March 30th, 2010 by DaveMunger in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Census Forms, Decennial Census, Gary Locke, Population Policy, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, World Population
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The U.S. is ramping up its decennial census, and a few days ago I received my census form in the mail. Or, perhaps I should say, a census form. It wasn’t really mine at all, because it wasn’t addressed to me. It was addressed to a nearby house that doesn’t get mail delivery.
You see, our street—just two blocks long—has a “north” and “south” portion. My, northern, portion was developed about a decade and a half ago, and for some reason they decided to use the same house numbers as they had on the homes down the street, just with a “north” added to the street name. So there are two homes on the street with the same number—mine and another one about 50 yards away. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Daily Monthly*
March 30th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion
Tags: American Urological Association, Dr. Daniel Merenstein, Dr. Richard Ablin, General Medicine, New York Times, Oncology, Preventive Medicine, Primary Care, Prostate Cancer Awareness, Prostate Cancer Screening, PSA test, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Urology, USPSTF
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Is the tide finally turning on PSA screening for prostate cancer? There’s no definitive data that PSA screening saves lives from prostate cancer, and it indeed can lead to further, invasive, tests that can cause men significant discomfort. Medical societies are divided on the issue. Primary care groups like the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommend against it for older men, while the American Urological Association (AUA) continues to recommend screening.
In a strongly worded op-ed in the New York Times, Richard Ablin, also known as the founder of the PSA test, bemoans how our healthcare system has twisted its use. “The test’s popularity has led to a hugely expensive public health disaster,” he writes. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
March 30th, 2010 by Dr. Val Jones in Better Health Network, Expert Interviews, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Calvert Memorial Hospital, Energy Healing, Erica Mitrano, Evidence Based Medicine, Gary Schwitzer, Health Coverage, Junk Science, mainstream media, Medical Writers, Reiki, Science Based Medicine, Science Journalists, Sensationalism, The Enterprise, Traditional Media, TV Health Stories
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I recently wrote about an experience that I had with a reporter (Erica Mitrano) who interviewed me about energy healing at Calvert Memorial Hospital in southern Maryland. Erica was very friendly and inquisitive, and we had a nice conversation about the lack of scientific evidence supporting any energy healing modality. I thought it would be fun to post what we had discussed at SBM, and then wait to see what trickled down into the finished piece.
When the final article appeared I was very disappointed. Not only was I not quoted, but there was no skeptical counterpoint at all. The story read like an unquestioning endorsement of junk science, and I wondered if it was worth it to continue speaking to journalists to offer expert advice. It seemed to me that this experience was emblematic of all that’s wrong with health reporting these days. (Just ask Gary Schwitzer, who has recently given up on reviewing TV health stories in mainstream media since they are generally so inaccurate.) Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
March 29th, 2010 by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Addiction Medicine, CDC, Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, Cigarettes, Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program, CTCP, General Medicine, New Jersey, Primary Care, Quitcenter, Stop Smoking
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The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) identified tobacco use as the single biggest cause of premature death in every state in the U.S. They recommended in 2007 that New Jersey state government should spend $120 million per year on tobacco control ($13.75 per person per year, and 12% of total tobacco-related revenue to the state).
Here in New Jersey, our Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program (CTCP) started in 2000, with annual funding of just over $30 million via the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). The program was set up to follow CDC guidelines to have components for media, evaluation, community activities, youth prevention, and smoking cessation. With the post 9/11 recession causing severe budget problems for the state, funding was drastically cut by 66% to $11 million in 2004 and then in 2009 it was cut again to around $8m. The state brings in approximately $1 billion per year from tobacco sources (MSA plus tobacco taxes) and so New Jersey has recently been spending around 1% of tobacco revenues on tobacco control. Despite being drastically underfunded, the New Jersey CTCP has had many noteable achievements. Here’s just a few. Read more »
This post, Funding Tobacco Control Programs: A Dollar Well Spent, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D..
March 29th, 2010 by Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: General Medicine, Healthcare Legislation, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare reform, Huffington Post, Immediate Effects, MSNBC, Primary Care
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So, the healthcare reform bill passed in the House. Some people want to embrace this moment as a victory because any healthcare bill that becomes law is better than nothing. I heard a lot of “this was a long time coming,” “finally,” “it was our time yesterday,” and comments like that. I also heard a great deal of “time will tell,” “who’s the really winner?,” “is it a victory with a country and government so divided?,” “is this the right path?,” and comments like that.
I’m uncertain. As a physician, I so wanted to be able to feel good about it. I so wanted to believe that the “win” would push the healthcare industry in a positive direction, even if in baby steps and even if in just the insurance industry. But I have to be skeptical about a plan that doesn’t address the needs of American’s paying high co-pays today and having trouble getting timely doctors appointments today.
As a physician, I see too many patients not filling prescriptions and going without seeing doctors for these reasons. As a patient these have been my recent concerns, and I don’t see those being addressed. Do you? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Gwenn Is In*
