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337,588 | naturalnews--2019-11-14--Another depression medication proves riskier than the disease itself: Researchers recommend an "imme | 2019-11-14T00:00:00 | naturalnews | Another depression medication proves riskier than the disease itself: Researchers recommend an "immense amount of caution" due to side effects | (Natural News) When you’re in the throes of depression, you might be willing to try anything to make the feelings stop. Many sufferers turn to medication while waiting for longer-term solutions like therapy to have an effect, and while this may indeed take the edge off temporarily, it could come at a very steep price when it comes to your health. The latest example is esketamine, a drug that is currently being tested to help treat severe depression quickly. A form of ketamine, which is used as an anesthetic, esketamine has been shown to reduce severe depression symptoms like suicidal ideation quickly in some patients – which might even mean the difference between life and death in some cases. Although a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study found that a nasal spray of esketamine worked well where traditional antidepressants had failed, the authors cautioned that unwanted side effects like psychosis and depersonalization could occur without a proper risk assessment. The study involved more than 200 adults suffering from moderate to severe depression who had failed to respond to at least two antidepressants. The participants were from 39 different outpatient referral centers in the U.S., Spain, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. They were followed for the course of approximately two years. The researchers divided the patients into two groups, one of which was given twice weekly doses of esketamine, while the other group was given a placebo nasal spray. All participants were also given an antidepressant they had not previously taken, such as sertraline, escitalopram, duloxetine, or extended-release venlafaxine. After four weeks, those who had taken the esketamine spray had significantly higher improvements in their depression than those in the placebo group. This supports the idea that the treatment is effective. However, the people in the esketamine group also suffered from symptoms of dissociation and effects on perception. These effects were noted shortly after the drug was administered and peaked around 40 minutes later. Although the symptoms resolved after around an hour and a half and occurred less frequently as the treatment continued, it’s still a major cause for concern. Other side effects commonly experienced by participants taking the esketamine included vertigo, dizziness, nausea, and changes in their sense of taste. The adverse effects were strong enough to prompt 7 percent of participants taking esketamine to drop out of the trial entirely. That’s why many researchers are calling for caution with this drug. The FDA has already given an esketamine nasal spray its nod of approval for treating severe depression alongside orally administered antidepressants, albeit only in adults who haven’t had success with other forms of treatment. However, some experts disagree with this decision. One scientist who was not involved in the study, Stanford University School of Medicine’s Dr. Alan Schatzberg, wrote in a commentary accompanying the study paper that the drug has the potential for misuse and abuse, adding that there are still a lot of things we don’t know about it. Although he conceded that a nasal spray is an easier way of giving people ketamine than intravenous delivery, he said its efficacy was only mild and we don’t have a clear sense of how long and how often it should be prescribed. He urged caution in using the drug and said that we have more questions than answers here. Kaiser Health News recently reported that the manufacturer of nasal esketamine spray Spravato, Janssen, did not provide the FDA with any information on the drug’s safety in long-term use past 60 weeks. Moreover, they pointed out that three patients who were given the drug in clinical trials died by suicide, versus none in the control group, and the pharmaceutical firm and the FDA both ignored this huge red flag. Despite initial hope, it’s becoming increasingly clear that this is yet another depression medication that is riskier than the disease itself. Everyone’s depression is different, but it’s worth trying non-medical interventions like talk therapy, exercise, dietary improvements and meditation before taking on the potentially life-threatening risks of depression medication. | Isabelle Z. | http://www.naturalnews.com/2019-11-14-depression-medication-proves-riskier-than-disease.html | Thu, 14 Nov 2019 22:06:47 +0000 | 1,573,787,207 | 1,573,820,080 | health | health treatment |
387,086 | npr--2019-09-23--In Tiny Doses An Addiction Medication Moonlights As A Treatment For Chronic Pain | 2019-09-23T00:00:00 | npr | In Tiny Doses, An Addiction Medication Moonlights As A Treatment For Chronic Pain | Lori Pinkley of Kansas City, Mo., has struggled with chronic pain since she was a teenager. She has found relief from low doses of naltrexone, a drug that at higher doses is used to treat addiction. **Alex Smith/KCUR** ****hide caption**** ****toggle caption**** Alex Smith/KCUR Lori Pinkley of Kansas City, Mo., has struggled with chronic pain since she was a teenager. She has found relief from low doses of naltrexone, a drug that at higher doses is used to treat addiction. Alex Smith/KCUR Lori Pinkley, a 50-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., has struggled with puzzling chronic pain since she was 15. She's had endless disappointing visits with doctors. Some said they couldn't help her. Others diagnosed her with everything from [fibromyalgia](https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/fibromyalgia) to [lipedema](https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/10542/lipedema) to the rare [Ehlers-Danlos syndrome](https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/ehlers-danlos- syndrome#). Pinkley has taken opioids a few times after surgeries but says they never helped her underlying pain. "I hate opioids with a passion," Pinkley says. "An absolute passion." Recently, she joined a growing group of patients using an outside-the-box remedy: naltrexone. It is usually used to treat addiction, **** in a pill form for alcohol and as a pill or a monthly shot for opioids. **** As the medical establishment tries to do a huge U-turn after two disastrous decades of pushing long-term opioid use for chronic pain, scientists have been struggling to develop safe, effective alternatives. When naltrexone is used to treat addiction in pill form, it's prescribed at 50 mg, but chronic-pain patients say it helps their pain at doses of less than a tenth of that. Low-dose naltrexone has lurked for years on the fringes of medicine, but its zealous advocates worry that it may be stuck there. Naltrexone, which can be produced generically, **** is not even manufactured at the low doses that seem to be best for pain patients. Instead, patients go to compounding pharmacies or resort to DIY methods — YouTube videos and online support groups show people how to turn 50 mg pills into a low liquid dose. Some doctors prescribe it off-label even though it's not FDA-approved for pain. University of Kansas pain specialist [Dr. Andrea Nicol](http://www.kumc.edu /school-of-medicine/anesthesiology/faculty/andrea-nicol-md.html) has recently started prescribing it to her patients, including Pinkley. Nicol explains that for addiction patients, it works by blocking opioid receptors — some of the brain's most important feel-good regions. So it prevents patients from feeling high and can help patients resist cravings. At low doses of about 4.5 mgs, however, naltrexone seems to work completely differently. "What it's felt to do is not shut down the system, but restore some balance to the opioid system," Nicol says. Some of the hype over low-dose naltrexone has included some pretty extreme claims with limited research to back them, like using it to treat [multiple sclerosis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29377216) and neuropathic pain or even using it as a weight-loss drug. In the past two years, however, there's been a big increase in [new studies](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30917675) published on low-dose naltrexone, many strengthening its claims as a treatment for chronic pain, though most of these were still small pilot studies. [Dr. Bruce Vrooman](https://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/faculty/facultydb/view.php/?uid=6784), an associate professor at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, was **** an author of a [recent review](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30248938) of low-dose naltrexone research. Vrooman says that when it comes to treating some patients with complex chronic pain, low-dose naltrexone appears to be more effective and well-tolerated than the big-name opioids that dominated pain management for decades. "Those patients may report that this is indeed a game changer," Vrooman says. "It may truly help them with their activities, help them feel better." Patients often turn to a compounding pharmacy to obtain naltrexone in the low doses (like Pinkley's daily dose of 4.5 mg, shown here) to treat chronic pain. Other patients try to cut up the more widely available 50 mg pills on their own and swap DIY advice online. **Alex Smith/KCUR** ****hide caption**** ****toggle caption**** Alex Smith/KCUR Patients often turn to a compounding pharmacy to obtain naltrexone in the low doses (like Pinkley's daily dose of 4.5 mg, shown here) to treat chronic pain. Other patients try to cut up the more widely available 50 mg pills on their own and swap DIY advice online. Alex Smith/KCUR So how does it work? Scientists think that for many chronic pain patients, the central nervous system gets overworked and agitated. Pain signals fire in an out-of-control feedback loop that drowns out the body's natural pain-relieving systems. They suspect that low doses of naltrexone dampen that inflammation and kick- start the body's production of pain-killing endorphins — all with relatively minor side effects. Despite the promise of low-dose naltrexone, its advocates say few doctors know about it. The low-dose version is generally not covered by insurance, so patients typically have to pay out of pocket to have it specially made at compounding pharmacies. Advocates worry that the treatment is doomed to be stuck on the periphery of medicine because, as a 50-year-old drug, naltrexone can be made generically. [Patricia Danzon](https://hcmg.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/danzon/), a professor of health care management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, explains that drug companies don't have much interest in producing a new drug unless they can be the only maker of it. "Bringing a new drug to market requires getting FDA approval and that requires doing clinical trials," Danzon says. "That's a significant investment, and companies — unsurprisingly — are not willing to do that unless they can get a patent and be the sole supplier of that drug for at least some period of time." And without a drug company's backing, a treatment like low-dose naltrexone is unlikely to get the big promotional push out to doctors and TV advertisements that have turned drugs like Humira or Chantix into household names. "It's absolutely true that once a product becomes generic, you don't see promotion happening, because it never pays a generic company to promote something if there are multiple versions of it available and they can't be sure that they'll capture the reward on that promotion," Danzon says. The drugmaker [Alkermes](https://www.alkermes.com/) has had huge success with its exclusive rights to the extended-release version of naltrexone, called Vivitrol. In a statement for this story, the company says it hasn't seen enough evidence to support the use of low-dose naltrexone to treat chronic pain and therefore is remaining focused on opioid addiction treatment. Pinkley says she is frustrated that there are so many missing pieces in the puzzle of understanding and treating chronic pain, but she, too, has become a believer in naltrexone. She has been taking it for about a year now, at first paying $50 a month out of pocket to have the prescription filled at a compounding pharmacy. In July, her insurance started covering it. "I can go from having days that I really don't want to get out of bed because I hurt so bad," she says, "to within a half-hour of taking it, I'm up and running, moving around, on the computer, able to do stuff." * * * _This story is part of NPR's reporting project with KCUR and Kaiser Health News._ | Alex Smith | https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/09/23/741783834/in-tiny-doses-an-addiction-medication-moonlights-as-a-treatment-for-chronic-pain?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | 2019-09-23 20:02:00+00:00 | 1,569,283,320 | 1,570,222,434 | health | health treatment |
566,612 | tass--2019-06-20--Putin Russia doubles purchases of medications to fight cancer | 2019-06-20T00:00:00 | tass | Putin: Russia doubles purchases of medications to fight cancer | Russia accepts China’s invitation to pool efforts in finding cure for cancer and AIDS MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/. Russia has boosted the purchases of cancer treatment medications, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at his annual televised Q&A session on Thursday. "Speaking about financing and, most importantly, oncology, a significant increase has been reported," Putin said. "We have doubled financing for the purchases of oncology treatment medications. The figure for the chemotherapy stood at 80 billion rubles and now it equals 150 billion rubles." The president reiterated that Russia is paying particular attention to the fight against oncology and the government has singled out this issue as a special program under the Healthcare National Project. | null | https://tass.com/science/1064741 | 2019-06-20 11:17:34+00:00 | 1,561,043,854 | 1,567,538,544 | health | health treatment |
671,607 | theepochtimes--2019-11-18--Schumer Warns of Chinese-Made Over-the-Counter Medications | 2019-11-18T00:00:00 | theepochtimes | Schumer Warns of Chinese-Made Over-the-Counter Medications | Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 10, 2019. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned consumers over the weekend that some over-the-counter medications are made in China and said stores should stop selling Chinese-made medications. Schumer said the products, which don’t require a subscription, such as skin creams and cosmetics, can cause infections and nausea, among other ailments. “You figure if you’re buying something without a prescription, it’s safe and it’s good. That is not necessarily the case when it comes to some of these products,” Schumer told reporters outside a Dollar Tree in New York City, according to the New York Post. “What makes it even more serious is we don’t exactly know which ones might be dangerous because China has such poor labeling, you don’t know what they put into each of these drugs.” Schumer said that federal officials should take action, holding up a letter that he recently sent to acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan. Schumer wrote to Morgan requesting the agency “begin a targeted crackdown” on the made-in-China drugs, reported Newsday. “CBP and FDA should double their efforts to work hand-in-glove to ensure these products are turned away and American companies who might receive them are held accountable,” the letter reads. Schumer said retailers should throw out any “bad” products. “The feds cannot pass the buck and allow ‘dollar’ type stores across our area to receive bad or even dangerous over-the-counter drugs in the first place, and the retailers in question need to toss any bad product right now,” he said, reported the New York Daily News. He said all stores operated by Dollar Tree’s parent company, Greenbrier International Inc., are stocking made-in-China products and that Chinese manufacturers “don’t have the kind of safety structure that we would have in place if something were made here in the U.S., so when they’re imported, they can be very dangerous.” The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a warning letter to Greenbrier earlier this month, saying FDA inspections showed adulterated drugs from Chinese manufacturers, including Shanghai Weierya Daily Chemicals Factory and Hangzhou Zhongbo Industrial Company. Both companies failed to test each batch of drug prior to release and were placed on import alerts. “We note that during the inspection of your corporate headquarters, you stated that if you were made aware that a warning letter was issued to one of your suppliers or contract manufacturers, you would not purchase over-the-counter (OTC) drug products from that contract manufacturer any longer,” the agency stated. “Additionally, in your Feb. 5, 2019 response you state, ‘If a drug product is placed on Import Alert 66-40 (appearing not to comply with drug manufacturing CGMPs), Greenbrier ceases importing drug products from that establishment.’ The import data detailed above demonstrate this is not always the case.” CGMP is an acronym for Current Good Manufacturing Practice. The letter later added: “Considering that FDA has found a pattern of drug manufacturers with serious CGMP violations in your supply chain, in response to this letter, provide a detailed plan to ensure you do not receive or deliver adulterated drugs in interstate commerce, in violation of section 301 (c) of the FD&C Act, 21 U.S.C. 331(c).” | Zachary Stieber | https://www.theepochtimes.com/schumer-warns-of-chinese-made-over-the-counter-medications_3149514.html | Mon, 18 Nov 2019 16:03:28 +0000 | 1,574,111,008 | 1,574,103,674 | health | health treatment |
775,146 | theindependent--2019-11-11--Cannabis-derived medications approved for NHS use for the first time | 2019-11-11T00:00:00 | theindependent | Cannabis-derived medications approved for NHS use for the first time | Two cannabis-derived medicines have been approved for use on the NHS for the first time to help treat severe forms of childhood epilepsy and complications from multiple sclerosis. Medicines watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has rubber-stamped the use of two drugs developed by British-based GW Pharmaceuticals in a move that offers new hope to parents whose children don’t respond to existing treatments. Epidyolex, or cannabidiol, is an oral solution to help treat seizures in children with epilepsy, while Sativex will help treat spasms and sudden stiffening of muscles in multiple sclerosis patients. They do not have the “high” linked with recreational use of cannabis. The decision to approve the drugs for the NHS is a significant step in the use of cannabis-derived medication, for which pressure has grown after the case of eight-year-old Alfie Dingley, who was granted a special licence to use cannabis oil as he was experiencing up to 150 seizures a day. But despite new rules allowing the use of cannabis-related drugs, none has been fully licensed for routine use by the NHS until now. Dr Rhys Thomas, consultant neurologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle, said: “This is a significant moment for adults and children with the most difficult to treat epilepsies. “Nice’s recommendation of cannabidiol oral solution follows a period of great anticipation and enthusiasm for patients and their clinicians. The European Medicines Agency licence and availability through the NHS is welcome as we badly need additional effective treatments.” Epidyolex is recommended for use for patients two years old and above with Lennox Gastaut syndrome (LGS), a rare and severe form of childhood-onset epilepsy, as well as Dravet syndrome, a form of infant epilepsy triggered by fevers. When added to other anti-epileptic therapies, the oral solution significantly reduced the frequency of seizures in patients with LGS and Dravet syndrome. Earlier this year, however, Nice had rejected funding for Epidyolex, with one epilepsy doctor saying medicinal cannabis remained ”a medical minefield” and and that the pharmaceutical industry should work to ensure drugs were cost-effective and that their long-term effects were clear. The decision was welcomed by patient group Dravet Syndrome UK, whose chair, Galia Wilson, said: “Dravet syndrome is a devastating condition and having a new treatment option offers potential new hope to patients and their families searching for better seizure control. “Many families come to us asking about the potential of cannabis-based medicines, particularly cannabidiol, and we are thrilled that one is now available on the NHS.” Chris Tovey, of GW Pharmaceuticals, said: “This is a momentous occasion for UK patients and families who have waited for so many years for rigorously tested, evidenced and regulatory approved cannabis-based medicines to be reimbursed by the NHS. “This is proof that cannabis-based medicines can successfully go through extensive randomised placebo-controlled trials and a rigorous Nice evaluation process to reach patients.” | Shaun Lintern | https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/cannabis-epilepsy-nhs-medicine-children-a9195581.html | Mon, 11 Nov 2019 07:31:46 GMT | 1,573,475,506 | 1,573,475,461 | health | health treatment |
1,087,816 | veteranstoday--2019-03-01--Medications Older Adults Should Avoid | 2019-03-01T00:00:00 | veteranstoday | Medications Older Adults Should Avoid | Health Editor’s Note: You might be on one of the drugs listed below. It may be fine for you to be taking that drug. If you are taking a medication listed here it would be prudent to discuss that medication with the healthcare provider who prescribed it for you. It is always in your best interest to have your medications reviewed as some may no longer be necessary or may not be doing what they were intended to do for your health. Keep a list of your medications in your wallet, along with dosage and how many times a day, so you can refer to that list if you need to remind someone what you are taking. Also, if you are being seen by more than one healthcare provider be sure that ALL know your medication list as well as herbals and vitamins that you are taking. Some medications and herbals do not work together…..Carol The risks of using certain prescription and OTC drugs change as you get older. Are you taking something you shouldn’t be? Even if you’re as sharp and active as you were in your 20s, there’s no denying your body has changed over the years. And while some of those changes might be obvious, others are not as easily noticeable. One important example: how your body responds to medication. As you age, your kidney function changes, so it takes longer for many drugs to leave your system. Meanwhile, your body is less able to hold on to water and your body fat percentage increases, says Donna Marie Fick, Ph.D., R.N., director of the Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence at Penn State College of Nursing. These shifts, among others, mean a drug that worked well for you when you were younger might no longer do the trick—or, worse, it could leave you vulnerable to serious side effects or adverse events. Benzodiazepines, for example, are often prescribed for anxiety and related conditions, but can increase the risk for cognitive impairment, falls, and motor vehicle accidents—leading to fractures and other serious injuries. Despite these risks, six percent of men and more than 10 percent of women 65 to 80 years old use benzodiazepines, according to a study in JAMA Psychiatry. In an effort to keep older adults and their doctors in the loop about these risks, the American Geriatric Society (AGS) maintains a list of drugs that might be dangerous in older patients. And you might very well be taking one or more of the drugs on this list. If you’re thinking your doctor should already know which drugs are off-limits for seniors, don’t be so sure. Unless you’re seeing a geriatrician, your provider might not be an expert in treating older adults. You should also know that the 2019 version of the AGS list—called the AGS Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults—just came out in late January 2019. The previous update was in 2015, so if your doctor is still relying on that version, their info could be outdated. Another common issue: “You might have been put on a drug when you were 55 or 60, but now you’re 65 or 75 and still taking it,” says Fick, who was a panel co-chair for the 2019 update. That could be problematic if a doctor hasn’t recently assessed all of the meds you’re taking. She recommends going over all your prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, as well as any dietary supplements you may be using, with a doctor at least every six months. “There’s a big push now to do what’s called ‘deprescribing,’ because the sheer number of drugs you’re taking is the biggest risk factor for adverse events,” she says. Whether you’re taking one pill or 10 (or more!), you and your doctor should consult the new AGS guide to help make sure it’s safe for you. The guide puts drugs into five categories: You can get most of the highlights of the report by visiting HealthinAging.org. If your doctor hasn’t already seen the full version, point them to the AGS professional site or the January edition of the Journal of the American Geriatric Society. In the meantime, here is a list of relatively common medications that older adults are now advised to avoid or use with caution. Of course, there are exceptions to everything, and there are some cases in which one or more of the drugs listed above truly is best for an older adult. “All drugs have risks,” Fink says. “Our panel—which included clinicians, research scientists, private practice providers, pharmacists, and nurses—really tried to weigh the risk and benefits to figure out which ones belong on this list.” Your own doctor can take it a step further by factoring in your medical history, health conditions, current medications, and any personal risk factors. If you’re concerned about a medication you are taking, continue taking it as directed, but call your doctoras soon as possible. After reviewing your information, your doctor will decide if it’s best for you to continue, change, or stop your medication. | Carol Duff, MSN, BA, RN | https://www.veteranstoday.com/2019/03/01/medications-older-adults-should-avoid/ | 2019-03-01 15:13:30+00:00 | 1,551,471,210 | 1,567,546,877 | health | health treatment |
53,927 | birminghammail--2019-01-11--Eating chocolate is better at curing coughs than cough syrup - according to a doctor | 2019-01-11T00:00:00 | birminghammail | Eating chocolate is better at curing coughs than cough syrup - according to a doctor | Chocolate is officially better for you when you've got a cough than popular cough syrup. That's according to one professor, anyway. When you're ill, you probably neck down cough solution in a bid to soothe the pain and feel better. But you may be better off clamouring in the cupboards for your Cadbury, it turns out. It has emerged chocolate is better for cough and respiratory problems than standard medicine, according to the Daily Record. And we reckon the news will go down a storm with Brummies. According to Professor Alyn Morice, head of cardiovascular and respiratory studies at the University of Hull and founding member of the International Society for the Study of Cough says, "chocolate can calm coughs". The doctor even added that the supporting evidence is "actually as solid as a bar of Fruit and Nut". Writing for MailOnline , Alyn, who has spent years researching the cough, said researchers have just seen the results of a recent study of over-the-counter medicine. "This proves that a new medicine which contains cocoa is better than a standard linctus." The study of 163 people revealed that the patients taking chocolate-based medicine saw significant improvements in two days. So it's not quite as good as simply munching on some Maltesers and feeling better, unfortunatley. Nevertheless, this isn't the first study that suggests chocolate can calm coughs. Researchers at Imperial College in London found that theobromine, an alkaloid in cocoa, is better at suppressing the urge to cough than codeine - and ingredient often used in cough medicines. So how can chocolate actually help with a cough? Well according to Professor Alyn Morice, it's down to chocolate's "demulcent properties" - in other words, it's sticky which means it forms a coating on the throat's nerve endings, suppressing the urge to cough. "This demulcent effect explains why honey and lemon and other sugary syrups can help, but I think there is something more going on with chocolate," Alyn added. The cough expert reckons sucking on a piece of chocolate could provide some relief, but it's best when working with other ingredients in the medicine. | James Rodger | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/health/eating-chocolate-better-curing-coughs-15663859 | 2019-01-11 12:50:19+00:00 | 1,547,229,019 | 1,567,552,867 | health | health treatment |
55,743 | birminghammail--2019-01-31--Boy becomes first NHS patient to receive revolutionary new cancer drug | 2019-01-31T00:00:00 | birminghammail | Boy becomes first NHS patient to receive revolutionary new cancer drug | An 11-year-old boy has become the first NHS patient to receive a pioneering new cancer therapy that uses the body's own immune system to fight the disease. Yuvan Thakkar, from Watford, received the drug Kymriah, a type of immunotherapy called CAR-T cell therapy, at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London last week. Yuvan has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), which can be cured in around 90% of children who undergo conventional chemotherapy. However, Yuvan's cancer has failed to respond to two rounds of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, meaning he has few options left. Now, experts at GOSH have given him Kymriah (also known as (tisagenlecleucel), which was approved for use on the NHS after a deal was struck between NHS England and the drugs firm Novartis to offer it at a reduced price. Previously, CAR-T cell therapy was only available to patients as part of research trials. The treatment involves taking the patient's own T cells (a type of immune cell) from their blood and genetically engineering them in the laboratory so they recognise and fight cancer cells. Millions of these genetically engineered CAR-T cells are grown in the laboratory and then given back to the patient via an infusion into their bloodstream. Each dose of Kymriah is a customised treatment created using these own T-cells. In Yuvan's case, his T cells were first extracted in November last year, and shipped to laboratories in Rotterdam and Texas, where they underwent the complex editing procedure. Research has shown that CAR-T can lead to a cure or extended survival for a high number of patients, although not everyone benefits. In clinical trials in the US, around 50% to 62% of patients survive without leukaemia for 12 months or more. Yuvan, a keen cricket fan, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2014. Despite treatment and a bone marrow transplant last year, he was still found to still have leukaemia. Yuvan's parents, his mother Sapna, and father Vinay, said in a statement: "When Yuvan was diagnosed it was the most heartbreaking news we had ever received. "We tried to stay hopeful as they say leukaemia in children has 90% cure rate, but sadly, his illness relapsed. "This new therapy is our last hope. It means a rebirth to us if this treatment works and we hope it really does. "We are so glad that we at least have this new option now. "If he had relapsed a year ago it would have been a different story." Yuvan said, "I really hope I get better soon so I can visit Lego House in Denmark. I love Lego and am building a big model Bugatti while I'm in hospital." Professor Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK's chief clinician, said: "It's fantastic news that children and young people like Yuvan can receive CAR-T cell therapy on the NHS, giving another option when their cancer returns. "This is an incredibly complex treatment to give, Yuvan's cells were processed in both Europe and the US, and needed collaboration across borders to get the T-cell infusion back to London so he could be treated. "The UK was one of the first countries in the world to approve CAR-T cell therapy, showing that the NHS remains at the forefront of innovation when it comes to new cancer treatments. "More research is underway so that we can identify who's most likely to benefit from CAR-T cell therapy, as well as how to further refine the technique, so as many as possible can benefit." Side-effects from CAR-T can occur and patients need to be kept in isolation following treatment. CAR-T can cost around £280,000 per patient, although NHS England has brought down this price during negotiations. As well as GOSH, the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will offer the treatment to young people with leukaemia. Another type of CAR-T cell therapy, called Yescarta, has been approved on the NHS for adults with aggressive types of lymphoma. Dr Sara Ghorashian, consultant in paediatric haematology at GOSH and Yuvan's doctor, said: "We are so pleased to be able to offer patients like Yuvan another chance to be cured. "While it will be a while before the outcome of this powerful new therapy is known, the treatment has shown very promising results in clinical trials and we are hopeful that it will help." | birminghammail | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/boy-becomes-first-nhs-patient-15759798 | 2019-01-31 16:50:13+00:00 | 1,548,971,413 | 1,567,550,058 | health | health treatment |
150,743 | drudgereport--2019-08-09--Drug shortages forcing hospitals to ration treatments | 2019-08-09T00:00:00 | drudgereport | Drug shortages forcing hospitals to ration treatments... | A shortage of a versatile medicine used to treat immune disorders and other diseases has forced U.S. hospitals and infusion clinics to suspend treatment for many patients. The medicine, immune globulin, contains antibodies harvested from plasma, a component of blood. The injected product helps people with compromised immune systems fight off infections, and treats certain muscle and nerve disorders. The drug’s shortage increases the risk of infection for patients and the amount of pain they are suffering, doctors say. Recently, many hospitals and infusion clinics have received less immune globulin, or IG, than they need. Some have started to ration it, prioritizing it for patients who need it to stay alive and canceling infusions for patients deemed to have non-life-threatening conditions. The shortage has gotten to an acute status, said Michelle Vogel, vice president of patient advocacy and provider relations at CSI Pharmacy, a specialty pharmacy. IG manufacturers, including Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co. and CSL Ltd., say there has been increased demand for IG. They cite higher rates of diagnosis of conditions that IG has long treated, plus new uses for the drug. The global market for these drugs was $11 billion in 2018, projected to rise to $17 billion in 2023, according to a recent Takeda presentation to investors. An expanded version of this story appears on WSJ.com | null | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/QN3x4EYX4n4/drug-shortages-forcing-hospitals-to-ration-treatments-2019-08-09 | 2019-08-09 19:34:37+00:00 | 1,565,393,677 | 1,567,534,544 | health | health treatment |
201,720 | fortune--2019-02-04--This Once-Free Drug for a Rare Condition Now Costs 375000 | 2019-02-04T00:00:00 | fortune | This Once-Free Drug for a Rare Condition Now Costs $375,000 | Firdapse, a drug used for treatment of a rare neurological disorder that affects one in 100,000 people, used to be free. As of December, its annual cost became $375,000 and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is asking why, Reuters reported. Sanders sent a letter to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals asking the company to justify its action. “Catalyst’s decision to set the annual list price at $375,000 is not only a blatant fleecing of American taxpayers, but is also an immoral exploitation of patients who need this medication,” wrote Sanders, an Independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats. An equivalent of Firdapse was available free for 20 years from a small drug company, Jacobus Pharmaceutical, under an FDA program for access to experimental drugs, BioWorld reported. Jacobus had never gone through the entire FDA approval process to make the drug commercially available. Catalyst obtained exclusive North American rights to Firdapse from its developer, Biomarin Pharmaceutical, in 2012. But Catalyst investors balked and sued when they learned of the free alternative. Catalyst settled the class action suit for $3.5 million in 2014 and then revealed in 2016 that it had to undertake additional testing for the FDA. Shares plunged and Catalyst laid off 30% of its workforce. The Firdapse move is another in a chain of drug price increases even as pharmaceutical companies raise discounts to middlemen, dropping the net price. However, it isn’t clear whether patients see any of the price drops or if the middlemen keep the savings as profits. Democrats and Republicans in Congress, as well as the White House, have publicly challenged drug companies over their prices. The pharmaceutical industry spent $280 million in lobbying and has been one of the biggest donors to political campaigns for years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics | Erik Sherman | http://fortune.com/2019/02/04/drug-prices-sanders-catalyst/ | 2019-02-04 15:30:22+00:00 | 1,549,312,222 | 1,567,549,674 | health | health treatment |
202,916 | fortune--2019-03-20--FDA Approves First Drug Treatment for Postpartum Depression | 2019-03-20T00:00:00 | fortune | FDA Approves First Drug Treatment for Postpartum Depression | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a drug for the first time that aims at treating postpartum depression in mothers. Dubbed Zulresso, the medication is administered by a continuous intravenous (IV) infusion for 60 hours. According to the FDA, the IV must be administered in a health care facility because of fears of “serious harm due to sudden loss of consciousness.” Patients also need to be accompanied by another adult when they have their children with them during treatment. Despite those concerns, the FDA found Zulresso, which is owned by Sage Therapeutics, to be effective in treating postpartum depression. In two clinical studies, women with either severe postpartum depression or moderate postpartum depression saw marked improvements in their depressive symptoms compared to a placebo group. The effects were apparent after the first infusion and were still there at the 30-day follow-up appointment, according to the FDA. Postpartum depression is a major depressive disorder that can affect women both during pregnancy and after childbirth. It’s often associated with varying levels of sadness, an inability to feel pleasure, and in severe cases, suicidal thoughts. In some cases, mothers may have thoughts of harming their children. Whether Zulresso will actually be used in widespread cases remains to be seen. The 60-hour treatment window in a healthcare facility for a mother who’s raising one or more children might be difficult to accommodate. And according to CNN, a single treatment could range from $20,000 to $35,000, making the treatment cost prohibitive to some mothers. | Don Reisinger | http://fortune.com/2019/03/20/fda-zulresso-postpartum-depression/ | 2019-03-20 13:24:19+00:00 | 1,553,102,659 | 1,567,545,505 | health | health treatment |
215,466 | france24--2019-05-03--Antiretroviral drugs prevent HIV transmission among gay men study finds | 2019-05-03T00:00:00 | france24 | Antiretroviral drugs prevent HIV transmission among gay men, study finds | Sia Kambou, AFP | A study monitored nearly 1,000 serodifferent (one partner HIV positive, the other HIV negative) couples over a period of eight years. HIV-suppressing medication can make the AIDS virus "untransmittable" even among couples who have sex without using condoms, new research showed Friday. The Europe-wide study monitored nearly 1,000 gay male couples over a period of eight years, where one partner was HIV-positive and receiving antiretroviral (ART) treatment, while the other was HIV negative. Doctors did not find a single case of in-couple HIV transmission within that time, raising hopes that widespread ART programmes could eventually end new infections. "Our findings provide conclusive evidence for gay men that the risk of HIV transmission with suppressive ART is zero," said Alison Rodger, from University College London, who co-lead the research published in The Lancet. "They support the message... that an undetectable viral load makes HIV untransmittable. This powerful message can help end the HIV pandemic by preventing HIV transmission, and tackling the stigma and discrimination that many people with HIV face." Researchers estimate that ART prevented around 470 HIV transmissions within couples during the study period. HIV and the fatal illnesses it provokes remain one of the world's largest health crises despite much progress in recent years. More than 21 million people currently receive regular ART medication, which suppresses the virus -- only around 59 percent of global HIV sufferers. The authors of the study noted several limitations, including that the average age of the HIV-negative men was 38. Most HIV transmissions occur in people aged under 25. Individuals currently on ART must take medication almost every day for the rest of their lives, and treatment is often disrupted for a variety of reasons. But the fact that couples can have unprotected sex for years without passing on the virus was still worth noting, experts said. "Timely identification of HIV-infected people and provision of effective treatment leads to near normal health and virtual elimination of the risk of HIV transmission," said Myron Cohen, from the UNC Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases. "Yet maximising the benefits of ART has proven daunting: fear, stigma, homophobia, and other adverse social forces continue to compromise HIV treatment." | NEWS WIRES | https://www.france24.com/en/20190503-antiretroviral-drugs-aids-hiv-prevention-gay-men | 2019-05-03 13:53:29+00:00 | 1,556,906,009 | 1,567,541,335 | health | health treatment |
216,528 | france24--2019-08-13--Two new drugs offer hope against Ebola in DR Congo | 2019-08-13T00:00:00 | france24 | Two new drugs offer hope against Ebola in DR Congo | Two experimental Ebola drugs being tested in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a yearlong outbreak has killed more than 1,800 people, have succeeded in raising the survival rate to around 90%, health authorities said Monday. Scientists are a step closer to finding the first effective treatments for the deadly Ebola haemorrhagic fever after two potential drugs showed survival rate of as much as 90% in a clinical trial in Congo. Two experimental drugs - Regeneron’s REGN-EB3 and a monoclonal antibody called mAb114 - were both developed using antibodies harvested from survivors of Ebola infection. The treatments are now going to be offered to all patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. They showed “clearly better” results in patients in a trial of four potential treatments being conducted during the world’s second largest Ebola outbreak in history, now entering its second year in DRC. The drugs improved survival rates from the disease more than two other treatments being tested - ZMapp, made by Mapp Biopharmaceutical, and Remdesivir, made by Gilead Sciences - and those products will be now dropped, said Anthony Fauci, one of the researchers co-leading the trial. The agency said 49% of the patients on ZMapp and 53% on remdesivir died in the study. In comparison, 29% of the patients on REGN-EB3 and 34% on mAb-114 died. Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters in a telebriefing the results were “very good news” for the fight against Ebola. “What this means is that we do now have what look like (two) treatments for a disease for which not long ago we really had no approach at all,” he said. The agency said of the patients who were brought into treatment centres with low levels of virus detected in their blood, 94% who got REGN-EB3 and 89% on mAb114 survived. In comparison, two-third of the patients who got remdesivir and nearly three-fourth on ZMapp survived. Ebola has been spreading in eastern Congo since August 2018 in an outbreak that has now become the second largest, killing at least 1,800 people. Efforts to control it have been hampered by militia violence and some local resistance to outside help. A vast Ebola outbreak in West Africa become the world’s largest ever when it spread through Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from 2013 to 2016 and killed more than 11,300 people. The Congo treatment trial, which began in November last year, is being carried out by an international research group coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO). Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s emergencies program, said the trial’s positive findings were encouraging but would not be enough on their own to bring the epidemic to an end. “The news today is fantastic. It gives us a new tool in our toolbox against Ebola, but it will not in itself stop Ebola,” he told reporters. Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity, also hailed the success of the trial’s findings, saying they would “undoubtedly save lives”. “The more we learn about these two treatments, ...the closer we can get to turning Ebola from a terrifying disease to one that is preventable and treatable,” he said in a statement. “We won’t ever get rid of Ebola but we should be able to stop these outbreaks from turning into major national and regional epidemics.” Some 681 patients at four separate treatment centres in Congo have already been enrolled in the Congo treatment clinical trial, Fauci said. The study aims to enrol a total of 725. The decision to drop two of the trial drugs was based on data from almost 500 patients, he said, which showed that those who got REGN-EB3 or mAb114 “had a greater chance of survival compared to those participants in the other two arms”. | NEWS WIRES | https://www.france24.com/en/20190813-two-ebola-drugs-treatment-vaccine-dr-congo-90-percent-survival | 2019-08-13 05:50:03+00:00 | 1,565,689,803 | 1,567,534,305 | health | health treatment |
285,838 | lewrockwell--2019-02-20--Theres a Drugless Cure for Diabetes Obesity | 2019-02-20T00:00:00 | lewrockwell | There’s a Drugless Cure for Diabetes & Obesity | How does diabetes get started? In 2007 researchers in France were the first to report gut bacteria initiates to the onset of adult diabetes and the inability to utilize insulin.[i] Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas that permits glucose sugar to enter living cells that then produces energy that cells need to function. Insulin grabs glucose from the blood circulation and puts it into cells. Glucose, produced in the liver, is the body’s main source of fuel. When fat, muscle and liver cells begin ignoring insulin, blood sugar levels rise. Prebiotic Fiber with F... Buy New $12.99 (as of 12:00 EST - Details) Gut bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids. (Long-chain fatty acids are found in commonly consumed oils obtained from fish, nuts, avocado, olive, soybean and other plant oils.). Three short-chain fatty acids predominate in the digestive tract (large intestine): butyrate, acetate and propionate and are produced from the fermentation of non-digestible carbohydrates (oligo or polysaccharides, aka fiber). This knowledge results in recommendation for more fiber in the diet, usually obtained from cereals , fruits and vegetables. The abundance or shortage of these short-chain fatty acids determine whether humans are healthy or have metabolic problems — insulin resistance, elevated blood sugar levels and obesity. Diabetics hear they must limit carbohydrate intake (bread, rice, pasta, cereal) which are refined and processed, devoid of bran that can ferment and induce short-chain fatty acids in the lower digestive tract. So, advice about carbohydrates may be confusing for diabetics. Carbohydrate reduction accounts for 71% of the reduction in blood glucose levels achieved by short-term fasting.[ii] Fast forward to 2018. Researchers report loss of one specific type of bacteria in the human gut triggers chronic low-grade inflammation that signals cells to ignore insulin. Akkermansia muciniphila or AKK facilitates the breakdown of fiber into butyrate and acetate, whereas a decline in the volume of AKK triggers living cells to ignore insulin and also results in less butyrate. When animals were given an antibiotic to increase the proportion of AKK bacteria in their digestive tract, cells began to respond to insulin again. Provision of butyrate had the same effect. Without AKK the integrity of the intestines is impaired and leakage of bacterial products (endotoxins) activates white blood cells (monocytes) to arrive in such large numbers as to induce inflammation with resultant insulin resistance.[iii] Studies involving AKK bacteria have moved from the animal lab to human investigation. When obese diabetic adults were compared to lean healthy individuals, subjects who exhibited the healthiest metabolism (blood glucose/sugar levels, body fat distribution) had the highest levels of the mucin-controlling AKK bacteria.[iv] Akkermansia muciniphila is now being heralded as a next-generation beneficial bacterium that promises to quell the diabesity epidemic that has plagued modern populations that consume fiber-poor processed foods. While there are a broad variety of probiotics being sold, namely offering Acidophilus and Bifidus bacteria, the development of an AKK probiotic dietary supplement looms. However, probiotics don’t survive and grow like lawn seed. They only produce a brief response that transiently heightens the immune response. AKK bacteria does not always produce a beneficial effect, casting doubt on its introduction as a probiotic. For example, excessive AKK bacteria in lab animals results in elevated blood pressure, a problem that was abolished by the red wine molecule resveratrol.[v] While AKK is one of the most abundant single species of bacteria in the human gut (0.5 to 5.0% of total bacteria) that is involved in the production and degradation of mucus in the lower digestive tract, various prebiotics can increase the abundance of AKK bacteria by 100-fold (up to 4.5% in a high-fat diet compared to 0.09 to 2.5% for normal chow provided to lab animals). So maybe a prebiotic that increases the proportion of AKK rather than an AKK probiotic would be the most efficacious. Given that AKK bacteria levels are low in obese and diabetic individuals and both the antidiabetic drug metformin and bariatric surgery produce a marked increase in AKK bacteria, diabetologists now say a revolution in the treatment of metabolic disorders is at hand. Agents that increase AKK bacteria within the composition of thousands of species of bacteria in the human gut may also quell gout, fatty liver and inflammatory bowel problems, the latter by increasing the thickness of the mucus barrier in the gut and therefore diminishing toxins that plague many sufferers with irritable bowel.[vi] While nutritionists are hell-bent on creating fat phobia, butyrate itself is a component of butter (3-4%). In fact, butter is the richest dietary source of butyrate.[vii] Not all sources of fiber are equal in their ability to produce butyrate. Pectin, cellulose and bran are good sources of fiber that generate butyrate. However, indigestible (resistant) starch produces almost twice as much cell energy (short-chain fatty acids, mainly butyrate) for cells in the lower large intestine than butyrate compared to other sources of fiber (bran, pectin, cellulose).[viii] With the knowledge that butyrate is more than just an agent that governs insulin utilization we begin to understand how butyrate exhibits control over the human library of genes (genome) by its inherent ability to loosen or tighten strands of genes around histone bodies that allow our genes to be in a “read” or “non-read” mode. The more butyrate the more genes that are activated (make proteins). This throws the whole topic of gut bacteria and butyrate into the realm of anti-aging pills. Butyrate has been demonstrated to prevent brain cell death and extend the lifespan of laboratory mice.[ix] Moreover, butyrate has been demonstrated to have a profound effect on improving learning and memory which has application in maintenance of mental function with advancing age. Diabetes, insulin resistance and obesity come with advancing age. Therefore, the link between butyrate and the human genome opens the doorway to healthy aging and prolonged health span and lifespan. Traditionally Fermente... Shannon Stonger Best Price: $12.97 Buy New $13.09 (as of 12:00 EST - Details) More intriguing is that butyrate has been demonstrated to reduce appetite in lab animals, not in the gut but in the hypothalamus of the brain where satiation is controlled. Butyrate acts via a gut-brain connection. Oral but not intravenous butyrate produced this remarkable effect, which points to the need for butyrate to be present in the digestive tract not just in the blood circulation to exert its biological activity. Of interest, when researchers severed the vagus nerve that connects the gut with the brain in lab animals given butyrate, this completely negated its appetite reduction effect upon the hypothalamus in the brain.[x] In animals fed a very high-fat diet, butyrate reduces leptin levels.[xi] Leptin is the hormone that controls satiation. Leptin levels continue to rise if there is leptin resistance. In 2009 researchers first reported that supplemental butyrate prevents insulin resistance in laboratory animals. Butyrate also prevented obesity among lab animals fed a high-fat diet. Butyrate accomplished this not by reduced food intake or reduced absorption of dietary fat but by increased burning of calories (thermogenesis). It was noted that butyrate’s beneficial metabolic activity is similar to those produced by the red wine molecule resveratrol.[xii] The manipulation of gut bacteria to treat adult diabetes and obesity was realized in 2014 when researchers linked the use of the anti-diabetic drug metformin with an increase in AKK bacteria in the human gut.[xiii] Metformin, the most widely used anti-diabetic medication, favorably alters the composition of gut bacteria via the increase of AKK bacteria that fosters the production of short-chain fatty acids like butyrate. This discovery has opened the new door to control obesity and diabetes and aging itself.[xiv] Fatty liver along with liver fibrosis (scarring), a condition that is estimated to effect one-third of Americans, is alleviated by butyrate.[xv] There are no proven medicines for fatty liver. Of acute interest are unrelenting cases of gout. Gout is known as a malady of meat eaters. But in modern times gout inexplicably persists in many instances among individuals who don’t consume much meat. Scientific studies have only recently revealed intestinal bacteria rather than uric acid levels distinguish gout patients from healthy adults.[xvi] Butyrate is now considered a remedy for gout.[xvii] There are other non-metabolic health benefits derived from butyrate. For example, the virulence and growth fate of Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi bacterial infection from contact with ticks) is dramatically reduces.[xviii] The composition of gut bacteria may make the difference between life and death should a heart attack occur. When a heart attack was intentionally induced in laboratory animals, the sterilization of bacteria from the gut with antibiotics prior to the heart attack impaired repair mechanisms and survival of the animals which improved after supplementation with butyrate and acetate.[xix] Butyrate and other short-chain fatty acids (acetate, propionate) play a major role in the regulation of inflammation and in normalizing the immune response.[xx] AKK bacteria count is low among patients with psoriasis.[xxi] There is probably no going back to fiber-rich diets. Processed convenience foods predominate in developed populations. So, there is a search for molecules that can be added as fortification of foods, or used as dietary supplements, that boost AKK bacteria and butyrate. Suggested fiber intake is ~16-35 grams a day. In Western societies about 20-25 grams of fiber is consumed daily though diets high in fruit and vegetables may provide as much as 60 grams of fiber a day.[xxii] Efforts to increase plant food consumption have fallen flat. That leads investigators to the question: can butyrate, normally the by-product of fiber fermentation in the lower large intestine, be provided directly as a dietary supplement to quell insulin resistance? After years of investigation researchers now say “it is becoming clear that gut bacteria play a preventive role in pathologies such as diabetes, obesity and inflammatory bowel disease.[xxiii] A trial of oral butyrate supplementation was conducted among healthy and obese adults. Four grams (2000 milligrams twice a day) of butyrate was employed with limited effects. Butyrate did, however, encounter white blood cells (monocytes) and inhibit inflammation that typically accompanies their arrival. The authors of that study say the effect of oral butyrate supplementation “was most likely only transient.”[xxiv] Researchers says 4000 mg butyrate only produced beneficial effects among younger lean subjects.[xxv] The Resistant Starch D... Gregory Stevens Check Amazon for Pricing. So maybe volumes of plant foods don’t need to be consumed to produce a metabolic boost. While fruits and vegetables have long been recommended for their fiber content, molecules called polyphenols also found in fruits and spices may also promote AKK bacteria. Commonly known polyphenols are found in grapes (resveratrol), apples and onions (quercetin), catechin (tea), turmeric spice (curcumin), cinnamaldehyde (cinnamon), pomegranate (ellagitannins), olives (oleuropein) and cranberries (proanthocyanidins). For example, a diet fortified with butyrate-rich butter and grape powder (polyphenols) reduced fat cells and fatty liver along with an increase in AKK bacteria.[xxvi] Cranberry extract has been found to increase the population of AKK bacteria in lab animals and exert beneficial effects such as reduced insulin resistance and inflammation.[xxvii] Resveratrol, probably the most studied polyphenol, has been found to produce marked changes in the composition of gut bacteria and improve insulin sensitivity in laboratory mice.[xxviii] Amino acids promote the production of butyrate, acetate and propionate, but not always in the most desirable way.[xxix] The amino acid leucine is used by body builders to stimulate muscle growth as it is much more powerful than any other amino acid in this regard. However, butyrate has been remarkably reported to promote fat burning (ketogenesis) more than leucine.[xxx] Of note, the combination of leucine + low-dose resveratrol exhibits synergistic action to manage insulin-resistance and obesity in lab animals.[xxxi] Butyrate dietary supplements are available commercially. So are an array of polyphenolic nutraceuticals. However, research studies show indigestible starch produces the most cell energy for cells in the lower digestive tract (see chart below). Resistant (indigestible) corn starch (maltodextrin), commercially available under the trade name Fibersol-2, is a fermentable non-GMO fiber that has GRAS status in the U.S. (Generally Recognized As Safe). Indigestible maltodextrin (plant sugar) exerts a demonstrable change in gut bacteria in healthy adults.[xxxii] A mixture of fiber (fructooligosaccharide) + indigestible maltodextrin was found to increase short-chain fatty acids by 195.4% in lab animals.[xxxiii] In a human study among adults with metabolic syndrome (obesity, insulin resistance) Fibersol-2 reduced waist circumference, belly fat, blood sugar and other measures of metabolic health compared to tea consumption for comparison.[xxxiv] Among diabetic women, 10 grams of indigestible (resistant) starch reduced insulin, insulin resistance, markers of inflammation (TNF) compared to plain starch.[xxxv] [ii] Nuttall FQ, et al, Comparison of a carbohydrate-free diet vs. fasting on plasma glucose, insulin and glucagon in type 2 diabetes. Metabolism 64 (2): 253-62, 2015. [iii] Bodogai, M, et al, Commensal bacteria contribute to insulin resistance in aging by activating innate B1a cells. Science Translational Medicine 10 (467): eaat4271, 2018. [iv] Dao MC, et al, Akkermansia muciniphile and improved metabolic health during dietary intervention in obesity: relationship with gut microbiome richness and ecology. Gut 65 (3): 426-36, 2016. [v] Tain YL, et al, Resveratrol prevents the development of hypertension programmed by maternal plus post-weaning high-fructose consumption through modulation of oxidative stress, nutrient-sensing signals and gut microbiota. Molecular Nutrition Food Research, April e1800066, 2018. [vi] Cani PD, De Vos WM, Next generation beneficial microbes: the case of akkermansia muciniphila. Frontiers Microbiology 8: 1765, 2017. [viii] Bourassa MW, et al, Butyrate, neuroepigenetics and the gut microbiome: can a high fiber diet improve brain health? Neuroscience Letters 625: 56-63, 2016. [ix] Ferrante RJ, et al, Histone deacetylase inhibition of sodium butyrate chemotherapy ameliorates the neurodegenerative phenotype in Huntington’s disease mice. Journal Neuroscience 23: 9418-27, 2003. [x] Li Z, et al, Butyrate reduces appetite and activates brown adipose tissue via the gut-brain neural circuit. Gut 67: 1269-79, 2018. [xi] Pelgrim CE, et al, Butyrate reduces HFD-induced adipocyte hypertrophy and metabolic risk factors in obese LDLr/-.Leiden mice. Nutrients 9 (7): eE714, 2017. [xii] Gao Z, et al, Butyrate improves insulin sensitivity and increases energy expenditure in mice. Diabetes 58 (7): 1509-17, 2009. [xiii] Shin NR, et al, An increase in the Akkermansia spp. Population induced by metformin treatme3nt improves glucose homeostasis in diet-induced obese mice. Gut 63 (5): 727-35, 2014. [xiv] Vallianou NG, Stratigou T, Tsagarakis S, Metformin and gut microbiota: their interactions and their impact. On diabetes. Hormones Feb4, 2019. [xv] Ye J, et al, Butyrate protects mice against methionine-choline-deficient diet-induced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis by improving gut barrier function, attenuating inflammation and reducing endotoxin levels. Frontiers Microbiology 9: Aug. 2018. [xviii] Lin YH, et al, Short-chain fatty acids alter metabolic and. Virulence attributes of Borrelia burgdorferi. Infection & Immunity 86 (9): e00217-18, 2018. [xix] Tang TWH, et al, Loss of gut microbiota alters immune system composition and cripples postinfarction cardiac repair. Circulation 139 (5): 647-59, 2019. [xx] Morrison DJ, Preston T, Formation of short chain fatty acids by the gut microbiota and their impact on human metabolism. Gut Microbes 7 (3): 189-200, 2016. [xxi] Tan L, et al, The Akkermansia muciniphila is a gut microbiota signature in psoriasis. Experimental Dermatology 27 (2): 144-49, 2018. [xxii] Besten G, et al, The role of short-chain fatty acids in the interplay between diet, gut microbiota, and host energy metabolism. Journal Lipid Research 54 (9): 2325-40, 2013. [xxiv] Cleophas MCP, et al, Effects of oral butyrate supplementation on inflammatory potential of circulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells in healthy and obese males. Scientific Reports 9: Issue No. 775, 2019. [xxv] Bouter KEC, et al, Differential metabolic effects of oral butyrate treatment in lean versus metabolic syndrome subjects. Clinical Translational Gastroenterology 9 (5): 155, 2018. [xxvi] Anhe FF, et al, Triggering Akkermansia with dietary polyphenols: a new weapon to combat the metabolic syndrome. Gut Microbes 7 (2): 146-53, 2016. [xxvii] Anhe FF, et al, A polyphenol-rich cranberry extrat protects from diet-induced obesity, insulin resistance and intestinal inflammation in association with increased Akkermansia spp. Population in the gut microbiota of mice. Gut 64 (6): 872-83, 2015. [xxviii] Sung MM, et al, improved glucose homeostasis in obese mice treated with resveratrol is associated with alterations in the gut microbiome. Diabetes 66 (2): 418-25, 2017. [xxix] Neis EPJG, Dejong CHC, Rensen SS, The role of microbial amino acid metabolism in host metabolism. Nutrients 8 (4): 2930-46, 2015. The Starch Revolution:... Bethany Silver Check Amazon for Pricing. [xxx] St. Pierre V, et al, Butyrate is more ketogenic than leucine or octanoate monoacylglycerol in health adult humans. Journal Functional Foods 32: 170-75, 2017. [xxxi] Bruckbauer A, et al, Synergistic effects of leucine and resveratrol on insulin sensitivity and fat metabolism in adipocytes and mice. Nutrition Metabolism 9 (1): 77, 2012. [xxxii] Burns AM, et al, In healthy adults, resistant maltodextrin produces a greater change in fecal bifidofacteria counts and increases stool wet weight: a double-blind, randomized, controlled crossover study. Nutrition Research 60: 33-42, 2018. [xxxiii] Kao WM, et al, Inclusion of fructooligosaccharide and resistant maltodextrin in high fat diets promotes simultaneous improvements on body fat reduction in fecal parameters. Molecules 23 (9): E2169, 2018. [xxxiv] Hashizume C, et al, Improvement effect of resistant maltodextrin in humans with metabolic syndrome by continuous administration. Journal Nutrition Science Vitaminology 58 (6): 423-30, 2012. [xxxv] Aliasgharzadeh A, et al, Resistant starch, as a prebiotic, improves insulin resistance and inflammation in women with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled clinical trial. British Journal Nutrition 113 (2): 2321-30, 2015. Indigestible starch promotes satiation. Most notable is that Fibersol-2 resistant starch has been demonstrated to exert strong anti-cancer properties without any toxicity.[1] Its drawback is that it is so fermentable it may induce intestinal gas and is reported to produce gastrointestinal discomfort.[2] However the use of 15 grams of Fibersol-2 resistant starch successfully increases beneficial bacteria counts in adults with only minor gastrointestinal discomfort.[3] Various doses of Fibersol-2 were employed in another human study and produced no diarrhea and only mild and transient discomfort (gurgling sounds).[4] So it is consumer friendly. Another driver of diabesity are high iron storage (ferritin) levels. Normal healthy ferritin blood levels range from 20-90 nanograms/milliliter and are generally elevated in males who do not experience blood loss as do menstruating females.[5] Higher ferritin (iron storage) levels are associated with insulin resistance and obesity, particularly in males.[6] Higher iron stores (ferritin) are also found among adults with pre-diabetes.[7] It is not surprising to learn that metformin, the antidiabetic drug, reduces ferritin (iron storage)[8] as well as increases the AKK bacteria count and butyrate. Neither is it surprising to learn that metformin is being repurposed as an anti-aging drug.[9] Given that bran encourages production of butyrate, and within rice bran is a strong iron-controlling molecule (phytic acid or IP6), and IP6 has been demonstrated to exert control over diabetes[10], it may be a desirable component of any regimen employed to prevent diabetes and obesity. IP6 and its molecular cousin inositol, serve as agents to promote healthy gut bacteria and prevent fatty liver.[11] Apple pectin, another butyrate booster that has been shown to promote beneficial gut bacteria and reduce inflammation, is on the list of natural remedies for diabesity.[12] The gut bacteria model of health has been slow to be adopted into the practice of medicine largely due to the initial complexity posed by the vast array of bacterial species involved. The alteration of gut bacteria to prevent diabetes and obesity runs head on into the pharmacologic anti-diabetic drugs that are fraught with side effects (even metformin induces vitamin B12 deficiency[13] which foments nerve problems) and bariatric surgery that is financially rewarding for surgeons but is associated with side effects that include mortality. It appears individuals with metabolic issues (obesity, diabetes) will have to venture on their own to achieve metabolic wellness. This report is instructive in that regard. The Starch Solution: E... John McDougall, Mary M... Check Amazon for Pricing. What to do [1] So EY, et al, Tumor suppression by resistant maltodextrin, Fibersol-2. Cancer Biology & Therapy 16 (3): 460-65, 2015. [3] Fastinger ND, et al, A novel resistant maltodextrin alters gastrointestinal tolerance factors, fecal characteristics, and fecal microbiota in healthy adult humans. Journal American College Nutrition 27 (2): 356-66, 2008. [4] Kishimoto Y, et al, The maximum single dose of resistant maltodextrin that does not cause diarrhea in humans. Journal Nutrition Science Vitaminology 59 (4): 352-57, 2013. [5] Shim YS, et al, Association of serum ferritin with insulin resistance, abdominal obesity, and metabolic syndrome in Korean adolescent and adults: the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2008-2011. Medicine 96 (8): e6179, 2017. [6] Kim CH, et al, Association of elevated serum ferritin concentration with insulin resistance and impaired glucose metabolism in Korean men and women. Metabolism 60 (3): 414-20, 2011. [7] Cheung CL, et al, High ferritin and low transferrin saturation are associated with pre-diabetes among a national representative sample of U.S. adults. Clinical Nutrition 32 (6): 1055-60, 2013. [8] Behradmanesh S, et al, Effect of metformin on serum ferritin level in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Iran Red Crescent Medical Journal 13 (7): 487-92, 2011. [9] Piskovatska V, et al, Metformin as a geroprotector: experimental and clinical evidence. Biogerontology 20 (1): 33-48, 2019. [10] Omoruyi FO, et al, The potential benefits and adverse effects of phytic acid supplement in streptozotocin-induce diabetic rats. Advances Pharmacological Science 2013: 172494, 2013. [11] Okazaki Y, Sekita A, Katayama T, Intake of phytic acid and myo-inositol lowers hepatic lipogenic gene expression and modulates gut microbiota in rats fed a high-sucrose diet. Biomedical Reports 8: (5): 466-74, 2018. [12] Jiang T, et al, Apple-derived pectin modulates gut microbiota, improves gut barrier function, and attenuates metabolic endotoxemia in rats with diet-induced obesity. Nutrients 8 (3): 126, 2016. [13] Yang W, Cai XL, Wu H, Ji L, Associations between metformin use and vitamin B12 level, anemia and neuropathy in patients with diabetes: a meta-analysis. Journal Diabeteshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30615306 Jan 7, 2019. [14] Balakumar P, et al, The multifaceted therapeutic potential of benfotiamine. Pharmacological Research 61 (6): 482-88, 2010. The Best of Bill Sardi | Bill Sardi | https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/02/bill-sardi/theres-a-drugless-cure-for-diabetes-obesity-so-why-arent-doctors-prescribing-it/ | 2019-02-20 05:00:59+00:00 | 1,550,656,859 | 1,567,547,957 | health | health treatment |
292,051 | liveaction--2019-08-30--Miracle drug saves lives of babies with disease yet some still want them aborted | 2019-08-30T00:00:00 | liveaction | Miracle drug saves lives of babies with disease, yet some still want them aborted | Shane and Jennifer Lee know the fear, grief, and hope that come with receiving a diagnosis of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) for their child — three times over. Their first daughter Jocelyn died from SMA type 1 when she was just four and a half years old. Their son Nathan is six years old and uses a wheelchair to get around. Their two-year-old daughter Kirra, however, will likely never suffer the full scope of the disease. They have two other children who do not have the condition. SMA is a genetic condition that, in its most severe form, is deadly even before birth. It is genetically inherited — each parent must pass on a mutated gene — that causes the loss of motor neurons which control the movement of voluntary muscles. There are four levels of severity from type 1 to type 4 though at least one study points to the distinguishment of a type 0 – or prenatal onset – which is noticeable in babies before birth. In the womb, SMA in its most severe form is detectable by a lack of fetal movement, problems with the baby’s joints, and respiratory failure. After birth, SMA type 1 is diagnosed within a few months due to the newborn’s “floppy” limbs and weak trunk as well as difficulties eating and swallowing, holding up his/her head and even breathing. A child’s symptoms with type 1 will progress quickly and children can die before their second birthday, never having been able to sit up. Type 2 appears typically after seven months but before 18. This type mostly affects the legs and these children usually won’t be able to stand up. Life expectancy can be from early childhood to adulthood. Types 3 and 4 are less severe and life expectancy is close to normal. The Lees’ daughter, two-year-old Kirra, was born in the time of Spinraza, a new medication that is changing and saving the lives of people with SMA – if they can access it. Early studies proved that the drug is beneficial even reversing some of the effects of the disease in patients. Unethically, not all children in the study were put on the medication. Some were placed on a placebo and suffered the consequences. When doctors are already fully aware of how a disease will quickly debilitate and kill a small child, not one of them should have been denied the medication that provided such hope. Kirra was diagnosed in the womb and her parents immediately reached out to UNC Healthcare. Spinraza was still awaiting FDA approval and earned it just three months before Kirra’s birth. She began to receive the medication — an injection in the back — when she was just 11 days old. She hasn’t shown any symptoms of the disease. “Clearly we treated her before the weakness began,” UNC Children’s Hospital pediatric neurologist Dr. Zheng (Jane) Fan told UNC. “She is a normal baby. She walked at the age of 11 months and she was running at the age of 15 months, and this is absolutely amazing.” Her brother Nathan had already lived four years without the medication and has felt the effects, but Spinraza has helped stop the progression of SMA in his body and even helped him improve. READ: Abortion doesn’t help babies with spina bifida, but prenatal surgery does “He was able to stop further progression,” Dr. Fan explained. “He was able to regain some finger movement after the treatment and ankle movement, but the amazing thing is he was able to gain weight.” Melissa Marotta‘s son C.J. has SMA type 3. It took her months to get Spinraza for him as he began to lose the ability to stand up for more than a few seconds at a time. She contacted the hospital board at Columbia University Medical Cente/New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanely Children’s Hospital every day for months until he was finally given his first dose. Spinraza can be complicated to get because it is so expensive. $750,000 for the first year when more doses are needed, and $375,000 each year after that. SMA affects up to an estimated 25,000 Americans. As studies continue to show the remarkable benefits of Spinraza, it becomes easier for families to access. Amanda and Jeremy Camp’s son Asher has SMA type 1 and his parents were able to get him into the early clinical trials just a month after his diagnosis at six months old. He is growing up stronger than anyone would have ever thought possible. Without Spinraza, Asher would have died after losing his ability to move. Now, he is walking without assistance. His parents work hard fundraising for SMA research and pushing states to enact newborn screening so that children get the help they need as quickly as possible. With such a miracle occurring in the SMA community, there is a big push to ensure SMA is tested for during newborn screening. No child with the condition should go undetected as so many have in the past. One in 40 Americans is a carrier of the mutated gene, and many don’t know it. SMA was officially added to the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel in 2018, but less than half of US states actually check for it or are in the process of adding it. Despite the progress in treatment and the recommendation that every child be tested for SMA at birth, some doctors and even families who have lost children are pushing to prevent the disease altogether. But the only way that can currently happen is by killing the people who have it through either abortion or preimplantation genetic diagnosis or PGD. SMA can be tested for during pregnancy and children could then be recommended for abortion. In addition, many doctors will push for in-vitro fertilization with the use of PGD. Couples can take a simple blood test to determine if they are carriers of SMA. If they both are, they can use IVF to create embryos and then PGD to destroy any who test positive for SMA. It’s the weeding out of those whom eugenicists would deem “unfit.” It’s deciding for someone else that they are better off dead than alive with SMA — even with the major breakthrough in treatments. Some people think death by abortion is better than living a life in which you must receive spinal injections throughout your entire life until a cure is found. Thankfully for so many children including Kirra and Nathan, their parents know their children are more than their diagnosis. The Lees named their daughter Kirra Faith because Kirra means “woman of light” and because they know that Kirra wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for their faith in God. “Like” Live Action News on Facebook for more pro-life news and commentary! | Nancy Flanders | https://www.liveaction.org/news/miracle-drug-saving-lives-babies-diagnosed-spinal-muscular-atrophy/ | 2019-08-30 17:23:43+00:00 | 1,567,200,223 | 1,569,416,906 | health | health treatment |
334,051 | naturalnews--2019-01-13--Acupuncture performs as well as drug therapy for treating high blood pressure | 2019-01-13T00:00:00 | naturalnews | Acupuncture performs as well as drug therapy for treating high blood pressure | (Natural News) In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), acupuncture is often used to relieve pain and other health complaints. According to the results of a study, acupuncture is just as effective as drug therapy when treating high blood pressure (hypertension). The study was conducted by researchers from the Jiaozuo Tongren Hospital in China. The study findings revealed that acupuncture is equally effective for the treatment of hypertension as the drug nifedipine. Nifedipine is the generic name for a pharmaceutical drug used to treat high blood pressure and angina. It relaxes the heart muscles and blood vessels. However, nifedipine can also cause these common negative side effects: Nifedipine can also cause serious side effects like: The power of the elements: Discover Colloidal Silver Mouthwash with quality, natural ingredients like Sangre de Drago sap, black walnut hulls, menthol crystals and more. Zero artificial sweeteners, colors or alcohol. Learn more at the Health Ranger Store and help support this news site. For the study, researchers observed 51 patients with primary hypertension. The participants were randomly divided into two: an acupuncture treatment group and a drug control group. There were 27 individuals in the treatment group and 24 individuals in the drug control group. The acupuncture group included 15 males and 12 females who were aged 37 to 72 years old. The average age of the group was 57.39 years. The patients in this group either had high blood pressure with systolic blood pressure 179.97 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) or diastolic blood pressure 110.39 mmHg. Meanwhile, the drug control group was made up of 14 males and 10 females aged 36 to 72 years old. The average age of this group was 59.14 years. The volunteers in this group either had high blood pressure with systolic blood pressure 181.95 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure 109.93 mmHg. The researchers compared the effects of acupuncture therapy with the administration of nifedipine for the immediate reduction of high blood pressure levels in the participants who had primary hypertension. Based on the results of the randomized controlled clinical trial, both acupuncture and nifedipine reduced blood pressure by 30 to 40 mmHg. (Related: Scientists confirm: You can use acupuncture to lower your blood pressure.) The study showed that acupuncture and nifedipine offered different advantages for the management of high blood pressure. Drug therapy reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressures after five to 20 minutes, but acupuncture took longer at 30 to 60 minutes. The researchers noted that there was no statistical difference between the effects of acupuncture and nifedipine for the management of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. On the other hand, acupuncture significantly reduced systolic and diastolic pressures among the participants with extremely high blood pressure. Acupuncture moderately reduced systolic and diastolic pressures in the volunteers who had moderate levels of high blood pressure. The researchers said that acupuncture offers a clinical advantage since it can offer a “regulated lowering of blood pressure relative to the clinical needs patients.” The study determined that nifedipine can excessively lower blood pressure, especially during the first use of the drug or if the patient is dehydrated once the drug is taken. Compared to drug therapy, acupuncture’s homeostatic properties suggest that it can be used to treat hypertension without any negative hypotensive reactions. The results of a separate study, which was conducted at the Shanxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, determined that combining acupuncture with drug therapy can effectively address primary hypertension. In this study, the researchers randomly and equally divided the participants into an acupuncture treatment group and a drug group. The drug group was given felodipine, a calcium channel blocker that is used to treat hypertension. In the drug group, using only felodipine had a total effective rate of 73.3 percent. In the acupuncture treatment group, combining acupuncture and felodipine had an 86.7 percent total effective rate. The researchers concluded that the integrative medicine approach to the treatment of high blood pressure can improve patient outcomes by at least 13.4 percent. To read more articles about natural treatments like acupuncture, visit AlternativeMedicine.news. | Zoey Sky | http://www.naturalnews.com/2019-01-13-acupuncture-matches-drug-therapy-treating-high-blood-pressure.html | 2019-01-13 20:20:00+00:00 | 1,547,428,800 | 1,567,552,677 | health | health treatment |
334,386 | naturalnews--2019-01-29--Vitamin C A safer way to recover from drug addiction | 2019-01-29T00:00:00 | naturalnews | Vitamin C: A safer way to recover from drug addiction | (Natural News) Addiction to drugs and other substance will cause your overall health and well-being to deteriorate. Addiction to heroin in particular is often difficult to overcome. People who were previously addicted to heroin may still feel the symptoms of withdrawal weeks, months, or even years after abstaining from it. There are many ways to recover from drug addiction, but so far vitamin C appears to be one of the safest and most effective methods of overcoming substance abuse. A deficiency in vitamin C or ascorbic acid tends to have a correlation with drug addiction. As such, supplementation of vitamin C can provide profound healing effects on people with addiction problems. What’s more, unlike toxic conventional therapies, vitamin C comes with none of the negative side effects that often accompany medathone treatment and other therapies. That’s not even considering the withdrawal symptoms that often come with quitting drug abuse. These symptoms may include abdominal pain, nausea, sweating, anxiety, trembling, agitation, depression, mood swings, muscle spasms, and cravings. A person with an addiction problem while also having a deficiency in vitamin C can significantly improve their recovery time by tackling their nutrient deficiency. When taken in high doses, vitamin C can alleviate pain and help reverse drug addiction to heroin, opiates or other substances. This treatment can be even more effective when taken along with other vital nutrients. According to studies, vitamin C therapy helps return your normal appetite. It can reduce food cravings caused by withdrawal, helping you to get the proper nutrition your body needs. This is important for addiction recovery since malnutrition is a major component in drug addiction. 100% organic essential oil sets now available for your home and personal care, including Rosemary, Oregano, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Clary Sage and more, all 100% organic and laboratory tested for safety. A multitude of uses, from stress reduction to topical first aid. See the complete listing here, and help support this news site. Vitamin C supplementation can also promote restful sleep and improve your overall sleeping patterns. This can allow you to start feeling better, even after only a short amount of time. The effects of vitamin C therapy can be felt in as little as 12 hours of taking your first doses of vitamin C. A recommended oral dose of 25 to 85 g of sodium ascorbate (vitamin C) over the course of each day can immediately improve your mental alertness, visual acuity, appetite, bowel tolerance, and general recovery. Over time, the dosage of vitamin C can be lowered to about 10 to 30 g per day. On average, most patients who use vitamin C to recover from heroin addiction tend to stop experiencing cravings after only three months. Vitamin C is a potent analgesic, which allows it to relieve pain. The reason why vitamin C is so effective at reversing opiate addiction is because it can mimic morphine and fit into the opiate receptor cites of your cells. By mimicking the effects of morphine, it tricks your body into no longer having a desire for drugs. Additionally, vitamin C has powerful detoxifying properties. You can also make use of other therapies alongside vitamin C supplementation to help you recover from addiction. Here are some of the best supplemental therapies for coping with addiction: Learn more ways to overcome addiction by going to Addiction.news. | Mary Miller | http://www.naturalnews.com/2019-01-29-vitamin-c-a-safer-way-to-recover-from-drug-addiction.html | 2019-01-29 11:18:12+00:00 | 1,548,778,692 | 1,567,550,389 | health | health treatment |
334,677 | naturalnews--2019-02-14--Another medication more dangerous than the condition it treats Blood-thinning drugs increase risk o | 2019-02-14T00:00:00 | naturalnews | Another medication more dangerous than the condition it treats: Blood-thinning drugs increase risk of internal bleeding, death | (Natural News) Using antithrombotic or blood-thinning medications was found to increase the risk of hematuria, or the presence of blood in urine, and other related complications. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that antithrombotic medications such as warfarin and aspirin may cause adverse health events. The study involved 2,518,064 individuals in Ontario, Canada, ages 66 years and older. Researchers led by Robert K. Nam, M.D. of the University of Toronto Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, collected patient data including the patient’s age, sex, comorbidity (presence of two chronic conditions), and pre-existent urologic disease, and rates of hematuria-related complications among patients taking antithrombotic medications. Among the total population as mentioned above, 808,897 individuals with an average age of 72 years received at least one prescription for an antithrombotic medication over the span of 12 years (2002 to 2014). Follow-up data collection shows that the rates of hematuria-related complications were 124 events per 1,000 person-years among patients actively exposed to the drugs, versus 80 events among patients who were not exposed at all. These hematuria-related complications were defined as emergency department visits, hospitalizations, or a urologic procedure to investigate or manage gross hematuria. The researchers argue that since the total population consisted mostly of older adults, these findings may not be applicable to younger people. Antithrombotic medications reduce the formation of blood clots (thrombi). It is generally used for treating or preventing a dangerous blood clot (acute thrombus). There are different types of antithrombotic medication, some of which include anticoagulants, anti-platelet agents, and fibrinolytics. These chemical drugs are known to cause some side effects in humans, including fever, nosebleeds, bleeding gums, coughing up blood, cramps, nausea, vomiting, blood in the urine, diarrhea, blood in the stool, skin rashes, severe bruising and unexpected weight loss. Some drug names that contain antithrombotic agents include Heparins, Xarelto, Plavix, Lovenox, Activase, Aspirin Cardio, Effient, Pletal, Angiomax and Fragmin. The power of the elements: Discover Colloidal Silver Mouthwash with quality, natural ingredients like Sangre de Drago sap, black walnut hulls, menthol crystals and more. Zero artificial sweeteners, colors or alcohol. Learn more at the Health Ranger Store and help support this news site. Hematuria is the presence of red blood cells (erythrocytes) in the urine. Gross hematuria is basically a large amount of red blood cells in urine, and is usually seen with the naked eye. Damage to the kidneys and the urinary tract may result in a blood leak into the urine, thus hematuria. Some conditions may cause hematuria, such as the presence of kidney stones, urinary tract infection (UTI), pyelonephritis (infection of the kidneys), polycystic kidney disease, trauma to the urinary system, and vigorous exercise. Kidney or bladder cancer may also cause hematuria, especially in individuals with risk factors such as male sex, age over 35, and history of smoking, chronic bladder inflammation, and occupational exposures to toxic chemicals. Treatment of hematuria depends largely on its causes. Doctors will prescribe antibiotics to clear a urinary tract infection, in other cases, shock wave therapy to break up bladder or kidney stones may stop hematuria. However, there are natural treatments that can help with hematuria and its complications. Some of these are: All in all, researchers warn that taking too many antithrombotic medications over long periods of time may cause chronic health conditions, and not just hematuria. | Rita Winters | http://www.naturalnews.com/2019-02-14-blood-thinning-medication-increases-risk-of-internal-bleeding-death.html | 2019-02-14 19:40:10+00:00 | 1,550,191,210 | 1,567,548,539 | health | health treatment |
334,845 | naturalnews--2019-02-23--Natural treatments are catching on 81 of people prefer a healthy lifestyle over drugs according t | 2019-02-23T00:00:00 | naturalnews | Natural treatments are catching on: 81% of people prefer a healthy lifestyle over drugs, according to study | (Natural News) When it comes to addressing health problems, there are two general paths you can take: the conventional medical approach or the natural route. In the past, many people believed natural treatments couldn’t possibly be as effective as the medications prescribed by doctors, but that attitude appears to be shifting as more and more research highlights the efficacy and safety of these treatments. In fact, a new survey has found that an overwhelming majority of people prefer a healthy lifestyle over drugs when it comes to diabetes management. In a Liva Healthcare poll of people with type 2 diabetes, 81 percent of respondents said they would rather improve their diet and exercise before turning to prescription medications. Doctors agree, although not to quite the same extent; 54 percent said they’d rather treat the condition with lifestyle changes like regular exercise and weight loss. Of course, there’s a financial incentive for prescribing drugs that may explain the smaller margin, but the preference toward natural still exists. NHS Consultant Cardiologist and Evidence-Based Medicine Professor Dr. Aseem Malhotra said that type 2 diabetes management is “upside down” right now and that expensive blood glucose management drugs are failing to get to the disease’s root cause. He also pointed out the many side effects of diabetes medication, which he says can have an impact on a person’s quality of life while doing nothing to prolong their lifespan. When it comes to natural treatments, he says the results speak for themselves: “The good news is that, with my patients, I have found that the condition is reversible in up to 60% of patients. The best results come within a year of pure dietary changes that specifically cut out added sugar and processed carbohydrate foods.” The power of the elements: Discover Colloidal Silver Mouthwash with quality, natural ingredients like Sangre de Drago sap, black walnut hulls, menthol crystals and more. Zero artificial sweeteners, colors or alcohol. Learn more at the Health Ranger Store and help support this news site. It isn’t surprising that diet and exercise can be so effective in fighting diabetes when you consider the fact that poor diet and low activity are often factors in people developing the disease in the first place. The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey carried out by the U.S. government found that among those with type 2 diabetes, 69 percent did not exercise regularly or at all, 62 percent consumed five servings of vegetables and fruits per day or less, and 82 percent were obese or overweight. Moreover, natural treatments and lifestyle changes have proven their value in staving off the disease. Prediabetics who engaged in 150 minutes per week or more of a physical activity with the intensity of brisk walking noted a 58 percent lower risk of going on to develop diabetes, which is more than twice the 31 percent risk reduction noted by those taking metformin. A study published in Diabetes Care found that taking 1,500 milligrams of curcumin daily over nine months was 100 percent effective in preventing prediabetics from later developing full-blown type 2 diabetes, while 16.4 percent of those in a placebo group developed it. There’s also the fact that healthy lifestyle choices can help people with diabetes live longer. Adults with diabetes are four times more likely to die of heart disease than non-diabetics, but a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that exercising regularly, reducing alcohol consumption, avoiding smoking and eating a high-quality diet were associated with a 50 percent reduction in the risk of cardiovascular and coronary heart disease and a 66 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or stroke among diabetics. There really is no good reason not to make healthy lifestyle changes if you’re diabetic or you have pre-diabetes. Even if you are taking medication, the life-extending benefits are simply too good to pass up. | Isabelle Z. | http://www.naturalnews.com/2019-02-23-natural-treatments-are-catching-on-people-prefer-healthy-lifestyle.html | 2019-02-23 10:46:53+00:00 | 1,550,936,813 | 1,567,547,569 | health | health treatment |
337,772 | naturalnews--2019-12-02--As effective as drugs but without the side effects, ginger is a powerful migraine medicine | 2019-12-02T00:00:00 | naturalnews | As effective as drugs but without the side effects, ginger is a powerful migraine medicine | (Natural News) Migraines are more than just headaches. They cause a recurring, severe throbbing pain, typically on one side of the head. It is so severe that it interrupts the patient’s ability to do his daily tasks. Of an estimated one billion people experiencing migraines, many of them use painkiller drugs, which come with harmful side effects. If you’re suffering from migraine, don’t compromise your health any further by using these drugs. Instead, try ginger as a natural remedy. A study published in the journal Phytotherapy Research revealed that ginger is as effective as pain relief drugs in relieving migraine, but with fewer side effects. In this study, researchers from Zanjan University of Medical Sciences in Iran examined the effects of ginger on a typical migraine attack and compared it to the drug Sumatriptan, which is sold under the brand name Imitrex and is one of the top-selling, billion-dollar drugs for treating migraines. For the double-blinded randomized clinical trial, the researchers recruited 100 participants who had acute migraine without aura, the most common type of migraine headache. Then, they randomly assigned the participants to receive either 250 mg of ginger powder or 50 mg of Sumatriptan. At the time of a migraine attack, the participants recorded the time of the onset, severity, and time of treatment ingestion. They also completed a questionnaire on response self-assessments 30, 60, 90, 120 minutes, and 24 hours following the start of the migraine. After one month, they rated their satisfaction with the efficacy of their assigned treatment and their willingness to continue with their respective treatments. All the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals at the Health Ranger Store end in less than 12 hours (at midnight, tonight). All deals are activated across every product category, while inventory lasts. Stock up at the best prices of the year.See the full selection of all the deals here. After analyzing the data, the researchers found that two hours after using either treatment, the participants experienced significant reductions in headache severity. They reported that ginger is as effective as Sumatriptan in treating migraines. However, those who took ginger powder experienced significantly fewer negative side effects than those who took Sumatriptan. The only side effect reported for ginger was an upset stomach, which occurred in only nearly one out of 25 people. On the other hand, those who took the drug reported dizziness, vertigo, heartburn, and a sedative effect. From these findings, the Iranian researchers concluded that ginger can be used as a safer alternative to the migraine drug Sumatriptan. (Related: Migraine sufferers often given opioids at the ER even when there’s no proof they work.) Another study conducted by researchers from the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil revealed that taking a 400 mg ginger extract supplement as an add-on treatment reduced migraine symptoms better than taking a pharmaceutical drug alone. The team published their findings in the journal Cephalalgia. Combining ginger with other herbs also makes an effective, natural remedy for migraines. Researchers from the Headache Care Center in Springfield, Missouri examined the efficacy of ginger combined with feverfew or placebo on migraine with or without aura in 60 patients. They found that those who placed a gel containing ginger and feverfew under their tongues upon migraine onset experienced pain relief and had a shorter migraine duration than those in the placebo group. There are many ways to use ginger for migraines. Based on the Iranian study, you can mix 1/8 teaspoon of powdered ginger in water and drink it as soon as you experience the first sign of a migraine. You can also use ginger root to make ginger tea to soothe pain or reduce nausea caused by a migraine attack. Add sliced or chopped ginger to four cups of boiling water, and steep it for five to 10 minutes. You can add lemon juice or honey for flavor. Massaging ginger oil to your temples may also help. Dilute one to two drops of ginger oil into a tablespoon of carrier oil, then massage on your temples, forehead, and the back of your neck. | Melissa Smith | http://www.naturalnews.com/2019-12-02-ginger-is-a-powerful-migraine-medicine.html | Mon, 02 Dec 2019 16:02:53 +0000 | 1,575,320,573 | 1,575,332,014 | health | health treatment |
385,583 | npr--2019-05-28--Cancer Drugs Approved Quickly Often Fail To Measure Up Later | 2019-05-28T00:00:00 | npr | Cancer Drugs Approved Quickly Often Fail To Measure Up Later | Avastin got an accelerated Food and Drug Administration approval for treatment of glioblastoma, but additional research found the drug didn't extend patients' lives. **J.B. Reed /Bloomberg via Getty Images** ****hide caption**** ****toggle caption**** J.B. Reed /Bloomberg via Getty Images Avastin got an accelerated Food and Drug Administration approval for treatment of glioblastoma, but additional research found the drug didn't extend patients' lives. J.B. Reed /Bloomberg via Getty Images Cancer drugs that speed onto the market based on encouraging preliminary studies often don't show clear benefits when more careful follow-up trials are done, according to research published Tuesday. These cancer drugs are granted accelerated approval to give patients faster access to the treatments and to allow drug companies to reap the economic rewards sooner. As a condition of this process, the Food and Drug Administration requires drug companies to conduct more research, to confirm whether the medications actually work and are safe. In 2018, [the FDA looked back on 93 cancer drugs](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29494733) granted accelerated approval and touted that only five had been removed from the market over a 25-year span. A research team at [Harvard Medical School's Program on Regulation, Therapeutics and Law](https://www.portalresearch.org/) dug deeper to see what had happened with the rest. In the follow-up studies, only 19 of the 93 drugs clearly extended the lives of the patients taking them, [according to the study](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2733561), published in the latest _JAMA Internal Medicine._ For example, Genentech's Avastin, or bevacizumab, won accelerated approval to treat the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma, but the drug did not extend the lives of patients in a follow-up study. Sometimes patients value drugs because they improve their quality of life. This drug didn't do that either, yet the FDA left it on the market as an approved treatment for glioblastoma. "So that was the most baffling thing," says Bishal Gyawali, an oncologist on the research team. "I find it very difficult to understand." The researchers said follow-up studies for these cancer drugs often didn't even use overall survival or improved quality of life as the benchmark. Instead, many used the same measure that formed the basis for their preliminary approval — for example, tumor shrinkage. Those targets, called "[surrogate endpoints](https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries /cancer-terms/def/surrogate-endpoint)," often don't predict who will live longer or more comfortably. "How can we use the same surrogate endpoint and say they have clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial?" Gyawali asks, when that endpoint clearly wasn't sufficient for full approval of the drug at the outset. (Gyawali is now at Queens University in Ontario.) "The reason for giving these approvals should be transparent," he says, but the FDA doesn't explain its reasoning. A [second study](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2733563) in the same issue looked at cancer drugs approved based on a specific surrogate endpoint called "response rate." Response to a drug can be anything from spectacular and complete remission to weak and transitory shrinkage of a tumor. And these responses don't necessarily mean people will live longer or be more comfortable. The study looked at 59 cancer drugs approved initially on the basis of their response rate and found that just six eventually won regular approval based on their overall survival benefit. Studies based on response rate don't include a comparison group, so the scientists at Oregon Health and Science University argue that it's difficult to say whether these new drugs are better than other drugs already on the market. Sometimes there is no comparison group because these are rare cancers, or the drug targets a rare mutation in a common cancer, so it's difficult to pull together a study that randomizes patients into different treatment groups, says [Dr. Richard Schilsky](https://www.asco.org/people/richard-l-schilsky-md- fasco-facp), the senior vice president and chief medical officer at the American Society of Clinical Oncology. But for other circumstances, "if we put the investment in it we would be able to do randomized controlled trials," says Emerson Chen, an oncology fellow at OHSU. Those studies often add another year or more to a follow-up study, he says, but he advocates for them because they provide "more definitive information about the survival and the inpatient-reported outcomes." "One of the reasons we don't do those kinds of studies is that people say these drugs are so potent it would be wrong to do those kinds of studies ... ethically or practically," says oncologist [Vinay Prasad](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/06/24/621068147 /tweeting-oncologist-draws-ire-and-admiration-for-calling-out-hype), senior author of the paper. "But I think what we find is these drugs unfortunately are not that potent." [In a commentary](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2733557), Dr. Ezekiel Emmanuel and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania write that there "is no good reason for the FDA to rely so heavily on accelerated approval using response rates or other unreliable surrogate end points." "Drugs with unproven effectiveness sell false hope to desperate patients, who are likely paying thousands of dollars out of pocket for them," they write, adding, "Approval of ineffective drugs also crowds out innovation that might produce effective treatment." The FDA gets pressure both from patients and from drug companies to accelerate approval of new cancer drugs and constantly needs to strike a balance between innovation and caution, ASCO's Schilsky says. Randomized trials are the gold standard for cancer research, but he says they can be challenging if a drug is already on the market. "When the preliminary results with some of these new treatments are looking very promising, it's particularly difficult to get patients to accept randomization to a standard therapy that may be far inferior — or at least appear to be far inferior — to the new treatment," Schilsky says. He also pushes back against the "sweeping generalizations" in these two studies. "Regulatory decisions have to be made on a case by case basis and in a particular context," he says. But he agrees that the FDA should be more transparent about its decisions, so scientists can better understand them. The FDA did not provide NPR with details about its decision to leave Avastin on the market for brain cancer. In a statement, an agency spokeswoman notes that the FDA weighs risk and benefits, saying, "It has been widely accepted that benefit can be demonstrated by a number of endpoints, not just overall survival." _You can contact NPR science correspondent Richard Harris at_[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). | Richard Harris | https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/05/28/727598045/cancer-drugs-approved-quickly-often-fail-to-measure-up-later?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | 2019-05-28 17:56:00+00:00 | 1,559,080,560 | 1,567,540,040 | health | health treatment |
386,225 | npr--2019-07-22--Study Malaria Drugs Are Failing At An Alarming Rate In Southeast Asia | 2019-07-22T00:00:00 | npr | Study: Malaria Drugs Are Failing At An 'Alarming' Rate In Southeast Asia | Study: Malaria Drugs Are Failing At An 'Alarming' Rate In Southeast Asia Malaria drugs are failing at an "alarming" rate in Southeast Asia as drug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite emerge. That's the conclusion of researchers in two new reports — one based on a randomized trial and the other on a genetic study — that have just been released in the medical journal The Lancet. And there's concern that this drug resistance could spread around the globe. Global health officials get nervous when new strains of drug-resistant malaria turn up in Southeast Asia, because it's a dreaded pattern that they've seen before. Resistance that has hatched in this region has doomed previous malaria medications since the middle of the 20th century. "Somehow antimalarial drug resistance always starts in that part of the world," says Arjen Dondorp, who leads malaria research at the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit in Bangkok and who was a lead author of the report about the randomized trial. "In the past, chloroquine resistance originated there. Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, the next generation of antimalarials — resistance to that originated there. And now the artemisinin resistance also was first detected in western Cambodia." And it's hard to underscore the significance of this. In modern times, the death spiral for malaria drug after malaria drug has begun in the Mekong Delta. The reasons for this are complicated. Some scientists say that one reason could have something to do with the relatively low levels of malaria there. When resistant parasites emerge, they are not competing against a dominant nonresistant strain of malaria and are possibly able to spread easier. Currently, the World Health Organization recommends treating the majority of malaria cases with artemisinin-based combination therapies, or ACTs. These are usually single pills that combine fast-acting artemisinin with another longer-acting antimalarial drug. Currently one of the most widely used ACTs globally is dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine. And this is the artemisinin combo that Dondorp found to be failing in Southeast Asia. These drugs have been highly effective at treating malaria, one of the world's most burdensome diseases. According to the World Health Organization, each year there are more than 200 million cases of malaria and 400,000 people die from the disease. Those deaths are primarily among children in Africa. The two-drug artemisinin combos continue to be the first-line drugs for treating most malaria cases around the world, including in Africa. And they have been credited with helping to bring global malaria deaths down to an all-time low. But now it looks like their future effectiveness is in question. Dondorp, in the midst of a study in the greater Mekong region, was comparing a new three-drug malaria regimen against the conventional two-drug artemisinin combo. And it was in the middle of that study that he and his colleagues saw that the current antimalarial drugs weren't fully wiping out the potentially deadly parasites. "We noticed incredible high failure rates with the first-line treatment, and that was the reason to publish this first before we can publish the results of the efficacy of the triple combinations," he says. Basically, the current drugs were performing so badly that the researchers felt it imperative to sound the alarm about what was the control side of the study. The overall failure rate was 50%. But in some parts of the region, the drugs weren't working nine times out of 10. Dondorp says the resistance was even worse than they'd expected. "We knew already [resistance] was in Cambodia and it had increased dramatically over the years," he says. "What was new was that it was also present in northeastern Thailand and southern Vietnam." Health officials in Cambodia were aware that the drugs were failing and had switched back to an older medicine in 2014. Now Vietnam and Thailand are also moving away from the World Health Organization's recommended first-line malaria treatment. So far this drug resistance has been mainly found in the areas around the Mekong Delta, but there's no reason these parasites couldn't spread to India or other parts of Asia or even Africa. That has been the case with every other first-line malaria drug. If a person who was infected with chloroquine-resistant parasites, say in Cambodia, traveled to India and got bitten by mosquitoes there, the resistant parasites could start spreading in India. Then someone else in India could carry the parasites to Kenya. Soon, the chloroquine-resistant malaria bugs would have gone global. And if that happens with the latest line of artemisinin combination treatments, it could be a major setback to global efforts to control the mosquito-borne disease. "It is really worrying," says Shunmay Yeung, an associate professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Yeung studies malaria and malaria drug resistance, though she wasn't involved in these new studies in The Lancet. She says there has been incredible progress against malaria over the past 15 years. "We've halved the number of deaths due to malaria globally," she says. And artemisinin-based antimalarials, along with increased distribution of mosquito bed nets, have been a major force in achieving that. They are "wonderfully effective drugs," she says. "It's three days of treatment and you're better." They work quickly. They have few side effects. "To lose these first-line drugs, the artemisinin combination therapies, would be disastrous," Yeung says. "If this [resistance] emerged or spread to Africa, it would be a disaster." Globally the majority of malaria cases occur in Africa. So far, however, the mutant malaria parasites that have built up a resistance to artemisinin-based drugs haven't taken hold on the continent. But if the histories of other antimalarial drugs are any guide to the future, they eventually will. | Jason Beaubien | https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/07/22/742674941/study-malaria-drugs-are-failing-at-an-alarming-rate-in-southeast-asia?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | 2019-07-22 22:31:29+00:00 | 1,563,849,089 | 1,567,536,176 | health | health treatment |
386,579 | npr--2019-08-14--Lithium Is A Homage To A Drug And To The Renegade Side Of Science | 2019-08-14T00:00:00 | npr | 'Lithium' Is A Homage To A Drug — And To The Renegade Side Of Science | 'Lithium' Is A Homage To A Drug — And To The Renegade Side Of Science Like any good story about a scientific discovery, Walter A. Brown's account of the history of lithium features plenty of improvisation, conjecture and straight-up kismet. Unlike many such stories, though, it also features a fair share of personal bias, senseless puttering and random speculation — on part of these scientific researchers. Brown, a practicing psychiatrist and university professor of more than 40 years, seems to have been drawn to write Lithium: A Doctor, A Drug and a Breakthrough as much because of lithium's fluky history and overlooked importance (for many years, he argues, it was "the Cinderella of psychiatric drugs") as by the profound impact it's had on countless sufferers of bipolar disorder and depression. Lithium is a homage, not just to a drug, but to the renegade side of science. Its heroes are researchers scattered around the globe, short on funding and frequently unaware of each other's work, without whom a commonly available substance would never have been recognized as a treatment for one of the most baffling psychiatric illnesses. By celebrating these men, Brown hopes to do a lot more than simply raise awareness about an underappreciated substance. He aims to demolish what remains of the myth that scientific progress is driven by rigorous dispassion. The story of lithium's use in medicine is certainly colorful, as is the history of the illness it's become known for. Brown doesn't stint on either tale. He goes all the way back to the first century to find a would-be description of manic depression by the Greek doctor Aretaeus of Cappadocia. These patients, Aretaeus wrote, "'laugh, play, dance night and day, and sometimes go openly to the market crowned, as if victors in some contest of skill,'" only to become "'torpid, dull and sorrowful.'" Before lithium, Brown notes, the treatments for this enigmatic condition ranged from merely ineffective to out-and-out grotesque. Over the centuries patients have been bled and purged, dosed with opium, infected with malaria, placed in medically induced comas and had their teeth, tonsils or organs removed. Some alarming treatments are distressingly contemporary: Lobotomy, the procedure in which a patient's frontal lobe is surgically severed from the rest of the brain, dates from the first half of the 1900s. It was a century earlier that scientists first isolated lithium. Doctors noticed that the element could dissolve uric acid, which was blamed at the time for a wide variety of illnesses, and lithium was used to treat everything from headaches to obesity. For a while lithium water was a popular cure-all, and lithium was once used as a salt substitute. But it was only in 1949, when the Australian psychiatrist John Cade published a paper showing it could help patients with mania, that modern lithium therapy was first contemplated. Cade is the star of Brown's book, not just for his pioneering status, but for his unique outlook and temperament. He had wide-ranging scientific interests, studying everything from variant magpie species to a possible link between schizophrenia and fruit consumption. His son recalled his father deducing, based on the fact that gum moth caterpillars' tiny scat pellets had six sides, that the caterpillars' anuses were six-sided too. "Cade's inclination to thoroughly examine the world around him was a characteristic in short supply," Brown writes. "Most of us see only what we expect to see... most of us ignore or fail to perceive the unexpected." Cade investigated lithium while working at a small mental asylum where his only laboratory was an abandoned kitchen. He tested dosages on guinea pigs kept in his backyard (they doubled as his kids' pets) and stored urine samples in the family refrigerator. And yet, Brown notes, Cade's "small study, which would probably not be published today and which lacked the standardized assessment methods, statistical niceties and other accoutrements of contemporary research, yielded results that changed the practice of psychiatry and mended the lives of millions." Cade wasn't alone in his attention to lithium; though fears about toxicity and a lack of funding deterred studies for many years, several independent-minded researchers around the world investigated the drug's effectiveness in treating bipolar disorder and regular depression. But among the scientists he discusses, Brown is most passionately drawn to those who, like Cade, approached the process of discovery with an unorthodox spirit. The book's other standout figure is Danish researcher Mogens Schou, who confirmed that lithium was an effective treatment for mania. Schou endured much criticism because he had a personal interest in his investigations: He used lithium to help his younger brother, who'd suffered regular depressive episodes for 25 years. "As a consequence of his readiness to talk about his brother's excellent reaction to lithium, Schou was accused by some of being biased," Brown writes, "a 'believer' rather than an objective scientist." Brown is as determined to puncture such attitudes as he is intrigued by lithium itself. It's this emphasis, itself rather quixotic, that makes Lithium memorable. Lots of science books describe how early breakthroughs almost didn't happen and deplore the state of corporate-funded research. Brown makes a more nuanced point: That some pioneers are set apart, not by their stubbornness or seat-of-the-pants circumstances, but by qualities that the scientific world usually ignores. Cade described himself as "an enthusiastic amateur, full of curiosity, with... inadequate knowledge and woeful technique," adding that "even the small boy, fishing after school in a muddy pond with string and bent pin, occasionally hauls forth a handsome fish." It's in that small fisherman's spirit that Brown places his hope for the future. Etelka Lehoczky has written about books for The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Review of Books and The New York Times. She tweets at @EtelkaL. | Etelka Lehoczky | https://www.npr.org/2019/08/14/750449898/lithium-is-a-homage-to-a-drug-and-to-the-renegade-side-of-science?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | 2019-08-14 16:58:00+00:00 | 1,565,816,280 | 1,567,534,220 | health | health treatment |
789,535 | theirishtimes--2019-10-05--Gynaecology services to be reviewed at Letterkenny hospital | 2019-10-05T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Gynaecology services to be reviewed at Letterkenny hospital | A review of the safety and quality of gynaecology services at Letterkenny hospital is to be carried out, following allegations of delays in cancer diagnoses for women patients. The review is to be led by an independent, external chairperson, who will examine alleged delays in the diagnosis of endometrial cancers and the way postmenopausal bleeding was assessed in the hospital. The terms of reference of the review, and the membership of the review panel, will be decided in the coming weeks, HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry has confirmed. Dr Henry said this week that following a case involving a delayed diagnosis of endometrial cancer, improvements were made, including having a dedicated clinic to deal with postmenopausal bleeding and a nurse to track referrals, assessments and investigations to make sure there would be no further delays. However, the Saolta hospital group had decided to order the review “in view of concerns”, he said. Bristol-based hospital consultant Dr Margaret Mac Mahon had called for a review following the death of her sister Carol in 2015. She says her sister’s endometrial cancer was missed at the hospital when she complained of pains in 2010, and was diagnosed only in 2012. Saolta admitted in a report on Carol Mac Mahon’s death that there was a delay in diagnosing her endometrial cancer due to “a series of failings”. “This delay resulted in missed opportunities to provide her with the treatment she required in a timely manner.” In a letter to Minister for Health Simon Harris last month, Dr Mac Mahon said previous local and national investigations into her sister’s case “ignored all principles of clinical governance”. “I stated I had been reliably informed that my sister ‘was not the first’ and repeatedly requested a local case review but this was declined.” According to Dr Mac Mahon, “this is about serious governance, administrative and medical performance issues within the hospital/region”. Women with suspected gynaecological cancers should be directed “elsewhere, including to Derry” if necessary, pending the outcome of the review. A second case, similar to her sister’s, in which a women says her cancer was missed, has since emerged, according to Dr Mac Mahon. Meanwhile, she says, a third woman is currently attending a private clinic in Derry due to concerns regarding her clinical management in Letterkenny. | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/gynaecology-services-to-be-reviewed-at-letterkenny-hospital-1.4040674 | 2019-10-05 02:00:00+00:00 | 1,570,255,200 | 1,570,632,976 | health | medical profession |
785,188 | theirishtimes--2019-03-13--Obstetrics and anaesthesia job pre-conditions dismay bishops | 2019-03-13T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Obstetrics and anaesthesia job pre-conditions dismay bishops | The Catholic bishops have expressed regret at pre-conditions for applicants in recent advertisements for medical posts at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin. One of the main preconditions for applicants for the posts in obstetrics and anaesthesia was a requirement to carry out elective abortions if appointed. “The consequence for the entire training and recruitment of doctors to work in these positions in hospitals in Ireland is greatly undermined by these advertisements,” they said. In a statement on Wednesday, the bishops said “this precondition runs totally counter to a doctor’s constitutional and human right to freedom of conscience. “A doctor who is eminently qualified to work as a consultant in these fields is denied employment in these roles because of his/her conscience. Doctors who are pro-life and who may have spent over a decade training in these areas and who may otherwise be the best candidate for these positions are now advised that, should they apply, they would not be eligible for consideration.” This, they said, “totally undermines the whole concept of freedom of conscience which was guaranteed in the recent legislation”. The statement was issued following the bishops’ spring meeting at Maynooth which concluded on Wednesday evening. They also announced that Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran is to chair the new Council for Life, while Fr Dermot Meehan, administrator of Achonry diocese, has been appointed a member. A spokesman for the National Maternity Hospital said it had already clarified that these particular additional posts were specifically funded by the HSE for the provision of termination of pregnancy services. “They are therefore for individuals willing to contribute to the provision of these services. Other past and future posts are not affected. The conscientious objection guidelines for staff in both hospitals remain unchanged,” he said. The bishops also encouraged people to support this year’s Trócaire Lenten appeal to assist the agency’s work in the developing world. Close to one million Trócaire boxes have been distributed throughout Ireland to parishes and schools. This year’s Trócaire campaign is highlighting stories of people in Uganda, Guatemala and Syria who have lost their land, either through corporate land grabs, war or because they are women. Last year, Trócaire helped 2.8 million people in some of the world’s poorest countries. Two of Trócaire’s former executive directors were honoured for their work with the agency. Justin Kilcullen, who served from 1993 to 2013, was conferred with the Papal Knighthood of the Equestrian Order of Saint Gregory the Great; while Éamonn Meehan, who held the post from 2013 to 2018, was awarded an honorary doctorate in theology from St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/obstetrics-and-anaesthesia-job-pre-conditions-dismay-bishops-1.3824914 | 2019-03-13 20:39:17+00:00 | 1,552,523,957 | 1,567,546,445 | health | medical profession |
783,343 | theirishtimes--2019-01-17--The great thing about paediatrics is seeing a happy child ready to go home | 2019-01-17T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | ‘The great thing about paediatrics is seeing a happy child ready to go home’ | A lot of parents and babies take part in your studies in Cork. What have you been researching? “One of the great things about being a researcher in Ireland is how willing parents are to get involved in research. Our Baseline study, funded by the National Children’s Research Centre, has worked with more than 2,000 mother-child pairs through pregnancy, birth and early childhood up to age five so far. With their help, we have been able to look at many aspects of normal growth and skin barrier function, and we have published over 40 papers in the areas of children’s growth, allergy, nutrition and development.” You are particularly interested in a type of brain injury that is linked to a lack of oxygen around the time of birth. Tell us more. “Hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) is one of the commonest causes of acquired brain injury in children. Interruption of the oxygen supply for even a few minutes can sometimes lead to permanent disability. Long-term problems are variable, from death in the most severe cases to movement or learning difficulties in those who survive. Over a million babies die worldwide from HIE each year, and in Ireland it affects around 200 babies annually.” How are you looking to minimise the effects? “One of the ways we can tackle HIE is to cool the baby for 72 hours after birth. The tricky thing can be deciding which babies will benefit. Currently we probably miss about 20 per cent of babies who should be cooled, as the decision has to be made within six hours of birth. With the Karolinksa Institute in Sweden and with funding from the Health Research Board, we have been collecting and analysing blood samples from the umbilical cord. We are seeing patterns in those blood samples that could possibly tell us about encephalopathy in the baby, and we hope this will lead to a reliable bedside blood test to quickly identify if a baby needs help.” You also look at brain and cognitive development in babies and toddlers. Is that a challenge to measure? “It can be, because current approaches often depend on the child being able to understand someone asking them to do something. So we worked with a gaming company, Hello Games UK, to develop the Babyscreen app that children aged 18 months and up can use on touchscreen devices without the need to understand language. That app is now being used by researchers in London, Cambridge, Doha and Gambia in their projects, and we are just about to start a new project to develop the next version.” What do you do to take a break from work? “I would love to claim lots of interesting hobbies but I am afraid there aren’t enough hours in the day, and around 10pm I collapse on the couch with my husband, Paul. Time with my three kids (who are 11, 13 and 15 ), doing whatever they want to do, fills my weekends.” And what’s the best part of your day at work? “The great thing about paediatrics is seeing a happy child ready to go home. They bounce back and want to get out and play as soon as they are better. Looking at new data with the research team is a close second. I am extremely lucky to be doing a job that I love, answering important questions about children’s health. What could be better?” Deirdre Murray is principal investigator at the Irish Centre for Fetal and Neonatal Translational Research and professor of paediatrics at UCC | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/the-great-thing-about-paediatrics-is-seeing-a-happy-child-ready-to-go-home-1.3758964 | 2019-01-17 06:00:00+00:00 | 1,547,722,800 | 1,567,552,065 | health | medical profession |
66,901 | birminghammail--2019-10-08--The decline of NHS dentistry in Birmingham - one in four have never had an appointment | 2019-10-08T00:00:00 | birminghammail | The decline of NHS dentistry in Birmingham - one in four have never had an appointment | More than four in 10 people in Birmingham and Solihull haven’t tried to make an NHS dentistry appointment for at least two years. And some 24 per cent say they have NEVER tried. Dentists said NHS charges were “designed to discourage attendance” and warned the current system was “broken”. The figures are taken from the latest edition of the GP Patients Survey - an independent study run by Ipsos MORI on behalf of NHS England and sent to more than two million people across the UK. It found that while 21 per cent of people in Birmingham and Solihull had tried to make an NHS dentistry appointment within the last three months, 17 per cent hadn’t tried for at least two years. A further 24 per cent had never tried. When those two groups were asked why, six per cent said it was too expensive. Some 28 per cent said they hadn’t “needed” a dentist and 10 per cent said they didn’t think they’d be able to get an NHS dentist. Twenty per cent said they preferred to use a private dentist, while 11 per cent said they had stayed with their surgery when it moved from NHS to private-treatment-only. Across England as a whole, the proportion of people who haven’t tried to make an NHS dental appointment for at least two years has inched up from 41.2 per cent in 2018 to 41.7 per cent in 2019. The NHS claims “everyone should be able to access good-quality NHS dental services”, and around 70 per cent of dentists’ work remains committed to NHS work. Surgeries, however, are not obliged to take on new NHS patients and many have closed their lists. The latest NHS Digital figures show 21,960,000 adults were seen by an NHS dentist in the two years to June 2019. That was down from 22,061,000 in the two years to June 2018 and 22,159,000 in the two years to June 2017 - despite the population rising over that time. Mick Armstrong, chair of the British Dental Association, said: “Prevention isn’t just better than cure, it’s cheaper too - but patients who need treatment face real barriers. “The result is many bottle up problems, and our NHS pays the price. “NHS charges are designed to discourage attendance. There’s no help for practices that are struggling to fill vacancies, and no investment so more patients can be seen. “We have a broken system that funds care for little over half the population. The guiding principle of NHS dentistry should be improving oral health, not keeping costs down and patients away.” Dr Tony O'Sullivan, a retired consultant paediatrician and co-chair of Keep Our NHS Public, said: “Disadvantaged people are more likely to be unable to access an NHS dentist. “They then are vulnerable to untreated dental disease, pain, infection and loss of teeth. That affects their health, nutrition and self-esteem. “The NHS offered free dental care in 1948. It should do so again and end the post code and wealth lottery that makes the current dental system so unfair and unacceptable." | [email protected] (David Ottewell, James Rodger) | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/decline-nhs-dentistry-birmingham-one-17054282 | Tue, 8 Oct 2019 19:45:08 +0000 | 1,570,578,308 | 1,570,576,574 | health | medical profession |
147,064 | drudgereport--2019-04-19--REVEALED The Trouble With Dentistry | 2019-04-19T00:00:00 | drudgereport | REVEALED: The Trouble With Dentistry... | Lund extracted the wisdom tooth with no complications, and Mitchell began seeing him regularly. He never had any pain or new complaints, but Lund encouraged many additional treatments nonetheless. A typical person might get one or two root canals in a lifetime. In the space of seven years, Lund gave Mitchell nine root canals and just as many crowns. Mitchell’s insurance covered only a small portion of each procedure, so he paid a total of about $50,000 out of pocket. The number and cost of the treatments did not trouble him. He had no idea that it was unusual to undergo so many root canals—he thought they were just as common as fillings. The payments were spread out over a relatively long period of time. And he trusted Lund completely. He figured that if he needed the treatments, then he might as well get them before things grew worse. Meanwhile, another of Lund’s patients was going through a similar experience. Joyce Cordi, a businesswoman in her 50s, had learned of Lund through 1-800-DENTIST. She remembers the service giving him an excellent rating. When she visited Lund for the first time, in 1999, she had never had so much as a cavity. To the best of her knowledge her teeth were perfectly healthy, although she’d had a small dental bridge installed to fix a rare congenital anomaly (she was born with one tooth trapped inside another and had had them extracted). Within a year, Lund was questioning the resilience of her bridge and telling her she needed root canals and crowns. Cordi was somewhat perplexed. Why the sudden need for so many procedures after decades of good dental health? When she expressed uncertainty, she says, Lund always had an answer ready. The cavity on this tooth was in the wrong position to treat with a typical filling, he told her on one occasion. Her gums were receding, which had resulted in tooth decay, he explained during another visit. Clearly she had been grinding her teeth. And, after all, she was getting older. As a doctor’s daughter, Cordi had been raised with an especially respectful view of medical professionals. Lund was insistent, so she agreed to the procedures. Over the course of a decade, Lund gave Cordi 10 root canals and 10 crowns. He also chiseled out her bridge, replacing it with two new ones that left a conspicuous gap in her front teeth. Altogether, the work cost her about $70,000. A masked figure looms over your recumbent body, wielding power tools and sharp metal instruments, doing things to your mouth you cannot see. In early 2012, Lund retired. Brendon Zeidler, a young dentist looking to expand his business, bought Lund’s practice and assumed responsibility for his patients. Within a few months, Zeidler began to suspect that something was amiss. Financial records indicated that Lund had been spectacularly successful, but Zeidler was making only 10 to 25 percent of Lund’s reported earnings each month. As Zeidler met more of Lund’s former patients, he noticed a disquieting trend: Many of them had undergone extensive dental work—a much larger proportion than he would have expected. When Zeidler told them, after routine exams or cleanings, that they didn’t need any additional procedures at that time, they tended to react with surprise and concern: Was he sure? Nothing at all? Had he checked thoroughly? In the summer, Zeidler decided to take a closer look at Lund’s career. He gathered years’ worth of dental records and bills for Lund’s patients and began to scrutinize them, one by one. The process took him months to complete. What he uncovered was appalling. We have a fraught relationship with dentists as authority figures. In casual conversation we often dismiss them as “not real doctors,” regarding them more as mechanics for the mouth. But that disdain is tempered by fear. For more than a century, dentistry has been half-jokingly compared to torture. Surveys suggest that up to 61 percent of people are apprehensive about seeing the dentist, perhaps 15 percent are so anxious that they avoid the dentist almost entirely, and a smaller percentage have a genuine phobia requiring psychiatric intervention. When you’re in the dentist’s chair, the power imbalance between practitioner and patient becomes palpable. A masked figure looms over your recumbent body, wielding power tools and sharp metal instruments, doing things to your mouth you cannot see, asking you questions you cannot properly answer, and judging you all the while. The experience simultaneously invokes physical danger, emotional vulnerability, and mental limpness. A cavity or receding gum line can suddenly feel like a personal failure. When a dentist declares that there is a problem, that something must be done before it’s too late, who has the courage or expertise to disagree? When he points at spectral smudges on an X-ray, how are we to know what’s true? In other medical contexts, such as a visit to a general practitioner or a cardiologist, we are fairly accustomed to seeking a second opinion before agreeing to surgery or an expensive regimen of pills with harsh side effects. But in the dentist’s office—perhaps because we both dread dental procedures and belittle their medical significance—the impulse is to comply without much consideration, to get the whole thing over with as quickly as possible. The uneasy relationship between dentist and patient is further complicated by an unfortunate reality: Common dental procedures are not always as safe, effective, or durable as we are meant to believe. As a profession, dentistry has not yet applied the same level of self-scrutiny as medicine, or embraced as sweeping an emphasis on scientific evidence. “We are isolated from the larger health-care system. So when evidence-based policies are being made, dentistry is often left out of the equation,” says Jane Gillette, a dentist in Bozeman, Montana, who works closely with the American Dental Association’s Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry, which was established in 2007. “We’re kind of behind the times, but increasingly we are trying to move the needle forward.” Consider the maxim that everyone should visit the dentist twice a year for cleanings. We hear it so often, and from such a young age, that we’ve internalized it as truth. But this supposed commandment of oral health has no scientific grounding. Scholars have traced its origins to a few potential sources, including a toothpaste advertisement from the 1930s and an illustrated pamphlet from 1849 that follows the travails of a man with a severe toothache. Today, an increasing number of dentists acknowledge that adults with good oral hygiene need to see a dentist only once every 12 to 16 months. Many standard dental treatments—to say nothing of all the recent innovations and cosmetic extravagances—are likewise not well substantiated by research. Many have never been tested in meticulous clinical trials. And the data that are available are not always reassuring. The Cochrane organization, a highly respected arbiter of evidence-based medicine, has conducted systematic reviews of oral-health studies since 1999. In these reviews, researchers analyze the scientific literature on a particular dental intervention, focusing on the most rigorous and well-designed studies. In some cases, the findings clearly justify a given procedure. For example, dental sealants—liquid plastics painted onto the pits and grooves of teeth like nail polish—reduce tooth decay in children and have no known risks. (Despite this, they are not widely used, possibly because they are too simple and inexpensive to earn dentists much money.) But most of the Cochrane reviews reach one of two disheartening conclusions: Either the available evidence fails to confirm the purported benefits of a given dental intervention, or there is simply not enough research to say anything substantive one way or another. Fluoridation of drinking water seems to help reduce tooth decay in children, but there is insufficient evidence that it does the same for adults. Some data suggest that regular flossing, in addition to brushing, mitigates gum disease, but there is only “weak, very unreliable” evidence that it combats plaque. As for common but invasive dental procedures, an increasing number of dentists question the tradition of prophylactic wisdom-teeth removal; often, the safer choice is to monitor unproblematic teeth for any worrying developments. Little medical evidence justifies the substitution of tooth-colored resins for typical metal amalgams to fill cavities. And what limited data we have don’t clearly indicate whether it’s better to repair a root-canaled tooth with a crown or a filling. When Cochrane researchers tried to determine whether faulty metal fillings should be repaired or replaced, they could not find a single study that met their standards. “The body of evidence for dentistry is disappointing,” says Derek Richards, the director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Dentistry at the University of Dundee, in Scotland. “Dentists tend to want to treat or intervene. They are more akin to surgeons than they are to physicians. We suffer a little from that. Everybody keeps fiddling with stuff, trying out the newest thing, but they don’t test them properly in a good-quality trial.” The general dearth of rigorous research on dental interventions gives dentists even more leverage over their patients. Should a patient somehow muster the gumption to question an initial diagnosis and consult the scientific literature, she would probably not find much to help her. When we submit to a dentist’s examination, we are putting a great deal of trust in that dentist’s experience and intuition—and, of course, integrity. When Zeidler purchased Lund’s practice, in February 2012, he inherited a massive collection of patients’ dental histories and bills, a mix of electronic documents, handwritten charts, and X‑rays. By August, Zeidler had decided that if anything could explain the alarmingly abundant dental work in the mouths of Lund’s patients, he would find it in those records. He spent every weekend for the next nine months examining the charts of hundreds of patients treated in the preceding five years. In a giant Excel spreadsheet, he logged every single procedure Lund had performed, so he could carry out some basic statistical analyses. The numbers spoke for themselves. Year after year, Lund had performed certain procedures at extraordinarily high rates. Whereas a typical dentist might perform root canals on previously crowned teeth in only 3 to 7 percent of cases, Lund was performing them in 90 percent of cases. As Zeidler later alleged in court documents, Lund had performed invasive, costly, and seemingly unnecessary procedures on dozens and dozens of patients, some of whom he had been seeing for decades. Terry Mitchell and Joyce Cordi were far from alone. In fact, they had not even endured the worst of it. Whereas medicine has reckoned with some of its own tendencies toward excessive and misguided treatment, dentistry has lagged behind. Dental crowns were one of Lund’s most frequent treatments. A crown is a metal or ceramic cap that completely encases an injured or decayed tooth, which is first shaved to a peg so its new shell will fit. Crowns typically last 10 to 15 years. Lund not only gave his patients superfluous crowns; he also tended to replace them every five years—the minimum interval of time before insurance companies will cover the procedure again. More than 50 of Lund’s patients also had ludicrously high numbers of root canals: 15, 20, 24. (A typical adult mouth has 32 teeth.) According to one lawsuit that has since been settled, a woman in her late 50s came to Lund with only 10 natural teeth; from 2003 to 2010, he gave her nine root canals and 12 crowns. The American Association of Endodontists claims that a root canal is a “quick, comfortable procedure” that is “very similar to a routine filling.” In truth, a root canal is a much more radical operation than a filling. It takes longer, can cause significant discomfort, and may require multiple trips to a dentist or specialist. It’s also much more costly. Read: Americans are going to Juarez for cheap dental care Root canals are typically used to treat infections of the pulp—the soft living core of a tooth. A dentist drills a hole through a tooth in order to access the root canals: long, narrow channels containing nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissue. The dentist then repeatedly twists skinny metal files in and out of the canals to scrape away all the living tissue, irrigates the canals with disinfectant, and packs them with a rubberlike material. The whole process usually takes one to two hours. Afterward, sometimes at a second visit, the dentist will strengthen the tooth with a filling or crown. In the rare case that infection returns, the patient must go through the whole ordeal again or consider more advanced surgery. Zeidler noticed that nearly every time Lund gave someone a root canal, he also charged for an incision and drainage, known as an I&D. During an I&D, a dentist lances an abscess in the mouth and drains the exudate, all while the patient is awake. In some cases the dentist slips a small rubber tube into the wound, which continues to drain fluids and remains in place for a few days. I&Ds are not routine adjuncts to root canals. They should be used only to treat severe infections, which occur in a minority of cases. Yet they were extremely common in Lund’s practice. In 2009, for example, Lund billed his patients for 109 I&Ds. Zeidler asked many of those patients about the treatments, but none of them recalled what would almost certainly have been a memorable experience. In addition to performing scores of seemingly unnecessary procedures that could result in chronic pain, medical complications, and further operations, Lund had apparently billed patients for treatments he had never administered. Zeidler was alarmed and distressed. “We go into this profession to care for patients,” he told me. “That is why we become doctors. To find, I felt, someone was doing the exact opposite of that—it was very hard, very hard to accept that someone was willing to do that.” Zeidler knew what he had to do next. As a dental professional, he had certain ethical obligations. He needed to confront Lund directly and give him the chance to account for all the anomalies. Even more daunting, in the absence of a credible explanation, he would have to divulge his discoveries to the patients Lund had bequeathed to him. He would have to tell them that the man to whom they had entrusted their care—some of them for two decades—had apparently deceived them for his own profit. The idea of the dentist as potential charlatan has a long and rich history. In medieval Europe, barbers didn’t just trim hair and shave beards; they were also surgeons, performing a range of minor operations including bloodletting, the administration of enemas, and tooth extraction. Barber surgeons, and the more specialized “tooth drawers,” would wrench, smash, and knock teeth out of people’s mouths with an intimidating metal instrument called a dental key: Imagine a chimera of a hook, a hammer, and forceps. Sometimes the results were disastrous. In the 1700s, Thomas Berdmore, King George III’s “Operator for the Teeth,” described one woman who lost “a piece of jawbone as big as a walnut and three neighbouring molars” at the hands of a local barber. Whatever happened, from that point on, “the professions of dentistry and medicine would develop along separate paths,” writes Mary Otto, a health journalist, in her recent book, Teeth. Becoming a practicing physician requires four years of medical school followed by a three-to-seven-year residency program, depending on the specialty. Dentists earn a degree in four years and, in most states, can immediately take the national board exams, get a license, and begin treating patients. (Some choose to continue training in a specialty, such as orthodontics or oral and maxillofacial surgery.) When physicians complete their residency, they typically work for a hospital, university, or large health-care organization with substantial oversight, strict ethical codes, and standardized treatment regimens. By contrast, about 80 percent of the nation’s 200,000 active dentists have individual practices, and although they are bound by a code of ethics, they typically don’t have the same level of oversight. Read: Why dentistry is separate from medicine Throughout history, many physicians have lamented the segregation of dentistry and medicine. Acting as though oral health is somehow divorced from one’s overall well-being is absurd; the two are inextricably linked. Oral bacteria and the toxins they produce can migrate through the bloodstream and airways, potentially damaging the heart and lungs. Poor oral health is associated with narrowing arteries, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and respiratory disease, possibly due to a complex interplay of oral microbes and the immune system. And some research suggests that gum disease can be an early sign of diabetes, indicating a relationship between sugar, oral bacteria, and chronic inflammation. Dentistry’s academic and professional isolation has been especially detrimental to its own scientific inquiry. Most major medical associations around the world have long endorsed evidence-based medicine. The idea is to shift focus away from intuition, anecdote, and received wisdom, and toward the conclusions of rigorous clinical research. Although the phrase evidence-based medicine was coined in 1991, the concept began taking shape in the 1960s, if not earlier (some scholars trace its origins all the way back to the 17th century). In contrast, the dental community did not begin having similar conversations until the mid-1990s. There are dozens of journals and organizations devoted to evidence-based medicine, but only a handful devoted to evidence-based dentistry. In the past decade, a small cohort of dentists has worked diligently to promote evidence-based dentistry, hosting workshops, publishing clinical-practice guidelines based on systematic reviews of research, and creating websites that curate useful resources. But its adoption “has been a relatively slow process,” as a 2016 commentary in the Contemporary Clinical Dentistry journal put it. Part of the problem is funding: Because dentistry is often sidelined from medicine at large, it simply does not receive as much money from the government and industry to tackle these issues. “At a recent conference, very few practitioners were even aware of the existence of evidence-based clinical guidelines,” says Elliot Abt, a professor of oral medicine at the University of Illinois. “You can publish a guideline in a journal, but passive dissemination of information is clearly not adequate for real change.” Among other problems, dentistry’s struggle to embrace scientific inquiry has left dentists with considerable latitude to advise unnecessary procedures—whether intentionally or not. The standard euphemism for this proclivity is overtreatment. Favored procedures, many of which are elaborate and steeply priced, include root canals, the application of crowns and veneers, teeth whitening and filing, deep cleaning, gum grafts, fillings for “microcavities”—incipient lesions that do not require immediate treatment—and superfluous restorations and replacements, such as swapping old metal fillings for modern resin ones. Whereas medicine has made progress in reckoning with at least some of its own tendencies toward excessive and misguided treatment, dentistry is lagging behind. It remains “largely focused upon surgical procedures to treat the symptoms of disease,” Mary Otto writes. “America’s dental care system continues to reward those surgical procedures far more than it does prevention.” “Excessive diagnosis and treatment are endemic,” says Jeffrey H. Camm, a dentist of more than 35 years who wryly described his peers’ penchant for “creative diagnosis” in a 2013 commentary published by the American Dental Association. “I don’t want to be damning. I think the majority of dentists are pretty good.” But many have “this attitude of ‘Oh, here’s a spot, I’ve got to do something.’ I’ve been contacted by all kinds of practitioners who are upset because patients come in and they already have three crowns, or 12 fillings, or another dentist told them that their 2-year-old child has several cavities and needs to be sedated for the procedure.” Trish Walraven, who worked as a dental hygienist for 25 years and now manages a dental-software company with her husband in Texas, recalls many troubling cases: “We would see patients seeking a second opinion, and they had treatment plans telling them they need eight fillings in virgin teeth. We would look at X-rays and say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ It was blatantly overtreatment—drilling into teeth that did not need it whatsoever.” Joyce Cordi’s new dentist says her X-rays resemble those of someone who had reconstructive facial surgery following a car crash. Studies that explicitly focus on overtreatment in dentistry are rare, but a recent field experiment provides some clues about its pervasiveness. A team of researchers at ETH Zurich, a Swiss university, asked a volunteer patient with three tiny, shallow cavities to visit 180 randomly selected dentists in Zurich. The Swiss Dental Guidelines state that such minor cavities do not require fillings; rather, the dentist should monitor the decay and encourage the patient to brush regularly, which can reverse the damage. Despite this, 50 of the 180 dentists suggested unnecessary treatment. Their recommendations were incongruous: Collectively, the overzealous dentists singled out 13 different teeth for drilling; each advised one to six fillings. Similarly, in an investigation for Reader’s Digest, the writer William Ecenbarger visited 50 dentists in 28 states in the U.S. and received prescriptions ranging from a single crown to a full-mouth reconstruction, with the price tag starting at about $500 and going up to nearly $30,000. A multitude of factors has conspired to create both the opportunity and the motive for widespread overtreatment in dentistry. In addition to dentistry’s seclusion from the greater medical community, its traditional emphasis on procedure rather than prevention, and its lack of rigorous self-evaluation, there are economic explanations. The financial burden of entering the profession is high and rising. In the U.S., the average debt of a dental-school graduate is more than $200,000. And then there’s the expense of finding an office, buying new equipment, and hiring staff to set up a private practice. A dentist’s income is entirely dependent on the number and type of procedures he or she performs; a routine cleaning and examination earns only a baseline fee of about $200. In parallel with the rising cost of dental school, the amount of tooth decay in many countries’ populations has declined dramatically over the past four decades, mostly thanks to the introduction of mass-produced fluoridated toothpaste in the 1950s and ’60s. In the 1980s, with fewer genuine problems to treat, some practitioners turned to the newly flourishing industry of cosmetic dentistry, promoting elective procedures such as bleaching, teeth filing and straightening, gum lifts, and veneers. It’s easy to see how dentists, hoping to buoy their income, would be tempted to recommend frequent exams and proactive treatments—a small filling here, a new crown there—even when waiting and watching would be better. It’s equally easy to imagine how that behavior might escalate. “If I were to sum it up, I really think the majority of dentists are great. But for some reason we seem to drift toward this attitude of ‘I’ve got tools so I’ve got to fix something’ much too often,” says Jeffrey Camm. “Maybe it’s greed, or paying off debt, or maybe it’s someone’s training. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that even something that seems minor, like a filling, involves removal of a human body part. It just adds to the whole idea that you go to a physician feeling bad and you walk out feeling better, but you go to a dentist feeling good and you walk out feeling bad.” In the summer of 2013, Zeidler asked several other dentists to review Lund’s records. They all agreed with his conclusions. The likelihood that Lund’s patients genuinely needed that many treatments was extremely low. And there was no medical evidence to justify many of Lund’s decisions or to explain the phantom procedures. Zeidler confronted Lund about his discoveries in several face-to-face meetings. When I asked Zeidler how those meetings went, he offered a single sentence—“I decided shortly thereafter to take legal action”—and declined to comment further. (Repeated attempts were made to contact Lund and his lawyer for this story, but neither responded.) Lund was arrested in May 2016 and released on $250,000 bail. The Santa Clara County district attorney’s office is prosecuting a criminal case against him based on 26 counts of insurance fraud. At the time of his arraignment, he said he was innocent of all charges. The Dental Board of California is seeking to revoke or suspend Lund’s license, which is currently inactive. The World's Oldest Dental Filling Was Made of Beeswax Many of Lund’s former patients worry about their future health. A root canal is not a permanent fix. It requires maintenance and, in the long run, may need to be replaced with a dental implant. One of Mitchell’s root canals has already failed: The tooth fractured, and an infection developed. He said that in order to treat the infection, the tooth was extracted and he underwent a multistage procedure involving a bone graft and months of healing before an implant and a crown were fixed in place. “I don’t know how much these root canals are going to cost me down the line,” Mitchell says. “Six thousand dollars a pop for an implant—it adds up pretty quick.” Joyce Cordi’s new dentist says her X‑rays resemble those of someone who had reconstructive facial surgery following a car crash. Because Lund installed her new dental bridges improperly, one of her teeth is continually damaged by everyday chewing. “It hurts like hell,” she says. She has to wear a mouth guard every night. What some of Lund’s former patients regret most are the psychological repercussions of his alleged duplicity: the erosion of the covenant between practitioner and patient, the germ of doubt that infects the mind. “You lose your trust,” Mitchell says. “You become cynical. I have become more that way, and I don’t like it.” “He damaged the trust I need to have in the people who take care of me,” Cordi says. “He damaged my trust in mankind. That’s an unforgivable crime.” This article appears in the May 2019 print edition with the headline “The Trouble With Dentistry.” | null | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/ExtCSQeuOoA/ | 2019-04-19 19:13:39+00:00 | 1,555,715,619 | 1,567,542,474 | health | medical profession |
501,392 | sottnet--2019-05-07--Three failures of dentistry | 2019-05-07T00:00:00 | sottnet | Three failures of dentistry | Each of these studies determined that removing dental plaque by brushing and flossing was not critical to improve oral health as long as diet was corrected. Specifically, the researchers demonstrated that changing from a diet in high-processed-carbohydrate and inflammatory foods to a diet high-processed-carbohydrate and inflammatory foods will decrease signs of gum disease. Dentists help repair or remove broken, damaged, and diseased teeth. Dentists also help replace missing teeth, correct bite and airway problems, and create beautiful smiles. And dentists help treat the results of many acute and chronic infections in the mouth. Unfortunately, dentistry fails the public in several other critical areas.Here is my take on 3 Failures in Dentistry:I know I will get quite a bit of blowback from my comments in this blog. My intention is to bring to the forefront the weaknesses of my profession so that dental professionals and dental educators can improve the delivery of oral healthcare, which ultimately affects overall health. Also, my intention is to help the public understand the failures I've stated and ask intelligent questions to their healthcare professionals.If dentists were successfully treating and preventing dental diseases, then the prevalence of periodontal disease and tooth decay should be very low. However, dental diseases are at epidemic levels..[1]In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published their results in the Journal of Dental Research. The report was recently updated in 2015 in the Journal of Periodontology.[2] It showedThe CDC's National Center for Health Statistics reported from its most recent data approximately[3][4]The World Health Organization has stated that dental decay is one of the most infectious, non-communicable diseases globally.[5]Many dental materials, medicaments, and procedures are used routinely in the dental office. And many of them have been shown to be potentially toxic to human cells. Of course, toxicity usually depends on the dose and the frequency of exposure. But if a toxic element is in the mouth 24/7, then its presence could be potentially harmful.As you may know, I am treating my aggressive form of multiple myeloma through various unconventional protocols.I've listed a few of the substances and procedures that are frequently used in the dental office that might be toxic for some patients and the dental team. I also have provided links to peer-reviewed articles that go into detail about their toxicities:Three human studies clearly show that nutrition is the critical element to a healthy mouth - Baumgartner (2009)[16], Woelber (2016)[17], Woelber (2019)[18]. I have described these results many times.In a paper published in the Journal of Dental Research in 2015, Aubrey Sheiham summarized many peer-reviewed research articles, which clearly showed that.[19]Detrimental lifestyle, toxic elements in the environment, toxic substances accumulating in the body, and inflammatory foods are major factors that can damage the gut and create unhealthy gut bacteria (gut dysbiosis). Leakage from a damaged gut into the bloodstream and into the lymph fluid can cause systemic chronic inflammation and a compromised immune system. Both systemic chronic inflammation and a compromised immune system can cause havoc in other body tissues including the mouth.In the mouth, these may cause an overgrowth of pathological bacteria. Unhealthy food choices will continue to feed the pathological bacteria. As you know, unhealthy bacteria will cause periodontal disease and tooth decay. Dental diseases potentially could affect all other areas in the body causing a vicious back-and-forth cycle between the mouth, the gut, and other tissues of the body.The 3 failures in dentistry should be addressed and corrected. Dentists need to (1) inform patients about potential toxicity from dental procedures and only use the most biocompatible materials, (2) learn about the obscure causes of dental diseases, and (3) become knowledgeable about causal relationships within the body.[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=20437720 [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4460825/ [3] http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/DataStatistics/FindDataByTopic/DentalCaries/DentalCariesAdults20to64.htm [4] http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/DataStatistics/FindDataByTopic/DentalCaries/DentalCariesSeniors65older.htm [5] http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/149782/1/9789241549028_eng.pdf [6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30099197 [7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6466133/ [8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25813067 [9] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27199224 [10] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5216395/ [11] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29859645 [12] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28510277 [13] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11906-017-0725-2 [14] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27091347 [15] https://fb.cuni.cz/file/5700/FB2013A0027.pdf [16] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19405829 [17] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4962497/pdf/12903_2016_Article_257.pdf [18] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=10.1111%2Fjcpe.13094 [19] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Diet+and+Dental+Caries%3A+The+Pivotal+Role+of+Free+Sugars+Reemphasized | null | https://www.sott.net/article/412505-Three-failures-of-dentistry | 2019-05-07 10:26:06+00:00 | 1,557,239,166 | 1,567,541,009 | health | medical profession |
1,013,080 | thetelegraph--2019-08-13--10 best UK universities for dentistry | 2019-08-13T00:00:00 | thetelegraph | 10 best UK universities for dentistry | Dentistry, while it may not be everyone's first career option, is a pretty exciting field to enter. After all, every aspect of the medical profession and its contributing fields changes and develops each year. On top of that, dentistry graduates have a uniquely clear career path to forge once they've left university. And the numbers prove it. For the top ten best dentistry courses in the UK, almost all students are guaranteed work within the first six months after graduating. To help you make the right choice for you, we've rounded up the top ten universities to study dentistry for 2020, according to the Complete University Guide. The course: The University of Leeds has hovered in and around the top ten for a number of years, but a strong performance in both Research Intensity and Quality have secured its place for 2020. At the School of Dentistry students benefit from gold-standard teaching and exceptional learning facilities. As its courses are varied, it is also easy to specialise in dental surgery (MChD/BChD), oral science (BSc), dental hygiene and dental therapy (BSc Hons), dental technology (BTEC), or take on an advanced apprenticeship in dental nursing or national diploma in dental nursing. | Telegraph Reporters | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education-and-careers/0/10-best-uk-universities-dentistry/ | 2019-08-13 14:25:49+00:00 | 1,565,720,749 | 1,567,534,277 | health | medical profession |
714,944 | theguardianuk--2019-11-18--Veterinary college apologises after vegan outcry over use of sheep in naked calendar | 2019-11-18T00:00:00 | theguardianuk | Veterinary college apologises after vegan outcry over use of sheep in naked calendar | The principal of the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has apologised after vegan activists complained about a naked calendar featuring an image of several students posing with sheep. The college said the calendar would still be published but the “ethically challenged” image would be removed. The photo featured seven male final-year students standing holding live sheep in front of them. According to the British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA), the technique they used to handle the animals is called tipping, “a standard handling mechanism in animal husbandry”. The technique allows vets to examine areas of sheep, such as their feet, that are not accessible while the animals are standing. The BCVA says sheep tipping is “widely recognised as being safe and pain-free for the animals”. The Veterinary Vegan Network (VVN) said in a Facebook post, since deleted, that the photo was “deeply disturbing”. The RVC said some students received comments that were “obscene, threatening and … illegal” following the post. It said the threats would be reported to the authorities. The college’s principal, Stuart Reid, apologised to those who had been offended by the image but said there was “no place for harassment or threats” directed at students. “It is with a rather heavy heart that I pen this note to a rather wider readership than I might have anticipated,” he said. “For a number of years, the RVC student body in final year have produced a calendar, a proportion of whose proceeds go to nominated charities. “There can be no denying that in more recent times these activities have started to divide opinion, both within the RVC community and in wider society.” Reid said the college had learned lessons about “the need to understand a changing world”. “No student is being blamed, individually or collectively, and we will work together to ensure these events do not happen again,” he said. “To those who have taken offence at the calendar, I apologise. It may have fallen short of the standards some expect in terms of animal welfare, but that responsibility is mine. The complaints and attacks should be directed to me and me alone.” A spokeswoman said students affected by the backlash would receive support and the calendar would be published on a date yet to be confirmed. | PA Media | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/18/college-apologises-after-vegan-outcry-over-use-of-sheep-in-naked-calendar | Mon, 18 Nov 2019 14:39:49 GMT | 1,574,105,989 | 1,574,105,090 | health | medical profession |
783,528 | theirishtimes--2019-01-22--Hundreds of veterinary inspector positions for Brexit being filled at a trickle | 2019-01-22T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Hundreds of veterinary inspector positions for Brexit being filled at ‘a trickle’ | Hundreds of new veterinary inspector positions promised as part of Brexit preparations are being filled at “a trickle” just weeks away from the UK’s expected departure, the organisation representing the profession has claimed. The Veterinary Officers Association (VOA) said it has become “increasingly alarmed with the [Department of Agriculture’s] response to the impending crisis”. Patrick Holmes, association president, told The Irish Times:”They are not happening...the clock is running down.” Last July the Cabinet agreed to hire 700 additional customs officials and 300 extra staff to carry out checks on agricultural produce and animals travelling between Ireland and the UK. The VOA represents full-time veterinarians responsible for ensuring EU rules on food standards and animal safety and welfare are met. It has raised its concerns around the Brexit-related jobs alongside a separate internal dispute with the department over staff recruitment and mobility practices. A number of veterinary management posts, one of which has remained unfilled for seven years, are due to be filled. However, in managing the process the department has been accused by the association of scrapping a 20-year-old mechanism through which the appointment process had previously worked. According to Mr Holmes, the previous arrangement would have allowed senior veterinary staff to transfer into the new roles. The department has indicated its intention to appoint less experienced staff from a panel instead. The VOA called it an “unwarranted and hostile management action”. Mobility amongst senior superintendent level staff between laboratory work and the area of food safety and animal welfare inspections is now said to be under threat. The VOA said its members had agreed last year to enter a process of arbitration with department officials to address the issue but it had now been “escalated” by the department’s actions, the association said. Its executive will meet in the coming days to consider its response, which could prompt anything up to and including industrial action. Mr Holmes said the organisation would be guided by its membership. In response, the department said the issues raised by the VOA referred to transfer arrangements whereby posts were filled on the basis of seniority. However, it said the decision to fill six specific vacancies at the centre of the dispute was “unrelated to any decision on the number of additional veterinary staff that will be required in the event of a disorderly exit from the EU by the UK”. In a statement, the department said it and the VOA had been unable to reach agreement on proposals to designate a small number of “critical senior management positions”. “Given the uncertainties that have arisen in relation to Brexit, and the risks to Irish agriculture that Brexit poses, the department deemed it necessary to accelerate these appointments by designating the posts in question and filling them from existing promotion panels. “The department remains committed to the resolution of the substantive issue in dispute going forward through the agreed dispute resolution mechanisms.” | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/hundreds-of-veterinary-inspector-positions-for-brexit-being-filled-at-a-trickle-1.3765871 | 2019-01-22 01:22:35+00:00 | 1,548,138,155 | 1,567,551,384 | health | medical profession |
651,285 | thedailyrecord--2019-08-02--Orthopaedic surgery shake-up in Perth | 2019-08-02T00:00:00 | thedailyrecord | Orthopaedic surgery shake-up in Perth | More planned orthopaedic surgery could be carried out in Perth, as part of new proposals for the region. NHS Tayside is planning a redesign of its orthopaedic services as part of a transformation programme. Its ‘Shaping orthopaedic services’ proposal aims to improve patient outcomes and the quality and safety of the care they receive, and will involve making changes to where surgeons, doctors and nurses work in the region. The plan is to have all unplanned orthopaedic trauma operations carried out at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, with patients who require further care being transferred thereafter to their closest hospital within 48 to 72 hours after their surgery. Meanwhile, centres of excellence for planned surgery will be established at both Perth Royal Infirmary and Stracathro Hospital, where expert health professionals will work to provide specialist care and treatment. This will mean more planned orthopaedic operations will be carried out in Perth. It is hoped this will create 400 more operations in the region each year, and reduce waiting times. Sankar Sripada, consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon at NHS Tayside, launched a consultation into the proposals and said: “It is vital that services are designed to manage both unplanned trauma care and planned care as effectively as possible to benefit patients and to ensure we use NHS resources in the best way. “Patient safety and high quality care are our top priorities. “The proposed redesign of orthopaedic services will ensure the long-term sustainability of orthopaedic services in NHS Tayside and will improve the quality of care and enhance patient safety. “Feedback from our communities is vital and we would encourage members of the public to take part in the consultation and share their views on the proposed future plans for orthopaedic services in Tayside.” Surgeons, doctors, nurses and other members of the clinical team have been leading the consultation and looking into the different options available for the service. The clinically preferred option was presented to the board of NHS Tayside who supported the option to move all emergency orthopaedic surgery to Dundee. NHS Tayside says because more people are living longer, demand on orthopaedic services is set to rise over the next 20 years, and the health board cannot continue operating the way it does just now. Currently, emergency orthopaedic trauma operations are carried out in both Perth and Dundee, but the health board says there is evidence to show separating planned and emergency surgery is best practice to make sure patients receive the right care in the right place. NHS Tayside hopes the redesign of orthopaedic services will allow it to deliver high quality care, respond to the growing numbers of patients, reduce patient waiting times and make best use of its three acute hospitals. The ‘Shaping orthopaedic services’ consultation will run until Thursday, October 31. | [email protected] (Rachel Clark) | https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/orthopaedic-surgery-shake-up-perth-18819330 | 2019-08-02 16:28:52+00:00 | 1,564,777,732 | 1,567,535,032 | health | medical profession |
498,277 | sottnet--2019-03-11--Eye injuries epidemic at Yellow Vest protests French ophthalmologists demand Macron ban rubber bull | 2019-03-11T00:00:00 | sottnet | Eye injuries epidemic at Yellow Vest protests: French ophthalmologists demand Macron ban rubber bullets | Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear. | null | https://www.sott.net/article/408930-Eye-injuries-epidemic-at-Yellow-Vest-protests-French-ophthalmologists-demand-Macron-ban-rubber-bullets | 2019-03-11 16:16:16+00:00 | 1,552,335,376 | 1,567,546,776 | health | medical profession |
127,292 | dailyheraldchicago--2019-06-17--How Good Samaritan Hospitals new operating room opens surgical possibilities | 2019-06-17T00:00:00 | dailyheraldchicago | How Good Samaritan Hospital's new operating room opens surgical possibilities | When doctors choose which way to perform common heart surgeries, they're typically stuck with that route -- largely because of location. Operating rooms where doctors perform minimally invasive procedures, maybe using a catheter inserted in the leg or groin to travel through the blood vessels and access the heart, often don't have the X-ray and ultrasound imaging technology or the anesthesia required to change course and perform a full open-heart surgery if the need arises. But that's no longer an issue at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. The hospital on Monday plans to perform its first surgery inside a new Hybrid Cardiovascular Operating Room designed to provide the technology and space for doctors to use the best type of surgery for each patient. "We can actually have the surgeons and the cardiologists working together in the same room," said Dr. Peter Kerwin, a cardiologist and medical director of the cardiac catheterization lab. "And we have all options open to us, up to and including open-heart surgery." The new space, double the size of a typical operating room, allows all surgical options because it incorporates an X-ray machine and an ultrasound with images displayed on a large screen. "That's important because we need to be able to see everything," Kerwin said. Doctors can use real-time images to guide precision procedures, such as mitral valve repair or aortic valve replacement. Surgeons also can use the assistance of an anesthesiologist, equipped with all of the medications needed for moderate "twilight" or full sedation. "It allows us to move into this new area in cardiology," Kerwin said. Four doctors and up to six nurses or other medical experts will work as a team to conduct each surgery in the new space, into which the hospital invested several years of planning, several rounds of simulations and millions of dollars, President Nancy Tinsley said. Dr. Mahesh Raju, a cardiologist and medical director of endovascular services, said the new operating room will decrease the time it takes to perform procedures and make the experience safer for patients. Using a hybrid approach between open-heart surgery and catheter insertion in the leg or groin, doctors can make an incision much closer to the heart -- in the neck, for example -- to decrease potential complications. "When you have a shortcut, your risk goes down," Raju said. And so does time in the hospital and recovery time at home. The new hybrid operating room is part of the Advocate Heart Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital, which includes an outpatient clinic, diagnostics, inpatient and surgical units, and an advanced heart failure treatment area -- nearly all in one place near the hospital's main entrance. The new facility adds to the hospital's "extremely comprehensive" list of cardiovascular services, Tinsley said. "We consider ourselves the complex care provider in the community," she said. "No matter what your cardiac symptom is, we're your one-stop shop." And it follows the hospital's history of advances in cardiac care, Kerwin said. In 1987, Good Samaritan became the first recorded community hospital to treat heart attacks with clot-dissolving medications, he said. Previously, only research hospitals had tried this method. And in 2002, Kerwin said, Good Samaritan became one of the first in the nation to address heart attacks by following a now-standard "cardiac alert process" that involves coordinating with paramedics to bring patients directly to a catheterization lab where they can get immediate help. | null | http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20190617/how-good-samaritan-hospitals-new-operating-room-opens-surgical-possibilities- | 2019-06-17 10:23:40+00:00 | 1,560,781,420 | 1,567,539,053 | health | medical profession |
573,304 | tass--2019-11-10--Russian surgical robots to appear in hospitals within two years - RDIF | 2019-11-10T00:00:00 | tass | Russian surgical robots to appear in hospitals within two years - RDIF | MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/. Hospitals will receive domestically produced robotic surgical systems as early as in the span of a year or two, chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV Channel. "The surgical robot will appear in ordinary hospitals as early as in a year or two," Dmitriev said. It has advantages over the Da Vinci robot [a robotic surgery system produced in the US - TASS]. Our [robot] will be cheaper, it will be more accurate. Application of artificial intelligence technologies will make possible for it to perform a wider range of operations," he added. The Fund completed the first round of investments into Assisted Surgical Technologies (AST), the domestic developer and producer of innovative surgical robots, RDIF said earlier. According to the Fund, AST expects to capture up to 50% of the domestic robotic market in such kinds of medical services as abdominal, gynecological and urological surgery. | null | https://tass.com/society/1087868 | Sun, 10 Nov 2019 05:40:05 +0300 | 1,573,382,405 | 1,573,388,462 | health | medical profession |
650,669 | thedailyrecord--2019-07-06--Top Glasgow cosmetics doc shares incredible before and after pics of non-surgical procedures | 2019-07-06T00:00:00 | thedailyrecord | Top Glasgow cosmetics doc shares incredible before and after pics of non-surgical procedures | Forget going under the knife...cosmetic surgery is changing and the surgeon’s scalpel could soon become a thing of the past. New techniques, from non-surgical liposuction to nose contouring, pain-free facelifts and even an alternative to traditional high-risk gastric band surgery, mean less plastic surgery procedures are being carried out. Glasgow Botox and filler practitioner Dr Darren McKeown said traditional operations are being superseded by less invasive options. He added: “There has been a perception that non-surgical treatments must mean inferior results. We’re now reaching the point where non-surgical can reach some of the results of surgical procedures and, in some cases, be better. They do that without any of the risks or side-effects.” New procedures are becoming so popular so fast because none of them require an anaesthetic or a stay in hospital. And they have none of the risks and complications associated with traditional plastic surgery. Darren’s clinic is offering CoolSculpting as an alternative to liposuction. The results, he said, speak for themselves. He added: “I can say that, having had liposuction myself, complications don’t happen that often, but the recovery process is pretty traumatic. “It’s painful, you are in compression garments for six weeks. No matter how expert the surgeon, there’s always a wee bump there, a wee dent there. “This costs about the same, so it’s not cheap but do it properly and by god does it work. “We technically still offer liposuction but we are thinking about stopping. Why offer an invasive procedure when there is a non-invasive alternative? “Liposuction is still considered the gold standard in spot fat reduction treatment but in the next 10-15 years, no one will be doing it.” CoolSculpting works by freezing the fat cells in problem areas under the skin. Once they have been destroyed, they are gradually broken down and processed by the liver. Darren is hosting a CoolSculpting event at Glasgow’s Princes Square from July 10-24 to show people how it works. The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons report that liposuction has fallen by 46 per cent in the last four years. Surgical facelifts have gone down 67 per cent and nose jobs by 44 per cent. Darren is also at the forefront of facelifts using fillers and nose and chin contouring. He said: “Fillers get a really bad name. People think of fillers as big, fat, puffy faces. That’s just not the way it should look. “As the face ages, it does lose fat and needs to plump up. But the more profound changes are at the level of the bone. The skeleton is shrinking, the jaw and cheekbones are getting smaller, the eye sockets are getting bigger, there’s less bone around them. “These fillers will need to be topped up every two years or so. But over 10 years – the life span of a facelift – the cost is about the same.” Darren also uses fillers to reshape the nose. And there is a new injectable chin implant that has replaced a major operation on the jaw or a silicone chin implant. Sam Robson, another aesthetic doctor, is pioneering a weightloss treatment that is getting as good results as gastric band and bariatric surgery. The five-step programme is led by a team of professional therapists, nutritionists, psychologists and personal trainers at her Temple Clinic in Aberdeen. The former GP said: “For some people, surgery will always be an option. But for a lot of others, we are getting just as good results. “This is something I am incredibly passionate about. Many of the patients I used to see in my practice had health conditions related to their weight. Often, they asked me about surgery to control their eating. “Gastric band or stomach sleeve surgery is not always the right option. Like all surgical procedures, there are risks and with these operations, it means that the way you eat and what you can eat is changed forever.” | [email protected] (Lorna Hughes) | https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/top-glasgow-cosmetics-doc-shares-17479043 | 2019-07-06 03:30:00+00:00 | 1,562,398,200 | 1,567,536,661 | health | medical profession |
5,514 | activistpost--2019-09-05--Psychiatry in Charge of Gun Control Utter Disaster | 2019-09-05T00:00:00 | activistpost | Psychiatry in Charge of Gun Control: Utter Disaster | During the reign of Barack Obama, mass shootings prompted a White House declaration that community mental health centers would be created across America, in order to spot and treat persons before they committed violent acts. Now, under Trump, we are seeing a similar reaction, with a twist. The Daily Caller, Aug 22, 2019: “Trump Admin Is Considering Using Amazon Echo And Apple Watch To Determine If Citizens Should Own A Gun” “The Trump administration is considering a proposal that would use Google, Amazon and Apple to collect data on users who exhibit characteristics of mental illness that could lead to violent behavior, The Washington Post reported Thursday.” “The proposal is part of an initiative to create a Health Advanced Research Projects Agency (HARPA), which would be located inside the Health and Human Services Department, the report notes, citing sources inside the administration. The new agency would have a separate budget and the president would be responsible for appointing its director.” “HARPA would develop ‘breakthrough technologies with high specificity and sensitivity for early diagnosis of neuropsychiatric violence,’ according to a copy of the proposal. ‘A multi-modality solution, along with real-time data analytics, is needed to achieve such an accurate diagnosis’.” “The document lists several technologies that could be employed to help collect information, including Apple Watches, Amazon Echo and Google Home. Geoffrey Ling, the lead scientific adviser on HARPA, told reporters Thursday the plan would require enormous amounts of data and ‘scientific rigor.’” Translation: Use all available resources to spy on Americans; and by deploying psychiatric definitions of mental disorders, somehow intercede before potentially violent individuals can legally obtain a weapon. Whether or not you favor gun control, creating this new federal agency would be on the order of injecting poisons in people to prevent poisoning. Why? Because some of the most popular psychiatric drugs, given for “mental disorders,” cause people to go over the edge and commit violent acts, including murder. Once diagnosed, an uninformed person is at the mercy of psychiatrists who refuse to admit what their drugs are creating. NOTE: Withdrawing from the drugs without expert supervision can result in effects which are even worse than those resulting from taking the drugs. Here is an excerpt from my 1999 white paper, “Why Do They Do It? School shootings Across America.”: The massacre at Columbine High School took place on April 20, 1999. Astonishingly, for eight days after the tragedy, during thousands of hours of prime-time television coverage, virtually no one mentioned the word “drugs.” Then the issue was opened. Eric Harris, one of the shooters at Columbine, was on at least one drug. The NY Times of April 29, 1999, and other papers reported that Harris was rejected from enlisting in the Marines for medical reasons. A friend of the family told the Times that Harris was being treated by a psychiatrist. And then several sources told the Washington Post that the drug prescribed as treatment was Luvox, manufactured by Solvay. In two more days, the “drug-issue” was gone. Luvox is of the same class as Prozac and Zoloft and Paxil. They are labeled SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). They attempt to alleviate depression by changing brain-levels of the natural substance serotonin. Luvox has a slightly different chemical configuration from Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft, and it was approved by the FDA for obsessive-compulsive disorder, although many doctors apparently prescribe it for depression. Prozac is the wildly popular Eli Lilly antidepressant which has been linked to suicidal and homicidal actions. It is now given to young children. Again, its chemical composition is very close to Luvox, the drug that Harris took. Dr. Peter Breggin, the eminent psychiatrist and author (Toxic Psychiatry, Talking Back to Prozac, Talking Back to Ritalin), told me, “With Luvox there is some evidence of a four-percent rate for mania in adolescents. Mania, for certain individuals, could be a component in grandiose plans to destroy large numbers of other people. Mania can go over the hill to psychosis.” Dr. Joseph Tarantolo is a psychiatrist in private practice in Washington DC. He is the president of the Washington chapter of the American Society of Psychoanalytic Physicians. Tarantolo states that “all the SSRIs [including Prozac and Luvox] relieve the patient of feeling. He becomes less empathic, as in `I don’t care as much,’ which means `It’s easier for me to harm you.’ If a doctor treats someone who needs a great deal of strength just to think straight, and gives him one of these drugs, that could push him over the edge into violent behavior.” In Arianna Huffington’s syndicated newspaper column of July 9, 1998, Dr. Breggin states, “I have no doubt that Prozac can cause or contribute to violence and suicide. I’ve seen many cases. In a recent clinical trial, 6 percent of the children became psychotic on Prozac. And manic psychosis can lead to violence.” A study from the September 1989 Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, by Joseph Lipiniski, Jr., indicates that in five examined cases people on Prozac developed what is called akathesia. Symptoms include intense anxiety, inability to sleep, the “jerking of extremities,” and “bicycling in bed or just turning around and around.” Dr. Breggin comments that akathesia “may also contribute to the drug’s tendency to cause self-destructive or violent tendencies … Akathesia can become the equivalent of biochemical torture and could possibly tip someone over the edge into self-destructive or violent behavior … The June 1990 Health Newsletter, produced by the Public Citizen Research Group, reports, ‘Akathesia, or symptoms of restlessness, constant pacing, and purposeless movements of the feet and legs, may occur in 10-25 percent of patients on Prozac.’” “Emergence of self-destructive phenomena in children and adolescents during fluoxetine [Prozac] treatment,” published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1991, vol.30), written by RA King, RA Riddle, et al. It reports self-destructive phenomena in 14% (6/42) of children and adolescents (10-17 years old) who had treatment with fluoxetine (Prozac) for obsessive-compulsive disorder. July, 1991. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Hisako Koizumi, MD, describes a thirteen-year-old boy who was on Prozac: “full of energy,” “hyperactive,” “clown-like.” All this devolved into sudden violent actions which were “totally unlike him.” September, 1991. The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Author Laurence Jerome reports the case of a ten-year old who moves with his family to a new location. Becoming depressed, the boy is put on Prozac by a doctor. The boy is then “hyperactive, agitated … irritable.” He makes a “somewhat grandiose assessment of his own abilities.” Then he calls a stranger on the phone and says he is going to kill him. The Prozac is stopped, and the symptoms disappear. The well-known Goodman and Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics reveals a strange fact. It states that Ritalin [given for ADHD] is “structurally related to amphetamines … Its pharmacological properties are essentially the same as those of the amphetamines.” In other words, the only clear difference is legality. And the effects, in layman’s terms, are obvious. You take speed and, sooner or later, you start crashing. You become agitated, irritable, paranoid, delusional, aggressive. In his book, Toxic Psychiatry, Dr. Breggin discusses the subject of drug combinations: “Combining antidepressants [e.g., Prozac, Luvox, Paxil] and psychostimulants [e.g., Ritalin] increases the risk of cardiovascular catastrophe, seizures, sedation, euphoria, and psychosis. Withdrawal from the combination can cause a severe reaction that includes confusion, emotional instability, agitation, and aggression.” Children are frequently medicated with this combination, and when we highlight such effects as aggression, psychosis, and emotional instability, it is obvious that the result is pointing toward the very real possibility of violence. In 1986, The International Journal of the Addictions published a most important literature review by Richard Scarnati. It was titled, “An Outline of Hazardous Side Effects of Ritalin (Methylphenidate)” [v.21(7), pp. 837-841]. Scarnati listed over a hundred adverse affects of Ritalin and indexed published journal articles for each of these symptoms. For every one of the following (selected and quoted verbatim) Ritalin effects then, there is at least one confirming source in the medical literature: • Paranoid delusions • Paranoid psychosis • Hypomanic and manic symptoms, amphetamine-like psychosis • Activation of psychotic symptoms • Toxic psychosis • Visual hallucinations • Auditory hallucinations • Can surpass LSD in producing bizarre experiences • Effects pathological thought processes • Extreme withdrawal • Terrified affect • Started screaming • Aggressiveness • Insomnia • Since Ritalin is considered an amphetamine-type drug, expect amphatamine-like effects • psychic dependence • High-abuse potential DEA Schedule II Drug • Decreased REM sleep • When used with antidepressants one may see dangerous reactions including hypertension, seizures and hypothermia • Convulsions • Brain damage may be seen with amphetamine abuse. Other ADHD medications, which also have a chemical profile similar to amphetamines, would be expected to produce some of the same effects listed above. The ICSPP (International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology) News publishes the following warning in bold letters: “Do Not Try to Abruptly Stop Taking Psychiatric Drugs. When trying to withdraw from many psychiatric drugs, patients can develop serious and even life-threatening emotional and physical reactions…Therefore, withdrawal from psychiatric drugs should be done under clinical supervision…” —end of excerpts from my 1999 white paper on school shootings and psychiatric drugs— There is a problem. It is chilling. Pharmaceutical companies, which manufacture drug after drug for “mental disorders,” are doing everything they can to cover up the drugs’ connection to violence. They use their lawyers and PR people—and their influence over the press—to scrub the connection. And now, one typical, disturbing, official reaction to every new mass shooting is: build more community mental health facilities. Obama was prominent in this regard, after Sandy Hook in 2012. The implication? More drug prescriptions for more people; thus, more violent consequences. I’ll close with another excerpt from my 1999 report. It is the tragic account of Julie Marie Meade (one account of many you can find at ssristories.org (also here)): Dr. Joseph Tarantolo has written about Julie Marie Meade. In a column for the ICSPP (International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology) News, “Children and Prozac: First Do No Harm,” Tarantolo describes how Julie Meade, in November of 1996, called 911, “begging the cops to come and shoot her. And if they didn’t do it quickly, she would do it to herself. There was also the threat that she would shoot them as well.” The police came within a few minutes, “5 of them to be exact, pumping at least 10 bullets into her head and torso,” as she waved a gun around. Tarantolo remarks that a friend of Julie said Julie “had plans to make the honor roll and go to college. He [the friend] had also observed her taking all those pills.” What pills? Tarantolo called the Baltimore medical examiner, and spoke with Dr. Martin Bullock, who was on a fellowship at that office. Bullock said, “She had been taking Prozac for four years.” Tarantolo asked Bullock, “Did you know that Prozac has been implicated in impulsive de novo violence and suicidalness?” Bullock said he was not aware of this. Tarantolo is careful to point out, “Violent and suicidal behavior have been observed both early (a few weeks) and late (many months) in treatment with Prozac.” The November 23rd, 1996, Washington Post reported the Julie Meade death by police shooting. The paper mentioned nothing about Prozac. Therefore, readers were left in the dark. What could explain this girl’s bizarre and horrendous behavior? The answer was there in plain sight. But the Post refused to make it known. Mainstream psychiatrists would certainly be in charge of any new Trump program to “predict violent individuals” before they obtain a gun or commit heinous acts. The program wouldn’t just fail. It would increase violence. Two questions always pop up when I write a critique of psychiatry. The first one is: psychiatric researchers are doing a massive amount of work studying brain function. They do have tests. Yes, experimental tests. But NONE of those tests are contained in the DSM, the psychiatric bible, as the basis of the definition of ANY mental disorder. If the tests were conclusive, they would be heralded in the DSM. They aren’t. The second question is: if all these mental disorders are fiction, why are so many people saddled with problems? Why are some people off the rails? Why are they crazy? The list of potential answers is very long. A real practitioner would focus on one patient at a time and try to discover what has affected him to such a marked degree. For example: Severe nutritional deficiency. Toxic dyes and colors in processed food. Ingestion of pesticides and herbicides. Profound sensitivities to certain foods. The ingestion of toxic pharmaceuticals. Life-altering damage as a result of vaccines. Exposure to environmental chemicals. Heavy physical and emotional abuse in the home or at school. Battlefield stress and trauma (also present in certain neighborhoods). Prior head injury. Chronic infection. Alcohol and street drugs. Debilitating poverty. Other items could be added. Psychiatry is: fake, fraud, pseudoscience from top to bottom. It’s complete fiction dressed up as fact. But the obsessed devotees of science back away from this. They close their eyes. If a “branch of knowledge” as extensive as psychiatry is nothing more than an organized delusion, what other aspect of science might likewise be parading as truth, when it is actually mere paper blowing in the wind? And yet, the Trump administration, following the same general game plan as the Obama administration, is seriously considering the creation of a whole new federal agency that will somehow use “psychiatric knowledge” (an oxymoron), as a guide, to carry out new forms of surveillance on the whole population and intercede, when individuals with “mental disorders” try to buy a gun in order to commit a violent crime. Not only will this strategy utterly fail, it will, through the prescription of violence-inducing drugs, make the tragedies expand and multiply. The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free NoMoreFakeNews emails here or his free OutsideTheRealityMachine emails here. Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Follow us on Minds, Twitter, Steemit, and SoMee. Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $1 per month. Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today. | Activist Post | https://www.activistpost.com/2019/09/psychiatry-in-charge-of-gun-control-utter-disaster.html | 2019-09-05 15:55:56+00:00 | 1,567,713,356 | 1,569,331,162 | health | medical profession |
128,320 | dailyheraldchicago--2019-07-30--Constable Telepsychiatry uses video conferencing to help mental health patients | 2019-07-30T00:00:00 | dailyheraldchicago | Constable: 'Telepsychiatry' uses video conferencing to help mental health patients | With physical health, most people embrace the philosophy that preventive care provided by a vaccine is cheaper, easier and safer than a hospital stay to treat a case of potentially fatal measles. That same concept is true with mental health, says state House Rep. Michelle Mussman, a Democrat from Schaumburg who serves on legislative committees that deal with mental health, human services and elementary education. Paying for the proper psychological help today could save taxpayer money that might otherwise be needed for expensive emergency room visits, hospital stays or prison. "If I had just gotten you help in the community, could you stay out of that situation?" Mussman asked Monday after watching a presentation of "telepsychiatry," which allows someone with a mental health issue to talk with a psychiatrist by way of an online video conference. Mussman, whose 56th House District covers all or parts of Hanover Park, Keeneyville, Roselle, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Schaumburg and Rolling Meadows, joined fellow state Reps. Robyn Gabel, an Evanston Democrat, and Justin Slaughter, a Democrat who represents the South Side of Chicago, for a presentation by Regroup, a Chicago company that is a leader in the telepsychiatry field. Many studies have found that telepsychiatry is just as effective as meeting with a psychiatrist face to face in an office, said Dr. Hossam Mahmoud, medical direct for Regroup. And Dr. Omar Elhaj, a psychologist who talked to the Chicago group by way of a camera in his Ohio home, said "sometimes it's even better than face to face." Elhaj recently treated a prison inmate serving a term for murder who was upset after not being granted permission to attend the funeral of his wife of 25 years. During the session, the doctor, who has worked exclusively as a telepsychiatrist the past two years, pointed his camera out his window so the inmate "could see the grass where his wife would be buried." "That camera gave me something nothing else could have," Elhaj said. Prisons save money by using telepsychiatry instead of transporting a patient to a facility, said David Cohn, founder and CEO of Regroup. Schools can use telepsychiatry in emergencies the same way the school nurse can treat a skinned knee. The cost of a two-day hospital stay could pay for 50 telepsychiatry sessions, Mahmoud said. Mussman said mental health issues have no boundaries. "We talk about mental health in a number of committees," she said. "There's a whole lot of pieces that overlap." She notes that one in four Illinois residents has a mental health need at least once a year. "What are we doing to see those needs get met?" Mussman said. "It's something we've got to figure out." A second group of Illinois legislators, including Rep. Deborah Conroy, a Democrat from Elmhurst, will see the Regroup presentation on Friday. Regroup provides 10,000 telepsychiatry sessions a month across 20 states, but 70 percent of those cases are in Illinois. More than 4.8 million people in Illinois reside in areas without the necessary behavioral health care, according to research from the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics at the University of Southern California. Many of the mental health issues involve people who receive Medicaid benefits, and Illinois has the eighth-lowest reimbursement rate among the 50 states, which can be a disincentive for physicians to accept patients, the research showed. Some private insurance providers won't cover telepsychiatry. Mussman said Illinois must find ways to pay for mental health and treat small issues before they become expensive problems. "Preventive services can save you money in the long run. It's government money well-spent," Mussman says. "But we've got a lot of work to do." | null | http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20190730/constable-telepsychiatry-uses-video-conferencing-to-help-mental-health-patients | 2019-07-30 02:49:52+00:00 | 1,564,469,392 | 1,567,535,393 | health | medical profession |
386,952 | npr--2019-09-09--Telepsychiatry Helps Recruitment And Patient Care In Rural Areas | 2019-09-09T00:00:00 | npr | Telepsychiatry Helps Recruitment And Patient Care In Rural Areas | Dr. Sarfraz Khan, chief medical officer at Meridian Health Services in Indiana, connects with patients over the internet. **Yuki Noguchi/NPR** ****hide caption**** ****toggle caption**** Yuki Noguchi/NPR Dr. Sarfraz Khan, chief medical officer at Meridian Health Services in Indiana, connects with patients over the internet. Yuki Noguchi/NPR It used to take at least nine months for a patient to schedule an initial appointment with a psychiatrist at Meridian Health Services in Indiana. Now, it takes days, thanks to a program that allows doctors to connect over the Internet with patients, reaching those even in remotest corners of the state. That has also helped with recruitment. Over the last several years, Meridian's staff of psychiatric specialists, including nurse practitioners, tripled from four to 12. "In my opinion, it's lifesaving," says Dr. Sarfraz Khan, Meridian's chief medical officer. Meridian increased its investment in telepsychiatry in the last six months, in part because of what Khan says is a burgeoning addiction crisis. "There are drugs and then more drugs and then more and more drugs." Growing problems with addiction and depression have made the country's shortage of mental health professionals much more acute for rural areas. Geographic isolation exacerbates a vicious cycle. A shortage of doctors means patients can't get timely care. The health system atrophies, and doctor recruitment gets even tougher. As a potential workaround, telemedicine is one of the most promising and lucrative opportunities in healthcare. The way it has transformed both psychiatric care and recruitment for Meridian is a case study of its appeal. "There was a time when we were seriously considering: Would it be viable for us to provide psychiatric services because nobody would like to come to small towns?" Khan says. Now, such care is readily available. And it makes more money for Meridian, a provider of mental health and primary care, **** because Medicare and Medicaid pay more for care provided to underserved areas. Meridian set up what it calls a "hive" in Indianapolis, where it's easier to recruit talent. Patients drive to a local Meridian office, where a nurse measures their vitals and observes their demeanor, and sits them in front of a computer. On a split screen, the physician appears at the other end of a secure connection. Patients seem to embrace it. At Meridian's offices in Muncie, Mariah, a visually arresting 20-year-old woman emerges from her first telepsychiatry appointment. She wears a metallic kitty-ear headband over a florescent green wig that matches her dramatic eye shadow. "Yesterday, I had heart-shaped freckles that were like colored glitter, and it also looked like I was crying glitter," she explains. Elaborate costumes help her mask a years-long struggle with depression and anxiety, says Mariah, who declined to use her last time to protect her medical privacy. She says she prefers talking over a computer to an in-person appointment, because it feels less confrontational. "It's easier because they're not there, so I feel like I can tell more, and speak more and truly just be fully real," she says. "If they're sitting right there, I might not want to say everything or say as much." For all its benefits, telemedicine hasn't solved all of Meridian's recruitment needs. "In my offices, I've got probably close to 50 positions that are vacant," says Gerard Cyranowski, one of the company's vice presidents covering the eastern part of Indiana. "It's a tight labor market, there's a limited number of practitioners. They can name their price." So Cyranowski says the company is interested in expanding its use of telemedicine to address staffing challenges in other areas, including primary care and psychotherapy. In the past few months, Meridian has been using it to treat patients in emergency rooms, addiction treatment centers and even schools. | Yuki Noguchi | https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/09/09/746950433/telepsychiatry-helps-recruitment-and-patient-care-in-rural-areas?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | 2019-09-09 19:01:00+00:00 | 1,568,070,060 | 1,569,330,709 | health | medical profession |
430,582 | prisonplanet--2019-05-14--U of Toronto Psychiatry Prof Suspended By Twitter For Saying Transgenderism Is A Mental Disorder | 2019-05-14T00:00:00 | prisonplanet | U. of Toronto Psychiatry Prof Suspended By Twitter For Saying Transgenderism Is A ‘Mental Disorder’ | University of Toronto Professor of Psychiatry Ray Blanchard, PhD, was temporarily suspended from Twitter on Sunday after sharing his professional position on transgenderism after a lifetime of research in the field. Here’s the full statement Blanchard made which got him suspended: Earlier today I wrote this thread in response to a follower who asked me, “What is your actual position on transgender people?” It looks like my reply has not been delivered to a single person besides the original inquirer, so I am reposting it here. My beliefs include the following 6 elements: (1) Transsexualism and milder forms of gender dysphoria are types of mental disorder, which may leave the individual with average or even above-average functioning in unrelated areas of life. (2) Sex change surgery is still the best treatment for carefully screened, adult patients, whose gender dysphoria has proven resistant to other forms of treatment. (3) Sex change surgery should not be considered for any patient until that patient has reached the age of 21 years and has lived for at least two years in the desired gender role. (4) Gender dysphoria is not a sexual orientation, but it is virtually always preceded or accompanied by an atypical sexual orientation – in males, either homosexuality (sexual arousal by members of one’s own biological sex) . . . or autogynephilia (sexual arousal at the thought or image of oneself as a female). (5) There are two main types of gender dysphoria in males, one associated with homosexuality and one associated with autogynephilia. Traditionally, the great bulk of female-to-male transsexuals has been homosexual in erotic object choice. (6) The sex of a postoperative transsexual should be analogous to a legal fiction. This legal fiction would apply to some things (e.g., sex designation on a driver’s license) but not to others (entering a sports competition as one’s adopted sex). Blanchard’s suspension was later lifted after widespread outrage. As Tim Pool pointed out in a recent interview with Jack Dorsey and Vijaya Gadde on Joe Rogan’s show, Twitter’s rules on “misgendering” and “deadnaming” demand that users submit to their radical, far-left gender ideology or risk being banned: Twitter’s “hateful conduct” policy mandates that users not “deadname” transgender people by referring them to using their birth name or “misgender” transgender people, which in this case means referring to them as their actual biological gender rather than the gender they’ve chosen to identify with. Facebook came up with a similar speech mandate earlier this month after banning Paul Joseph Watson and others where they declared that users are no longer allowed to share links to Infowars unless they’re “explicitly condemning the content.” Perhaps Big Tech could hold a conference in the future and bring all their “trust and safety” teams together to create a list of all the prog-globalist political beliefs we’re all mandated to espouse in order to keep our accounts on social media? This article was posted: Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at 6:05 am | admin | https://www.prisonplanet.com/u-of-toronto-psychiatry-prof-suspended-by-twitter-for-saying-transgenderism-is-a-mental-disorder.html | 2019-05-14 11:05:49+00:00 | 1,557,846,349 | 1,567,540,765 | health | medical profession |
461,089 | renegadetribune--2019-05-27--Psychiatry in the Military The Hidden Enemy | 2019-05-27T00:00:00 | renegadetribune | Psychiatry in the Military: The Hidden Enemy | This documentary shows how the army is exploited as Psychiatry’s testing ground for drugs and other inhumane “treatment” which have resulted in exponential growth of military suicides. Currently, more US soldiers die from suicide than from combat. | renegade | http://www.renegadetribune.com/psychiatry-in-the-military-the-hidden-enemy/ | 2019-05-27 14:22:46+00:00 | 1,558,981,366 | 1,567,540,136 | health | medical profession |
605,788 | thedailycaller--2019-08-22--Yale Psychiatry Professor Sexually Assaulted Five Male Students Report | 2019-08-22T00:00:00 | thedailycaller | Yale Psychiatry Professor Sexually Assaulted Five Male Students: Report | Former Yale psychiatry professor Eugene Redmond sexually assaulted five male students, an independent report released by Yale reveals. Redmond served as Yale faculty for 44 years, during which time he allegedly assaulted five students in an intern program that he ran, according to CNN. Yale ordered an investigation into Redmond’s conduct after a student filed a complaint of sexual misconduct against the professor in March 2018. The investigation revealed that there had been other complaints against Redmond as many as 24 years ago. The 54-page report found “five credible accounts of sexual assaults in a shared bedroom, three incidents where Redmond conducted inappropriate medical examinations, and multiple other forms of sexual harassment.” (RELATED: ‘Largest Pedophile Ring On Earth’: Abuse Lawyers Make First Case Against The Boy Scouts) These sexual assaults involved male students and incidents which allegedly took place at a private residence on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, at the psychiatry professor’s home, at a location on Yale’s campus and in other locations off campus. Redmond reportedly sexually assaulted these male students in bed after drinking with them. Students said that Redmond accepted more students into his program than he had beds for, according to the report. The Yale School of Medicine initially launched an investigation in 1994 after two of Redmond’s summer interns said that he had sexually molested them. Redmond signed a settlement that required him to end his program and stop recruiting or supervising students at St. Kitts as well as live in separate housing. But Redmond violated the settlement beginning in 2001 and continuing until at least 2017, according to the report. He retired in July 2018 after he was disciplined by Yale and banned from campus, according to CNN. “…if Yale had implemented a longstanding monitoring program after the 1994 investigation, Redmond’s ongoing misconduct might well have been detected and stopped,” the report said. “In addition, at various points after 1994, several members of the Yale community had concerns about Redmond’s subsequent interactions with certain students, which, if they had pursued, might have prompted Yale to further scrutinize Redmond’s conduct and potentially uncover his misconduct.” Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]. | Mary Margaret Olohan | https://dailycaller.com/2019/08/22/yale-psychiatry-professor-sexually-assaulted-five-male-students-report/ | 2019-08-22 14:38:58+00:00 | 1,566,499,138 | 1,567,533,771 | health | medical profession |
1,016,541 | thetelegraph--2019-09-29--Psychiatry is at risk of imploding because junior doctors see the profession as soft Royal Coll | 2019-09-29T00:00:00 | thetelegraph | Psychiatry is at risk of 'imploding' because junior doctors see the profession as 'soft', Royal College warns | Trainee doctors are being put off becoming psychiatrists because medical school teachers tell them the field is “not prestigious”, health leaders have said. The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) is calling for the number of medical school places to be doubled to prevent the profession “imploding”, due in part to stigma among students. The body says the move would create an extra 4,497 consultant psychiatrists within ten years. Currently, just 5.6 per cent of junior doctors opt for a career in mental health, leaving the workforce understaffed and “over-reliant” on foreign medics. RCP last night said the situation is exacerbated by a tendency among some medical school lecturers to talk down the speciality. Dr Kate Lovett, Dean of the college, cited examples of students sniggering at the back of classes on depression because “they think it’s soft”. | Henry Bodkin | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/29/psychiatry-risk-imploding-junior-doctors-see-profession-soft/ | 2019-09-29 18:30:00+00:00 | 1,569,796,200 | 1,570,221,957 | health | medical profession |
66,022 | birminghammail--2019-09-01--The best GP surgeries and doctors in Birmingham revealed for 2019 | 2019-09-01T00:00:00 | birminghammail | The best GP surgeries and doctors in Birmingham revealed for 2019 | The top doctors surgeries in Birmingham can be revealed today - but where does yours rank? Keynell Court surgery in Kings Norton has beaten scores of other practices in the city to claim the number one spot as the patients’ choice. West Health Primary Care Centre was second and Selly Park Surgery in Selly Park was third. The new league table is based on the latest findings from the GP Patient Survey - a huge ongoing poll involving more than a million people a year. It covers everything from the trust patients have in their doctor, to the attitude of reception staff and how easy it is to get an appointment. Our data team has crunched the numbers in seven key areas: how easy it is to get an appointment, whether opening times are convenient, whether people trust the GP, whether the GP listens to them, whether the GP treats them with care and concern, whether receptionists are helpful, and how patients rate their overall experience. Nearly 95 per cent of patients at Keynell Court felt their doctor listened to them properly, while more than 97 per cent said they were treated with care and concern. One hundred per cent said reception staff were helpful, and 98 per cent said their overall experience of the surgery was good. You can find out how your local surgery performed by typing its name or postcode into our interactive gadget. In order to rank all surgeries nationwide, the Reach Data Unit looked at weighted survey results in each of the seven key areas. Each surgery was given a rank for its performance in each area. Those category rankings were then added up to give an overall ranking. Surgeries which had fewer than 50 responses were excluded on the basis that the sample was too small to draw reliable conclusions. | [email protected] (David Ottewell, James Rodger) | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/best-gp-surgeries-doctors-birmingham-16841742 | 2019-09-01 04:30:00+00:00 | 1,567,326,600 | 1,569,331,676 | health | medical profession |
103,250 | cnn--2019-03-18--What Medicare for all means for doctors and hospitals | 2019-03-18T00:00:00 | cnn | What Medicare for all means for doctors and hospitals | (CNN) Americans generally don't like the idea of giving up their private health insurance. Hospitals and doctors don't want them to, either. Private insurers typically pay medical providers a whole lot more than Medicare and Medicaid. And that's one of the main reasons why many hospitals and doctors oppose Medicare for all proposals that would eliminate or minimize private insurance. The renewed interest in Medicare for all has prompted the American Hospital Association, Federation of American Hospitals and American Medical Association to join a national coalition seeking to chill the growing fervor. Instead, they are pushing to strengthen employer-based policies, which currently cover roughly half of Americans. It's not hard to see why. Medicare payments only covered 87% of costs in 2016, the most recent data available from the American Hospital Association. But private insurers paid nearly 145% of their policyholders' hospital expenses. "Hospitals are already paid far less than the cost of caring for Medicare patients, and more patients with Medicare would strain hospitals even more, and could threaten hospitals' survival," wrote Rick Pollack, chief executive of the association, in a blog post last month. Private insurance payments provide the funding hospitals need to offer the care that Americans expect, said Chip Kahn, chief executive of the Federation of American Hospitals, which represents for-profit institutions. "It would be great if we had this national health insurance, but the question is would you then have the system to provide the services," Kahn said. The main Medicare for all legislation would let either the federal government or regional directors set reimbursement rates and create annual budgets based on the Medicare system. Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders' Medicare for all bill, which he floated in 2017 and expects to reintroduce soon, calls for continuing Medicare's current payment formulas but doesn't establish the rates. The House version, unveiled in late February by Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, would establish an annual lump-sum budget for hospitals and other institutions, but pay doctors based on the services they provide. While the key industry group for doctors opposes single-payer proposals such as Medicare for all, some physicians are more open to it, particularly younger ones. Under Medicare for all, there would likely be some redistribution, acknowledged a Sanders staffer. Hospitals and doctors that see a lot of privately insured patients could see their reimbursements drop, but those that take care of the uninsured and Americans on Medicaid, which covers the poor, could wind up making more money under Medicare for all than they do now. "There are tradeoffs," said Sanders spokesman Josh Miller Lewis. "Our goal is to ensure every single person is guaranteed health care, and we do it in the most cost-effective way." But Medicare pays hospitals about 40% less than private insurance for inpatient services and doctors about 30% less for their treatment, according to Charles Blahous, a senior research strategist at the conservative Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a former trustee for Social Security and Medicare. And the gap is expected to grow over time, he says, citing data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Medicare actuary. Other studies of the Sanders plan assume that Medicare will increase its rates to keep up with or even slightly exceed costs -- though that would levy a heavier burden on taxpayers. Plus, proponents say, medical providers will be able to shrink administrative costs, which will save them money, and they will benefit from everyone having coverage. "The vast majority of doctors will not get paid less," Jayapal told reporters before unveiling her bill. "In fact, they'll be seeing many more clients and they won't have to spend sometimes up to 25% of their time on administrative stuff." To contain health care costs, Jayapal wants to pay hospitals under a so-called global budget system, which other developed countries use. So does Maryland, which has specified the amount of annual revenue hospitals can receive from Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers since 2014. Yet some experts question whether Maryland's system can be replicated nationally, especially because Medicare pays higher rates in the state. "It would cause health care spending to balloon beyond what would be affordable for the budget," said Eric Roberts, assistant professor of health policy at the University of Pittsburgh. That could then lead to rate cuts or service reductions, both of which are tough to implement. "You get yourself potentially into a fiscally unsustainable scenario." | Tami Luhby | http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_allpolitics/~3/u_tCHXOmuro/index.html | 2019-03-18 12:02:07+00:00 | 1,552,924,927 | 1,567,545,827 | health | medical profession |
116,495 | collectiveevolution--2019-10-14--12,000 Doctors Urge the FDA to Put Cancer Warnings on Cheese | 2019-10-14T00:00:00 | collectiveevolution | 12,000 Doctors Urge the FDA to Put Cancer Warnings on Cheese | Since the apparent death by suicide of Jeffrey Epstein in a Manhattan prison, much has come to light about his depraved activities and methods used to sexually abuse underage girls and entrap the rich and powerful for the purposes of blackmail. Epstein’s ties to intelligence, described in-depth in a recent MintPress investigative series, have continued to receive minimal mainstream media coverage, which has essentially moved on from the Epstein scandal despite the fact that his many co-conspirators remain on the loose. For those who have examined Epstein’s ties to intelligence, there are clear links to both U.S. intelligence and Israeli intelligence, leaving it somewhat open to debate as to which country’s intelligence apparatus was closest to Epstein and most involved in his blackmail/sex-trafficking activities. A recent interview given by a former high-ranking official in Israeli military intelligence has claimed that Epstein’s sexual blackmail enterprise was an Israel intelligence operation run for the purpose of entrapping powerful individuals and politicians in the United States and abroad. In an interview with Zev Shalev, former CBS News executive producer and award-winning investigative journalist for Narativ, the former senior executive for Israel’s Directorate of Military Intelligence, Ari Ben-Menashe, claimed not only to have met Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, back in the 1980s, but that both Epstein and Maxwell were already working with Israeli intelligence during that time period. In an interview last week with the independent outlet Narativ, Ben-Menashe, who himself was involved in Iran-Contra arms deals, told his interviewer Zev Shalev that he had been introduced to Jeffrey Epstein by Robert Maxwell in the mid-1980s while Maxwell’s and Ben-Menashe’s involvement with Iran-Contra was ongoing. Ben-Menashe did not specify the year he met Epstein. Ben-Menashe told Shalev that “he [Maxwell] wanted us to accept him [Epstein] as part of our group …. I’m not denying that we were at the time a group that it was Nick Davies [Foreign Editor of the Maxwell-Owned Daily Mirror], it was Maxwell, it was myself and our team from Israel, we were doing what we were doing.” Past reporting by Seymour Hersh and others revealed that Maxwell, Davies and Ben-Menashe were involved in the transfer and sale of military equipment and weapons from Israel to Iran on behalf of Israeli intelligence during this time period. He then added that Maxwell had stated during the introduction that “your Israeli bosses have already approved” of Epstein. Shalev later noted that Maxwell “had an extensive network in Israel at the time, which included [the later Prime Minister] Ariel Sharon, according to Ben-Menashe.” Ben-Menashe went on to say that he had “met him [Epstein] a few times in Maxwell’s office, that was it.” He also said he was not aware of Epstein being involved in arms deals for anyone else he knew at the time, but that Maxwell wanted to involve Epstein in the arms transfer in which he, Davies and Ben-Menashe were engaged on Israel’s behalf. However, as MintPress reported in Part IV of the investigative series “Inside the Jeffrey Epstein Scandal: Too Big to Fail,” Epstein was involved with several arms dealers during this period of time, some of whom were directly involved in Iran-Contra arms deals between Israel and Iran. For instance, after leaving Bear Stearns in 1981, Epstein began working in the realms of shadow finance as a self-described “financial bounty hunter,” where he would both hunt down and hide money for powerful people. One of these powerful individuals was Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi arms dealer with close ties to both Israeli and U.S. intelligence and one of the main brokers of Iran-Contra arms deals between Israel and Iran. Epstein would later forge a business relationship with a CIA front company involved in another aspect of Iran-Contra, the airline Southern Air Transport, on behalf of Leslie Wexner’s company, The Limited. During this period, it is also known that Epstein became well acquainted with the British arms dealer Sir Douglas Leese, who collaborated with Khashoggi on at least one British-Saudi arms deal in the 1980s. Leese would later introduce Epstein to Steven Hoffenberg, calling Epstein a “genius” and describing his lack of morals during that introduction. Thus, there are indications that Epstein was involved with Middle Eastern arms deals, including some related to Iran-Contra, during this period. In addition, Epstein would later claim (and then subsequently deny) having worked for the CIA during this period. After having been introduced to Epstein, Ben-Menashe claimed that neither he nor Davies were impressed with Epstein and considered him “not very competent.” He added that Ghislaine Maxwell had “fallen for” Epstein and that he believed that the romantic relationship between his daughter and Epstein led Robert Maxwell to work to bring the latter into the “family business” — i.e., Maxwell’s dealings with Israeli intelligence. This information is very revealing, given that the narrative, until now at least, has been that Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein did not meet and begin their relationship until after Robert Maxwell’s death in 1991, after which Ghislaine moved to New York. Ben-Menashe says that well after the introduction, though again he does not specify what year, Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein began a sexual blackmail operation with the purpose of extorting U.S. political and public figures on behalf of Israeli military intelligence. He stated: He then confirmed, when prompted, that they were blackmailing Americans on behalf of Israeli intelligence. In response to his statement, Zev Shalev replied, “But, you know, for most people it’s hard for them to think of Israel as being … blackmailing their leaders in the United States, it’s a very …” at which point, Ben-Menashe interrupted and the following exchange took place: Ari Ben-Menashe: You’re kidding? [laughs]…. It was quite their M.O. Sleeping around is not a crime, it may be embarrassing, but it’s not a crime, but sleeping with underage girls is a crime. Shalev: It was a crime in 2000 as well, but they let him off that… Ben-Menashe: And that it is [why] always so he [Epstein] made sure these girls were underage. In addition, when Shalev asked Ben-Menashe about the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Ben-Menashe stated “After a while, you know, what Mr. Epstein was doing was collecting intelligence on people in the United States. And so if you want to go to the U.S. if you’re a high-profile politician you want to know information about people.” Ben-Menashe subsequently stated that Barak was obtaining compromising information (i.e., blackmail) that Epstein had acquired on powerful people in the United States. If Robert Maxwell did recruit Epstein and bring him into the “family business” and the world of Israeli intelligence, as Ben-Menashe has claimed, it provides supporting evidence for information provided to MintPress by a former U.S. intelligence official, who chose to remain anonymous in light of the sensitivity of the claim. This source, who has direct knowledge of the unauthorized use of PROMIS to support covert U.S. and Israeli intelligence projects, told MintPress that “some of the proceeds from the illicit sales of PROMIS were made available to Jeffrey Epstein for use in compromising targets of political blackmail.” As was noted in a Mintpress series on the Epstein scandal, much of Epstein’s funding also came from Ohio billionaire Leslie Wexner, who has documented ties to both organized crime and U.S. and Israeli intelligence. After the PROMIS software was stolen from its rightful owner and developer, Inslaw Inc., through the collusion of both U.S. and Israeli officials, it was marketed mainly by two men: Earl Brian, a close aide to Ronald Reagan, later U.S. envoy to Iran and close friend of Israeli spymaster Rafi Eitan; and Robert Maxwell. Brian sold the bugged software through his company, Hadron Inc., while Maxwell sold it through an Israeli company he acquired called Degem. Before and following Maxwell’s acquisition of Degem, the company was a known front for Mossad operations and Mossad operatives in Latin America often posed as Degem employees. With Maxwell — Epstein’s alleged recruiter and father of Epstein’s alleged madam — having been one of the main salespeople involved in selling PROMIS software on behalf of intelligence, he would have been in a key position to furnish Epstein’s nascent sexual blackmail operation with the proceeds from the sale of PROMIS. This link between Epstein’s sexual blackmail operation and the PROMIS software scandal is notable given that the illicit use of PROMIS by U.S. and Israeli intelligence has been for blackmail purposes on U.S. public figures and politicians, as was described in a recent MintPress report. Can an ex-spy be trusted? When dealing in the world of deception and intrigue that defines intelligence operations, it is often difficult to determine whether any individual linked to an intelligence agency is telling the truth. Indeed, in the United States, there are examples of elected intelligence officials committing perjury and lying to Congress on several occasions with no consequences, and of intelligence officials feeding politically motivated and untrue information to agency assets in the media. So, are Ari Ben-Menashe’s claims regarding Epstein and the Maxwells trustworthy? In addition to the aforementioned, corroborating information for his claims, a review of Ben-Menashe’s post-intelligence career suggests this is the case. Prior to his arrest in November 1989, Ben-Menashe was a high-ranking officer in a special unit of Israeli military intelligence. He would later claim that his arrest for attempting to sell American-made weapons to Iran was politically motivated, as he had threatened to expose what the U.S. government had done with the stolen PROMIS software if the U.S. did not cease providing Saddam Hussein’s Iraq with chemical weapons. Ben-Menashe was later acquitted when a U.S. court determined that his involvement in the attempted sale of military equipment to Iran was done on behalf of the Israeli state. After his arrest, Ben-Menashe was visited in prison by Robert Parry, the former Newsweek contributor and Associated Press reporter who would later found and run Consortium News until his recent passing last year. Parry remembered that, during that interview, “Ben-Menashe offered me startling new information about the Iran-Contra scandal, which I thought that I knew quite well.” Israel’s government immediately began to attack Ben-Menashe’s credibility following his interview with Parry, and claimed that Ben-Menashe had never worked for Israeli intelligence. When Parry soon found evidence that Ben-Menashe had indeed served in Israeli military intelligence, Israel’s government was then forced to admit that he had worked for military intelligence, but only as a “low-level translator.” Yet, the documentation Parry had uncovered described Ben-Menashe as having served in “key positions” and performed “complex and sensitive assignments.” A year later, Ben-Menashe would be interviewed by another journalist, Seymour Hersh. It would be Ben-Menashe who first revealed to Hersh secrets about Israel’s nuclear program and the fact that British media mogul Robert Maxwell was an Israeli spy, revelations that Hersh would not only independently corroborate but include in his book The Samson Option: Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy. Hersh was then sued by Robert Maxwell and the Maxwell-owned Mirror Group for libel. The case was later settled in Hersh’s favor, as the claims Hersh had made were true and not libelous. As a result, the Mirror Group paid Hersh for damages, covered his legal costs, and issued him a formal apology. After Ben-Menashe’s interviews by Hersh and Parry, Israel’s government was apparently concerned enough about what Ben-Menashe would tell congressional investigators that it attempted to kidnap him and bring him back to Israel to face state charges, much like Israeli intelligence had done to Israel’s nuclear-weapons whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu. The plan was foiled largely thanks to Parry. Parry, who broke many key stories related to the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980s and beyond, was tipped off by a U.S. intelligence source about a joint U.S.-Israel plan to have Ben-Menashe first be denied entry to the United States on his planned trip to give congressional testimony. Per the plan, Ben-Menashe would be denied entry to the U.S. in Los Angeles and then be deported to Israel, where he would have stood trial for “exposing state secrets.” Parry called Ben-Menashe and convinced him to delay his flight until he secured a guarantee for safe passage from the U.S. government. Ben-Menashe subsequently gave a sworn statement to the House Judiciary Committee that mostly focused on U.S.-Israel collusion regarding the theft and creation of a “backdoor” into the PROMIS software. Ben-Menashe offered to name names and provide corroborating evidence for several of his claims if he was offered immunity by the committee, which, for whatever reason. declined that request. Prior to the conclusion of the Hersh “libel” trial, which would later uphold Ben-Menashe’s claims regarding Robert Maxwell’s Mossad activities as true, there was a concerted effort in the U.S. press to downplay Ben-Menashe’s credibility. For instance, Newsweek — in an article on Ben-Menashe entitled “One Man, Many Tales” — claimed that “inconsistencies may undermine Ben-Menashe’s testimony in the British courtroom proceedings,” citing inconsistencies from sources in Israel’s government and Israeli intelligence as well as Ben-Menashe’s ex-wife and Israeli journalist Shmuel (or Samuel) Segev, a former IDF colonel. It goes without saying that such sources had much to gain from any effort to discredit Ben-Menashe’s claims. According to Parry, this media campaign, which employed American journalists with close ties to Israel’s government and intelligence agencies, was very successful “in marginalizing Ben-Menashe by 1993, at least in the eyes of the Washington Establishment.” After a years-long media campaign to discredit Ben-Menashe, “the Israelis seemed to view him as a declining threat, best left alone. He was able to pick up the pieces of his life, creating a second act as an international political consultant and businessman arranging sales of grain.” The effort to marginalize Ben-Menashe has continued well into recent years, with mainstream news outlets still referring to him as a “self-described ex-Israeli spy” — despite the well-documented fact that Ben-Menashe worked for Israeli intelligence — as a means of downplaying his claims regarding his time in Israel’s intelligence service. After the conclusion of the Hersh libel trial, Ben-Menashe became an international political consultant who “surrounded his far-flung business activities in secrecy and got involved with some controversial international figures, such as Zimbabwe’s leader Robert Mugabe,” and “conducted his international consulting business … in a wide variety of global hotspots, including conflict zones,” according to Parry. In addition to Mugabe, Ben-Menashe has also recently come under fire for his consulting work on behalf of Sudan’s military junta and Venezuelan opposition politician Henri Falcón. Ben-Menashe has also maintained ties to several different intelligence services and eventually became a controversial whistleblower whose information led to the arrest of the former head of Canada’s Security Intelligence Review Committee, Arthur Porter. As far as his character is concerned, Parry noted that Ben-Menashe could often be “his own worst enemy” and that, even though Parry considered his information regarding Iran-Contra and PROMIS reliable and noted that much of it was later corroborated, he “often compound[ed] his media problem by treating journalists in a high-handed manner, either due to his suspicions of them or his arrogance.” Bill Hamilton, the original developer of the PROMIS software and head of Inslaw Inc., also found Ben-Menashe’s claims regarding the illicit use of PROMIS by U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies to be credible, though he expressed doubts about Ben-Menashe’s character. Hamilton told MintPress the following about Ben-Menashe: While Ben-Menashe may have been viewed as a “declining threat” after the early 1990s, his plans to meet with Robert Parry of Consortium News years later in 2012 to discuss Iran-Contra and other covert dealings of the 1980s appeared to change that. Right before he planned to travel from Canada to the United States to meet with Parry and “finally prove” the truthfulness of his past claims, a fire-bomb was thrown into his Montreal home, destroying it. Though Canadian media referred to the incendiary device as a “molotov cocktail,” Consortium News reported that “the arson squad’s initial assessment is said to be that the flammable agent was beyond the sort of accelerant used by common criminals,” leading to speculation that the accelerant was military-grade. Had it not been for the bomb, the origins of which Canadian police failed to determine, Ben-Menashe would have traveled to the U.S. alongside a “senior Israeli intelligence figure” to be interviewed by Parry. The other intelligence-linked individual, according to Parry, “concluded that the attack was meant as a message from Israeli authorities to stay silent about the historical events that he was expected to discuss.” Though neither Ben-Menashe nor Parry directly blamed Israel’s government for the destruction of Ben-Menashe’s home, Parry noted that the bombing did succeed in “intimidating Ben-Menashe, shutting down possible new disclosures of Israeli misconduct from the other intelligence veteran, and destroying records that would have helped Ben-Menashe prove whatever statements he might make.” While Ben-Menashe’s post-intelligence associations with controversial governments and individuals have given plenty of fodder to the still thriving media campaign to discredit his claims about covert U.S.-Israel operations in the 1980s, there remain troubling indications that the Israeli government sees his information on decades-old events as a threat. Now, with the major efforts by powerful Americans and Israelis to distance themselves from Jeffrey Epstein and other figures associated with his depraved sex trafficking operation, Ben-Menashe may soon again find his reputation — and perhaps more — under fire. Whitney Webb is a MintPress News journalist based in Chile. She has contributed to several independent media outlets including Global Research, EcoWatch, the Ron Paul Institute and 21st Century Wire, among others. She has made several radio and television appearances and is the 2019 winner of the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism. | Arjun Walia | https://www.collective-evolution.com/2019/10/14/12000-doctors-urge-the-fda-to-put-cancer-warnings-on-cheese/ | Mon, 14 Oct 2019 15:33:20 +0000 | 1,571,081,600 | 1,571,090,646 | health | medical profession |
135,846 | dailymail--2019-12-03--Nurses and doctors stage Hands Off Our NHS Stop Donald Trump protest Buckingham Palace Mall | 2019-12-03T00:00:00 | dailymail | Nurses and doctors stage Hands Off Our NHS Stop Donald Trump protest Buckingham Palace Mall | Dozens of doctors and nurses tonight marched to Buckingham Palace where Donald Trump will be hosted by the Queen amid rumours of the NHS being 'sold off' to the US. The US President today denied he wanted anything to do with the NHS and said he wouldn't take it as part of a post-Brexit trade deal 'even if it was handed on a silver platter'. But NHS staff still claim America is a threat to the Health Service and were seen clutching placards that read: 'Hands off our NHS' and 'Our NHS is not for sale'. The notorious 'Blimp' depicting a baby version of Trump was seen flying above central London as more demonstrators gathered. After walking along The Mall from Trafalgar Square, the group gathered outside the Palace for when Trump arrives for the Queen's NATO leaders' reception this evening. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to confront Trump over his claims UK and US officials have met to discuss the NHS. He today claimed he will warn Trump the UK's 'public services are not for sale' after waving a 450-page dossier on the subject in front of the media last week. Doctors and nurses were joined by CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) supporters who are furious at Trump's position on the Iran Nuclear Deal and 'Say No To Racism' campaigners. Dozens of officers have been drafted in to police the protests on Day One of Trump's NATO visit to London. Asked if the NHS should be on the table in post-Brexit trade talks this morning Mr Trump said: 'No, not at all. I have nothing to do with it, never even thought about it.' He then praised the US healthcare system before adding: 'In this country they have to work that out for themselves … I don't even know where that rumour started, we have absolutely nothing to do with it. 'And we wouldn't want to if you handed it to us on a silver-platter, we want nothing to do with it.' | null | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7751379/Nurses-doctors-stage-Hands-NHS-Stop-Donald-Trump-protest-Buckingham-Palace-Mall.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 | Tue, 03 Dec 2019 20:07:53 GMT | 1,575,421,673 | 1,575,418,254 | health | medical profession |
141,566 | drudgereport--2019-01-12--White doctors in SAfrica told not to apply for open positions | 2019-01-12T00:00:00 | drudgereport | White doctors in SAfrica told not to apply for open positions... | A race row has broken out in South Africa after health officials advertised for 100 new doctors, but did not allow white medics to apply for specialist roles. The health department in the KwaZulu-Natal province expanded its registrar programme for 2019 from 314 to 414, but aimed to fill the new posts with only black candidates. Health bosses said the move was implemented to redress the country's historical racial imbalance of Apartheid that saw most high-ranking positions filed by white doctors. Campaigners and human rights activists have branded the recruitment policy 'discriminatory, unconstitutional and racist'. Leaked documents show the department wanted to train a total of 366 black doctors and had already recruited 32 Indian, 12 white and four mixed race registrars, but need a further 100 black medics to meet employment equity targets. The registrar programme trains doctors to become specialists over a four-year period. Ncumisa Mafunda, a spokeswoman for the health department, said historical redress was a 'government imperative' and 'the morally and socially right thing to do'. She told TimesLIVE: 'South Africa, including KwaZulu-Natal, remains an unequal society with limited opportunities for self-development for those who were historically oppressed. 'This means 238 posts must be filled with [black] Africans to take the current 128 filled posts to the target of 366. This implies that the 100 new posts must go to Africans in terms of the targets, else if there are no suitable Africans, the posts must be re-advertised. 'After difficulties were experienced in recruiting black African candidates for these posts, a deviation was sought from the accounting officer and, out of a total of 77 registrar posts, 21 posts will be offered to non-Black Africans.' But Mary de Haas, a member of Medical Rights Advocacy Network (Meran) said that historical redress was necessary, but the policy was discriminatory and unconstitutional, blaming mismanaging of department budgets. She told the newspaper: 'I think it is a very bad way of doing it. It's not really fair to sideline people who have done extremely well. 'It [the health department] spent money sending students to Cuba instead of building local capacity, which would have sorted this out years ago. Dr Imran Keeka, a spokesman for the Democratic Alliance KwaZulu-Natal health said a policy which 'causes the domination of one race over the other by exclusion is nothing more than an aberration of our constitutional values and is racist'. | null | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/UgLtZcj2KwA/Race-row-South-Africa-health-officials-advertise-100-new-doctors-not-white-medics.html | 2019-01-12 14:58:37+00:00 | 1,547,323,117 | 1,567,552,836 | health | medical profession |
163,812 | eveningstandard--2019-02-09--Forty UK doctors and nurses on mission to deliver life-changing surgery to children in Ethiopia | 2019-02-09T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Forty UK doctors and nurses on mission to deliver life-changing surgery to children in Ethiopia | In the three years of travelling to Ethiopia to treat patients with life-altering facial disfigurements, one case in particular stands out for nurse Lara Tang. A 15-year-old patient who had dropped out of school after being bullied for having a huge tumour on his nose, had travelled hundreds of kilometres to have surgery to remove it. “I remember being there when he looked in the mirror for the first time,” said Ms Tang, a clinical nurse specialist in plastic surgery at St Thomas’ Hospital. “He was just smiling from ear to ear, he was so shocked.” Ms Tang, 34, is part of a team of 40 nurses, surgeons, anesthetists and doctors from hospitals around the UK who give up two weeks of their holiday and travel to Ethiopia each year to perform life-changing surgery alongside local medical teams. Their patients - up to 50 or 60 children and adults each mission - often have severe, life threatening facial deformities or have suffered injuries from hyena attacks. They arrive to the clinic “with their faces covered with cloths, reserved, quiet and ashamed of the way they look,” Ms Tang said. “Once they see there are others with similar disfigurements and see that they are not alone, they slowly come out off their shell.” Ms Tang is headed to Ethiopia for the fourth time in March, where charity Project Harar runs the missions. The complex issues each patient faces makes surgery difficult, but Ms Tang said the biggest challenge is dealing with the limited facilities. “It's not uncommon for us to go day-to-day without there being power cuts or no running water or trying to get a hold of things,” she said. When Ms Tang first travelled to Ethiopia in 2014, she said “nothing could have prepared her” for what she experienced. “The poverty that you see with your own two eyes on the streets, I remember going past on a bus and seeing people lying on the streets - it's quite shocking,” she said. “I saw a quite a lot of homeless people and you see homeless people over here (in London) but these people they have babies and you can't even see their babies because cos they're so malnourished.” She added that the emotional attachment she feels for patients can be difficult but it is “something that can’t be helped.” Last year, an 18-year-old boy had arrived at the clinic alone who Ms Tang later found out had been orphaned. “At the age of 5, he fell from a tree and broke his jaw. He attended hospital for surgery, which is where his parents abandoned him and he has since been living in an orphanage,” she said. “Over the years his accident had caused pain and locked jaw, ultimately contributing to malnutrition. “He became reserved and developed low self esteem at school. “Learning that he has been going through this over the years alone and having complex surgery without family to help and support him was difficult to witness so I found myself keeping an extra eye out for him.” This year, Ms Tang is extending her stay to four weeks and will be one of the lead nurses on the mission. She said returning back to London after the trips can be difficult. “It's really cliche but it makes you realise how appreciative you should be of what you've got over here,” she said. “Especially having access to free health service and advice and treatment over here - it makes you appreciate it.” | Bonnie Christian | https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/fifty-uk-doctors-on-mission-to-deliver-lifechanging-surgery-to-children-in-ethiopia-a4061581.html | 2019-02-09 07:37:00+00:00 | 1,549,715,820 | 1,567,549,082 | health | medical profession |
179,457 | eveningstandard--2019-07-05--How teamwork of rival doctors could cut need for open surgery | 2019-07-05T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | How teamwork of rival doctors could cut need for open surgery | A pioneering unit that unites two competing factions of doctors is expected to reduce the number of patients undergoing open surgery. The west London vascular and interventional centre will increase “minimally invasive” procedures to unblock veins and arteries, resulting in lower risk, quicker recovery, shorter hospital stays and cost-savings for the NHS. This could transform care in an area where high rates of diabetes, smoking, obesity and high blood pressure cause vascular disease. One of its first patients had her foot saved from amputation as doctors threaded wires and balloons through blocked arteries to restore the blood supply. Mother-of-two May Gerald, 58, had already lost four toes in her left foot from peripheral arterial disease. She said: “I was really frightened I was going to lose my leg above the knee because I have two relatives who lost their lower legs to amputation through diabetes.” Dr Lorenzo Patrone, a vascular and interventional radiologist, said: “We entered the artery through a small puncture wound but it was incredibly difficult to navigate as the vessels had been reduced to a diameter of 2mm. “The patient would have lost her lower leg eventually so it was a case of painstakingly probing and rerouting until we could navigate an alternate passage which reconnected the blood supply to her entire foot.” The centre, in Northwick Park hospital, Harrow, brings together vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists — who have a decades-old rivalry and often compete for the same patients. The joint team, believed to be an NHS first, ensures patients receive the most suitable care based on their need rather than the skills of the doctor. Professor Martin Malina, who oversaw the launch, said there would always be a need for open vascular surgery but it was likely to be limited to the most complex cases. He added: “What we are trying to enhance is a unit where colleagues work so closely together that radiologists do a lot of the work traditionally done by surgeons, and vice versa … we will create a new breed of vascular specialist.” | Ross Lydall | https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/how-teamwork-of-rival-doctors-could-cut-need-for-open-surgery-a4183031.html | 2019-07-05 07:42:00+00:00 | 1,562,326,920 | 1,567,536,736 | health | medical profession |
203,996 | fortune--2019-05-20--The Job Market for Doctors Is Booming Heres What It Means for You | 2019-05-20T00:00:00 | fortune | The Job Market for Doctors Is Booming. Here’s What It Means for You | America is benefiting from an historic bull market in employment, and no group is benefiting more than doctors. Newly-minted physicians are choosing from multiple job offers, getting paid more sumptuously than ever, and can practice pretty much wherever they want. At the same time, the way they practice is shifting radically, as more and more physicians choose salaried positions with hospital chains and group practices encompassing thousands of MDs. But the new corporate model is so hamstrung by the trickle of newly-minted doctors entering practice each year that it can’t come close to meeting the needs of an America whose senior ranks will swell by 46% over the next two decades. The magic of the market is circumventing that roadblock by creating loads of fresh capacity in the form of walk-in clinics, dialysis centers, and other neighborhood venues, staffed by increasing ranks of nurse practitioners, that can provide the care and wellness for patients with chronic conditions who’d otherwise wait weeks to see a primary care doctor, or don’t even have one. A new study by Merritt Hawkins, America’s largest physician search firm, points to seven trends that are reshaping the how healthcare is delivered. “2019 Survey: Final-Year Medical Residents,” polled doctors months from finishing their residencies and entering the job market. Here’s what they found–and what it means for you. Merritt Hawkins found that two-thirds of the final-year residents received 51 or more solicitations from recruiters, hospitals, medical groups and others, and that 45% were presented 100 or more job opportunities. How much did the residents expect their first jobs to pay, based on their conversations with potential employers? A lot. Eight-one percent expected to start at over $201,000, and 21% said they were looking at $326,000 or more. It was the specialists, including surgeons, who anticipated the richest packages, with more than half anticipating comp above $325,000. By contrast, only 24% of primary care residents, a category consisting of internists, pediatricians and family doctors, reckoned they’d make over $250,000. Based on Merritt Hawkins’ surveys of actual first year pay, both groups may be underestimating their initial pay. On average, Merritt Hawkins found, the three primary care groups earn an average of $250,000, while beginning pay is $386,000 in urology, $405,000 for otolaryngology, and $533,000 for orthopedic surgery. It’s a famous failing of our medical system that rural communities struggle to recruit physicians. The survey provides cold comfort for America’s small towns. It found that where they work is the residents’ biggest single concern, and that 83% want to practice in cities with over 100,000 people; 60% of the primary care doctors are seeking destinations of 250,000 or more. Given that tremendous demand, new doctors can go where they want, and it’s seldom the heartland where the need is greatest. The wealth of choices also leads to lots of turnover. Merritt Hawkins finds that one in eight primary care practitioners changes jobs each year, and that the number is probably far higher for those in the first or second year out of residency. A big reason that doctors change jobs so readily is the “corporatization” of healthcare. Small “Marcus Welby, M.D.”-style practices have mostly disappeared, and the market is now dominated by big group practices, many of them owned by hospitals. A notable example is Baylor, Scott & White in Dallas, combining a hospital chain and group network of 7,800 physicians. Eighty-three percent of the residents aspired to work for a hospital or group practice, compared with 61% in 2008, with all of the increase coming from preference to join a hospital. Only 9% sought to open an independent practice, versus one-quarter a decade ago. Doctors are big revenue producers for hospitals. In another study, “2019 Physician Inpatient/Outpatient Revenue Survey,” Merritt Hawkins found that primary care doctors generated $2.1 million a year on average for their hospital-employers, and specialists did even better at $2.46 million, with cardiac and orthopedic surgeons contributing well over $3 million. On average, the revenue per doctor jumped 52% since 2016. That’s because costs per admission are rising, and since hospitals are merging, doctors on average work for bigger and bigger organizations, so they generate increasing income by referring patients to the chains that own their practices, and ordering tests at hospital-run labs. The Merritt Hawkins report contains a succinct summary of the factors explaining the penury of physicians, and a study from the Association of American Medical Colleges (“The Complexities of Supply and Demand: Projections from 2017 to 2032”), offers a detailed analysis. All the doctors who enter the job market each year must all pass through a narrow opening, the number of positions offered by U.S. residency programs. Those programs are funded chiefly by federal grants from Medicare and Medicaid. In 1997, Congress froze that that funding at $14.5 billion a year, and it’s that cap that’s nearly frozen annual additions to the doctor supply. Hospitals and other programs now offer 32,194 residency positions. That’s up 15% from 2006 due to funding from states and private providers, but over those 12 years, medical spending has jumped 63% to $3.5 trillion. The AAMC forecasts that today’s shortfall of 20,000 physicians will expand to a deficit of as many as 121,000 by 2032. By that year, the U.S. would likely have around 850,000 patient-care physicians––and need 14% more. For years, this writer has remarked that the official predictions have underestimated future shortages, and therefore, it’s highly possible that the future scenario could be far worse. For example, the AAMC observes that if the current trends toward early retirement continue, the doctor supply would barely rise at all over the next 13 years. It’s often wrongly stated that the U.S. has a shortage of primary care doctors, and too many specialists. Not so. The AAMC study predicts that the specialist shortfall will be even worse than lack of primary care practitioners in the future. The reason is obvious: A rapidly aging, and longer-surviving, population that needs cardiac surgery, angioplasties, prostate operations and hip replacements. The chronic doctor shortage is placing a predictable burden on patients: long wait times. In a 2017 study (“Survey of Physician Appointment Wait Times”), Merritt Hawkins examined the problem in fifteen major metros and fifteen mid-sized markets. In the big cities, the average time to see a doctor rose 30% in just three years, from 15 to 21 days, and in the smaller cities, the waiting period expanded 33% to 32 days. It takes 109 days to see a family doctor in Boston, and in Portland, the interlude has grown 8 to 39 days since 2009. In Albany, If you sign up in May for an appointment with a family doctor, you’ll be examined in September. Seeing an orthopedic surgeon takes 43 days in L.A. and 42 days in Atlanta. It’s obvious that if America is to avoid rationing and price controls, its medical universe will need a lot more capacity. And capitalist ingenuity is now starting to fill the void. Retail clinics are sprouting in drugstores and as free-standing outlets in neighborhood malls. Although the scope of work they’re allowed to perform varies from state to state, nurse practitioners and physician assistants now provide much of the basic care once furnished only by those overbooked doctors. AAMC predicts that the ranks of the NPs and PAs. will swell from 400,000 today to 800,000 by 2032, growing from half the number of today’s patient care doctors to an almost equal size. The leading pioneer is CVS Health, which has 1100 MinuteClinics in its drugstores from coast-to-coast, and plans a big network of outlets called HealthHUBs that specialize in managing patients with such chronic conditions as diabetes and asthma. It’s a widespread misperception that healthcare isn’t really a market, and defies the laws of supply and demand. Quite the contrary, it obeys them completely, and that’s the problem. Demand is artificially inflated by subsidies that leave consumers spending just 20 cents for every dollar they consume from take-home pay and savings, and supply that’s artificially restrained by such practices as the vice grip on new physicians. Those practices have left a giant void––and created a retail revolution aiming to fill it. —Warren Buffett’s best stock picks over the past year —Subscribe to the new Fortune 500 Daily audio briefing —“Staggered” boards are paying off for stock investors —CVS Wants Your Drugstore to be Your Doctor Don’t miss the daily Term Sheet, Fortune‘s newsletter on deals and dealmakers. | Shawn Tully | http://fortune.com/2019/05/20/doctors-job-market-shortage/ | 2019-05-20 18:56:39+00:00 | 1,558,392,999 | 1,567,540,421 | health | medical profession |
205,330 | fortune--2019-08-09--How Taking Medical Students Into Coal Mines Helps Lure New Doctors to Rural Areas | 2019-08-09T00:00:00 | fortune | How Taking Medical Students Into Coal Mines Helps Lure New Doctors to Rural Areas | On a field trip to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, Ashish Bibireddy put on headphones and scrolled through a jukebox of music from an influential 1927 recording session. Bibireddy and nine other medical students had already been biking and rafting on their visit to rural Appalachia organized by a nearby medical college. But it wasn't just casual sightseeing; the tour was part of a concerted effort to attract a new generation of doctors to rural areas struggling with health care shortages. The Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University is among a small group of medical schools across the U.S. with programs dedicated to bolstering the number of primary care doctors in rural communities. The schools send students to live in small towns and train with rural doctors. Like Quillen, some also organize outings and cultural experiences to try to sell students on living there after they graduate. Schools have taken students to a ranch to brand cattle, brought in an Appalachian story teller, and catered local delicacies to show students who may have never lived without the convenience of a Starbucks or Target what rural life offers. "It's a little sense of what the fun part of rural life can be," said Dr. Dana King, chair of the family medicine department at West Virginia University School of Medicine, where students in the rural track go to a ski resort, visit a coal mine, and go whitewater rafting. At the University of Colorado School of Medicine, students can meet with the mayor, police chief, or other leaders of rural communities and interview residents to learn about the town. "We want to give the students an idea about what goes into the workings of a small community," said Dr. Mark Deutchman, director of the school's rural track. Most of the more than 7,000 facilities, population groups, and areas in the U.S. facing a shortage of primary care physicians—often a patient's first point of contact for treatment—are rural, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They need nearly 4,000 additional physicians to close the gap. Most of the students who came to Quillen did not grow up or attend school in rural areas, but all expressed an interest in working with underserved populations, rural programs coordinator Carolyn Sliger said. The students spent three weeks with doctors in rural towns in eastern Tennessee and a week in June exploring the region. After the museum tour, they visited a war memorial with an eternal flame and hulking U.S. military attack helicopter. The group then headed to a rooftop bar overlooking Bristol, where the brick-lined main street straddles the Virginia-Tennessee state line. Bibireddy, 23, grew up in suburban Edison, N.J., and attended the University of Central Florida medical college in Orlando. He never lived in a rural area but was impressed with what he saw of Appalachian life during the visit. "The people here are genuinely caring," he said. He was inclined to work in a rural area after medical school but acknowledged that building relationships with a community as an outsider would be difficult. Jason Soong, another medical student in the program, said he has "always known" that he wanted to live in a sparsely populated place with open space. Soong, 23, grew up in a Philadelphia suburb and attended California Northstate University College of Medicine outside Sacramento. "Living out in a rural area, you can just go outside your door, and you have nature right there," Soong said. Katherine Schaffer and a few other students ended their day in Bristol around a patio table at a stylish downtown bakery. Schaffer, 27, said she was excited to meet people who shared her interest in rural practice. Her medical school friends in Norfolk, Va. want to work in cities as specialists and worry they wouldn't have a social life in a small town, she said. "I think it's very difficult in my medical school to find like-minded people," she told the group. Administrators of rural track medical school programs say their graduates go into rural practice at considerably higher rates than other doctors. But many of those students are already inclined to practice in a rural area, so the figures may exaggerate the programs' success, said Dr. Randall Longenecker, associate project director for the Collaborative for Rural Primary care, Research, Education, and Practice. "We skim the cream off the top," said Longenecker, whose research has documented 39 accredited colleges of medicine and colleges of osteopathic medicine that have clearly delineated rural training tracks—about a fifth of U.S. medical schools. For students from small towns, the programs can help maintain their enthusiasm for rural life, said Dr. Joseph Florence, director of rural programs at Quillen. Florence said big city medical programs push students to become specialists and avoid primary care. "They beat rural out of you by the time you leave," he said. The rural track programs, on the other hand, give the students "a place to be rural and not only be accepted but be appreciated for it," he said. Dr. Darrin Nichols, 28, said the rural track program at West Virginia University School of Medicine confirmed his choice to practice near the West Virginia town of roughly 800 people where he grew up. He was struck by the camaraderie of coal miners he met during a trip organized by the school and said it reminded him of his own tight family bonds. "I always wanted to stay near my family and practice in a community that had those types of relationships," he said. —These are the top 10 U.S. cities for tech jobs —This woman went from Goldman Sachs to Blue Apron recipe tester —How Fortune’s 40 Under 40 get stuff done: their favorite productivity hacks Get Fortune’s RaceAhead newsletter for sharp insights on corporate culture and diversity. | Jenna Schnuer | https://fortune.com/2019/08/09/doctors-health-care-shortage-rural-areas/ | 2019-08-09 23:05:40+00:00 | 1,565,406,340 | 1,567,534,519 | health | medical profession |
221,878 | freedombunker--2019-07-04--Foreign Lung Doctors Can Help Coal Country Residents We Should Let Them | 2019-07-04T00:00:00 | freedombunker | Foreign Lung Doctors Can Help Coal Country Residents. We Should Let Them. | Since 1903, the plaque at the foot of the Statue of Liberty has extended a warm welcome to the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free," the first sign of respite for immigrants arriving to America in pursuit of a better life. But these words can just as easily describe 26,000 coal miners fighting for their health as they suffer from the largest black lung epidemic in a quarter century. Miners in Appalachia were exposed to silica dust, a substance that is 20 times more toxic than dust from regular coal, and now as many as one in five miners from Central Appalachia are showing signs of black lung disease. For years, coal country has relied on physicians from around the world to help manage their chronic health conditions. In Hazard, Kentucky, the only two practicing pulmonologists—doctors who specialize in lung and respiratory care—are from Syria and Bangladesh. On the national level, 30 percent of America's pulmonologists graduated from medical schools abroad, as did 87 percent of pulmonologists currently in training. But coal country needs even more of these foreign doctors. By the next decade, almost 89 percent of America's practicing pulmonologists will have reached retirement age, and there won't be enough doctors to replace them. The nation at large needs them, too. Even as America's supply of lung doctors dwindles, over 16 million U.S. residents live with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), a progressive lung disease that often affects elderly people with a history of smoking. Over one in 10 people in Kentucky and West Virginia suffer from COPD, and roughly a quarter of residents in both states are smokers. They also face greater risks of exposure to asbestos, which has been found in Appalachian waterways and soil. According to Thomas Tucker, the associate director for cancer prevention at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center, smokers exposed to asbestos can be 300 times more likely than nonsmokers to develop lung cancer. There are a number of reforms Congress could enact to enable more foreign physicians to practice in the United States and save these American lives. Some of them are included in the recently reintroduced Conrad 30 Physician Reauthorization Act. For starters, the bill expands the Conrad 30 J-1 Waiver, a program that allows foreign physicians who completed their medical residency on a J-1 visitor visa to remain in the United States. Normally, these physicians would be required to return to their home country for a minimum of two years before they could practice in the U.S. But preventing fully qualified doctors from providing much-needed care immediately is nonsensical. Eventually, this provision should be scrapped entirely, but for now, the Conrad 30 Waiver exempts these doctors from the requirement if they agree to practice in a medically underserved area for at least three years. The bill would also add five extra physician slots annually to every state's 30-physician annual quota so long as these states use 90 percent of the available waivers. States using less than five of their physician slots would be excluded from this calculation so they won't impede the program's expansion in other states. This will allow states that have a high incidence of COPD to sponsor pulmonologists to help care for their residents. The bill also offers a streamlined pathway to a green card through the National Interest Waiver (NIW), which participating physicians can qualify for if they practice in an underserved area for a total of five years, three of which can include the service required under Conrad 30. If passed, the bill would exempt NIW physicians from the worldwide green card caps, which have trapped some eligible physicians in decades of backlogs. These reforms will be important for statewide efforts to attract more pulmonologists. The Virginia Department of Health, for example, has identified target areas where the Conrad 30 program can alleviate pulmonologist shortages. Some of these locations, like Buchanan County, are in the Southwestern region of the state, which contains the largest concentration of advanced stage black lung ever reported. When taken together, however, the number of Virginia counties listed as high priority shortage areas for pulmonologists, OB-GYNs, and primary care doctors far exceeds the program's 30 physician limit. So this is a really modest bill that should be considered only the first step in broader reforms to let far more foreign physicians in. One such reform would be exempting them from repeating medical residencies and fellowships if they already completed them in a country whose medical standards are similar to the United States. Under the current system, an experienced pulmonologist trained abroad needs to complete a three-year residency in internal medicine plus a two-to-three-year pulmonology fellowship in America before they can practice in the United States. Because of these duplicative requirements, there are as many as 65,000 foreign-trained physicians unable to practice in the United States, and others are taking their talents to countries that better recognize their qualifications. (In Canada, physicians from a handful of countries can bypass residency requirements for certain specialties, such as internal medicine.) Better yet, hospitals should be allowed to assess the competency of these physicians for themselves, and take responsibility for any additional training and supervision they may require. Despite the myriad of obstacles they must jump through, foreign doctors continue knocking at America's door, eager to use their skills to care for Americans. Enacting policies that encourage more of them to come is one of the best ways to relieve the nation's doctor shortage. America has an obligation to its own citizens to welcome all the help it can get. Sam Peak is a writer at Young Voices who specializes in immigration policy. | Sam Peak | http://freedombunker.com/2019/07/04/foreign-lung-doctors-can-help-coal-country-residents-we-should-let-them/ | 2019-07-04 14:45:09+00:00 | 1,562,265,909 | 1,567,536,852 | health | medical profession |
62,683 | birminghammail--2019-05-31--The NHS is struggling to recruit enough Birmingham nurses and midwives | 2019-05-31T00:00:00 | birminghammail | The NHS is struggling to recruit enough Birmingham nurses and midwives | Nurses and midwives have warned that recruitment and retainment difficulties are impacting people's care, as NHS vacancies in Birmingham rise. New figures from the NHS have revealed that there were 268 full time equivalent nursing and midwifery positions advertised in our city at the end of March this year. That’s up from 223 in March 2018 - an increase of 20% in a single year. The situation in Birmingham reflects a national trend, which has seen nursing and midwifery vacancies rise to their highest level on recent record. Across England, there were 12,262 vacancies advertised at the end of March - up from 11,483 in 2018, and just 9,420 in 2015, when the figures began. In the West Midlands the number has risen from 897 in 2015 to 1,057 in March this year, which is again the highest number on recent record. Experts say the rise in vacancies has come despite an increase in the number of nurses and midwives, because demand is continuing to outstrip supply. Emma Broadbent, director of registration and revalidation at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, said: “These are challenging times for health and social care, with difficulties around recruiting and retaining highly skilled nursing and midwifery professionals having a direct impact on people who deserve safer, better care. “We recently published our own registration data report that shows a significant increase in the number of highly skilled nurses and midwives coming onto our register, driven from overseas. “But with demand continuing to outstrip supply, it’s clear we can’t rely on overseas alone. “Nurturing and cherishing UK trained nurses is absolutely vital if we are to ensure a thriving, sustainable workforce that is fit for the future. “Working together, we have to set the health and care system on the right path so that people get the safest, best care possible.” Patricia Marquis, Royal College of Nursing director for England, said: “It’s very worrying to see the number of advertisements for nursing posts growing inexorably every year. “But the real problem is that there simply aren’t the nurses out there to fill the jobs, so the vacancy rate remains stubbornly high. “These damaging and unsustainable shortages will only increase without a firm commitment by Ministers and NHS leaders to sustained investment in the nursing workforce. “We know too many experienced nurses are leaving the profession because of the stress caused by under-staffing, while too many students are put off studying nursing by the huge debts they will be left with at the end of their training following the removal of the nursing bursary. “If the long-term plan for the NHS is to be delivered, there needs to be an investment of at least £1billion in nurse higher education in order to boost future numbers in the profession, as well as accountability at the highest level for delivering safe nurse staffing levels.” The rise in vacancies seen in Birmingham has largely been driven by an increase in the number of positions available in the Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust. The trust has seen vacancies more than double in the last year, rising from 20 in March 2018 to 42 in March this year. The number available in the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has risen from 121 to 149, while the Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has seen an increase from 28 to 34. However, the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was one of two trusts in Birmingham to see the number of vacancies go down, dropping from 17 in March 2018 to 12 this year. The other trust was Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, which saw the number of vacancies fell from 37 to 31. | [email protected] (Annie Gouk, James Rodger) | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/nhs-struggling-recruit-enough-birmingham-16356223 | 2019-05-31 04:30:00+00:00 | 1,559,291,400 | 1,567,539,513 | health | medical profession |
67,999 | birminghammail--2019-11-14--Nike is selling shoes for doctors and nurses to get them through 12-hour shifts | 2019-11-14T00:00:00 | birminghammail | Nike is selling shoes for doctors and nurses to get them through 12-hour shifts | Nike have created new shoes to help doctors and nurses get through 12-hour shifts. The Nike Air Zoom Pulse is designed to deal with the versatile situations health care workers face day-to-day. The sportswear giant is releasing a range of footwear designed specifically for those in the healthcare industry. And all profits will go to the OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital in the USA. Nike said: "During the sessions [at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital], the designers of the Air Zoom Pulse learned the rigours of these health-care workers' day-to-day efforts. "Nurses, for example, walk approximately four to five miles and sit for less than an hour during the course of a 12-hour shift. The work is physically and mentally demanding. "The design for the Air Zoom Pulse tackles those challenges with simplicity in mind. "The shoe is easy to get on and off, and equally simple to clean. The fit, cushioning and traction systems work together to secure the foot in all hospital conditions. "How can a shoe be both comfortable for long stretches of standing and versatile enough to support the hurried movements required in emergency situations? "The answer comes through the Pulse's full-rubber outsole, a flexible drop-in midsole with Zoom Air heel unit and a heel fit so secure, it feels like a soft, snug hug." The collection launches on Nike.com on Saturday 7 December. | [email protected] (James Rodger) | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/nike-selling-shoes-doctors-nurses-17255780 | Thu, 14 Nov 2019 12:12:11 +0000 | 1,573,751,531 | 1,573,734,812 | health | medical profession |
90,138 | channel4uk--2019-12-18--Thousands of nurses in Northern Ireland strike for first time | 2019-12-18T00:00:00 | channel4uk | Thousands of nurses in Northern Ireland strike for first time | Thousands of nurses in Northern Ireland are on a 12-hour strike demanding extra pay and better conditions. They say they’ve been forced to take unprecedented action because years of political paralysis have resulted in treatment waiting times lagging far behind the rest of the UK. Claiming that inadequate staffing levels are putting patients lives at risk, at 8am this morning, thousands of members of the Royal College of Nursing walked out. | Ciaran Jenkins | https://www.channel4.com/news/thousands-of-nurses-in-northern-ireland-strike-for-first-time | Wed, 18 Dec 2019 20:31:28 +0000 | 1,576,719,088 | 1,576,815,803 | health | medical profession |
118,293 | conservativehome--2019-05-08--J Meirion Thomas It makes no sense to poach nurses from abroad rather than recruit them here | 2019-05-08T00:00:00 | conservativehome | J Meirion Thomas: It makes no sense to poach nurses from abroad rather than recruit them here | J.Meirion Thomas is a former Professor of Surgery and Consultant Surgeon in the NHS. One of this week’s big news stories is that the NHS will need to recruit tens of thousands of nurses from abroad over the next five years to plug holes at ward level in our hospitals. From a patient’s perspective, nurses are the caring face of the NHS: they work compassionately at the front-line. In addition to the increasingly complex and skillful clinical tasks they perform, nurses have the opportunity to provide words of comfort and reassurance to patients when at their most vulnerable, as well as an explanation of the possibly bewildering treatment plans being carried out. They are true professionals, but sadly not sufficiently respected. Until fairly recently, nursing was a sought-after profession for school leavers and mature students but, sadly, its appeal and reputation has been eroded. As with teachers, society has failed to understand the vital role that these increasingly unglamorous professions contribute to our national well-being. We neglect them at our peril. Nursing morale has suffered because of low pay, an expanding workload, insufficient staff numbers and, perhaps especially, anti-social hours. There is a large attrition rate of nurses after graduation and only 60 per cent of nurses apply for work in the NHS. The body blow for the nursing profession in UK was the decision to abolish bursaries for the training of nurses and midwives as of September 2017. From that date, nursing students, like other graduate students, would have to pay annual tuition fees of £9,000, increasing with inflation. Repayment of loans would begin when they earn more than £21,000 per year. The reason given for this change was that the money saved could be used to train an additional 10,000 nurses. The opposite has happened! The Royal College of Nursing has described the abolition of nursing bursaries as “a disaster”, and have reported a fall of one third in nursing applications over the past two years. Nursing also attracts mature students who may be especially disadvantaged if they already have expenses relating to an established family or other commitments. Previously, nurses and midwives were entitled to non-repayable bursaries of up to £4,191 with maintenance loans up to £3,263. All tuition fees were paid by government. The change was massive body blow to the profession. That was no way to treat a workforce that should be valued and respected, and whose professional reputation needed encouragement rather than a gigantic disincentive. Also, little has been said about encouraging nurses back to work after child-rearing and arranging family-friendly work scheduling. As a direct consequence of this neglect and mismanagement, we are now told that the Government will need to recruit tens of thousands of foreign nurses over the next five years to plug holes in nursing care. As with doctors, they will mostly be poached from lower income countries where they have usually been trained at public expense and where their services are sorely needed. This serial practice has a moral and ethical dimension which we and Government need to address. Recently, I uncovered the fact that in 2018, the UK had imported more doctors than it had trained. To be exact, of new registrants with the General Medical Council in that year, 8115 had trained abroad (54 per cent of the total) and 7186 were home grown. I have confidently predicted that this figure will rise to 60 per cent within two years as a consequence of the abolition of the Tier 2 visa cap in June 2018. I believe that the NHS is approaching an existential crisis with so many unattended and unsolved problems, two of which are described in this article. Are we sleep-walking towards a healthcare disaster in the UK and approaching the point of no return as the Department of Health oversees a process of managed decline? | J Meirion Thomas | https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2019/05/j-meirion-thomas-it-makes-no-sense-to-poach-nurses-from-abroad-rather-than-recruit-them-here.html | 2019-05-08 10:00:22+00:00 | 1,557,324,022 | 1,567,540,878 | health | medical profession |
149,726 | drudgereport--2019-07-01--STUDY Nurses Tired Overworked 1 in 8 Takes Meds | 2019-07-01T00:00:00 | drudgereport | STUDY: Nurses Tired, Overworked; 1 in 8 Takes Meds... | SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A staggering number of nurses may suffer from insomnia and about one in eight admit to taking medication to help them stay awake during the day, a new study finds. The findings, presented at SLEEP 2019, the 33rd annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, add to a growing list of studies that sound the alarm on the condition of health care practitioners forced to work long, stressful shifts. This latest work reveals that 31% of nurses show symptoms consistent with chronic insomnia. The same amount also show signs of shift work disorder, which happens when one’s work shift coincides with the time they’d normally be asleep. “We were surprised by the number of nurses potentially suffering from common sleep disorders, most notably, chronic insomnia and shift work disorder,” says lead author Dr. Francis Christian, a second-year fellow at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, in a statement. Perhaps even more frightening is that 13% of nurses rely on medication to help keep them awake, and 4.5% battle excessive daytime sleepiness. In addition, more than a quarter (27%) take sleeping medication before bed, while nearly half (49%) typically log about 6.6 hours of sleep each night — less than the recommended seven hours. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER & GET THE LATEST STUDIES FROM STUDYFINDS.ORG IN YOUR INBOX! The study also found that 18.5% of nurses have a moderate-to-severe risk for obstructive sleep apnea. Results were conceived from an online survey of 1,165 nurses working at a medical center. Respondents answered questions about their sleep schedules, symptoms they experience, and medications they use. “Nurses are at increased risk for circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders such as shift work disorder,” says Christian, who notes that nearly 100,000 deaths occur each year in U.S. hospitals as a result of medical errors. “Recognition needs to take place so that we can screen appropriately and make scheduling modifications to help alleviate the burden of shift work disorder among nurses.” Like studies? Follow us on Facebook! | null | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/qsqi8gXC8BY/ | 2019-07-01 21:37:39+00:00 | 1,562,031,459 | 1,567,537,415 | health | medical profession |
174,179 | eveningstandard--2019-05-05--What Nurses Wear Outpouring of support for NHS nurse told she did not beat London Marathon record | 2019-05-05T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | What Nurses Wear: Outpouring of support for NHS nurse told she did not beat London Marathon record 'because she wore trousers' | Nurses are showing support for a fellow NHS worker told her London Marathon record attempt would only count if she ran the race in a skirt. Jessica Anderson, a Royal London Hospital nurse, wanted to be the quickest woman to finish the 26.2 mile race dressed as a nurse on Sunday. However despite crossing the finish line in 3.08:22, beating the previous time, Guinness World Records (GWR) told Ms Anderson her attempt would not count. The reason given was that she was wearing scrubs with trousers and GWR rules stipulate a nurse's uniform must include a blue or white dress, a pinafore apron and a traditional nurse's cap. Ms Anderson was told scrubs are too close to the fancy dress requirements for a doctor's uniform. Since sharing this news, which has prompted GWR to reassess the attempt, there has been an outpouring of comradery for Ms Anderson using the hashtag "#WhatNursesWear". This has seen multiple colleagues point out that they often wear scrubs, with trousers, and their uniforms also vary. One, sharing a photo of her in a navy tunic with trousers, said: “Nursing is not about whether we wear dresses, tunics or scrubs, not whether we wear white, blue or navy; it’s about delivering the best care for our patients and their families and I can absolutely promise you @GWR that a dress does not make you better at that!” Another nurse, based in Dundee, wrote: “Sometimes I wear tunics and trousers, sometimes I wear scrubs. I also wear hard work, professionalism, care, compassion, a shoulder to cry on, blood, sweat, tears and every other bodily fluid you could imagine. I never wear a dress though, oddly enough.” One using the hashtag simply wrote: “We don’t wear fancy dress hate to break it to you.” Many said the GWP rules regarding the uniform were “outdated”. Ms Anderson previously told Runner’s World: “I was quite taken aback when I read that they'd rejected my application. “Some of the nurses I work with do wear dresses, but mostly we wear scrubs or a tunic and trousers.” Ms Anderson, who has raised more than £3,000 for Barts Health NHS Trust, hopes GWR will stop "reinforcing old gender stereotypes". “I'm sure Guinness World Records don't intend to cause offence, but it would be nice if they decided to revise their criteria," she said. GWR has pledged to look into their costume policy and a statement said: “Inclusiveness and respect are values that Guinness World Records holds extremely dear. “While we always need to ensure we can differentiate between categories, it is quite clear that this record title is long overdue a review, which we will conduct as a priority in the coming days." The official world record for a woman running a marathon in a nurse's uniform is held by Sarah Dudgeon. She set a time of 3:08:54 in 2015. | Jacob Jarvis | https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/outpouring-of-support-for-nhs-nurse-told-she-did-not-beat-london-marathon-record-because-she-wore-a4134786.html | 2019-05-05 14:04:00+00:00 | 1,557,079,440 | 1,567,541,100 | health | medical profession |
178,309 | eveningstandard--2019-06-27--More nurses from EU leaving NHS than are joining figures reveal | 2019-06-27T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | More nurses from EU leaving NHS than are joining, figures reveal | The number of European nurses leaving the NHS continues to outpace the number attracted from the Continent, figures revealed today. A total of 3,675 nurses and health visitors quit NHS hospitals and community health services in the year to March, while 2,375 joined, according to NHS Digital. NHS chiefs have raised concerns Brexit will cause the supply to dry up. The NHS has about 40,000 nursing vacancies, including about 8,900 in London. Today’s figures show the total number of NHS doctors is up 2.6 per cent to 119,597. The number of nurses is up 1.5 per cent to 324,872. About twice as many doctors and nurses from the rest of the world have joined than left in the last year. | Ross Lydall | https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/more-nurses-from-eu-leaving-nhs-than-are-joining-figures-reveal-a4177326.html | 2019-06-27 10:29:00+00:00 | 1,561,645,740 | 1,567,537,834 | health | medical profession |
470,732 | rferl--2019-09-18--North Macedonias Doctors Nurses Protest Hospital Assaults Demand Better Pay | 2019-09-18T00:00:00 | rferl | North Macedonia's Doctors, Nurses Protest Hospital Assaults, Demand Better Pay | Hundreds of health-care professionals employed in North Macedonia's public hospitals have rallied in protest of increasing verbal and physical assaults on hospital personnel by patients and relatives. Health Minister Venko Filipce joined the protests on September 18 in Skopje organized by the Association of Specialists and Young Doctors, which demanded better security at hospitals. The group, composed mainly of doctors and nurses, complained of staffing shortages at hospitals and an overall disintegrating health-care system in the country that has eroded trust between patients and doctors. Filipce acknowledged the problems, saying they are "complex" and require "work to restore trust...and the status of health-care providers needs to be further improved." The medical association said it had recorded 15 cases of violence at state-run hospitals this year, leaving at least one doctor badly injured. In the past decade, there were five such cases, according to the agency. Solicitation of bribes at hospitals angers patients, the association admitted, adding that the government could address the problem by increasing the salaries of hospital workers. "The country is facing challenges in achieving better health and well-being because of the fragmented governance and organization of health services," a World Health Organization report published this year said. "A previous assessment identified the shortage of health workers and the need to more strongly emphasize primary health care to improve the quality, continuity and overall performance of health services for noncommunicable diseases as key interventions needed." | null | https://www.rferl.org/a/north-macedonia-skopje-health-workers-protest-abuse-demand-security/30171891.html | 2019-09-18 22:34:57+00:00 | 1,568,860,497 | 1,569,329,974 | health | medical profession |
651,696 | thedailyrecord--2019-08-23--Brave nurses get ready to take on 5k trek through mud and water for St Johns Hospital | 2019-08-23T00:00:00 | thedailyrecord | Brave nurses get ready to take on 5k trek through mud and water for St John's Hospital | Five nurses are preparing for an exhausting trek through mud and water to raise funds for St John’s Hospital in Livingston. The mental health nurses all work in Ward 3 at the hospital and the money raised will go toward creating a more therapeutic environment for the 65 inpatients they have at any one time. Their patients have a variety of mental illnesses, like anxiety, bipolar, dementia, depression and schizophrenia so the nurses hope to use the funds to make the ward a better and more enjoyable space. The nurses, Dan McGalpine, Debbie Robertson, Eimear Menton, Kerry Pender and Kirsty Millar, will be taking on the 5km sprint Spartan challenge on September 15. To get to the end they will have to run through the mud and water, jump over fire, scale high walls and dangle from monkey bars, but they are not daunted and keen to help their patients. Speaking to the Courier, Debbie Robertson said: “We decided to do the Spartan to raise money for the ward to provide more services for more advanced rehabilitation and relaxation therapies for individuals on the ward. We feel passionate about offering more holistic care on the ward and wish to make the experience as therapeutic as possible for individuals obviously going through a difficult period in their lives.” The nurses have a £500 target and donations can be made here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ward3-warriors? | [email protected] (John-Paul Clark) | https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/brave-nurses-ready-take-5k-18985448 | 2019-08-23 15:01:00+00:00 | 1,566,586,860 | 1,567,533,611 | health | medical profession |
653,532 | thedailyrecord--2019-11-11--Psychiatric unit nurses call in union over patient attacks on staff | 2019-11-11T00:00:00 | thedailyrecord | Psychiatric unit nurses call in union over patient attacks on staff | Nurses from psychiatric units at a Scots hospital claim four members of staff have gone off sick after being assaulted by patients. One worker is understood to have a broken collarbone while others are believed to have injuries including bruised ribs. Staff from the acute admissions unit and the intensive psychiatric care unit at Inverclyde Royal Hospital in Greenock have accused bosses of understaffing their departments. And they claim that they have been forced to deal with patients armed with potential weapons. Union officials believe the situation at the hospital is so serious “staff and patients are at genuine risk of serious injury or long-term damage to their health and well-being”. Union officials claim four were assaulted but the NHS insist the figure is two. Trade union Unison is demanding NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (NHSGGC) takes action to address a catalogue of concerns. In a letter to CEO Jane Grant, the union said: “Attempts by local stewards to raise concerns and reach resolutions have been unsuccessful. “Members have requested that Unison raise their concerns and call for an urgent independent task force response to ensure that staff, patients and the public are provided with a safe environment.” The union also claim a patient brought from prison was admitted with “numerous knives and razor blades attached to his person”. Unison’s Matt McLaughlin said: “If people are being delivered to these units equipped to cause harm then someone could be killed. I hope that doesn’t happen but it will be on the health board if it does occur.” Labour’s health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: “It’s shocking that little is being done to protect health workers.” NHSGGC said: “We take very seriously any assaults or acts of violence against our staff and have a dedicated team of experts who train and support staff in techniques to reduce and manage violence. “We have recently successfully recruited five new members of staff to join the team which will reduce the requirement for additional bank or agency staff to support the team.” | [email protected] (Vivienne Aitken) | https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/health/psychiatric-unit-nurses-call-union-20856824 | Mon, 11 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000 | 1,573,448,400 | 1,573,475,146 | health | medical profession |
687,734 | theguardianuk--2019-01-30--Irelands nurses and midwives begin first day of strikes over pay | 2019-01-30T00:00:00 | theguardianuk | Ireland's nurses and midwives begin first day of strikes over pay | Tens of thousands of nurses and midwives have gone on strike in Ireland for better pay and conditions but the government has rebuffed their demands, saying it needs to save funds for a possible no-deal Brexit. More than 35,000 walked out on Wednesday morning and in near-freezing temperatures mounted pickets at clinics and hospitals, causing the cancellation of services for about 25,000 patients. The 24-hour strike by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) is the first of six days of industrial action planned for the next two weeks. The union called its first national strike in two decades after talks with the government and the Health Service Executive, a state agency, broke down. The INMO says nurses and midwives work longer hours and are paid less money than in 2008, when the global financial crisis prompted austerity measures. “No nurse or midwife wants to go on strike, but we have been forced into this position by a government that just isn’t listening,” said Tony Fitzpatrick, its industrial relations director. The government says nurses are to receive significant pay rises under an existing public service agreement and that the additional rise they are striking for would cost about €300m (£260m) a year, blowing a hole in the budget and triggering demands for hefty rises from other public sector workers. The prime minister, Leo Varadkar, told the Dáil on Tuesday that fiscal responsibility was all the more urgent because of the increased probability of the UK crash out of the EU without a deal on 29 March. “I have to be a taoiseach for the whole country,” he said. “We will have to find a lot of money to save people’s jobs.” Earlier on Tuesday, the Department of Finance said a no-deal Brexit would slash growth in Ireland and cost potential 55,000 jobs by 2023. Varadkar rejected opposition accusations that he was using Brexit as a stick to beat nurses and midwives. “This isn’t made up – and it’s not about blaming anyone,” he said. The only one to blame for Brexit was Britain, he said. The state’s health budget – and credibility – is already reeling from the cost of a new national children’s hospital in Dublin, which is scheduled to open in 2022. Budgeted in 2016 at €983m, the cost has ballooned to €1.4bn and may exceed €1.7bn. | Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/30/ireland-nurses-and-midwives-first-day-strikes-pay-no-deal-brexit | 2019-01-30 12:56:58+00:00 | 1,548,871,018 | 1,567,550,270 | health | medical profession |
761,003 | theindependent--2019-05-29--The shortage of nurses could have dire consequences just ask those of us who see it every day | 2019-05-29T00:00:00 | theindependent | The shortage of nurses could have dire consequences – just ask those of us who see it every day | It’s worrying to hear that two-thirds of nurses feel that they are struggling to provide good care to patients who are dying as a result of staff shortages, as Marie Curie has warned today. Sadly, to those of us in the profession, this comes as no surprise. Too many nurses find themselves pushed from pillar to post, trying to make sure patients are comfortable but unable to go the extra mile due to increasingly heavy workloads. When it comes to specialist end-of-life care, allowing people the space to open up about their fears and wishes, and what they need support with, is essential. Without it, people living with cancer will not get the personalised care that allows them to live as fully as possible and ensures their end of life wishes are respected. Difficulties in recruiting to the social-care workforce also mean that people with cancer who want and need personal care to support them to remain in their own home are not always able to get it. While the need for a fully funded plan for social care has never been more urgent, the long-promised green paper has been kicked into the long grass. Nurses and people living with terminal illnesses across the country deserve action today. The government must make delivering a plan for our workforce, which realises the ambitions of the NHS long-term plan, an urgent priority. Former Labour MPs Charles Clarke and Bob Ainsworth are among those rushing to support Alastair Campbell following his expulsion from the Labour Party for openly admitting he voted Lib Dem in the recent European elections. As someone who isn’t in the Labour Party I think Campbell’s expulsion was just. Which serious political organisation would accept such open disloyalty? Campbell had his day in power when he was Tony Blair's communications chief and his most notorious action in post was to “sex up” the dossier on Iraqi weapon capabilities so it matched the false claims of the US administration. The dossier played a key role in facilitating the invasion of Iraq and the bloodshed that followed. It is significant that as MPs both Charles Clarke and Bob Ainsworth voted for Blair’s war on Iraq. Campbell facilitated western aggression against the people of Iraq which left, at minimum, 500,000 dead. It is a disgrace that Campbell is at liberty to openly and continually undermine Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell should arguably be serving time as a war criminal. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Ann Widdecombe is, I believe, a churchgoer. You would think therefore that peace, cooperation and "love your neighbour as you would yourself" would be her message. But the Brexit Party, of which is she now a member and MEP, wants the complete opposite. Mind you, she is not alone: many politicians attend church and are greedy, selfish and, in some cases, warmongers. Oh well, like with Ukip, I expect the Brexit Party will self-destruct. There are none now, but Farage’s Brexit Party has 29 seats, so not much of a change. The Remain parties secured 27 seats in total, while Labour took 10 and the Conservatives four. However Remain parties have 40 per cent of the vote, and Farage 35 per cent. I am left thinking the wisest thing is to compromise and support Theresa May’s deal I agree Uefa has dropped the ball over the Baku final and with the reasons given. But why no mention of an obvious further reason: the carbon footprint of this 90 minutes of football? Uefa is not only lightweight on human rights (and seems to be uncaring on the travel costs to football fans) but also seemingly oblivious to the climate crisis, and has missed an open goal in showing some green credentials. So I was reading the article on Indiana abortion law and checked the date. Nope! It wasn’t April Fools. I read the same sentence about Justice Clarence Thomas several times. He accused those who use birth control of practising eugenics. This implies one of four things; either that men have full knowledge of the DNA of each of their sperm and can control which one will fertilise the egg, or that women have full knowledge of the DNA of each of their eggs and can control which one will make the fallopian journey and get fertilised, or that both the aforementioned are true. Or else, Justice Thomas is absolutely bonkers. I mean, can you imagine his pillow talk, “No, no, not you, the sporty one with the gentle personality.” The Supreme Court would be better served by Thomas the Tank Engine. | Letters | https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/nurses-staff-nhs-brexit-eu-theresa-may-a8935231.html | 2019-05-29 14:38:00+00:00 | 1,559,155,080 | 1,567,539,829 | health | medical profession |
779,101 | theindependent--2019-12-11--Using temporary nurses can increase risk of patients dying, warns new study | 2019-12-11T00:00:00 | theindependent | Using temporary nurses can increase risk of patients dying, warns new study | Patients are more likely to die on wards staffed by a high number of temporary nurses, a study has found. Researchers say the findings, published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, are a warning sign that the common practice by many hospitals of relying on agency nurses is not a risk-free option for patients. The University of Southampton study found that risk of death increased by 12 per cent for every day a patient experienced a high level of temporary staffing – defined as 1.5 hours of agency nursing a day per patient. For an average ward, this increased risk could apply when between a third and a half of the staff on each shift are temporary staff, according to Professor Peter Griffiths, one of the study’s authors. He told The Independent: “We know that patients are put at risk of harm when nurse staffing is lower than it should be. “One of the responses to that is to fill the gaps with temporary nursing staff, and that is an absolutely understandable thing to do, but when using a higher number of temporary staff there is an increased risk of harm. “It is not a solution to the problem.” The UK currently has more than 44,000 nursing vacancies across the NHS, with hospitals often using temporary staff to fill the gaps. Nurse staffing has been a major subject of debate during the general election campaign, with the Tories promising 31,000 new nurses and efforts to retain 19,000 existing staff. Labour has pledged to re-instate student nurse bursaries. The NHS is drawing up a national workforce plan, but a leaked draft suggested that the UK could still face a shortage of 20,000 nurses by 2024. The research team from the university’s school of health sciences looked at data for 138,133 patients who were admitted to a large south of England hospital between April 2012 and April 2015. While the study could not say what caused the increased risk, a clear association was found between levels of temporary staff and deaths. It looked at the levels of staff measured as hours per patient, per day, and accounted for other risks and general staffing levels. It found the use of temporary staff was common, with three quarters of days involving the use of temporary nurses. The paper said the “hazard of death was increased by 12 per cent for every day a patient experienced high levels (1.5 hr or more per day) of temporary staffing”. The study also found a link with the use of temporary nurse assistant staff, with the risk of death increasing by 6 per cent on days when patients had more than 0.5 hours of temporary assistant staffing. Professor Griffiths said that there may be many reasons why there was an increased risk, including staff not being familiar with the ward or processes, and staff working extra hours – known as “bank” shifts – and potentially being overworked as a result. Another reason, he added, could be that the wards were culturally “bad” because of poor leadership and consequently had a lot of vacancies. | Shaun Lintern | https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/nursing-safety-patients-death-hospitals-nhs-risk-a9242606.html | Wed, 11 Dec 2019 21:43:29 GMT | 1,576,118,609 | 1,576,110,838 | health | medical profession |
783,377 | theirishtimes--2019-01-18--Psychiatric nurses planning strike not attending talks with oversight group | 2019-01-18T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Psychiatric nurses planning strike not attending talks with oversight group | Psychiatric nurses, who are scheduled to go on strike next month, will not attend a meeting on Friday with the group which oversees compliance with the current public service agreement. The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) said it could not attend the talks as its executive committee is also scheduled to meet on Friday. The PNA, which is not affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), has previously expressed its unhappiness with the oversight group as it is currently structured. The oversight group is made up of representatives of public service management, as well as the public service committee of Ictu. It is chaired by an official of the Workplace Relations Commission. The PNA has previously argued that it was promised by the Government that an alternative structure would be established. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) and a number of teachers’s unions will attend meetings with the oversight on Friday. The group is likely to consider assertions made by nursing unions that under the current accord, the Government could deal with health service recruitment and retention issues by increasing pay, without this leading to knock-on claims by other categories of staff. This view is strongly disputed by the Government. Other unions such as Fórsa and Siptu have publicly said that if nurses secured additional payments outside of the terms of the current agreement, they would seek similar arrangements for their members. Talks at the oversight group meeting are not expected to involve negotiations on pay; the HSE and Department of Health have said they will put forward proposals to nursing unions at direct talks next Monday. The INMO is scheduled to stage the first of six days of strike action on January 30th. The PNA is to put an overtime ban in place on January 31th and escalate its industrial action to work stoppages in February. Separately, three teachers’s unions – the INTO, ASTI and TUI – will also meet with the oversight group on Friday. The unions are expected to set out why members are unhappy with Government proposals last autumn that addressed lower pay rates for staff recruited after 2011. These proposals centred on provisions to allow those on lower pay rates to catch up with longer-serving colleagues by jumping two increments on their pay scale over a number of years. The Government estimated the initiative would cost nearly €200 million by the time it was completed in 2026. In a ballot in October, primary school teachers who are members of the INTO voted against the Government initiative on new-entrant pay by a margin of 53 to 47 per cent. In December, members of the country’s largest secondary teachers’s union, the ASTI, also rejected Government proposals to address the controversial two-tier pay system in a ballot. The unions argued the Government’s proposals did not fully address the two-tier pay issue. Neither union has yet asked members to vote on industrial action. In October, members of the TUI backed the Government proposals in a ballot. However the TUI said its members in September 2017 had backed a campaign of industrial action as directed by its leadership on the issue of pay inequality. The TUI said on Thursday this mandate for industrial action “can still be activated by the union if and when it sees fit to do so”. | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/psychiatric-nurses-planning-strike-not-attending-talks-with-oversight-group-1.3762581 | 2019-01-18 10:42:53+00:00 | 1,547,826,173 | 1,567,551,901 | health | medical profession |
783,633 | theirishtimes--2019-01-24--Mental health services to be hit as psychiatric nurses set for overtime ban | 2019-01-24T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Mental health services to be hit as psychiatric nurses set for overtime ban | The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) is to put in place an overtime ban on a number of days in the weeks ahead, starting next Thursday, as part of a campaign for improved pay to tackle recruitment and retention difficulties. An overtime ban will have a significant impact on mental health services across the country, psychiatric nurses have claimed. The PNA said mental health services were very reliant on overtime and staff provided by agencies. PNA general secretary Peter Hughes said the HSE spent €1million per week on nursing staff from outside agencies for psychiatric services and a further €300,000 on overtime. Psychiatric nurses are to escalate their industrial action to a series of strikes towards the middle of February. Meanwhile, members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) are to stage a 24-hour strike on Wednesday. The PNA and the INMO are meeting with public service management on Thursday in an attempt to avert the planned industrial action INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said community services as well as hospitals would be affected by the work stoppage on Wednesday. She said public health nurses and community general nurses would deal with emergency calls. Ms Ní Sheaghdha said community nursing day centres would be closed. She also said community nursing units would not operate as normal during the first day of strike but would be involved in subsequent stoppages. Arriving at the talks at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Mr Hughes said the PNA had held talks with the HSE on contingency arrangements to apply if the overtime ban went ahead next week. “We have given a list to the HSE of the areas where the overtime ban will apply. If there are not sufficient staff to take over a unit, then our members will not be taking over those units,” Mr Hughes said. He said health service management needed to put forward “significant, realistic proposals” . Ms Ní Sheaghdga said the union had had a lot of discussion internally since the first round of talks at the WRC on Wednesday and that its position had not changed. She said there was a “massive crisis in recruitment and retention in nursing and midwifery”. “We have to look at the conditions nurses and midwives are working under and we also have to look at their remuneration. Otherwise we are going to continue with the cycle of constant recruitment but no net increase in your workforce.” | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/mental-health-services-to-be-hit-as-psychiatric-nurses-set-for-overtime-ban-1.3769395 | 2019-01-24 14:53:14+00:00 | 1,548,359,594 | 1,567,551,060 | health | medical profession |
783,753 | theirishtimes--2019-01-28--Government has not tabled any plans to prevent nurses strike says union | 2019-01-28T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Government has not tabled any plans to prevent nurses strike says union | The Government has not tabled any new initiatives to try to avert a 24-hour strike by nurses this Wednesday, with further work stoppages planned, union sources have said. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has appealed directly to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his senior staff to table plans that would help call the strike off. Government sources insisted on Sunday that no proposals for additional pay rises could be tabled. Sources said Government could consider other proposals for nurses that did not involve additional pay but that no decisions had been taken on what these could be. A spokeswoman for Minister for Health Simon Harris last night again appealed for unions and health management to use the time between now and Wednesday to avoid the dispute going ahead. “The Minister has said repeatedly engagement is key to this dispute being avoided and he hopes the remaining time is used by both sides to prevent industrial action from proceeding,” the spokeswoman added. The levels of nursing which will be provided across the health service during Wednesday’s strike will pose real challenges, according to the HSE. It said it had concerns about the scale of the planned 24-hour work stoppage by nearly 40,000 nurses across hospitals and in the community, as well as about the number of services that would be affected. The planned strike by members of the INMO on Wednesday will be the first in a series of six scheduled work stoppages in the weeks ahead as part of a dispute over pay and staffing issues. The HSE said it was continuing to engage with the INMO to secure further agreement “to allow us to operate safely” amid strike action. “To put it into context, for a single day of the dispute, up to 13,000 patients will have their outpatient appointment cancelled and a further 2,000 planned procedures will not go ahead. “In terms of community services, thousands of appointments will be cancelled. “While these patients and clients will be rescheduled, it will affect our ability to treat further patients in a timely way. Also, if the subsequent days proceed, it will have a cumulative impact on wait times and volumes.” Meanwhile, psychiatric nurses on Thursday are scheduled to put in place an overtime ban in the mental health service. Members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) plan to escalate their campaign of industrial action to full strikes towards the middle of February. The Irish Times reported on Saturday that HSE senior management had warned in a confidential internal memo that the organisation’s ability to deliver safe, sustainable services would be “compromised” if the planned nurses’ strike went ahead on Wednesday. Talks aimed at averting the stoppage broke down on Friday evening. In a statement, the HSE said efforts would continue to avert strike action and health service management would “work with INMO to ensure appropriate arrangements are in place to support safe care provision. “The threatened industrial action poses real challenges to service delivery given the scale of the action proposed across our hospitals and community services. Our objective is to deliver safe services during the day of the strike. “To this end, our hospitals and community services have put contingency plans in place for the day and we have secured exemptions on some critical service areas. “The levels of nursing which will be provided across the health service on the day of action will pose real challenges, particularly in the winter period when our hospitals and services are operating at close to 100 per cent occupancy.” | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/government-has-not-tabled-any-plans-to-prevent-nurses-strike-says-union-1.3772567 | 2019-01-28 00:23:15+00:00 | 1,548,652,995 | 1,567,550,558 | health | medical profession |
784,029 | theirishtimes--2019-02-03--Overseas nurses say Government does not respect Irish workforce | 2019-02-03T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Overseas nurses say Government does not respect Irish workforce | Irish nurses working abroad say the Government does not respect the workforce, and gives emigrants no reason to come home. On Saturday, The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) announced two additional strike dates amid an ongoing row over pay and staffing retention issues. The strikes will take place on February 19th and 21st, in addition to action on February 5th and 7th, and February 12th - 14th. Anna Enright, from Tralee, Co Kerry, has lived and worked as a nurse in Melbourne, Australia, for five years. “When I first started I worked in hospitals in the midlands on three-month contracts for €13.60 an hour,” she said. “We were worked to the bone in unsafe conditions because of chronic understaffing. “There was no support, no room for job growth, not to mention the salary. “There are amazing nurses in Ireland, they work so hard considering what they’re put through. “I’m very angry over it, I’ve been speaking to the girls at home who are striking, my heart breaks for them. “I honestly feel bad, and kind of guilty at how good we have it over here, we make money that allows us to have a great lifestyle, we enjoy work, are so supported to grow in our field. “Nursing is highly respected over here, whereas I feel in Ireland it never will be, to be honest I can’t see a change happening, the Government don’t respect nursing as a profession to increase our pay, it’s not that we are greedy for money, we need to be able to live.” More than 30,000 nurses took to picket lines in freezing conditions outside hospitals across the country last week after talks aimed at resolving the issue failed. Nurses are calling for a pay increase of about 12 per cent, but the Government has said it is not in the position to borrow money. The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, said: “The nursing unions are seeking a significant increase in pay over and above all of the benefits of the current Agreement seeking parity with other health professionals. “Concession of this pay claim, even if possible, would have serious consequences for the public finances and for public pay policy generally with estimated costs of 300 million euro annually based on a 12 per cent claim in pay. “However, it would not end there. “It would, I have no doubt, generate knock-on or ‘leapfrogging’ claims from the rest of the public service workforce, where there are already other well aired pay grievances.” Last week, protests were organised in Melbourne, Sydney and London by Irish nurses to show their solidarity with their colleagues at home. – PA | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/overseas-nurses-say-government-does-not-respect-irish-workforce-1.3780603 | 2019-02-03 14:32:58+00:00 | 1,549,222,378 | 1,567,549,777 | health | medical profession |
784,347 | theirishtimes--2019-02-11--Strong support for nurses among those affected by strike | 2019-02-11T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Strong support for nurses among those affected by strike | Three days of strike action and the threat of more has done little to dent support for the nurses – even among patients directly affected by the dispute. The impact of the strike, which has led to the cancellation of thousands of operations and tens of thousands of appointments, is evident from the stories of patients who contacted The Irish Times in recent days about their cancelled treatments. Equally striking, though, is the level of support for the nurses’ cause. Sarah Thompson, from east Clare, waited five months for an appointment with a vascular consultant in University Hospital Limerick, only for it to be cancelled last week due to the industrial action. She needs sign-off from the consultant for her application for treatment of her lymphoedema in Germany under the HSE’s treatment abroad scheme. And because she is a single parent who can travel only in the summer, she is on a tight timeline for her application. The consultant will see her, but she thinks that may take several months. “I still strongly support the nurses. I have been admitted to hospital two or three times in the last two years, through A&E, and I have seen first-hand their care and kindness and incredible hard work – in obvious overstretched circumstances.” Sarah Wassell, from Templemore, Co Tipperary, says her father’s planned lymph-node biopsy was cancelled on the first day of industrial action. “This surgery is vital as it’s expected his melanoma has spread but this procedure is absolutely needed to continue his treatment.” Nonetheless, she says she totally supports the strike, having seen nurses work “tirelessly” in emergency departments, critical care and rehabilitation. “I’ve witnessed many areas of healthcare and can say undoubtedly that more nurses are needed. The work they put in is amazing.” Caroline Wolfe, who missed a hospital consultation on Tuesday last week due to the strike, says it is more important for nurses to get adequate pay and have their staffing issues resolved, even if they have to strike to achieve this. Kathleen Heaslip said her sister-in-law had to wait in the emergency department for five hours after being brought to hospital in an ambulance. “My brother was told by a nurse that ‘it’s not their fault she is waiting so long – don’t you know there is a strike on?’.” “I think it’s a disgrace that people who sign up to help others can so easily walk off the job. I do believe in a pay rise but we can do this in a different way. Go through the correct channel. If I downed tools at work I’d be told to go home and don’t come back.” Shan Lin’s father has stage 1 oesophageal cancer. Due to the strike, his diagnosis was delayed by two weeks and surgery by three weeks. “This is so terrible for my dad as if the cancer develops into stage 2, the chance of him being alive in the next five years is going to drop from 80 per cent to less than 50 per cent. Every day counts in his situation but due to the nurses’ strike, there is nothing the hospital or doctors can do. “It is so stressful for the patient and their family that the hospital service was impacted, even for cancer patients, due to the nurses’ strike. The country needs to do better. I’m very disappointed at this situation.” | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/strong-support-for-nurses-among-those-affected-by-strike-1.3790159 | 2019-02-11 18:21:00+00:00 | 1,549,927,260 | 1,567,548,928 | health | medical profession |
785,582 | theirishtimes--2019-03-24--Mater nurses fundraising to improve patient experience | 2019-03-24T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Mater nurses fundraising to improve patient experience | A group of nurses at Dublin’s Mater Hospital are attempting to raise money to create a more comfortable environment for their patients. The six oncology nurses, who work on St Vincent’s Ward, are planning to run this year’s Women’s Mini Marathon to raise funds to buy items such as fitness equipment for those staying in the unit. “Unfortunately we all know a family who has been affected by a cancer diagnosis. As nurses working on St Vincent’s Ward, we see what patients and families go through first hand, and our aim is to try and improve their experience with us as much as we can from diagnosis to discharge,” the nurses said. Many of the patients will stay on the ward for up to a year receiving chemotherapy and other treatments. The nurses recently surveyed patients and their families to ask them what they felt would make their stay easier. Nurse Joanna Lambe said responding patients felt they would benefit from fitness equipment and other forms of holistic care. “While we have all the requisite medical equipment, there is nothing for patients who are stuck for weeks on end in the hospital. . . . after chemotherapy patients have compromised immune systems so they can’t exercise outside or in public gyms,” she said. “Some of the patients bring in exercise bikes to keep themselves motivated. Other patients bring in Xboxes, books and iPads to entertain themselves while they are here,” she said. “We want to raise enough money to get exercise bikes for the ward, a library, and camp beds for people who are staying over the night with patients,” she said. Ms Lambe said more funding should be provided in hospitals for amenities that will make patients and visitors stays more comfortable. “In a hospital setting, there is only funding for the bare minimum - to get patients well and get them discharged but not for the kind of things that will make our patients and visitors stay more comfortable,” she said. “We have 35 beds on the ward, but only 25 are open due to understaffing so the spare mattresses from those beds are put into patients’ rooms to sleep on the floor, so we need proper camp beds,” she said. A fundraising page has been set up on Facebook. | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/mater-nurses-fundraising-to-improve-patient-experience-1.3836900 | 2019-03-24 13:04:24+00:00 | 1,553,447,064 | 1,567,545,028 | health | medical profession |
825,934 | thepoliticalinsider--2019-09-05--Nurse Tells Pro-Life Nurses To Stay Out Of Health Care | 2019-09-05T00:00:00 | thepoliticalinsider | Nurse Tells Pro-Life Nurses To Stay Out Of Health Care | Mary Margaret Olohan on September 4, 2019 * **Associate professor and clinician-scientist Monica R. McLemore wrote in an op-ed that nurses who don’t want to provide abortions should not go into health care.** * **McLemore draws on a recent HHS announcement regarding a nurse who was forced to perform an abortion against her will.** * **Pro-life health care professionals commented on McLemore’s op-ed, saying abortion is never to be considered health care.** Nurses who don’t want to provide abortions should not go into health care, according to associate professor and clinician-scientist Monica R. McLemore. [McLemore](https://profiles.ucsf.edu/monica.mclemore) bashed pro-life nurses in an op-ed in Vice titled “[If You Don’t Want to Provide Abortions, Don’t Go Into Health Care.](https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9kead5/vermont-abortion- nurse-if-you-dont-want-to-provide-abortions-dont-go-into-healthcare)” “To be clear, I respect people’s desires not to do things that go against their moral or religious beliefs,” the registered nurse wrote. “I know that professional nursing in the United States was established in religiously affiliated institutions. However, people shouldn’t go into health care if they don’t want to provide health care.” McLemore referred to a case involving a nurse at the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) who filed a conscience and religious complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights against UVMMC. The nurse’s complaint, filed on May 9, 2018, said she was forced to assist in an [abortion](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj4rMDL67fkAhUJ01kKHYaWBCgQFjAAegQIABAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdailycaller.com%2F2019%2F09%2F04 %2Fchristine-ford-abortion-kavanaugh%2F&usg=AOvVaw14N584sF9-rxzOi1lIW1j9) that violated her conscience rights, [according to HHS](https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2019/08/28/ocr-issues-notice-violation- university-vermont-medical-center-after-it-unlawfully-forced-nurse.html). HHS notified UVMMC on Aug. 28 that the center had violated the nurse’s [rights](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj4rMDL67fkAhUJ01kKHYaWBCgQFjAEegQIARAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdailycaller.com%2F2019%2F08%2F27 %2Fjudge-blocks-abortion-law-missouri%2F&usg=AOvVaw0_o2waVOKINEhAD62wQ4T8) — a notification that demands the center bring its rules into compliance with federal requirements within 30 days or face losing federal funds, including $1.6 million received from HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration over the past three years, [according to The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/trump-administration-accuses- vermont-hospital-of-civil-rights-violation-related-to- abortion/2019/08/28/092b12a8-c9a2-11e9-a4f3-c081a126de70_story.html). “There’s a larger issue here that isn’t being discussed,” McLemore wrote. “Who is worthy to serve the public with comprehensive reproductive services, and what are the standards of care that should be provided?” “Privileging the health care workforce over the needs of the public runs counter to our commitment to patient-centered care,” McLemore wrote. She argued conscience rules disproportionately affect people of color. “This is why the accommodations for conscience need to be re-examined as unethical and incompatible with the social contract to which members of the health professions commit,” McLemore wrote. The associate professor said she would have asked the nurse “to wrestle with why her discomfort with abortion kept her from empathizing with the person who needed it.” “My research has shown that nurses wrestle with ethically challenging care in real time, because there are few places in their educational preparation and on-the-job training to do so,” McLemore wrote. “Once afforded the opportunity to critically dissect their views and clarify their values, nurses are able to understand that the people we serve are experts by experience and know best what _they_ need — more so than we do.” Other medical professionals disagree with McLemore’s point of [view](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj4rMDL67fkAhUJ01kKHYaWBCgQFjAGegQIBhAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdailycaller.com%2F2019%2F08%2F19 %2Fplanned-parenthood-title-ix-trump%2F&usg=AOvVaw2Zf4qkkItyBs1qAXFiSoKr). “Despite the euphemisms of abortion as ‘women’s health care,’ it must be emphasized that abortion is not health care,” Dr. [Ingrid Skop](https://lozierinstitute.org/team-member/ingrid-skop-m-d-f-a-c-o-g/), a board member of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “It is a medical procedure that addresses the social problem of unintended pregnancy.” “Disrupting the normal process of pregnancy and ending the life of a baby by abortion is the very antithesis of health care,” Skop added. Skop also said that while she agreed with McLemore that serving as a medical professional is a privilege, she also understands “the harm that can result to a woman and her child from the medical unnecessary procedure of abortion, and I do not choose to use my healing skills for a life-destroying procedure.” “Abortion is not health care, and no twisted logic can justify it as health care,” [David Prentice](https://lozierinstitute.org/team-member/david- prentice/), vice president and research director for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, told the DCNF. “It would be tragic to force any health care worker to break their sacred oath committed to healing and coerce them to participate in an act so clearly against their conscience,” Prentice added. Registered Nurse and Family Nurse Practitioner Sharon MacKinnon commented on the matter when HHS notified UVMMC, saying that “Doctors and nurses should never be forced to choose between risking their jobs or violating the dictates of their consciences in assisting or performing an abortion.” “The convictions that stop me from assisting in abortion – the taking of an innocent human life – are the same convictions of compassion and care for the most vulnerable that drew me to the nursing profession in the first place,” McKinnon said in a statement. “I’m grateful the law has been rightly enforced in this instance, as it should be in all cases, so that what happened to this nurse never happens to another medical provider.” | Daily Caller | https://thepoliticalinsider.com/nurse-tells-pro-life-nurses-to-stay-out-of-health-care/ | 2019-09-05 02:09:43+00:00 | 1,567,663,783 | 1,569,331,337 | health | medical profession |
1,068,891 | upi--2019-12-18--More than 15,000 nurses strike in Northern Ireland | 2019-12-18T00:00:00 | upi | More than 15,000 nurses strike in Northern Ireland | Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Thousands of nurses in Northern Ireland walked out in a 12-hour labor strike Wednesday, rallying for better pay and greater patient safety. A total of about 15,000 nurses participated in the walkout. The nurses have complained their pay has fallen by 15 percent over the past eight years, at a rate well behind nurses working in England, Scotland and Wales. There is a 13 percent nursing vacancy in Northern Ireland, compared to 11 percent in England and 6 percent in Scotland. "They have tolerated this for so long and they say today enough is enough and we need to see something change for patients," Royal College of Nursing Northern Ireland Director Pat Cullen said. Officials noted widespread disruptions to healthcare services in Northern Ireland during Wednesday's strike -- from canceled appointments to delayed medical procedures. Ambulance services have also been slowed. "Regrettably, as a result of the widespread nature of the strike, numerous appointments and treatments have been canceled and many services across our hospitals and the community care sector have had to be stood down or reduced," the Health and Social Care Board said in a statement. The board added that emergency rooms were still open and said patients should seek "alternative service" for medical care Wednesday if they need non-emergency care. | null | https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2019/12/18/More-than-15000-nurses-strike-in-Northern-Ireland/7341576669861/ | Wed, 18 Dec 2019 07:39:46 -0500 | 1,576,672,786 | 1,576,673,071 | health | medical profession |
292,337 | liveaction--2019-10-31--Nearly 1,000 Northern Ireland medical professionals refuse to commit abortion | 2019-10-31T00:00:00 | liveaction | Nearly 1,000 Northern Ireland medical professionals refuse to commit abortion | A general practitioner in Northern Ireland has gathered the signatures of nearly 1,000 medical professionals who have vowed not to commit abortions. On October 22, abortion was decriminalized in Northern Ireland when the clock struck midnight on the deadline set by Westminster for the government of Northern Ireland to re-assemble or see abortion become legalized. Regulations for legalized abortion are required to be in place by March 31, 2020, leaving months in which there are no laws on abortion. Dr. Andrew Cupples, a Northern Irish GP who opposed the decriminalization of abortion in all cases including rape, wrote a letter to the Northern Ireland Secretary stating that he and the other 911 medical professionals who signed the letter refuse to commit or assist in abortions. Cupples said that they would leave their jobs if their superiors attempted to force them to participate, according to The Independent. Those who signed the letter include doctors, midwives, and nurses. READ: Pro-lifers in Northern Ireland react to forced legalization of abortion with #DarkestDay “Hundreds of healthcare professionals in northern Ireland will refuse to be involved in abortion services,” Cupples told The Independent. “There are even people who are planning to walk away from the healthcare service if they are forced to participate in abortion services. There are also people in obstetrics and gynecology and midwives who are worried if they do not agree to be trained in abortion they could be forced to do so or reprimanded by their employers or a professional body,” he noted. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and other politicians attempted to recall the Northern Ireland Assembly in order to block the decriminalization of abortion; however, they failed to elect a new speaker. Westminster has published guidelines for Northern Ireland to use regarding abortion, but those guidelines don’t include conscience protections for midwives and medical staff, according to Cupples. Grainne Teggart, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland campaign manager, doesn’t think midwives or medical staff deserve conscience protections because they don’t personally carry out the abortions. Cupples is right to be concerned about medical professionals who oppose abortion being forced to participate in them. A nurse at the University of Vermont Medical Center was forced to participate in an abortion or lose her job in 2017 and she filed a complaint with the civil rights office in 2018. Three other nurses spoke to Congress in 2017 about being forced to participate in abortions against their will. And in 2011, 12 nurses in New Jersey were told they must help carry out abortions or lose their jobs. “I’ll never forget that day as I watched in horror as the doctor dismembered and removed the baby’s bloody limbs and I had to account for all the pieces,” nurse Cathy DeCarlo told Congress in 2017 about an abortion she was forced to take part in. “I still have nightmares about that day.” “Like” Live Action News on Facebook for more pro-life news and commentary! | Nancy Flanders | https://www.liveaction.org/news/1000-medical-professionals-northern-ireland-refuse-abortion/ | Thu, 31 Oct 2019 17:39:16 +0000 | 1,572,557,956 | 1,572,561,108 | health | medical profession |
368,942 | newyorkpost--2019-01-19--How a 1970s satire changed the medical profession | 2019-01-19T00:00:00 | newyorkpost | How a 1970s satire changed the medical profession | When Stephen Joseph Bergman was a medical intern at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital in the late 1970s, he came to the institution with youth and grand ideas. “We came into the hospital internship as idealists,” he says. “We quickly found that our way of wanting to do good medicine ran into the received wisdom of the medical system. There was a tremendous clash. Midway through the internship, a voice in my head said, ‘This is brutal and unfair to both doctors and patients.’ Someone has to tell this story, and it looks like it has to be me.” And tell it he did. His book, “The House of God” was published in 1978 under the pen name Samuel Shem and caused quite a ruckus, especially among the older, established faculty. It was a satire about the medical industry, yet it told truths about a system that pushed doctors to make decisions that went against good medicine. “There’s a group of patients whom we described as GOMERS — Get Out of My Emergency Room,” says Bergman, who now prefers to go just by Shem. “They were chronic visitors with 18 issues who really wanted to die, but we couldn’t let them go because we had to make money. We’d have to take care of them in extreme different ways. Law No. 1 in the book was GOMERS don’t die. We were so overloaded with the GOMERS. It was a little hard to do what we wanted to save other lives.” It also sold more than 2 million copies, is now published in 30 languages and is widely referred to as one of the most important medical novels of the 20th century. Many doctors read it multiple times over the course of their careers. Shem is currently teaching a seminar on the book in conjunction with its 40th anniversary. A sequel, “Man’s 4th Best Hospital,” is set to be published in October 2019 from Penguin/Random. | Mackenzie Dawson | https://nypost.com/2019/01/19/how-a-1970s-satire-changed-the-medical-profession/ | 2019-01-19 14:24:19+00:00 | 1,547,925,859 | 1,567,551,774 | health | medical profession |
335,029 | naturalnews--2019-03-13--Why the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons is strongly opposed to mandatory vaccines | 2019-03-13T00:00:00 | naturalnews | Why the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons is strongly opposed to mandatory vaccines | (Natural News) With all the current hysteria about measles and the need for people to be vaccinated it can be easy to label those who choose not to allow their families to receive vaccines as law-breaking, selfish and uninformed conspiracy theorists. This narrative is pushed so strongly by the mainstream media that even those of us who have chosen not to vaccinate because of serious reservations about side effects or for ethical reasons might start to second guess our own decisions. That is why a statement issued last month by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is so reassuring. These are not conspiracy theorists; this is an organization that represents thousands of mainstream physicians in all specialties across the United States – educated, informed medical professionals who care enough about their patients to take a stand against the World Health Organization and others who have labeled vaccine skeptics as a “global health threat.” The statement, which was submitted to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions February 26th, warns that the organization “strongly opposes federal interference in medical decisions, including mandated vaccines,” calling such interference “a serious intrusion into individual liberty, autonomy, and parental decisions about child-rearing.” The AAPS presents several arguments for its strong stance against forced vaccinations. For one thing, it insists that patients have the right to be fully informed of all the benefits and risks associated with any medical procedure, including vaccination, and then, after evaluating the facts, to decide for themselves — and their children — whether the benefits outweigh the risks. (Related: Kids got 11 vaccines in 1986 and 53 in 2017… why? The answer is all about Big Pharma profits.) 100% organic essential oil sets now available for your home and personal care, including Rosemary, Oregano, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Clary Sage and more, all 100% organic and laboratory tested for safety. A multitude of uses, from stress reduction to topical first aid. See the complete listing here, and help support this news site. They also note that while protecting public health is important, the risks of cancer, death or crippling complications from vaccines cannot be ignored. To properly evaluate these risks far more rigorous scientific studies would be required: There are no rigorous safety studies of sufficient power to rule out a much higher risk of complications, even one in 10,000, for vaccines. Such studies would require an adequate number of subjects, a long duration (years, not days), an unvaccinated control group (“placebo” must be truly inactive such as saline, not the adjuvant or everything-but-the-intended-antigen), and consideration of all adverse health events (including neurodevelopment disorders). The AAPS also recognizes that vaccines carry serious risks, and that these risks are acknowledged by both the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress. While the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has paid out over $4 billion to vaccine injury victims, pharmaceutical companies are immune from prosecution, “so the incentive to develop safer products is much diminished. Manufacturers may even refuse to make available a product believed to be safer, such as monovalent measles vaccine in preference to MMR (measles-mumps-rubella). Consumer refusal is the only incentive to do better.” Another serious issue they point out is that many vaccines that were declared safe in the past have turned out to be truly dangerous and have been pulled from the market – after inflicting serious damage, of course: The smallpox vaccine is so dangerous that you can’t get it now, despite the weaponization of smallpox. Rabies vaccine is given only after a suspected exposure or to high-risk persons such as veterinarians. The whole-cell pertussis vaccine was withdrawn from the U.S. market, a decade later than from the Japanese market, because of reports of severe permanent brain damage. The acellular vaccine that replaced it is evidently safer, though somewhat less effective. And the Mumps, Measles and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, still very much in use today, has resulted in many serious, documented complications, with experts warning that the safety studies on this vaccine – both pre- and post-marketing – were totally inadequate. In addition, vaccines seem to increase the potency of many of the diseases they are supposed to protect against. For example, the AAPS warns: Measles, when it does occur, is four to five times worse than in pre-vaccination times, according to Lancet Infectious Diseases, because of the changed age distribution: more adults, whose vaccine-based immunity waned, and more infants, who no longer receive passive immunity from their naturally immune mother to protect them during their most vulnerable period. The fact is, there are serious risks associated with vaccinations. Many people will evaluate these risks and decide that the benefits make the risk worth taking. Others will decide that they are not willing to jeopardize their children’s health by allowing them to receive vaccines. Irrespective, mandatory vaccinations cannot be imposed when those imposing them can offer no guarantees regarding the safety or even the efficiency of these dangerous medical treatments. | Tracey Watson | http://www.naturalnews.com/2019-03-13-why-the-association-of-american-physicians-and-surgeons-is-strongly-opposed-to-mandatory-vaccines.html | 2019-03-13 11:11:38+00:00 | 1,552,489,898 | 1,567,546,423 | health | medical profession |
683,910 | theguardianuk--2019-01-08--Female surgeons frustrated by male-dominated field study | 2019-01-08T00:00:00 | theguardianuk | Female surgeons frustrated by male-dominated field – study | An old boys’ network, exclusion from events, scepticism from patients and incompatibility with family life are among the factors fuelling a dearth of women in surgery, research has revealed. According to NHS figures for 2018, 1,138 women and 959 men were undertaking their first foundation year of medical training. However, only 14.5% of those at the top of their profession were women, with 1,389 female consultants to 8,164 male. A small survey of women working in surgery has attempted to examine why so few pursue a career in the field. Writing in the journal BMJ Open, the authors report how they posted a survey on both Twitter and a Facebook group for women of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland in October 2017. Of the 81 participants, who spanned all levels of training, 88% said they felt surgery was a male-dominated field, with 53% citing trauma and orthopaedic surgery (which deals with the musculoskeletal system) as sexist – the highest proportion for any speciality. Overall, 59% of participants said they had experienced sexism. When it came to barriers for women, 34% said they felt the surgery profession did not make motherhood or a family life very likely, while 16% said it felt like an “old boys’ club”. The same proportion raised childcare issues, while 10% flagged unsocial working hours as a barrier. More than a quarter said that other specialisms offered a better work-life balance. “There is a culture that basically discourages females to pursue this career,” said Dr Maria Irene Bellini of Imperial College, London, first author of the study, saying that visibility of senior women in the profession is a key factor. “I strongly believe that you cannot be what you cannot see,” she said, adding that lack of support during pregnancy is another issue. The authors say common themes emerged among written comments, including conflicts between personal life and career, the problematically rigid structure of surgical training – and blatant discrimination. “I got told by another surgeon that he left vascular surgery for plastics because there were ‘too many women surgeons and they caused too much drama’,” wrote one participant, while another commented: “Patients don’t think women can be doctors, let alone surgeons.” Bellini said such perceptions were damaging: “You feel like you have to fight not only against the institution for the way [it is] organised [to] favour men, but also some patients that don’t trust females because there is a general perception, dominated by unconscious bias, [that] this is a male-dominated field and a man’s profession.” When the team asked how the field could be changed to retain women, 42% of participants said more flexible career paths and training were important, but almost a third noted that current flexible pathways are looked down on. However, the study was small and reached only a subset of surgeons, and there could also have been bias in who answered the survey. Bellini said the attrition of women in surgery showed something serious was amiss. “Why, if there is not discrimination, are the numbers what they are?” she said. Scarlett McNally, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at a hospital in Eastbourne who has been a surgeon for 25 years, said concerns raised by the research were very familiar. “This is exactly what women surgeons are saying and feeling,” she said, adding that structural changes, mentoring and tackling sexist behaviours are important. “In all specialties, structures should be improved to make it easier for women and men – or the second parent– to take shared parental leave or less-than-full-time training. This would not only improve life for these doctors, but also show future cohorts that this is possible,” she said. But McNally said the situation was improving, noting that the experiences captured by the survey could stretch back over decades, and there was now a legal maximum of working 48 hours a week – although surveys suggest some trainees work considerably longer hours. “Now we only do life- or limb-threatening surgery at night. Hence we no longer need the heroic, sleep-deprived image of a surgeon; there is more team work and the learning opportunities can easily be focused into a shorter working week,” she said. “A variety of lifestyles is possible around this fantastic career.” | Nicola Davis | https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/08/female-surgeons-frustrated-by-male-dominated-field-study-finds | 2019-01-08 06:30:02+00:00 | 1,546,947,002 | 1,567,553,485 | health | medical profession |
782,830 | theirishtimes--2019-01-04--Aspiring doctors see college operation at Surgeons open day | 2019-01-04T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Aspiring doctors see college operation at Surgeons open day | More than 800 Leaving Certificate students attended an open day at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) on Thursday and most said they were hoping to become doctors. Sixth-year secondary student Mackenzie O’Connor knows what a career in medicine will entail. “I’ve heard that the health service isn’t the best, but I really want to make a difference,” she said at the RCSI open day. At age 16, she is younger than most preparing for Leaving Certificate and the HPAT. O’Connor skipped transition year to attend the Institute of Education, so she could keep moving towards her dream of becoming a doctor. “I didn’t want a break. I needed to keep going,” she said. She is the first in her family to pursue medicine, so she spent years researching the profession. “Everything I read about it I’m just like yes, yes, yes,” she said. “It sounds really tough and hard work, but I think someone has to help.” The RCSI’s €80 million building, which opened in 2018, is “state of the art” and privately funded. “Are there many breaks between lectures?” one aspiring medic asked. Waiting to enter a plaster-casting workshop, Adib Collot (16), a transition-year student from Yeats College Galway, has the medical profession in his blood. He chose his career at the age of four, when his mother gave birth to his brother and he got a sense of hospitals for the first time. “I know I would have to learn to deal with stress, but I think being a doctor would be so exciting,” he said. Knowing that places in medicine are highly competitive, he is spurred on by a poster in his bedroom that reads: “I want to be a doctor.” He aims for “a taste of all of the specialities” before settling on one area of medicine. “I’m just so interested in the human body,” he said. “I’ve always been curious.” In a mock-delivery room, a group of teens hovered awkwardly around Lucinda, the RCSI’s €75,000 birthing mannequin. She appointed a girl to “pull the baby’s head”, while another student to monitor the mother’s vital signs on a laptop. Lucinda was beside herself: “Is everything alright with my baby?” she screamed. One student fainted in the delivery room, which an RCSI spokesperson said was “not uncommon”. Some of the students had never heard of the HSE. “Does the ‘H’ stand for health?” one of them asked. However, many had researched the field. Best-selling book This is Going to Hurt, written by a junior doctor in Britain’s cash-strapped NHS, Adam, Kay, is a popular read among the dedicated hopefuls. The RCSI’s fourth-year students have, by now, experienced Ireland’s healthcare system first hand. Ciara Malone (22) is due to graduate in 2020 and hopes to gain an internship in an Irish hospital. “When you go into the hospitals you see the world. The hospitals are completely underfunded and overcrowded, which puts all this into perspective,” she said, gesturing to the RCSI facilities around her. “I might have to emigrate to the UK for paediatric surgery, because there are more opportunities to specialise there.” She explained that emigration is common for graduates looking to gain fellowships and to become expert in a specific field, but that most of the RCSI’s Irish graduates hope to end up working in Ireland. Prof Arnold Hill, head of the school of medicine, believes there is “a real positive” in graduates learning from hospitals abroad. “The graduates coming back from Australia are more enlivened, more energised. We strategically try to recruit that Irish cohort back,” he said. He emphasised that the RCSI was not just teaching students a degree but a career, pushing them into Irish hospitals from their first year of training. “It looks glamorous, but it teaches students how to practise in a real-life environment,” he said. | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/aspiring-doctors-see-college-operation-at-surgeons-open-day-1.3747180 | 2019-01-04 06:00:00+00:00 | 1,546,599,600 | 1,567,553,971 | health | medical profession |
784,188 | theirishtimes--2019-02-07--College of Surgeons in Ireland to become a university | 2019-02-07T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | College of Surgeons in Ireland to become a university | The Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) is set to become the country’s eighth university under new legislation likely to complete its passage through the Oireachtas shortly. The 235-year-old Dublin college has been lobbying the government for many years to grant it university status to help boost its chances of attracting top international researchers and students. Key obstacles to the RCSI being recognised as a university have included concerns that it could create a precedent for many other institutions to do so, which could end up diminishing the status of the term. The governance arrangement of the college, founded by royal charter in 1784, and the fact that staff are paid privately have also been cited as issues. However, Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor is understood to be preparing an amendment to legislation which would pave the way for a change in its status. The proposed change is likely to be added in the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill, which is making its way through the Oireachtas. Sources say the legal change, which is being drafted on foot of advice from the Attorney General, will be framed in such a way that it will not create a precedent for other institutions to be able to claim use of the title. Following the legal change, the college is likely to describe itself as the “RCSI university of medicine and health sciences”. The college, based on St Stephen’s Green, has about 3,500 students and trainees and is planning to expand to create a “university quarter” in the area. It recently built a €80 million medical education building on York Street which it says offers students the most advanced facilities in Europe. The latest global rankings indicate it was in the top 2 per cent of universities worldwide. In its campaign to secure university status, the RCSI has pointed out that while it is often regarded as a private institution, it maintains it is a “public, statutory, regulated institution”. It says its statutory status extends back to its foundation by charter which was subsequently amended by the Oireachtas in the mid-1990s. This statutory status, it has argued, is similar to that of Trinity College Dublin. The RCSI has also pointed out that it is a not-for-profit registered charity and is regulated by the Charities Regulator. | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/college-of-surgeons-in-ireland-to-become-a-university-1.3784496 | 2019-02-07 00:58:22+00:00 | 1,549,519,102 | 1,567,549,340 | health | medical profession |
994,735 | thetelegraph--2019-01-07--Bone surgeons the most sexist in the NHS new poll suggests | 2019-01-07T00:00:00 | thetelegraph | Bone surgeons the most sexist in the NHS, new poll suggests | Bone surgeons are the most sexist in the NHS, according to a confidential poll which suggests discrimination against female staff is rife. Results of an online survey found more than half of female surgeons in the UK have experienced or witnessed workplace abuse, with those working in orthopaedics most likely to have suffered. The specialism, concerned with treating conditions of the musculoskeletal system, has long had a reputation within medicine as physically demanding due to the nature of the operations involved. However, new techniques and technologies are reducing the strength requirements of clinicians, experts have said. Published in BMJ Open, the poll found that 43 per cent of women respondents reported sexism while working in orthopaedics, the highest of any specialism. Meanwhile 13 per cent reported sexism in cardiothoracic surgery, and 12 per cent in general surgery. Despite women making up half of medical school entrants, less than a third opt to become surgeons. The new survey was sent to members of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland Facebook group, and was posted on Twitter for two weeks. The majority - 88 per cent - of the 81 respondents felt surgery remained male-dominated and six out of ten reported they had experienced or witnessed discrimination against women in the workplace. | Henry Bodkin | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/07/bone-surgeons-sexist-nhs-new-poll-suggests/ | 2019-01-07 23:30:00+00:00 | 1,546,921,800 | 1,567,553,598 | health | medical profession |
998,207 | thetelegraph--2019-02-04--300000 extra operations could be carried out every year if surgeons planned holidays and lists bett | 2019-02-04T00:00:00 | thetelegraph | 300,000 extra operations could be carried out every year if surgeons planned holidays and lists better | An extra 300,000 operations could be carried out in England if surgeons planned their holidays in advance and managed their time better, watchdogs have suggested. Regulators said better scheduling of surgery, and planning ahead could mean around 290,000 more operations carried out annually. NHS Improvement on Monday urged hospitals to use a simple model, which means surgical staff agree their annual leave six weeks in advance and plan their surgical lists afterwards. The watchdog is concerned that patients are being forced to suffer needlessly long waits - and suffer cancellations - because of haphazard planning, late starts and early finishes. In particular, it is concerned that too often surgery lists are planned without knowing if there are sufficient staff on duty to carry out the work. Their study, carried out with the Royal College of Surgeons, examined productivity at 92 trusts across the NHS. It found that a third of operating lists started at least half an hour late - while almost one quarter finished at least one hour early. For the longest surgical sessions, as much as two hours was wasted, the research found. The time wasted, combined with time lost for lack of the right staff could have been spent carrying out up to 291,237 more operations - a 17 per cent increase in efficiency, the study found. | Laura Donnelly | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/04/300000-extra-operations-could-carried-every-year-surgeons-planned/ | 2019-02-04 00:01:00+00:00 | 1,549,256,460 | 1,567,549,669 | health | medical profession |
116,491 | collectiveevolution--2019-10-12--California’s First Surgeon General: Screen Every Student For Childhood Trauma | 2019-10-12T00:00:00 | collectiveevolution | California’s First Surgeon General: Screen Every Student For Childhood Trauma | Drew Scanlon, better known as the guy from the “blinking white guy” meme, has used his accidental platform to raise money for MS research and treatment. The meme/GIF he became famous for is the type you’d see after a comment or post that might be surprising to someone. After all, the original video this meme was made from shows Drew’s surprised reaction after hearing a gamer describe what he was doing while playing a video game. In 2013, an online video game show called “Unprofessional Fridays” featured one host playing a video game while explaining what he was doing. The game was being watched by a number of people, Drew included. The gamer says in the video “I’ve been doing some farming with my hoe here,” and Drew became surprised by how the sentence came out. His now iconic raised eyebrows followed by a series of blinks caught the attention of someone, who then turned it into a GIF that became famous. If you’re not quite following, check out the 12 second video below: In the top right hand corner, you see Drew and his reaction. This quickly became a meme that has been used on the internet millions of times. His meme fame generated a substantial following, as his Twitter account now has over 74,000 followers. And now Drew is using that platform to give back to society in a way that’s close to his heart. Drew watched as some close to him and his friends suffered from MS and thus decided to use his platform to raise money for MS research. Drew has so far helped raise over $31,000 through his online network that was built because of a meme. His team’s goal is $35,000. People can be quick to call out social media as a bad thing, similar to how we sometimes view cell phones. But are these things really to blame for the challenges that people have with them like spending too much time on them or becoming self-conscious? Or are we simply using these tools in an unbalanced manner? It’s true that, with at least Facebook, tactics were employed to make people addicted to these platforms. But that doesn’t mean we’ll always fall into those traps. The greater our self awareness, the less these external factors affect us. To be honest, aside from this good news story, this was one of the first things that came to my mind. I have personally been raising awareness about things in our world I feel we need to shift and helping people transform their lives personally through social media for over 10 years. Collective Evolution may not be anywhere without social media and yet we often view SM as a negative aspect of our society. The reality is, social media is a tool that can help connect people and create a positive impact on society, providing we allow it to be that. The challenges we have with social media aren’t just because of social media itself, it’s revealing the challenges we individually have within our own lives. It acts as a mirror into our consciousness and the stories, belief systems and insecurities we have within ourselves. To blame social media, however, is perhaps not the most effective way of addressing the challenges we face within our own mental health. Even running from social media doesn’t address these stories within ourselves, as they will once again be triggered by the next thing that comes along. So What Do We Do? If you find yourself comparing yourself to others, getting caught up in a rat race via social media, or always wanting to portray a perfect life, simply notice and reflect on these tendencies. Why are you trying to do this? What story are you telling yourself about why you need to appear this way? When emotions arise, write them out and journal about your thoughts to get a clearer picture of the thought processes and programs running through your mind that cause you to feel insecure or bad about yourself. It’s usually not what another person is doing to us on social media that is harming us, it’s the power we give to our own stories. As we begin to become aware and reflect on these stories, we now can SEE them for what they are. Stories… From there, it’s about stopping those neurological pathways from repeating every time these stores come up. To do that, every time you notice yourself in that state, come back to the present moment by taking 5 deep breaths in through your nose. The breath can bring you back to the present, and will make YOU, the observer, the one who begins to deprogram your old patterns causing you to feel down. | Joe Martino | https://www.collective-evolution.com/2019/10/12/consciousness-californias-first-surgeon-general-screen-every-student-for-childhood-trauma/ | Sat, 12 Oct 2019 11:35:57 +0000 | 1,570,894,557 | 1,570,881,838 | health | medical profession |
144,797 | drudgereport--2019-03-13--Sex-Change Surgeon Posted Patients Genitals On INSTA | 2019-03-13T00:00:00 | drudgereport | Sex-Change Surgeon Posted Patient's Genitals On INSTA... | A Miami surgeon known for his gender reassignment work with trans patients has lost his job after it was discovered that he’d been posting offensive, explicit images of his patients’ body parts to a secret Instagram account without their consent. According to The Trans Advocate’s Noah Adams, Dr. Christopher Salgado of the University of Miami Health System had been operating the since-deleted Instagram account, @sexsurgeon, since at least as far back as October of last year. There, he would post pictures of surgically removed genitals, pairing them offensive captions intended to be humorous. In one photo, posted on Valentine’s Day, Salgado rearranged a patient’s dissected, severed penis into a heart shape, tagging it “#whatthefuckisthat,” and he captioned a photo of a dildo removed from a person’s rectum with “could have been avoided if the transman had a real phalloplasty” and the hashtag “#realdicksmatter.” Salgado — who appeared on an episode of TLC’s I Am Jazz, providing a gender reassignment surgery consultation to series star Jazz Jennings — also used racist and ableist language in his captions, tagging a penile enhancement pic “#asiancock” and calling a trans patient in need of a phalloplasty implant an “implant cripple.” Salgado’s secret Instagram account was discovered by an unnamed source and posted to a phalloplasty support group on Facebook on Feb. 17, The Trans Advocate reports. Before long, a number of emails and a 500-signature strong petition had been sent to Salgado, his bosses, and WPATH (the World Professional Association for Transgender Health) calling for accountability. The University of Miami Health System responded swiftly, ending Salgado’s employment within two days. “The University of Miami does not comment on the detailed status of employees,” Salgado’s former employers told The Trans Advocate. “However, we can confirm that Dr. Christopher Salgado is no longer employed by the University of Miami. We continue to have a team of experts providing the full continuum of care for gender reassignment patients.” While warranted, Salgado’s termination will likely complicate a number of trans patients scheduled surgeries. (Gender reassignment surgery and other trans-affirming procedures are generally scheduled at least a year or more in advance.) The Trans Advocate says the University of Miami plans to reassign Salgado’s patients to Dr. Ajani Nugent and that the Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender Health. | null | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/WuZ5v1H7StE/surgeon-fired-after-posting-trans-patients-body-parts-instagram | 2019-03-13 22:40:38+00:00 | 1,552,531,238 | 1,567,546,491 | health | medical profession |
383,172 | npr--2019-01-14--A Surgeon Reflects On Death Life And The Incredible Gift Of Organ Transplant | 2019-01-14T00:00:00 | npr | A Surgeon Reflects On Death, Life And The 'Incredible Gift' Of Organ Transplant | Surgeons performed more than 21,000 kidney transplants and 8,000 liver transplants in 2018, according the United Network for Organ Sharing. **shapecharge/shapecharge/Getty Images** ****hide caption**** ****toggle caption**** shapecharge/shapecharge/Getty Images Surgeons performed more than 21,000 kidney transplants and 8,000 liver transplants in 2018, according the United Network for Organ Sharing. shapecharge/shapecharge/Getty Images When Joshua Mezrich was a medical student on the first day of surgical rotation, he was called into the operating room to witness a kidney transplant. What he saw that day changed him. After the donor kidney came out of ice and the clamps on it were released, he says, "it turned pink and literally, in front of my eyes, this urine just started squirting out onto the field." Mezrich was blown away: "I just had this sense like, 'This is so amazing, what we're doing, and what an incredible gift. And could I ever do this? Could I ever be part of this exchange, this beautiful thing?' " He went on to become a transplant surgeon and has since performed hundreds of kidney, liver and pancreas transplants. He also has assisted in operations involving other organs. Each organ responds to transplant in a different way. "The liver will start pouring bile. The lungs start essentially breathing," Mezrich says. "Maybe the most dramatic organ, of course, is the heart, because you put it in and you kind of hit it like you hit a computer, maybe you give a little shock and it just starts beating, and that's pretty darn dramatic." Mezrich is an associate professor in the division of multiorgan transplantation at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. He reflects on his experiences as a transplant surgeon and shares stories from the operating room in his book, _When Death Becomes Life._ * * * ### Interview Highlights **On the different types of organ donors** There are a few different scenarios [where] we take organs from deceased donors, the most common being those that are brain-dead. Those patients have no blood flow to their brain, so they're considered legally dead, but their heart is still beating, their organs are getting blood flow, and they're often in a fairly stable situation, so we can take our time. ... it's an interesting thing, because you really think about what really is death? How is it defined? Do patients feel the same way as we do? Joshua Mezrich, transplant surgeon There's a second type of donor, which we call "DCD," or donation after circulatory death. These patients are actually still officially alive, but they've reached the point where the decision has been made to withdraw support. And in those patients, we wait to withdraw support until everything has been discussed, and often the family is in the room when that support is withdrawn by their primary doctor, not by us. ... You know, it's an interesting thing, because you really think about what really is death? How is it defined? Do patients feel the same way as we do? These are kind of some of the really interesting challenging parts of being in this field. **On how transplant takes a long time and requires stamina from doctors** Notes from a Transplant Surgeon by [Joshua D. Mezrich](https://www.npr.org/books/authors/685008355/joshua-d-mezrich) Hardcover, 368 pages | purchase close overlay ### Buy Featured Book Title When Death Becomes Life Subtitle Notes from a Transplant Surgeon Author Joshua D. Mezrich Your purchase helps support NPR programming. [How?](https://help.npr.org/customer/portal/articles/2168887-how-can-my- online-purchases-support-npr-programming) I train a lot of people in transplantation, we call them fellows. ... These are people who've finished their general surgery residency and now they're getting additional training [in] transplant, and they're excellent. ... Being a surgeon, particularly liver transplant, is all about kind of intestinal fortitude or inner strength. You've just gotta keep your wits and stay strong through all the different things that maybe can go wrong and fight through it. That's certainly what a liver transplant is like. **On having to make the judgment call about giving livers to patients with alcoholic liver disease** Transplant is one of those things that it's an amazing science and the surgery is very heroic, but if there isn't the social support and the ability to take care of the organ, it'll surely fail. You have to take all these medications to prevent rejection. You have to follow up a lot. Sometimes you have to battle through different complications, and so it really requires a village, if you will, to support any type of transplant. This is a really important topic when we think about liver transplantation. So in the early days of liver transplant — '60s, '70s — initially people decided not to transplant patients with alcoholic liver disease because of the thought that they did this to themselves and maybe they didn't deserve it. I think now most people would agree that alcoholism is a disease, and it's a disease that is hard to treat and it can come back. So rather than maybe think about it as, "These people are being stupid," or they're like your silly friends who drink too much, they truly have this addiction and it's a disease like other diseases, like hepatitis C, like the other things we transplant with more complex names. And it's been shown that we can get good outcomes in patients with alcoholic liver disease, as long as they have insight into their disease, and kind of have a support system to try and deal with the transplant afterwards. But it is controversial, because patients with alcoholic liver disease often have a lot of failed relationships, have a lot of challenges in their life, don't have great family support. It's challenging to talk about some of these patients and wonder if we are going to get the best outcome, if this transplant is actually going to fix their problem or not. I think our health care system likes these heroic treatments like a liver transplant, but we don't put enough into prevention, into really understanding and managing the disease, and that can be sometimes a challenge. We've had many incredible victories with transplanting livers into [patients with] alcoholic liver disease but we've also had some dramatic failures. **On what it's like talking to the families of donors** This is really one of, in my opinion, the most special parts of being in my field of being a transplant surgeon. I was really nervous the first time I met a donor family because I thought they were gonna look at me and think I'm this vulture who is taking the organs out of their loved one, and I could only imagine the images they might have had. But I'll never forget that interaction and most that I've had with the donors: They hung on every word. ... They wanted to know about the recipients. It truly was this beautiful legacy of their loved one, often who has died unexpectedly, sometimes a young person, and it gives them this positive thing to hold onto in this otherwise terrible time. It is so incredibly special, and I truly believe the donors, even the deceased donors, are our patients just as much as the recipients. It's so important that we connect with the family, that we let them understand the process, that we are able to do a great job to make this incredible gift work. It's quite emotional. It really is an incredible bond when we interact with these families. **On saying a few words about the donor before the operation begins** I want to reiterate as many times as possible how important the donors are, how much they're heroes to us, and we always want to remember their stories and this gift that they're giving. It's very emotional when we go on these procurements, and in our group when we go on a procurement, when we're in the operating room, we always take a pause and our people from our organ procurement team will, after a moment of silence, will read something. Often it's a poem or something that one of the loved ones asked us to say about the person, maybe a little bit about who they were, what was important to them. Sometimes it has a religious base, sometimes it doesn't. And we all kind of sit and think about it, and it is very special. It's emotional. And then the second that's over, we move on and really go after the task at hand. So it's interesting. You have this emotional experience, and then you have to very quickly kind of push it out of the way and and move on to the operation, but it's always very special. _Sam Briger and Mooj Zadie produced and edited the audio of this interview. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Scott Hensley adapted it for the Web._ | Dave Davies | https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/01/14/685008319/a-surgeon-reflects-on-death-life-and-the-incredible-gift-of-organ-transplant?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | 2019-01-14 18:07:00+00:00 | 1,547,507,220 | 1,567,552,598 | health | medical profession |
388,096 | npr--2019-12-05--Trauma Surgeon Battles Bullets In The Operating Room And The Community | 2019-12-05T00:00:00 | npr | Trauma Surgeon Battles Bullets In The Operating Room And The Community | Trauma Surgeon Battles Bullets In The Operating Room And The Community Dr. Laurie Punch plunged her gloved hands into Sidney Taylor's open chest in a St. Louis hospital's operating room, pushing on his heart to make it pump again, though a bullet had torn through his flesh, collarbone and lung. His pulse had faded to nothing. She needed to get his heart beating. She couldn't let the bullet win. Bullets are Punch's enemy. They threaten everything the 44-year-old trauma surgeon cherishes: her patients' lives, her community, even her family. So, just as she did two years ago with Taylor, Punch has made it her life's mission to stem the bleeding and the damage bullets cause in so many of her patients. In the ORs at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Punch treats gunshot victims, removing bullets that studies show can poison bodies with lead and trigger depression. And in her violence-wracked community, she teaches people how to use tourniquets to stop bleeding, creating a legion of helpers while building trust between doctors and community members. Punch feels a calling to St. Louis, which has the nation's highest murder rate among big cities. At least a dozen children were shot to death there this summer alone, including a 7-year-old boy who was playing in his backyard. Punch believes all she's learned in life has prepared her for right now — a time when gun violence kills an average of 100 Americans a day and mass shootings are all too common. To her, the battle is personal, in more ways than one. Besides being a surgeon, she's a multiracial single mom living in Ferguson, Mo., just over a mile from where Michael Brown Jr., a black teenager, was shot and killed by a white police officer five years ago. She has a son the same age as the little boy killed in the backyard in August. And, she says, "I hear the gunshots echoing through my two-acre backyard all the time." In September, Punch brought her message to Washington, D.C., testifying before the House Ways and Means Oversight subcommittee on gun violence. Wearing a jacket and tie, she faced lawmakers to share the story of Shannon Hibler. The 23-year-old was brought to Punch's hospital last summer; he'd been shot seven times. While the nurses gave Hibler blood, Punch said, she cut his chest open, trying to force life back into his body — to no avail. "I watched his wife sink, as the flood waters of vulnerability and risk came into her eyes, thinking about the life of her and her child and how they would live without him," Punch told the assembled federal lawmakers in September. "I watched his father rage. And I heard his mother wail." Punch placed the black-and-yellow, blood-splattered Adidas sneakers she'd worn the day of the shooting on the table before her in the hearing room. "I can't wash these stains out," she told lawmakers. The trauma surgeon was adamant: Violence is a true medical problem doctors must treat in both the operating room and the community. Until they do that, she said, violence victims will continue to be vectors who spread violence. "The disease that bullets bring does not yet have a name," she told the members of Congress. "It's like an infection, because it affects more than just the flesh it pierces. It infects the entire family, the entire community. Even our country." But healing also can be contagious — spreading among victims, families and physicians themselves. Punch, who regularly visits the neighborhoods where her patients live, attended an event last year for Saint Louis Story Stitchers, an artist and youth collective working to prevent gun violence. She remembers spotting a volunteer she knew — Antwan Pope, who'd been shot some years earlier, but had found renewed purpose, helping young people. Punch told Pope about Hibler's case, and learned Hibler was Pope's cousin. Hibler's dad was at the community event, too, and he handed Punch a lapel pin with his son's picture. She wore it on her white coat for months. Punch was born in Washington, D.C., the only child of a father from Trinidad and a white Midwestern mother; they separated six months after her birth. Until she was seven, Punch moved every year with her mom. They eventually settled with Punch's grandmother in the tiny town of Wellsville, Ohio, a close-knit but segregated community. Classmates bullied her for being different, Punch recalls. "I was different in every way because I wasn't black; I wasn't white," says Punch, who later came out as gay. From the time Punch was 9 years old, she took $2 piano lessons from Elizabeth Carter. The local music teacher had transformed former drug dens into places with music lessons, free clothes and meals, and put all the kids who sought her help to work. Punch's assignment was serving food. That lesson guided her life as a child, and when Punch moved on to Yale University, the University of Connecticut's medical school, then the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, where poverty and trauma scarred the lives of many of her patients. Punch spent her early career in the shock trauma center in Baltimore, throwing everything she had into saving others. After marrying a woman she'd met as a medical intern, Punch became pregnant with twins at 35. The next few years were marked by highs and lows in her personal life and the unrelenting stress of dealing with the aftermath of violence at work. She miscarried the twins at five months. No one could tell her why. Five months later, she became pregnant again, this time giving birth to a healthy boy, Sollal Braxton Punch. But not long later, she and her wife separated. Now she found herself as a single parent as the pressures of her job mounted. One morning, three shooting victims arrived at the trauma center, quickly followed by a car crash victim who was pregnant. Punch's nanny texted her, saying Sollal had a fever of 102.3. "I realized, 'I can't do this anymore,' " Punch says. " 'I just can't.' " So, she took a break from trauma for more than two years, focusing on general surgery at Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas. Then, in 2015, a former colleague contacted her about a job as a trauma surgeon and educator at Washington University in St. Louis. She feared going back to another troubled city. Michael Brown had been killed in Ferguson, a little more than a year earlier, triggering unrest and riots in that city just outside St. Louis. Despite the city's well-known history of violence, she flew to St. Louis for interviews, then rode around Ferguson with Dr. Isaiah Turnbull, an assistant professor. He pointed out the spot on Canfield Drive where Brown's body had lain in the road for more than four hours. "It was almost like seeing Ground Zero," Punch says. "This is where it all went down. And it went down because of deep structural realities that caused the experience of black and brown people in north St. Louis to be fundamentally different. I went from not wanting to go, to wanting to be right in the middle of it." And now she is. On a recent hot summer evening, 20 people — some black, some white — gathered around Punch. A few feet away, another doctor, a trauma nurse and a medical student stood near tables stacked with sections of "pool noodles," the long foam cylinders kids play with in swimming pools. These noodles happened to be about the width of a human arm. Punch explained to the class that a person can bleed to death in a minute, but an ambulance can take 15 minutes to arrive. "If you can stop the bleed, you can save a life," she said. "Time is life and minutes matter." Participants practiced packing wounds by pressing gauze into holes in the pool noodles. They tightened tourniquets — first on the foam cylinders, then on each other. Punch knows one of the doctors who created these Stop the Bleed trainings after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. She realized the same trainings could save lives after street shootings, too. Since March 2018, she and her team have trained more than 7,000 community members in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Many come to a rented St. Louis space Punch has dubbed "The T" (for trauma, tourniquet and time), but her team has also held classes in schools, a juvenile detention center and a firing range. "It's far more than teaching people what to do," Punch says. "They learn: 'I am not simply a victim or a perpetrator or an observer; I'm a helper. I have the capacity to help.' " Two years ago, Sidney Taylor was shot outside his brother's comedy club in North St. Louis County while trying to help a friend who was drunk. When Taylor, a father for four, arrived at Punch's hospital, profuse bleeding had left his blood pressure dangerously low. Taylor nearly died on the operating table, but Punch and her team pulled him back. After 10 days in intensive care, the longtime wrestling coach was still in physical and mental agony. That's the point when many patients slip back to their communities unhealed. But Taylor, now 47, showed up in Punch's clinic a month after he had been shot, and they bonded during a 25-minute visit. Punch described to him how her team had removed part of his lung and inserted a breathing tube. "Wow," he told her. "I have another chance at life." Punch mulled a thought, then asked, "Would you ever want to share your story?" Punch recruited Taylor's hospital caregivers to create a video of their memories of saving him. When the taping finished, Taylor hugged each one. Punch uses the video during talks, sometimes inviting Taylor to join her. Giving back to the community in that way has saved him a second time, he says. After getting shot, "I could've basically turned to the dark side and done straight revenge," Taylor says. "But I didn't because of her." Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit, editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation. KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. | Laura Ungar | https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/12/05/784924256/trauma-surgeon-battles-bullets-in-the-operating-room-and-the-community?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | Thu, 05 Dec 2019 05:00:02 -0500 | 1,575,540,002 | 1,575,548,094 | health | medical profession |
546,835 | sputnik--2019-10-14--British Surgeon Warns About Teens Seeking Botox-Induced ‘Ivanka Look’, Calls For Gov't Action | 2019-10-14T00:00:00 | sputnik | British Surgeon Warns About Teens Seeking Botox-Induced ‘Ivanka Look’, Calls For Gov't Action | A cosmetic surgeon Dr Dirk Kremer from London has called upon British MPs to make it illegal for underage children to have cosmetic fillers and Botox injections in a bid to get the popular “rich-girl face” look and resemble famous billionaire influencers such as Kylie Jenner or Ivanka Trump, according to The Times. Dr Kremer, who works at a Harley Street aesthetics clinic in London, petitioned the British Parliament last week calling to forbid young people from getting face injections, as he says that an increasing number of underage people were coming to his clinic to get a “certain look, which gets more ‘likes’ and more followers”. Kremer believes that social media is to blame for such an obsession with “rich-girl face” which includes chiseled jaw, plump lips and raised eyebrows, with many people coming to his clinic – often as young as 15 years old – citing the US president's daughter Ivanka Trump or American model Kylie Jenner as an example for their desired looks. While some cosmetic surgeons often ask for the consent of a parent or legal guardian if under-18 teens are coming to them, this is not officially required by law, as the industry remains highly unregulated and open to amateurs, the doctor warns. With some practitioners now offering people treatments after taking a short course and ordering fillers from China, this can potentially lead to complications, such as skin necrosis, strokes and even vision loss. | null | https://sputniknews.com/society/201910141077046509-british-surgeon-warns-about-teens-seeking-botox-induced-ivanka-look-calls-for-govt-action/ | Mon, 14 Oct 2019 15:57:43 +0300 | 1,571,083,063 | 1,571,062,181 | health | medical profession |
711,810 | theguardianuk--2019-10-10--Heart surgeon and author reveals how he once set fire to patient | 2019-10-10T00:00:00 | theguardianuk | Heart surgeon and author reveals how he once set fire to patient | It was a routine heart operation which was all going smoothly until one thing led to another and the surgeon set fire to his patient. The alarming but entertaining story of how a patient was flambéed on the operating table was told at Cheltenham literature festival by the leading heart surgeon and Guardian crossword setter, Samer Nashef. Nashef, a cardiac surgeon at Royal Papworth hospital in Cambridge, said the operation had been a perfectly straightforward coronary bypass and they were just about to close the patient’s chest when the aorta dissected. That is “one of the worst things; it basically transforms a straight operation into a very long and dangerous and tedious one”. Because you cannot put the patient on the heart-lung machine, you need quick access to another artery, said Nashef. The groin is the best place but you have to prepare and clean the area. “In a hurry, with an assistant pushing really, really hard on the aorta to reduce the massive blood loss, we threw some prep solution on to the groin and then cut the skin to find the artery.” As there was some blood, Nashef used an electric device to cauterise it – a medical technique which involves burning to mitigate bleeding. “Unfortunately the prep solution hadn’t dried. The flames reached the operating light. We managed to put them out using the drapes,”he said. “To cut a long story short, the patient did absolutely fine but, he was an 80-year-old man, he was rather bemused to find he’d had a full Brazilian.” The surgeon said he was congratulating himself on an amazing save but was nevertheless summoned to management and told what had happened was an NHS “never event”. Never events, such as taking out the wrong kidney, are – as the name suggests – events that should never happen. The never event in this case referred to not burning or scalding patients, although Nashef argued the rule did not apply because the guidelines say it applies to kettles. There was no kettle involved in his operating room, he insisted. Nashef, better known to Guardian crossword solvers as Philistine, was talking about his book, The Angina Monologues, sharing a stage at Cheltenham with fellow cardiac surgeon Stephen Westaby, author of The Knife’s Edge. The discussion touched on how far along the psychopathic spectrum, how fearless and inhibited, surgeons should be. Nashef said the quality was more important in surgeons practising in the early days of heart surgery when it was only carried out as a last resort. “The surgeons who took the chance to do that had to have supreme self-confidence in themselves. “Now, we do not need to be so psychopathic. A good heart operation now should be as boring as possible, where nothing unexpected happens, where everything goes according to plan.” The session was interrupted for five minutes when a man in the audience appeared to faint, even before Nashef’s fire-fighting story. Fortunately there were doctors – or rather surgeons – in the house, both of whom went down from the stage and diagnosed him as fine. | Mark Brown Arts correspondent | https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/10/heart-surgeon-and-author-samer-nashef-reveals-how-he-once-set-fire-to-patient | Thu, 10 Oct 2019 11:32:01 GMT | 1,570,721,521 | 1,570,713,113 | health | medical profession |
810,063 | themoscowtimes--2019-08-23--Arkhangelsk Doctors Werent Warned About Radiation Surgeon Confirms in First Public Account | 2019-08-23T00:00:00 | themoscowtimes | Arkhangelsk Doctors Weren’t Warned About Radiation, Surgeon Confirms in First Public Account | Update: The Kremlin confirmed in a conference call with journalists Monday that it had seen this report citing Igor Semin's post. “Of course, we have seen the report about this doctor’s statement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was cited as saying by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. “I am certain that the relevant authorities, which provide first-hand information about the situation, know about it and will check all the facts,” he added. In a previously unreported social media post, a Russian doctor has publicly confirmed that his colleagues were forced to treat radiation victims after a deadly nuclear explosion earlier this month without basic equipment or knowledge of the accident. A blast at a military base in northern Russia killed seven people and injured six on Aug. 8, with three of the victims being taken to the Arkhangelsk Regional Clinical Hospital. First responders at the hospital were not warned that they would be dealing with patients exposed to radiation, The Moscow Times reported last Friday, citing five hospital sources who asked to remain anonymous. Since then, other media outlets, including Novaya Gazeta and BBC Russia, have provided similar accounts of the incident based on anonymous sources. | null | https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/08/23/arkhangelsk-doctors-werent-warned-about-radiation-victims-surgeon-confirms-in-first-public-account-a66995 | 2019-08-23 10:08:00+00:00 | 1,566,569,280 | 1,567,533,638 | health | medical profession |
1,006,831 | thetelegraph--2019-05-08--Women are better doctors than men because they have better communication skills surgeon says | 2019-05-08T00:00:00 | thetelegraph | Women are better doctors than men because they have better communication skills, surgeon says | Women are better at being doctors than men because they are less competitive and better communicators, an eminent British neurosurgeon has said. Dr Henry Marsh, a pioneering surgeon and author, said male doctors were too “driven by testosterone” to be good at teamwork. Speaking at the Stratford-upon-Avon Literary festival, he said that earlier in his career he had believed women would not fare as well as men in the medical profession. But he said a long career in surgery had shifted his position. Dr Marsh, aged 69, said: "I was a bit chauvinistic about it 20 years ago, when I started having women trainees. "In the sense that, I thought 'well they're just too nice', because it's such a horrible job in many ways. "It's so distressing and you have to be a bit ruthless. | Laura Donnelly | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/08/women-better-doctors-men-have-better-communication-skills-surgeon/ | 2019-05-08 16:59:17+00:00 | 1,557,349,157 | 1,567,540,882 | health | medical profession |
571,584 | tass--2019-10-01--Moscow oncologists threaten to quit unless their demands are met | 2019-10-01T00:00:00 | tass | Moscow oncologists threaten to quit unless their demands are met | MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/. The head of Russia’s leading cancer clinic, the Blokhin Cancer Research Center, Ivan Stilidi has condemned an ultimatum set by a group of oncologists to quit unless their demand on sacking the new director of a child oncology branch was met. In his interview with the portal "The Future of Russia. National Projects", operated by TASS, Stilidi said: "This is blatant speculation, they actually threaten with their ultimatum that children will be left without medical care. We already have an agreement with children's oncology centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg - not a single child with a serious illness will be left without medical assistance." On Monday, 26 oncologists posted a video message demanding the resignation of Svetlana Varfolomeeva, the new director of the Research Institute for Child Oncology and Hematology at the Blokhin Cancer Research Center. According to Stilidi, the doctors’ anger was apparently triggered by the new director’s decision to tighten discipline at the center as well as putting a spotlight on the doctors who are the founders of a charity fund. The director has vowed to carry out checks to figure out whether there is a conflict of interests between the institute’s oncologists working at a charity fund. "The tensions were fueled by the fact that she had drawn attention to the staff members, who founded a charity fund. I’m not a lawyer to give a legal evaluation to the actions of these staff members, but definitely there can be a conflict of interests here because doctors cannot collect funds for a treatment they prescribe. Checks need to be conducted whether these steps are legal," Stilidi stressed. One of initiators of this video message was deputy director for scientific and medical work at the Research Institute for Child Oncology and Hematology Georgy Mentkevich, who is in charge of bone marrow transplant for children diagnosed with cancer. Mentkevich was sacked by the new leadership several days earlier and was also reprimanded for his "rude behavior," Stilidi noted. In their video posted on Youtube, the doctors also demanded pay transparency and an audit of new buildings at the clinic following delays in putting them in operation. The oncologists said they decided to quit because the center’s new leadership had prevented them from fulfilling their duties. The doctors claimed that hospital wards were overcrowded and the construction of new buildings has been dragged on for 20 years. | null | https://tass.com/society/1080679 | 2019-10-01 08:58:21+00:00 | 1,569,934,701 | 1,570,221,832 | health | medical profession |
704,282 | theguardianuk--2019-07-01--NHS oncologists are being offered shares in private hospitals This must stop | 2019-07-01T00:00:00 | theguardianuk | NHS oncologists are being offered shares in private hospitals. This must stop | If you knew your medical consultant could make a profit from the cancer treatment he or she recommended for you, would you still feel confident it was the right treatment for you? For the vast majority of cancer patients in the UK this question never arises. The [NHS](https://www.theguardian.com/society/nhs) insulates patients from the conflict of interest that can skew clinical decision-making in for-profit healthcare systems. In the US there are copious opportunities for clinicians to make money from prescribing drugs, surgery or diagnostic tests which can put patients at risk of harm from unnecessary interventions, while also wasting huge amounts of public money when the treatment is covered by Medicare. In order to combat this, the federal government has put in place [tough rules to penalise](https://oig.hhs.gov/compliance/physician-education/01laws.asp) any hospital or clinician that engages in fraudulent activity. Despite this, healthcare fraud in the US is now estimated to [cost up to a staggering $272bn](https://www.economist.com/united-states/2014/05/31/the-272-billion- swindle) a year. But the UK healthcare system is not completely insulated from this threat. NHS England estimates that only [half of its consultants do private work](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/20/nhs-plans-to-make- senior-doctors-reveal-outside-earnings). Private medical consultations are remunerated on a fee-for-service basis – they receive a fee for every operation or consultation. The most extreme example of what this can lead to may be the case of the breast cancer surgeon Ian Paterson who carried out [unnecessary private operations on 750 patients](https://www.theguardian.com /uk-news/2017/sep/13/victims-of-rogue-breast-surgeon-ian-paterson-to-be- compensated-from-37m-fund), in many cases telling them they had cancer when they didn’t. Paterson made a substantial amount of money out of his actions and was sent to prison. But in addition to receiving a fee for carrying out each private healthcare intervention [our research shows](https://chpi.org.uk/papers/reports/pounds- for-patients-how-the-private-hospital-sector-uses-financial-incentives-to-win- the-business-of-medical-consultants) there are now more than 600 mainly NHS consultants who also own shares or equipment in private hospitals and who stand to benefit personally from the financial performance of the hospital where they treat their patients. It should be stressed that this is a very small proportion of the total number of NHS consultants. However, the ownership of shares and equipment in the private hospitals and clinics is most prevalent among cancer consultants (oncologists). This is a special concern since the patients who are most likely to try, and be willing to pay for any treatment that could save or prolong their lives are at greatest risk of being exploited, with an estimated one in 16 oncologists now having a financial interest in a private hospital where they treat patients. To comprehend why this is happening, it is necessary to understand the fundamentals of the private hospital business model. The only way for a private hospital to make money is by having patients referred to it for private treatment by a consultant. As a result, private hospitals, particularly in London and Manchester, are in [“fierce competition”](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5584293840f0b615b3000009/HCA_response_to_ITC.pdf) with one another to win the loyalty of consultants, to the point where in 2014 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found a widespread culture of what could be termed [“kick back” payments](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5329dc0c40f0b60a730000c3/provisional_findings_.pdf) whereby consultants were rewarded financially according to how many patients they referred to a hospital. The higher the number of patient referrals in any one year the bigger the reward. This practice was prohibited, though not to protect patient safety, but because it distorted competition. But the CMA still permitted share ownership in private hospitals so long as it did not exceed a [5% equity stake](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/453465/Private_Healthcare_Market_Investigation_Order_2014.pdf) and was fully declared. There are two reasons why cancer consultants are being specially targeted in this way. First, private cancer care in London is now the [single biggest earner for the private hospital sector](https://www.ft.com/content/befcda6c- 2b91-11e9-a5ab-ff8ef2b976c7), outstripping orthopaedics and cosmetic surgery for the first time. Millions of pounds of investment have been poured into this market by international investors who see the declining [NHS performance in cancer treatment](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/08/nhs- cancer-treatment-wait-statistics-2018-standards) as an opportunity to meet a demand from middle-class patients who are not prepared to wait and are willing to pay. The second reason why hospitals are targeting cancer consultants is that there is a finite number of them in the UK. They need to pull them towards private practice. One of the ways of gaining the commitment of an NHS cancer consultant to undertake private work is for a private hospital to offer them a share of the profits made out of their services, on top of fees they will receive for treating patients. This approach has been adopted most successfully in the UK by the US healthcare giant HCA Healthcare, which now has profit-sharing arrangements with NHS cancer consultants, especially in London and Manchester. In an astute business move HCA has locked its for-profit fee-for-service model into the heart of the UK’s leading cancer hospitals at [University College London Hospitals](https://www.hcahealthcare.co.uk/facilities/hca-uk-at-university- college-hospital), [Guy’s and St Thomas’](http://www.londonbridgehospital.com/LBH/about-us/private-care-at- guys/) and [the Christie in Manchester](https://www.hcahealthcare.co.uk/facilities/the-christie-private- care/). The private cancer units HCA has set up in these hospital trusts are jointly owned with NHS consultants, some of whom are employed by the trusts. The [trusts](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/555de2e4ed915d7ae2000037/HCA.pdf) receive [rental income from HCA](https://www.uclh.nhs.uk/aboutus/wwd/Annual%20reviews%20plans%20and%20reports%20archive/Annual%20Report%20and%20Accounts%202017-18.pdf) for using their facilities, or in the case of the Christie, a share in the profits generated. The NHS consultants at the Christie with shares in their trust’s private patient unit will have shared a dividend pot between them of [over £2m between 2013 and 2017](https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/OC342754/filing- history). A bonus which is on top of their NHS salary and the fees they will have received for treating patients at the private patient unit. The profits available to HCA Healthcare over the [same period were £25m](https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/OC355132/filing-history). Outpatient visits to the private patient unit increased by 30% during this period, suggesting that more patients were going private either due to increased demand or difficulties in accessing NHS services. This represents a new form of privatisation of the NHS, from the inside. The extent of the collaboration between HCA Healthcare and NHS trusts is almost impossible for members of the public to find out about. And, not only do the consultants involved have a financial incentive to provide unnecessary treatment, they could also have an incentive to encourage patients to go private rather than remain in the NHS. Of course, for a doctor to behave in this way would be a significant breach of [professional ethics](https://www.gmc-uk.org/ethical-guidance/ethical- guidance-for-doctors/good-medical-practice) and there is no suggestion that this is occurring in these cases. However, in order to remove the risk of such financial incentives operating against the best interests of patients, a much tougher regulatory regime needs to be introduced. Clinicians should be barred outright from owning shares and equipment in the private hospitals where they treat patients not only to protect the integrity of the health service but also to protect patient safety. With the NHS clearly [in the sights of the US healthcare lobby](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/02/us-wants-access-to- nhs-in-post-brexit-deal-ambassador-to-uk-says), there is an urgent need to put in place a regulatory regime to protect patients from the worst aspects of the profit-driven model of healthcare, which wastes huge amounts of public money and harms patients. • David Rowland is the director of the Centre for [Health](https://www.theguardian.com/society/health) and the Public Interest (CHPI) | David Rowland | https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/01/nhs-oncologists-shares-private-hospitals-must-stop | 2019-07-01 07:00:44+00:00 | 1,561,978,844 | 1,567,537,392 | health | medical profession |
78,192 | breitbart--2019-12-27--Yale Psychiatrist Claims Pelosi Can Subject Trump to 'Involuntary' Mental Health Evaluation | 2019-12-27T00:00:00 | breitbart | Yale Psychiatrist Claims Pelosi Can Subject Trump to 'Involuntary' Mental Health Evaluation | Yale Medicine Professor of Psychiatry Bandy X. Lee claims that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has the “right to have [Trump] submit to an involuntary evaluation.” Professor Lee, of the Yale University School of Medicine, also serves as president of the World Mental Health Coalition. She has been a longstanding and outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, providing “translations” of his communications on her Twitter feed. Lee was also an editor on The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President, and is part of a movement demanding that the Judiciary Committee bring a panel of mental health experts to join impeachment proceedings. “As a coworker, she has the right to have him submit to an involuntary evaluation, but she has not,” Lee told Salon. “Anyone can call 911 to report someone who seems dangerous, and family members are the most typical ones to do so. But so can coworkers, and even passersby on the street.” “The law dictates who can determine right to treatment, or civil commitment, and in all 50 U.S. states this includes a psychiatrist,” she continued. “The advantage of a coworker starting this process is that a court can mandate a mental capacity evaluation before the dangerous person returns to work.” Lee also believes that those surrounding Trump may be suffering from a “shared psychosis.” She said that “the severity by which others are affected is what induces me to believe that Trump is sometimes truly paranoid and delusional rather than merely lying.” “We have created one of the most dangerous periods by first delaying impeachment and allowing his false sense of impunity to swell and then proceeding,” Lee warned in the interview. “Impeachment is much needed as ‘limit setting,’ and the House speaker has done well to set limits on the Senate by delaying the articles.” Still, Lee said the country “simply cannot ignore the dangers” of a President she described as “highly unwell,” and she is “beginning to believe that a mental health hold, which we have tried to avoid, will become inevitable.” | Nate Church | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/MHMWnBzCXjw/ | Fri, 27 Dec 2019 22:27:27 +0000 | 1,577,503,647 | 1,577,491,668 | health | medical profession |
115,188 | cnsnews--2019-09-17--John Hopkins Psychiatrist Gender Confusions Are Mostly Driven by Psychological and Psychosocial Pr | 2019-09-17T00:00:00 | cnsnews | John Hopkins Psychiatrist: ‘Gender Confusions Are Mostly Driven by Psychological and Psychosocial Problems’ | Dr. Paul R. McHugh, the Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University and former psychiatrist–in-chief for Johns Hopkins Hospital, who has studied transgendered people for 40 years, believes that patients suffering gender dysphoria need psychological care – not gender reassignment treatment. “I think their mental problems, often depression, discouragement are the things that need treatment,” Dr. McHugh, who has argued that it is a scientific fact that “transgendered men do not become women, nor do transgendered women become men,” told The College Fix in an interview published Tuesday: Because their problems are psychological, many people who become transgender find that they no less troubled after the change, he says: “It would explain why many of the people who go on to have treatment of their body discover they are just as depressed, discouraged and live just as problematic lives as they did before because they did not address the primary problem.” Also, since so little is known about the effects of the hormone treatments, medical professionals providing them are, basically, just experimenting on their transgender patients, McHugh tells The Fix. Dr. McHugh predicts that, once people realize the harm it’s doing, transgender treatment will be viewed with regret, much like the eugenics movement. | Craig Bannister | https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/craig-bannister/john-hopkins-psychiatrist-gender-confusions-are-mostly-driven-psychological-and | 2019-09-17 19:52:44+00:00 | 1,568,764,364 | 1,569,330,045 | health | medical profession |
128,154 | dailyheraldchicago--2019-07-22--States first high school veterinary science program to get bigger this fall | 2019-07-22T00:00:00 | dailyheraldchicago | State's first high school veterinary science program to get bigger this fall | A regional veterinary science program at Central High School near Burlington -- the first of its kind in the state -- will see a surge in enrollment this fall as more Kane County high school districts join. Burlington-based Central Unit District 301 launched the state's first comprehensive veterinary science program at the high school level last school year to help address a statewide shortage of veterinary assistants. It is being offered as part of a regional career pathways cooperative -- the Northern Kane County Regional Vocational System -- to member districts: District 301; Elgin Area School District U-46; Algonquin-based Community Unit District 300; and St. Charles Unit District 303. Through the partnership, students from these districts can take courses not offered at their home schools. In the first year, 112 students from District 301 and U-46 completed the introduction to agriculture and animal science course. This fall, 57 students from that first batch will begin externships at Fox Valley-area veterinary clinics, hospitals and doggy day care centers to gain hands-on experience. A new group of 110 sophomores from U-46 and District 301 also will be enrolling this fall, along with five students from District 300 who will be taking the introductory and second-year veterinary courses concurrently, said Esther Mongan, District 301 assistant superintendent. "It's pretty exciting for our students," said Mongan, adding students who are returning for the second year are "really committed." Eventually, students from St. Charles Unit District 303 are expected to join the veterinary program, officials said. There is growing interest in the program at U-46, said Kinasha Brown, district director of educational pathways. "Students believe that the program is academically rigorous," said Brown, adding that students surveyed during the program's first year gave high marks to District 301's veterinary lab facilities and teachers. District 301 worked with the Illinois State Board of Education to create its veterinary science curriculum and built a state-of-the-art lab at Central. The three-year program, starting in sophomore year, covers a range of topics, including personal safety and animal handling, animal industry issues, species care and management, microbiology, biosecurity, anatomy and body systems, reproduction and genetics, pharmacology, hospital, lab and surgical prep procedures, laws and ethics, and even office management. Students also must complete 100 hours of nonpaid externship experience starting second semester of junior year with local veterinary clinics, animal shelters or hospitals before they can be certified as veterinary assistants. "We have partnered with 19 sites throughout the northern Kane County region to allow our students to complete this experience," Brown said. District 301's program meets entry-level competency standards and guidelines established by the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America. After completing it, students can take the national test to become an approved veterinary assistant and earn college credit allowing them to graduate a year earlier. District 301 also has a partnership with Fox College in Tinley Park guaranteeing program graduates admission into an 18-month veterinary technology program. "Every student who comes in through this regional pathway program is awarded a $2,500 scholarship," Brown said. Other regional career pathway programs offered through the vocational system are precision manufacturing and health care science currently housed at U-46, and welding housed at U-46 and District 300 high schools. District 301 officials expect to add more pathway programs in coming years, including plant and animal sciences. "Down the road, we're going to have opportunities for various health occupations pathways and also cyber security," said Todd Stirn, District 301 superintendent. "We're really looking to provide our students with career pathways that can lead to certification that's both regionally and nationally recognized so that it's portable ... and provide a pathway to gainful employment." U-46 is developing two new tracks in the health care science field -- medical assistance and patient care technician -- that students could register for in the 2020-21 school year with courses beginning the following school year. Brown expects the program will be a huge draw. "We would be the only district in the region to house such a program," she added. Brown said among the benefits of taking a regional approach to developing career pathways is increasing student access to high-quality career and technical education programs and sharing financial resources to minimize districts' costs for program implementation. These pathways also are aligned to federal and state initiatives to increase college and career readiness, she added. "We are truly a best practice model," Brown said. "We are providing a framework. It's a win not only for our district but for the students as well because when you can do this type of systemic development and create access ... you really start to diminish opportunity gaps." | null | http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20190722/states-first-high-school-veterinary-science-program-to-get-bigger-this-fall | 2019-07-22 02:39:10+00:00 | 1,563,777,550 | 1,567,536,197 | health | medical profession |
718 | 21stcenturywire--2019-11-27--65 Doctors Draft Open Letter Warning British Authorities Assange May Die in Detention | 2019-11-27T00:00:00 | 21stcenturywire | 65 Doctors Draft Open Letter Warning British Authorities Assange May Die in Detention | Time is running out for Julian Assange. This week, 65 doctors and medical professionals, led by Australian clinical psychologist Lissa Johnson, have written an open letter to the British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, to inform British authorities that the health of Julian Assange is at a critical sage now. The group has asked that Assange be moved from supermax Belmarsh Prison and into a university teaching hospital where he can receive proper multidisciplinary medical care, otherwise, there is a very real risk that he may die in custody. The 48-year-old Assange is still fighting US extradition for charges under the 1917 Espionage Act with 175 years in a US prison. UKC News hosts Patrick Henningsen and Mike Robinson present the issue and give the argument on behalf of the WikiLeaks founder. Watch: HELP SUPPORT THIS INDEPENDENT MEDIA PLATFORM – BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 21wire | https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/11/26/65-doctors-draft-open-letter-warning-british-authorities-assange-may-die-in-detention/ | Wed, 27 Nov 2019 00:05:13 +0000 | 1,574,831,113 | 1,574,856,264 | health | medical profession |
97,763 | clashdaily--2019-11-27--Bioethicist Wants To ‘Morally Cleanse’ The Medical Profession From ‘Freedom Of Conscience’ | 2019-11-27T00:00:00 | clashdaily | Bioethicist Wants To ‘Morally Cleanse’ The Medical Profession From ‘Freedom Of Conscience’ | Have you asked yourself what would happen if Medicine follows the same ideological trendlines that Humanities like ‘Women’s Studies’ have followed? That shift is beginning already. If you actively screen out the ‘wrong’ political thinking at the intake side, it won’t take long before you can ideologically ‘capture’ the entire medical profession with an activist view. Once that happens, the Left will obviously use the air of authority that a medical consensus has to offer to drive public policy. They are doing this in an effort to block medical professionals who object to such things as, say, performing an abortion participating in Canada’s euthanasia program, participating in a pre-teen’s gender reassignment process, or whatever the Left’s Next Big Social Experiment might happen to be. Ironically, they are doing this in the name of ‘bio-ethics’. Trending: WATCH: Viral Video Shows Teen Who Doesn’t Know How To Use A Can Opener The ongoing moral cleansing of the medical professions — currently waged in the media and bioethics movement’s policy offensive against “medical conscience” — may soon expand to preventing unwoke would-be doctors, nurses, and pharmacists from obtaining professional educations. Specifically, the Canadian bioethicist Udu Schuklenk — who generally mouths the mainstream utilitarianish views of the mainstream bioethics movement — has explicitly advocated barring students with unwanted sanctity-of-life ethics from admission into medical school. From the Global News story: For Schuklenk, a possible solution to prevent such debates [over euthanasia, abortion, transgender interventions, etc..] from cropping up at all would be to screen out would-be doctors who say they would object to providing health care on conscience grounds before they even get to medical school. This could be done through a survey or asking medical school applicants outright if they foresee themselves objecting to providing certain types of health care. “The problems that we are having now that lead to the kinds of legislation they are considering now in Alberta is caused by these sorts of doctors who prioritize their private beliefs, ultimately, over patient well-being,” Schuklenk told Global News. “Medical schools, pharmacy schools should go out of their way to basically eliminate applicants who they know already will not provide these services.” Anecdotally, I can tell you from speaking to pro-life want-to-be doctors and nurses, that such culling already occurs outside of official policy. Source: NationalReview If this kind of a purge seems like a good idea to you, consider this: Dr. Josef Mengele had the blessing of the Nazi state to perform his medical atrocities on unwilling patients. Freedom of conscience and diversity of thought were not permitted in that environment. In creating an environment that screens out those who will not perform acts that run contrary to your conscience, this invites a culture of groupthink where there is less moral latitude to call out incidents of abuse, neglect, malpractice or even register a dissenting view that recognizes an ethical, moral or even legal issue that others in the profession have been blind to. It isn’t so very long ago that Nelly Bly exposed exactly that sort of unchecked abuse of power within our ‘esteemed medical authorities’ in ‘Ten Days In A Madhouse’. Why would we possibly want to go back to that sort of monolithic thinking? | Wes Walker | https://clashdaily.com/2019/11/bioethicist-wants-to-morally-cleanse-the-medical-profession-from-freedom-of-conscience/ | Wed, 27 Nov 2019 17:08:16 +0000 | 1,574,892,496 | 1,575,136,815 | health | medical profession |
228,705 | globalresearch--2019-04-01--Japan A Necessary Evil Keeping Women Out of Medical Schools Wont Fix What Ails the Japanese Med | 2019-04-01T00:00:00 | globalresearch | Japan, A “Necessary Evil”? Keeping Women Out of Medical Schools Won’t Fix What Ails the Japanese Medical Profession | On August 2, 2018 an article in the Yomiuri shimbun broke the news that Tokyo Medical University has been systematically tampering with the scores of entrance exams to benefit male applicants. The news emerged in the course of an investigation into the university administration’s bribe of a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Education, Sano Futoshi.1* Officials at the university apparently boosted the entrance exam score of Sano’s son in exchange for his help in securing a grant to improve the university’s public image. Along with this case of cronyism, it came to light that the university routinely padded the scores of all male applicants except those who had been applying for four or more years. Apparently believing that women would not do as well in the medical profession, Tokyo Medical University systematically reduced their chances of admission for at least a decade. It seems that rising rates of successful female applicants prompted university officials to impose a system of automatically increasing male applicants’ scores to reduce the ratio of female students at their institution. The revelations prompted a government investigation of 81 schools, which revealed in December 2018 that at least nine other medical faculties engaged in similar practices.2 And yet, in 2013, the university began receiving a national grant to “support women.” Over three years, Tokyo Medical University was awarded over 80 million yen (about 720,000 USD) through this grant. Two university executives at the center of the admissions scandal – former chairman Usui Masahiko and former university president Suzuki Mamoru – played key roles in the Office to Promote Diversity, founded at the university in 2016. In Usui’s opening remarks at an event to celebrate the first anniversary of the Office in 2017, he called on the university staff to promote “diversity.”3 At the time, the school presented an increase in female admissions from 26.9% to 32.4% as evidence of its efforts, even as it was actively taking steps to deny admission to women with qualifying scores.4 That meant that the university was not only taking money from the government to promote female admissions but also taking money from individual female applicants whom it artificially failed (sitting a university entrance exam in Japan costs 40,000 to 60,000 yen, about 360 to 540 USD). A group of 24 women denied admission to Tokyo Medical University since 2006 have joined with a team of defense lawyers to build a legal case against the school, which includes a demand for compensation for these fees, and potentially for additional damages.5 The male officials and others that implemented systematic discrimination at Tokyo Medical University have framed their actions as a “necessary evil.” The key reason cited as a defense for Tokyo Medical University’s decision to depress female admissions was their concern that too many female doctors would result in too few doctors at their affiliated hospitals when women left their work for marriage or childbirth. In his testimony to the legal team currently investigating Tokyo Medical University’s discriminatory admissions process, Usui said that the university systematically depressed female applicants’ scores because “as women get older, their activities as doctors decrease.”6 This rhetoric echoed the sensationalistic “Coeds Ruin the Nation Theory” enunciated in the pages of the Japanese tabloids in the early 1960s. Then, Waseda University professor of literature Teruoka Yasutaka declared his desire to set quotas to limit the number of women admitted to humanities departments because women would waste their educations and ruin society.7 Now, male administrators at a number of medical universities secretly impose quotas fearing that too many women in the profession will ruin medicine.8 Tokyo Medical University’s administrators sought approval for their actions through appealing to legitimate concerns about a lack of medical professionals in Japan. But rather than lobbying to increase the quotas imposed by the Japan Medical Association on the number of doctors trained, or addressing many of the workplace issues facing overwhelmed and understaffed hospitals, these powerful administrators penalized individual women, holding them responsible for a multifaceted social problem that was not of their own making.9 On November 12, 2018, Education Minister Shibayama Masahiko noted that a government investigation had found evidence of gender bias in the admissions processes of multiple medical faculties.10 The results announced in December confirmed these suspicions, and the government has subsequently cut off subsidies to Tokyo Medical University and reduced those to Nihon University, Fukuoka University, Iwate Medical University, Juntendo University, Kanazawa Medical University, Kitasato University, and Showa University based on similar manipulations of entrance exams.11 A candlelight vigil held in front of Juntendo University on December 14, 2018 to protest the insitution’s discrimination against women in its entrance examination policies. Image courtesy of the Association to Support Victims of Entrance Exam Discrimination at Tokyo Medical University and Elsewhere (Source: APJJF) This scandal is a case study related to several stubborn problems facing Japanese society today. It reflects how a more general context of gender discrimination threatens to impede solutions to the crises facing healthcare in Japan, and how recent efforts to counter discriminatory practices and encourage “diversity” lack accountability. This article addresses how the gender gap in the medical field points to deeper problems in the profession as a workplace, how recent research suggests that gender diversity may improve medical outcomes in terms of patient care, and how this entrance-exam scandal highlights the inadequacy and lack of accountability behind recent efforts to promote “diversity.” The conditions under which medical professionals labor in Japan are less than ideal. A study published in 2015 on the difficulties facing women in the medical profession found that it was not only women-specific issues, but also “poor working conditions involving long working hours” that result from “a chronic, nationwide medical workforce shortage” that negatively impacted female doctors’ physical and mental health.12 Indeed, the problems noted adversely affected men as well as women medical professionals. The stresses on the medical profession result from many factors, including government restrictions on the number of medical students, while female doctors face additional challenges. Women find their attention divided between their professional and their familial responsibilities because of longstanding assumptions about female domestic labor. Such social expectations hinder gender equality in many societies, but this is a particularly stubborn problem in Japan. The country consistently rates poorly in the Global Gender Gap Index. In 2018, Japan ranked 110 out of 149 countries in terms of gender parity, the lowest ranking of the Group of Seven industrialized nations.13 Anecdotal evidence about the entrance-exam interviews conducted at other medical universities suggests that prospective female students also face questions not only about their professional but also their personal goals, presumably because schools want to know if domestic commitments will interfere with their careers.14 Medical universities run hospitals, and they fear a staffing shortage if women – as they are often expected to do – leave the workplace to care for their families. On the other hand, government policy depresses the number of doctors certified in order to control medical expenditures and prevent a possible surplus of doctors. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare restricts the number of physicians and imposes a medical student quota. Yet Japan’s problem is clearly a shortage of doctors. In response to severe shortages in 2007, the government increased the maximum medical school enrollment quota from 7,625 to 8,828. Shortages nevertheless persist. In terms of number of physicians per person, Japan has 2.4 per 1,000 people. This places it 27th out of 31 OECD countries surveyed, just behind the United States (2.6 doctors per 1,000 people) and on par with Poland and Mexico.15 At the same time, Japan currently vies with Israel for the lowest rate of medical graduates: 6.8 per 10,000 inhabitants in 2017.16 The specialties with the most severe shortages are obstetricians, pediatricians, emergency physicians, and surgeons. Even though current estimates predict that the number of physicians per 1,000 population will rise to 3.14 in 2035, corresponding rise in demand with Japan’s aging population’s medical needs have prompted calls for strategies to increase the number of doctors.17 A study conducted by Japanese researchers who examined trends from 1996 to 2006 to identify the primary causes of the shortage of surgeons in Japan concluded that many general surgeons at hospitals, both female and male, left their positions not to fulfill childcare responsibilities but for another job or another medical specialty in their 30s and 40s.18 This contributed to a general lack of hospital surgeons. The study noted that “poor working conditions facing hospital doctors” may account for this trend. Studies of doctors’ average working hours in Japan find a weekly median of 54.4 to 63.3 working hours. However, more hospital doctors in Japan work more than 60 hours per week than do workers in any other profession.19 Without expanding the number of physicians, it is difficult to maintain quality care standards while ensuring that women can take even the legally guaranteed maternity leave period of six weeks prior to the expected birth date and eight weeks after birth, let alone to support needs of medical professionals with childcare obligations. The most recent statistics published by the Japan Medical Association found that 50.1% of the medical facilities surveyed offered no childcare.20 Simply leaving the burden of understaffing to male and child-free female colleagues results in a culture of resentment when already heavy workloads become even more onerous if women take time away from work to have and take care of children. Because of this perceived inconvenience women may pose to co-workers when taking maternity leave, many of the physicians (65%) who participated in a survey after the Tokyo Medical University scandal broke responded that, although they did not necessarily approve of the university’s decision to actively tamper with scores, they understood the gendered logic in depressing the number of female applicants, since “it burdens others [in the workplace].”21 There is a gender gap in terms of working long hours in the medical profession, and this gap is used by some to justify depressing rates of female doctors to maintain staffing levels at hospitals. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Work found that 41 percent of male physicians and 28 percent of female physicians work 60 or more hours a week, and 11 percent of male physicians and 7 percent of female physicians work more than 80 hours a week. Among men in their 30s, 56.9 percent work over 60 hours a week.22 These long hours, however, are also linked to health problems among doctors. The government definition of karōshi [death from overwork] is the sudden death of an employee who works an average of 65 hours per week or more for more than four consecutive weeks, or for 60 hours or more for more than eight weeks. A recently published study of first-year residents at 250 training hospitals in Japan in 2011 found that residents working 80-99.9 hours per week had a 2.83-fold higher risk of developing depression than those working less than 60 hours a week, while those working 100 hours or more a week had a 6.96-fold higher risk. Of the 1,241 first-year residents surveyed by the study, 7.8 percent worked 100 hours or more a week, of which 45.5 percent displayed “clinically significant depressive symptoms” after three months.23 Another study conducted in 2004 found that residents in Japan worked a mean of 84.9 hours a week, and 16.4 percent worked more than 100 hours a week.24 Aside from sheer number of hours, doctors in Japan are often required to work extraordinarily long shifts. When working night duty, they may work a daytime shift on either end, sometimes working almost 36 consecutive hours at one go. In July 2015, when an obstetrics and gynecology resident physician in the Shinagawa Ward of Tokyo killed himself, a subsequent investigation of hospital records showed that he had logged 143 to 208 hours of overtime in the six months before his suicide, and the four monthly night shifts he worked sometimes contributed to 30-hour shifts.25 Of course these problems are not limited to the medical industry in Japan. In the United States, the conversation often focuses on “burnout” – emotional exhaustion and cynicism in one’s work. Studies have found that resident physicians in the United States, who also work long hours, reported rates of burnout symptoms (45.2% of the 3588 second-year resident physician respondents).26 Doctors in the United States have higher rates of suicide than any other profession.27 Critics of U.S. healthcare point out that Japan might serves as a potential model for the U.S., particularly considering how universal coverage and general affordability have benefited patients in Japan.28 But Japan also faces rising demand that will place more and more stresses on the system as it has existed so far, and on the doctors who work within that system. There have been calls to reduce physicians’ workloads by distributing more tasks to nursing staff, but Japan’s aging society has created shortages in nurses as well. Even though Japan has a relatively large number of nurses – 9.06 per thousand residents, more than the 8.30 OECD average density – Japanese health care has faced a nursing shortage since the 1990s because of rapidly rising demand.29 Although demand for care workers is high, wages are relatively low for nurses and certified care workers, perhaps because it is also a feminized workforce, while extensive pre-employment training must be paid for privately. Fewer people see care work as an attractive career option. In 2007, only 16,696 people applied for 26,095 places at 419 training institutes for certified care workers.30 The government has agreements with Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam to accept foreign nurses, but the language and nursing training requirements set a high bar to clear; in 2016, among the participants in the “Indonesia-Japan collaboration on the enhancement of nursing competency through an in-service training” program, 104 of 209 (49.8%) who attempted the national exam to become a certified care worker passed, while only 65 of 447 (14.5%) who attempted the national nursing exam passed. These are both far below the national average pass rates of 72.1% for the certified care worker exam and 88.5% for the national nursing exam.31 There are only limited studies about burnout and job satisfaction among physicians in Japan, although both appear related to working conditions and seem to contribute to labor shortages at government hospitals and university hospitals.32 A 2007 found that burnout and poor mental health were directly related to job dissatisfaction and short sleeping time among doctors.33 Researchers examining physician retention at hospitals found a high correlation between frequent night duty shifts and a desire to change hospitals.34 The study found that almost 35 percent of the respondents to their survey wanted to change hospitals, and the rate was particularly high for physicians at government hospitals and university hospitals (44.3 percent and 41.5 percent respectively).35 While this study did not distinguish between male and female respondents, it did emphasize that the medical field needs to think about approaches that will allow it to retain its workforce and create a workplace in which doctors find their work satisfying in order to provide sustainable and high-quality health care. The discussions coming out of the admissions gender discrimination scandals frame women as less committed to the workplace but does not cite the health hazards of overcommitment to the workplace. Gendered ideas about women’s responsibilities in the home and the current workplace demands in the medical field require women physicians with children to dramatically reduce their working hours. At the same time, in a work culture that encourages overwork, the demographic most vulnerable to accumulated workplace fatigue is actually male workers in their 30s and 40s. As Scott North has described in his study of death from overwork (karōshi), karōshi victims “come from all walks of life, all classes, and all occupational categories,” but are overwhelmingly male because of the gendered ideology linking masculinity and overwork.36 So a conversation about how to improve the conditions under which those in the medical profession labor is not just a conversation about improving women’s lives, although the discussion needs to include analyses of how women experience the squeeze between a workplace culture that demands long hours and societal expectations that they manage domestic and care obligations. The pronounced M-curve in female doctors’ employment – a mid-career dip in rates of women working in the profession – is most often the result of life events like childbirth (responsible for 70 percent of female physicians’ decision to take leave) and child care (38.3 percent). According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Work’s statistics, this means that the employment rates for women doctors reach a low of 73.4% percent twelve years after becoming certified (male doctors have an 89.9 percent employment rate twelve years after certification), then creeps up but does not match the rates of male physician employment until both are in their seventies and employment rates for both are on a downward slope. At this point, interestingly, employment rates for women overtake those for men, and there are 5-10 percent more female doctors still working in their late 70s and through to their 90s than there are male doctors. The M-curve for lifetime female employment is not dissimilar from a wider gendered tendency in employment in Japan. In the case of female doctors, however, 60.4 percent return to work within a year of taking leave.37 In short, many female doctors reduce working hours when they gave birth to children. However, the majority of female doctors who work while raising infants still work full-time – 76.5% in 2017 – somewhat lower than the 88.8% of working female doctors without children who work full-time. However, the most significant difference between the working hours of female doctors with and without children is in the hours indicated by “full time.” In 2017, of the female doctors with children ages 6-12, almost half (49.3%) worked under 40 hours a week, while only 4.7% worked 65 hours or more a week. Only about one-fifth of female doctors without children worked under 40 hours a week, while 27% of female doctors without children worked between 48 and 60 hours a week, 18% worked between 60 and 65 hours a week, and 22.6% of them worked 65 hours or more a week.39 Domestic labor in Japan is assumed to be women’s labor, and working women with children find that housework burdens them with a “second shift.” A 2012 study found that even female doctors without children spent more of their time on housework (15 hours a week) than male doctors with children (three hours a week). Unsurprisingly, female doctors with children did the most housework (36 hours a week including childcare). Adding up total work time – paid medical work and unpaid housework – demonstrates that female doctors worked the longest weeks on average, putting in over 70 hours at home and at work. While men without children worked longer hours outside the home, their paucity of housework and childcare responsibilities put their total work week at just a little over 50 hours on average.40 A recent study found that female medical students in Japan feel pressure to accommodate family responsibilities, and by the time they finish their clinical internships in their final year of medical school, their understanding is that they must choose to prioritize either family or medicine, whereas their male peers feel no similar conflict and pursue their careers based exclusively on their medical practice.41 Tokyo Medical University’s logic in reducing female admissions reflects a calculated strategy based on current gendered divisions of labor and a culture of overwork in which men can participate most fully in their professions because they participate so little in the household. Reducing female medical school students in an effort to retain hospital physicians is not the solution to a medical industry under stress. When we think of women as a liability because of their theoretical future childbirth and care leave, we focus on only one aspect of bodies and when bodies can or cannot work. Perhaps more importantly, by defining the value of work in terms of full-time work that is inherently exhausting, with punishing hours and high levels of stress, we accept working conditions that are not healthy for any bodies, female or male. As Kyoko Tanebe put it in her editorial calling for an examination not only of gender discrimination but also of a health care funding crisis: “The current system relying on doctors who can withstand overwork is vulnerable, both as a system of labor and in terms of medical safety.”42 Japan is certainly not the only society facing a “crisis in care” that is simultaneously a labor problem and a public health issue as well as an issue of gender discrimination. The resounding criticism of the handling of gender issues in the Japanese health care system from the Western media, in particular regarding this issue, has prompted different reactions in Japan; there are expressions of shame at Japan’s failure to properly implement “modern” global standards for gender equality, but there are also accusations of Western, particularly American, hypocrisy. After all, while this scandal provides a headline-worthy smoking gun of most certainly illegal systematic sexism, the United States’ global rankings for female participation in the medical field are only slightly better than those of Japan. Japan ranks last among the 34 member countries that make up the OECD for share of female doctors (20.3% in 2015). But the United States is fourth lowest (34.1% in 2015), well below the OECD average of 46.1%.43 This is a pressing issue for those concerned about the quality of medical care, since there is evidence that more women in the medical field makes for better medicine. A study of hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries found that “elderly hospitalized patients treated by female internists have lower mortality and readmissions compared with those cared for by male internists.”44 This study estimated that, annually, “approximately 32,000 fewer patients would die if male physicians could achieve the same outcomes as female physicians.”45 Other studies have found that female doctors performed better than male doctors in the context of diabetes care.46 In an article in The Atlantic, Ed Yong introduced research showing that more US patients suffering from a heart attack, particularly female patients, die when treated by male doctors than by female doctors. It is uncertain why this is, but it suggests that female patients stand to gain most when they have access to female doctors, and that male physicians who work with female colleagues did better at treating female heart-attack sufferers. This is not to say that women are inherently more attuned to nurturing and care, but the findings do suggest, as the University of Chicago’s Vineet Arora noted, that a gender-diverse work environment is a plus and “that female physicians are an asset not just for their patients, but for their male colleagues, too.”47 The positive impact of gender diversity can also be found in medical research. A recent study that analyzed 1.5 million medical-research papers published between 2008 and 2015 found that female co-authorship increased the likelihood that research addressed gender differences. This is important because neglecting gender-related differences in disease and treatment outcomes affects health outcomes, sometimes with life-threatening consequences.48 Similarly, if crushing workloads are the expectation for all medical workers, that presents another issue for patient safety. Several studies have found a higher risk of medical error and also traffic accidents among medical staff who have been working long hours.49 Such studies expose the links between the quality of working conditions in the medical industry and the quality of healthcare. The problems created by a shortage of hospital physicians and a maldistribution of those physicians in Japan are also particularly dangerous for some of the most medically vulnerable. One high-profile case, in which nine hospitals turned away a pregnant woman who suffered a miscarriage after the ambulance carrying her collided with a minivan on its way to a tenth hospital, prompted investigations about hospitals refusing to provide emergency care for pregnant women. A subsequent survey of 27 prefectures found that between 2004 and 2006, there had been 2,780 cases in which a pregnant woman had been denied admission by one or more hospitals. Of those, in at least 191 cases a pregnant woman transported by ambulance had been turned away by five or more hospitals because of a lack of specialist staff or beds.50 As the points outlined above show, thinking about how to improve the healthcare industry in the future would benefit from thinking further about the healthcare industry as a workplace and about improving the overall quality of healthcare. This requires a deep questioning of gendered ideologies that assign women the roles of care and support, both in the home and in the hospital, while simultaneously dismissing women’s capabilities in what are considered more prestigious “specialist” positions. It would require recognition of women’s outstanding performance in significant areas of health care, as well as the burdens of discrimination under which they labor. The consequences of gendered stereotypes are more serious than simply whether individual women entering the workforce can advance. Japan has the fourth-highest relative poverty rate among OECD countries, and the gender gap in wages and in full-time employment has created particularly vulnerable groups of women.51 Most single parents are mothers, and the poverty rate for working single-parent families is 56 percent. This is due in part to the gender wage gap, which is the highest in the OECD.52 The current public pension system offers generous benefits to married women and widows, but penalizes women who divorced or were never married, and hence are unable to access a pension based on a man’s “breadwinning” wages. A recent study noted that, since the 1980s, the marriage rate decreased and the divorce rate increased significantly, with the consequence that more and more elderly women will face the risk of poverty thus increasing poverty rates in general. Already in 2010, poverty rates for elderly women were almost double those of elderly men: 11.1% versus 6.1%. However, projections put the poverty rate of elderly women at 25% in the near future, more than double the predicted 10% for elderly men. For women who were never married or are divorced, the poverty rates are predicted to be 50%.53 The government-driven rhetoric of “creating a society in which women shine” does little to challenge a dominant narrative highlighting women’s unique relationship to care and femininity that perpetuates this kind of gendered and imbalanced poverty and precarity. In a September 2014 speech to the World Assembly for Women in Tokyo in which he outlined his vision for promoting women in the workplace, Prime Minister Abe Shinzō provided examples of the kinds of contributions he thought women could “bring to corporate management.” He cited examples of female employees who had suggested car doors that open wider to accommodate children, or had collaborated to design laptop computers that one can open without destroying a manicure. Abe concluded that “The most difficult part may be transforming the division of roles based on gender, something that is, unwittingly, firmly ingrained within us.”54 However, Abe’s own interpretation of that “certain perspective that only women can provide” – the woman’s touch – is precisely based on an ingrained stereotype of women’s abilities and women’s interests. The admissions scandal at Tokyo Medical University also exposed the emptiness of various recent initiatives to promote greater gender diversity. As mentioned above, Tokyo Medical University received grant money to “promote women’s activities” and Suzuki Mamoru, then-president of the university and an initiator of the quotas on female admissions, publicly endorsed policies advocated by the Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office’s annual “General Assembly of Male Leaders.”55 The quotas Suzuki imposed sit uneasily alongside the “action plan” published on the Bureau’s homepage, which includes “disrupting the status quo” by taking “every chance to ask the questions below and advance changes in the mindset in the whole organization: Why are there no women? Why are women 30% or less? Why isn’t the ratio of men to women fifty-fifty (50:50)?” That he publicly subscribed to such initiatives while actively imposing a policy to cap female admissions at 30% required a powerful cynicism. Although he may have sympathized with the diversity ideal in the abstract sense, he sabotaged it in fulfilling his responsibility to train physicians. It is in the gap between an often tone-deaf rhetoric at the level of the national gender equality initiatives and a complete lack of accountability in governance that this systematic gender discrimination persists. This story doesn’t seem limited to a few powerful men at one institution. Observers of the stubborn imbalance in acceptance rates between men and women to medical schools had already voiced suspicions that universities were controlling the student ratio. In an August 2017 report for the Japan Joint Association of Medical Professional Women, Kyoko Tanebe noted that the rates for female admissions to medical schools seemed artificially depressed over the last fifteen years in light of recent trends in other fields. So-called “cram schools” which prepare students for university admissions exams and obsessively track these statistics also observed similar gender gaps in the admissions rates at other schools. A representative from Ace Academy, a cram school for medical universities, noted the lopsided pass rate for young men and women at St. Marianna Medical University, Showa University, and Nihon University in the second round of entrance exams, which consist of interviews and written essays, in spite of general parity on earlier rounds of subject exams.56 Jutendo University was also suspected of rigging entrance exam results to favor male applicants.57 Others have called this depression of female acceptance rates to medical schools an open secret. The Ministry of Education’s nation-wide investigation into the admissions practices of 81 medical faculties confirmed these suspicions and found that several other medical faculties engaged in similarly suspect admissions’ practices, including Nihon University, Juntendo University, Showa University, Iwate Medical University, Kanazawa Medical University, Kitasato University, Kobe University, and Fukuoka University.58 Perhaps this scandal will offer an opening to debates about how to address long-standing gendered inequalities in the medical field and beyond. One hopes it will also initiate further debates about the social costs of such discrimination on the medical profession as a workplace and a place of care. Note to readers: please click the share buttons below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc. Our thanks to The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus for having brought this important article toour attention Chelsea Szendi Schieder is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Economics at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, Japan. She writes contemporary histories about contentious politics for academic and general audiences. Her book on the gendered politics of the postwar student movement in Japan, entitled Co-Ed Revolution: The Female Student in the Japanese New Left, is forthcoming with Duke University Press. 1 Japanese names are written according to Japanese conventions, with last name first, except in cases in which the last names are published last in scholarly journals and English-language publications. 3 “ ‘Daibaashiti suishin honbu kaisetsu kinen, Tokyo Ika Daigaku danjo kyōdō sankaku sokushin seminaa’ ga 1-gatsu 11-nichi ni kaisai saremashita [‘Commemoration of the founding of the diversity promotion headquarters, Tokyo Medical University gender equality promotion seminar’ held on January 11th]” Tokyo Medical University website (January 13, 2017) (accessed August 10, 2018). 4 “Tokyo Idai ni ‘josei katsuyaku’ hojo 8000 man en genten giwaku no jiki, kuni kara 3 nen de kōfu [Tokyo Medical University received a government grant of 800 million yen for three years to support “women’s activities,” a period in which it is suspected of reducing scores]”Tokyo shimbun (August 4, 2018) (accessed August 6, 2018). 7 Hara Kimi, “Joshi kyōiku no tenkai to shakai hendō [The development of women’s education and social change]” in Shakai hendō to kyōiku [Social change and education] (Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai, 1976), 51–69; Nobuyuki Kuroda and Michiko Tanaka, Joshi gakusei [Women’ s education] (Tokyo: San’ichi Shobo, 1969), 158–161. 11 “Government cuts off subsidies to Tokyo Medical Unviersity over entrance exam discrimination” The Japan Times (January 22, 2019) (Accessed January 30, 2019) 12 Kyoko Nomura, Yuki Yamazaki, Larry Gruppen, Saki Horie, Masumi Takeuchi, Jan Illing. “The difficulty of professional continuation among female doctors in Japan: a qualitative study of alumnae of 13 medical schools in Japan.” BMJ Open (2015), 5(3): 1-7. 13 “Japan crawls up to 110th in global gender gap ranking but women’s participation still low” Mainichi Japan (December 18, 2018) (Accessed January 30, 2019) 14 Tanaka Shino, Kinkozan Masako. “Tōkyō idai dake janai? Nyūshi de no danjo sabetsu. Ishira ga shōgen “idai zentai ni aru to makoto shiyaka ni uwasasareteita” [Not just Tokyo Medical University? Gender discrimination in entrance examinations. Doctors’ testimony: ‘There are plausible rumors that it happens at all medical universities’]” Huffpost Japan (August 2, 2018) (Accessed January 30, 2019) 17 Koichiro Yuji, Seiya Imoto, Rui Yamaguchi, et al. “Forecasting Japan’s Physician Shortage in 2035 as the First Full-Fledged Aged Society” PLOS ONE (2012), 7(11). 18 Yasuhiro Mizuno, Hiroto Narimatsu, Yuko Kodama, Tomoko Matsumura, Masahiro Kami. “Mid-career changes in the occupation or specialty among general surgeons, from youth to middle age, have accelerated the shortage of general surgeons in Japan.” Surgery Today (2014) 44: 601-606. 20 “Josei ishi no kinmu kankyō no genkyō ni kan-suru chōsa hikaku shōsai han [Investigation into present conditions of women doctors work environment: comparative detailed edition]” Nihon ishikai danjo kyōdō sankaku iinkai / Nihon ishikai josei ishi shien sentaa [Japan Medical Association gender equality plannning committee / Japan Medical Association women doctor support center] (June 2009) (accessed on 20 November 2018) 21 “Ishi 65% ‘joshi genten rikai dekiru’ jinzai kaisha netto chōsa [65% of doctors: ‘understand reducing women’s scores’ on an HR recruitment agency’s online survey]” Asahi shimbun (August 8, 2018) (Accessed August 30, 2018). 22 “Josei ishi kyaria shien moderu fukyū suishin jigyō no seika to kongo no torikumi ni tsuite / shiryō 3 [On the results and future initiatives of the project to promulgate and promote career support for female doctors / document 3]” Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (March 14, 2018) (accessed November 20, 2018) 23 Ryoko Ogawa, Emiko Seo, Takami Maeno, Makoto Ito, Masaru Sanuki, Tetsuhiro Maeno. “The relationship between long working hours and depression among first-year residents in Japan.” BMC Medical Education (2018) 18: 50. 24 Tetsuhiro Maeno, Asumi Nakamura, Takami Maeno, et al. “Shinrinshō kenshū seido ni okeru kenshūi no sutoresu [Resident stress in the new postgraduateclinical training system].” Igaku kyōiku [Medical Education]. (2008) 39(3): 175–82. 26 Liselotte Dyrbye, Sara Burke, Rachel Hardeman “Association of Clinical Specialty with Symptoms of Burnout and Career Choice Regret Among US Resident Physicians” JAMA 2018 320(11): 1114-1130. 29 Sakamoto H., Rahman M, Nomura S, Okamoto E, Koike S, Yasunaga H et al. “Japan Health System Review” Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. Health Systems in Transition Series (Vol 8, No 1): 72, 86. 33 Yasuharu Tokuda, Keiko Hayano, Makiko Ozaki, Seiji Bito, Haruo Yanai, Shunzo Koizumi “The Interrelationships between Working Conditions, Job Satisfaction, Burnout and Mental Health among Hospital Physicians in Japan: a Path Analysis” Industrial Health (2009) 47: 166-172. 34 Kato Ken, Kazunobu Yamauchi, Makoto Miyaji, et al “Factors relating to doctor’s desire to change hospitals in Japan.” International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance. Vol. 25, No. 1 (2012): 19-40, 35. 36 Scott North, “Karōshi Activism and Recent Trends in Japanese Civil Society” in Going to Court to Change Japan: Social Movements and the Law in Contemporary Japan. Ed. Patricia Steinhoff (Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan: 2014): 45-72, p. 47. 37 “Josei ishi kyaria shien moderu fukyū suishin jigyō no seika to kongo no torikumi ni tsuite / shiryō 3 [On the results and future initiatives of the project to promulgate and promote career support for female doctors / document 3]” Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (March 14, 2018) (accessed November 20, 2018) 38 “Josei ishi kyaria shien moderu fukyū suishin jigyō no seika to kongo no torikumi ni tsuite / shiryō 3 [On the results and future initiatives of the project to promulgate and promote career support for female doctors / document 3]” Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (March 14, 2018) (accessed November 20, 2018) 39 “Josei ishi no kinmu kankyō no genkyō ni kan-suru chōsa hikaku shōsai han [Investigation into present conditions of women doctors work environment: comparative detailed edition]” (https://www.med.or.jp/joseiishi/2018hikakusyosai.pdf) Nihon ishikai danjo kyōdō sankaku iinkai / Nihon ishikai josei ishi shien sentaa [Japan Medical Association gender equality plannning committee / Japan Medical Association women doctor support center] (June 2009) (accessed on November 20, 2018) 40 Kosuke Yasukawa and Kyoko Nomura. “Ishi ni okeru seibetsu yakuwari bundan: shinryō jikan to kaji rōdō jikan no danjo kikaku [The division of labour by sex among Japanese physicians: comparison between men and women in time spent on clinical care a and time spent on housework]” Igaku kyōiku [Medical Education] (2012): 42: 315-319. 41 Aoki Hiroe, Hoshino Naoko, Kanda Asuka et al. “Danjo igakusei wa dono yōna kyaria ninshiki o yūshiteiru no ka? Intabyū chōsa kara miete kita mono [How do male and female medical students perceive their own career? Implications from a student viewpoint]” Nihon puraimari kea rengō gakkaishi [Journal for the Japanese Primary Care Association] (2016) 39(4): 191-204. 43 “Women make up most of the health sector workers but they are under-represented in high-skilled jobs.” OECD (March 2017) (accessed November 20, 2018). 44 Yusuke Tsugawa, Anupam Jena, Jose Figueroa, John Orav, Daniel Blumenthal, Ashish Jha. “Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates for Medicare Patients Treated by Male vs Female Physicians.” JAMA Internal Medicine (Feb. 2017) 117:2: 206-213. 46 Kim C, McEven LN, Gerzoff BR, et al. “Is physician gender associated with the quality of diabetes care?” Diabetes Care. (2005) 28(7): 1594-1598; Berthold KH, Gouni-Berthold I, Bestehorn KP, Böhm M, Krone W. “Physician gender is associated with the quality of type 2 diabetes care.” J Intern Med. (2008) 264(4): 340-350. 47 Ed Yong, “Women more likely to survive heart attacks if treated by female doctors” The Atlantic (August 6, 2018) (accessed August 15, 2018) 49 Ken Kato, et al “Factors relating to doctor’s desire to change hospitals in Japan.” International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance. Vol. 25, No. 1 (2012): 19-40, 12. 50 “191 multiple refusals of pregnant women found.” The Japan Times (Sept. 28, 2007) (Accessed Nov. 20, 2018) In the United States, the law requires all hospitals with emergency rooms to care for women in labor, although some rural facilities without obstetrics units violate this law. Julie Lasson-Fromowitz, “Despite law, hospitals turn away women in labor” Courier Journal (March 3, 2017) (Accessed March 1, 2019) 51 Relative poverty means that a household earns an income that is less than fifty percent of the average median incomes. 52 Alana Semuels, “Japan is no place for single mothers” The Atlantic (September 7, 2017) (accessed August 8, 2018). 53 Seiichi Inagaki. “Dynamic Microsimulation Model of Impoverishment Among Elderly Women in Japan” Frontiers in Physics (March 14, 2018) (accessed September 10, 2018). 54 Abe Shinzō, “Opening Speech by H.E. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, at the Open Forum, World Assembly for Women in Tokyo” (presented at the World Assembly for Women, Tokyo, Japan, September 12, 2014). 55 There is not an equivalent group for “female leaders,” but the Gender Equality Bureau began holding events to train women for leadership in 2017. “Josei riidaa ikusei [Training female leaders]” Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office (accessed December 4, 2018). 57 “Jutendo and Showa universities’ medical faculties suspected of rigging entrance exam results based on gender” () Japan Times (October 14, 2018) (accessed December 3, 2018) 58 Yajima Daisuke and Doi Shinpei “Nichidai igakubu to kantō no shidai, futekisetsu nyūshi ka monkashōga shiteki [Ministry of Science and Education identifies inappropriate entrance exams at Nihon University’s medical faculty, private universities in the Kantō region]” Asahi shimbun digital (December 12, 2018) (Accessed January 31, 2019 | Prof. Chelsea Szendi Schieder | https://www.globalresearch.ca/keeping-women-out-medical-schools-wont-fix-what-ails-japanese-medical-profession/5673357 | 2019-04-01 15:34:22+00:00 | 1,554,147,262 | 1,567,544,445 | health | medical profession |
292,584 | liveaction--2019-12-18--Former abortion workers: Staff with no medical training a common problem at abortion centers | 2019-12-18T00:00:00 | liveaction | Former abortion workers: Staff with no medical training a common problem at abortion centers | Former abortion workers have admitted their facilities endangered women by hiring untrained workers to perform medical tasks. Two former abortion workers, Noemi and Jayne, told their stories in a webcast sponsored by And Then There Were None. Noemi described how syringes were filled in advance, administered without any regard for woman’s weight or medical history, and prepared by untrained workers. Jayne, who worked at Planned Parenthood of Delaware, was asked whether workers at her facility were also untrained. She answered: I witnessed that often…. There were not many qualified people. I thought that the phlebotomists were trained phlebotomists but they weren’t – they were just “Planned Parenthood trained”. Which means, they just trained them – how Planned Parenthood just guesses and says good, go ahead, you can stick that needle in that person. Other workers have said similar things. Tracy Jones, who worked for Dr. George Tiller, claimed that in his facility: Front office employees were routinely called back to the medical area to assist medical employees with direct patient care without receiving any training in this area. Untrained staff performed medical tasks such as “washing surgical instruments and wrapping them for autoclave [the machine that sterilizes instruments], operating the sonogram during surgery, explaining aftercare instructions to patients, and preparing specimens.” In a videotaped conference, former abortion worker Hellen Pendley said she was put in charge of managing abortion complications even though she had no medical training: I’m not a medical doctor, I’m not trained to evaluate a woman’s problems, postoperative hemorrhaging, etc. I have no skills to enable me to make that diagnosis and to prescribe the method of treatment, but that was required of me and I did it for three years. When they called me after hours and said, “I’m hemorrhaging, what can I do?” It was my problem, not the doctors. I was the person on call, I was one who called in all the drugs, I was the person who prescribed the medication. This obviously put women’s health and lives at risk. READ: Not just Gosnell: Former abortion workers say untrained staff is common Joy Davis worked at two different abortion facilities. She says of the first facility, “Our people were not very well trained — most of them did not even have a medical background.” While working at this facility, Davis was approached by abortionist Thomas Tucker, who wanted to start a new facility with trained staff and proper medical supervision. At first, the new facility employed competent people with medical licenses. But Tucker was unhappy with the amount of money he was making and began making cuts, firing trained employees and replacing them with untrained people, whom he could pay less: He wasn’t making enough money, so the first thing to go was the anesthetist, because they made a lot of money. Through just the few months of watching them put patients to sleep, we started putting patients to sleep ourselves and we had no idea what we were doing. We just knew what we had seen them do, so we started doing it. Then our registered nurses that worked in our recovery room were the next people to go. Then our lab technician and on and on. Davis was given the job of hiring new employees who had no medical background. She also began to do medical procedures, including committing abortions herself, even though she had no training or license to practice medicine: I started interviewing people that had no medical background at all, bringing them in to do the job of anesthetist, lab technicians, nurses and even physicians. … I brought in people off the street with no medical background and trained them…. I never spent the first day in medical school. I was just an ultrasound technician. I really knew nothing about medicine, other than what I had seen other doctors do, but I started doing abortions. I started actually performing surgery on women. I did Norplants, cryosurgery, pap smears, pelvic exams — anything he did, I did. A woman died from a botched abortion under Davis’s care. Tucker knew the woman was in distress, but left to catch a plane, and Davis was unable to stop the woman’s bleeding by herself. By the time an ambulance was called, it was too late. The facility was eventually closed. READ: Women at risk: Former abortion workers speak out about failed inspections Pam Whitehead of And Then There Were None, who runs the website CheckMyClinic.org, which tracks failed inspections at abortion facilities, says untrained workers are a common issue: Most of these facilities, what we see on their inspection reports are they have unqualified, uncertified, and untrained personnel… We see people pushing IV medications [who] were not certified, not trained, not qualified to be doing that. She mentioned one untrained woman who posed as a nurse and worked at a facility for 20 years. It is unknown how many women were hurt at this facility. Untrained workers at abortion facilities are all too common. “Like” Live Action News on Facebook for more pro-life news and commentary! | Sarah Terzo | https://www.liveaction.org/news/former-abortion-workers-staff-medical-training/ | Wed, 18 Dec 2019 14:45:04 +0000 | 1,576,698,304 | 1,576,815,456 | health | medical profession |
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