a video back of a company rep demonstrating its use. At 3 inches wide, 5.3 inches long, and about an inch high, the device already has FDA and European approval. GE plans to first conduct a real world study of how the Vscan will be used by clinicians before releasing it to the general market. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
