THE KNOCKDOWN fight between Tufts Medical Center and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts over the reimbursement rate for doctors at the hospital is Exhibit B of the dysfunction of the state’s health insurance system. Exhibit A, of course, is the much better rate that Partners HealthCare muscled Blue Cross into granting to its teaching hospitals, Mass. General and Brigham and Women’s, in 2000. Two sides of the same coin, these deals cry out for Read the rest of this entry »
A drug used for stroke patients may help sharpen middle-aged brains, researchers are reporting.
In the latest development in the quest for cognitive enhancers, researchers found the drug Fasudil significantly improves learning and memory in middle-aged rats.
If proven in humans, the drug may one day help blunt the impact of normal aging “or even enhance learning and memory throughout the life span,” the American Psychological Association said Read the rest of this entry »
Last updated January 23, 2009 11:04 a.m. PT
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The state’s family and children’s ombudsman says its office has responded to a record number of complaints about the state Department of Social and Health Services.
In a 102-page report issued this week, Mary Meinig, director of the Office of Family and Children’s Ombudsman, said there were a “higher percentage of agency violations in 2008 than in any previous year.”
The ombudsman Read the rest of this entry »
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson has been released from the hospital 12 days after undergoing a heart transplant.
Richardson left Carolinas Medical Center on Thursday after quickly regaining his strength following the surgery on Feb. 1. A team spokesman said Richardson has responded well and will continue to be monitored by doctors.
The full recovery period takes between three and six months.
The 72-year-old Read the rest of this entry »
GALVESTON, Texas – Administrators at Galveston’s
discussed the facility’s fate on Monday, KPRC Local 2 reported.
The hospital has been closed since it was heavily damaged during Hurricane Ike and has since taken a second hit from the poor economy.
Hospital officials said they do not want to suspend operations, but they don’t have the money they need to operate.
J.J. Guerra has been going to the hospital since he was 3 years old. Twelve years Read the rest of this entry »
Program takes parenting, fitness in stride
10:00 PM PST on Friday, January 2, 2009
Fitness has always been important to Canyon Lake resident Michele Sapp. Starting a family didn't change that, but it did make it harder.
Expanding the national fitness program, Stroller Strides, to the Temecula Valley was a way to combine her two passions: parenting and fitness. When her friend and founder of the program, Lisa Druxman, called five years ago Read the rest of this entry »
AP National Writer= The decision by the Food and Drug Administration to allow U.S.-manufactured infant formula contaminated with melamine or its byproducts onto store shelves is “seriously flawed” and medically risky because parents may feed their babies more than one product, scientists at the nonprofit group Consumers Union said Friday.
The FDA detected melamine and its byproduct cyanuric acid separately in four of 89 containers Read the rest of this entry »