If our medical malpractice tort scheme were a patient, its condition would be critical. The system is ailing, and rather than treating it with an eye toward long-term solutions, the fixes have been quick: emergency insurance, caps on damages.
All avoid the basic question: How can our dysfunctional tort system be fixed?
In theory, negligent care resulting in injury should be reasonably compensated, with oversight provided by impartial courts. Liability insurance would protect doctors and hospitals from ruinous judgments, and be affordable.
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The authors of a report in the latest Radiology, a peer-reviewed medical journal, estimate that exposure to the radiation from one total-body CT scan -- often called a "CAT scan" -- may increase the risk of cancer by a small, but not negligible, amount. The researchers make this estimate by analogy to the measured radiation exposure of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the rate of cancer in those survivors.
Americans are understandably concerned about the possibility of new terrorist attacks. Public health professionals from around the country have urged that people be "prepared." But what does that mean?
Apparently, to the Red Cross it means selling people "preparedness" kits for $49.95 -- and that is per person.
Each Red Cross kit includes a breathing mask, duct tape, food bars, two quarts of water, a radio (with batteries), and a blanket.
But will this Red Cross kit really protect you -- for three days -- as they claim?
Over the last few years, we've chronicled a range of approaches to dealing with obesity. From Atkins to bariatric surgery, to the Zone, we've seen it all. Or so we thought. A new approach to dealing with the weight problem plaguing more and more Americans has been broached at a meeting sponsored by the Public Health Advocacy Institute, according to the Washington Times.
In response to the the latest press release from the advocacy group called the Center for Science in the Public Interest, below are some facts about the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH):
· ACSH is a not for profit organization led by a voluntary board of more than 350 leading physicians and scientists from prominent hospitals and universities.
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed an amendment allowing Americans to buy prescription drugs from Canada and unspecified "other countries," a seeming reversal of current law. I say seeming because in fact this amendment is likely to be eliminated when the House and the Senate meet to coordinate the final form of the bill. Nevertheless, politicians and pundits seem to be in agreement: drug importation is an idea whose time is at hand, if not this year, then next.
An Associate Research professor at George Washington University's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health is advising other professors to show the documentary Fallon, NV: Deadly Oasis to students.
The film is touted by Physicians for Social Responsibility as an "emotionally compelling documentary that illustrates the link between environmental exposures and health."
CEI-affiliated Soso Whaley contrasted her weight loss with the weight gain of her fellow McDonald's customer/documentarian Morgan Spurlock (noting ACSH's role) in a July 24 letter to the Washington Times:
A couple of days ago we noted that a new health scare is on the horizon, one linked to the discovery of a class of flame-retardant chemicals called PBDEs in salmon. An article in the August 12 Wall Street Journal confirms our interpretation.
Since the American Council on Science and Health often examines health scares, we were glad to see the sensible editorial in last week's British Medical Journal that evaluates how bottled water exploits the public's fears about what affects health (Petrie KJ, Wessely S. Getting well from water. British Medical Journal, 329:1417-1418).
As the rate of obesity has climbed in the United States over the past few decades, to the point that nearly a third of adults are considered obese, so has the rate at which people are turning to some form of bariatric surgery to help control their weight. These operations are more than cosmetic "tummy tucks" or liposuction. The surgery may involve simply using a band around the stomach or stapling part of it closed to decrease its capacity. More extensive procedures also include bypassing part of the small intestine to decrease nutrient and calorie absorption.
Sexual behavior has historically carried moral and ideological import, particularly when it comes to young people. But it also raises issues of health and safety. So deciding what kinds of information sexual education courses should include is a notoriously controversial task. One school of thought supports "comprehensive sexual education," which promotes abstinence but also includes information about condoms and other forms of contraception in order to educate young people about how to protect themselves if they become sexually active.
With severe limits on flu vaccine availability, it is only natural that the public will try to seek out other effective means of flu prevention. Feeding off the widespread panic over the flu and the desire for alternatives in flu prevention, an abundance of "flu remedies" is now available on the Internet, making strong and misleading claims. Vulnerable people, relatively unregulated "dietary supplements," and the vast territory of the Internet combine to create fertile ground for misinformation.
Last Tuesday, California voters, besides casting their ballots for president, also had the option in several counties to ban biotechnology-produced crops. Marin, Butte, San Luis Obispo, and Humboldt counties all voted on such measures, and the initiatives were rejected by voters in all but one county.
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson this week declared that the sudden shortage of influenza vaccine in the United States is "not a health crisis." He argued that anxious Americans should be patient while the government works to reallocate the nation's limited supply of vaccines.
To his credit, Thompson was trying to prevent panic -- and prevent the long lines of flu-shot seekers we are increasingly seeing on the nightly news.
New York -- October 2004. From the great "Cranberry Scare" of 1959 to the present-day fear of chemicals in salmon, the public has been subjected to increasingly frequent warnings about the safety of the food supply and environment. However, such panics are almost never based on good scientific evidence, reports the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).
New York, NY -- December 2004. Many women rely on magazines for information about health yet surveys show that popular women's magazines feature little or no coverage of the serious health consequences of smoking, the leading preventable cause of death, even while other health topics, serious and trivial, are covered at great length.
Now, I do not want to sound like everyone's mother, but let's face it, a lot of what Mom taught us was true.
Anyone who reads magazines, watches TV, or listens to the radio must have come across ads for a myriad of diet aids that promise effortless weight loss -- sometimes even while one sleeps -- no dieting or exercising required. Although we, and many others, have warned consumers that such products are bound to be scams, there are still plenty of them out there. And with the increasing prevalence of obesity in America, the market for such scams is surely growing.
Every year, ACSH posts a list of commonsense actions individuals can take to either improve or protect their health. As part of our advice to exercise regularly, we emphasize that bike riders should always wear protective helmets -- which can reduce the risk of head injury by over 85%.
The importance of that particular piece of advice was brought home to me by a phonecall from a friend a couple of weeks ago. "Did you hear," she asked, "about Erica's accident?" No, I hadn't. "What happened?"
To the Editor:
Re "Winter Is Flu Season, but Maybe It Doesn't Have to Be" (Week in Review, Dec. 26):
You say "it would be nice to know for sure" that immunizing schoolchildren against influenza is the most effective route to prevent flu-related deaths among the vulnerable. There is no need for a new national study, nor do we need to await the analysis of Canadian data.
1. Focus your efforts on things that matter.
It is important that we distinguish between risks that are real and can be lessened by individuals' actions and those that are theoretical, very small, or beyond our control.
In an attempt to protect its citizens, the United Kingdom is reviewing proposals to implement its own color-coded alert system evocative of the one in place in the United States.
A quick search on Google or any Internet search machine for the topic "alcohol, pregnancy" will reveal that the precautionary principle is alive and well.
Sally Squires' Washington Post article "The Cost of Compliance" (February 22) dished a healthy dose of reality to those who suggest that the obesity crisis in this country is the fault of big business trying to dump cheap, unhealthy foods on an all-too-susceptible public.
Pagination
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