tbrennan@tampatrib.com
Published: February 5, 2009
say their children died because St. Joseph’s Hospital failed to protect them from mold stirred up during an expansion in 2008.
In a lawsuit filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, they claim the hospital should have known the children’s weakened condition made them particularly susceptible to mold-related infections.
“They failed to protect the children, whose parents put them into their Read the rest of this entry »

The increases are particularly pronounced in the region’s largest and wealthiest jurisdictions as employers cut benefits and eliminate jobs. In
, for instance, requests for the state’s insurance program for children, Family Access to Medical Insurance Security (FAMIS), were up 16 percent between November 2007 and November 2008. In Alexandria, caseloads increased 20 percent, and in
, they were up 16.5 percent.
Overall, caseloads in Northern Virginia Read the rest of this entry »

Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — Bloodstream infections from a drug-
resistant type of bacteria plummeted in hospital intensive care
units over a decade, according to government researchers who
attributed the change to a focus on cleanliness.
From 1997 through 2007, the rate of infections in ICU
patients’ blood spread by catheters carrying the bacteria called
, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, dropped
almost 50 percent, the study found. Read the rest of this entry »

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A health insurance program meant to help middle-income families who have youngsters with serious illnesses needs to be reworked to reach more people, officials said.
Gov. Ted Strickland signed an executive order in April creating the Children’s Buy-In Program. Since then, four children have qualified and two have been enrolled.
Ohio set aside $12.5 million for 2008 and 2009, anticipating coverage for as many as 5,000 children Read the rest of this entry »

When is the last time that a fitness expert told you to take it easy in order to improve your health? It doesn’t seem logical that intentional laziness would have any benefit in the context of a fitness program. But it does. In fact, many coaches consider a recovery day as important as
, endurance days, and technique work.
To clarify, a recovery day is not a day off. No fitness gains will be achieved by sitting on the couch and reminiscing Read the rest of this entry »

Roe vs. Wade protects link
hirty-six years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court handed
down its landmark Roe vs. Wade decision, which legalized
abortion in the United States. This historic anniversary
typically inspires reflection on the advances women have
made since being able to fully control their own fertility.
This year’s anniversary also gives us a unique
opportunity to look toward the future.
In the years preceding Roe vs. Wade, women had Read the rest of this entry »

Daschle Exit Leaves Void Sebelius, McClellan May Fill (Update1)
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) — President
as his
candidate to overhaul U.S. health care.
None carry the political influence of Daschle, 61, the
former Senate majority leader who dropped from consideration
today after admitting errors on his U.S. taxes. Daschle’s
combination of political clout and health-care expertise (he
wrote a book on changing the system) was considered critical to
the Read the rest of this entry »

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN)
— One of the best gifts you can give a child this holiday season may not be the latest gadget, toy, or tasty treat, but instead the gift of a healthy lifestyle.
An Atlanta-based non-profit organization is doing its part to combat childhood obesity by teaching kids proper nutrition and exercise in a six-week fitness boot camp similar to NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.”
The FitWit Foundation hopes its program will catch on Read the rest of this entry »

High interest rates and uncertainty in the bond market have forced Woman’s Hospital to halt construction of a new $350 million facility at Airline Highway and Pecue Lane, hospital officials said Monday.
Woman’s had planned to issue bonds to finance the new hospital and has been monitoring the bond market since November, said Stan Shelton, senior vice president and project manager.
Woman’s had projected its borrowing costs at Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s system that monitors inspections of drug manufacturing plants worldwide is outdated and inaccurate, according to a government report released on Wednesday.
The FDA, which oversees products that account for roughly one-third of imports, inspects just 8 percent of facilities outside the United States each year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) also said in a September report Read the rest of this entry »