This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) released new HIV incidence data. The CDC released its 2007 HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report and the NYC DOHMH released its semiannual HIV Epidemiology & Fields Services report.
The surveillance data from the CDC indicate that among people newly diagnosed with HIV or AIDS in 2007, men who have sex with men (MSM) accounted Read the rest of this entry »

Children can do well despite a family’s financial setbacks, says Jana Martin, a psychologist in Long Beach, Calif.
-Parents should explain what is changing and what isn’t, she suggests. “We may have to move, but you’ll get to keep your bed and your favorite things.” Keep as many family routines as possible. If something has to go, try to give options: The family makes pizza together instead of going out.
-Invite teenagers to help brainstorm ways Read the rest of this entry »

Published: December 26, 2008
The rates that Amherst County charges for emergency medical transports have increased for the first time in nearly six years.
Higher fuel costs and the need for more career personnel at the Pedlar Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad sparked the additional expenses. The Board of Supervisors approved the rate changes last week.
The rate for basic life support transports jumped from $300 to $350 — those Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. employers expect increases in health care costs will stay at a steady 6 percent this year, twice the rate of inflation, according to a survey published on Thursday.
The survey of 489 large U.S. employers also showed that more plan to offer consumer-directed health plans in 2010 to try to control cost increases.
“Cost increases have stabilized, but the financial crisis is causing many companies to reevaluate their health Read the rest of this entry »

Some directors of the now dissolved South Coast Medical Center foundation contend that the hospital’s nonprofit parent, Adventist Health, failed to properly account for restricted gifts by donors and for several years failed to provide a satisfactory accounting of the foundation’s assets.
Even as Adventist Health was seeking a bidder for the Laguna Beach hospital, a request in September for a real estate appraisal of a foundation-owned office building Read the rest of this entry »

Angela Askren doesn’t deny she’s made mistakes in her life.
Chief among them: getting hooked on prescription painkillers and writing fake prescriptions for herself.
It cost her a job as a medical assistant and landed her in jail. Four years ago, Askren met Steven Brower. Both were in recovery. Askren, now 30, has been clean for four years, Brower, 41, for 5 1/2.
Three years ago, more than a year after they began dating and just a short time Read the rest of this entry »

By using motivational signs and offering free nutrition seminars, fitness tutorials and health screenings, Kempton says Presidential Towers is on its way to becoming the healthiest high-rise in the city.
But what really makes a healthy living space? We took a broader approach and came up with our own five criteria (see accompanying story). Then we rated the city’s five largest high-rises based on the number of residential units according to Appraisal Read the rest of this entry »

A dark underside of middle-age has surfaced in the past
decade. Although this phase of life is one psychologists have long considered a
time of general stability and emotional well-being, white men and women ages 40
to 64 accounted for the bulk of a recent increase in the U.S.
suicide rate, a new study
finds.
Data gleaned from U.S.
death certificates show that the
overall suicide rate rose 0.7 percent annually between 1999 and 2005, reversing
a Read the rest of this entry »

Shares of
rose Wednesday after the Food and Drug Administration announced a meeting to review the company’s treatment for the inflammatory disorder gout.
The agency’s panel of outside experts will meet March 5 to review the safety and effectiveness of the drug Puricase, known generically as pegloticase. FDA is not required to follow the panel’s advice, though it often does.
The East Brunswick, N.J.-based company’s stock rose 22 cents, or 3.7 Read the rest of this entry »

It's one of the toughest decisions many people are making these days.
“It's a decision between 'am I going to be able to afford my groceries, and am I going to be able to pay my rent, and am I going to be able to pay my medication – and sometimes it's that I'm not going to take my medication because I'm going to feed my family,” said Dr. Lisa Hauk of Wilson Health Center.
Here in Rochester and across New York, more doctors Read the rest of this entry »