Washington, U.S.A. — In a busy year filled with hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods and deadly windstorms, the American Red Cross responded to 113 large-scale disasters in 42 states and territories from Alaska to Florida between January 1 and December 1.

“Hurricane Sandy was the biggest U.S. response in five years, but it wasn’t the only disaster that disrupted lives in 2012,” said Charley Shimanski, senior vice president for Red Cross Disaster Services. “Devastating tornadoes and raging wildfires wiped out entire neighborhoods while Hurricane Isaac affected communities all along the Gulf Coast. The Red Cross responded to each of these disasters, offering shelter, food and comfort to people on their darkest days.”

Disasters struck across the country, from the East Coast to the West, and few regions were spared.

Throughout the year, the Red Cross opened a total of 907 shelters and provided more than 109,000 overnight stays to help people forced from their homes. In total, more than 29,000 trained disaster workers served 9.9 million meals and snacks and distributed more than 6.8 million relief items. Health and mental health workers provided more than 141,000 consultations to help people on the road to recovery.

The Red Cross also responded to tragic events that impacted people’s lives in the last year, most recently the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, as well as the mass shootings at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado in July and at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin in August. In all three responses, the Red Cross provided emotional and mental health support, as well as food and drinks for first responders.

Hurricanes and Tropical Storms Impacted Many Lives

In June, Tropical Storm Debby marked the start of hurricane season by causing widespread flooding across much of Florida. Then in late August, Hurricane Isaac came ashore bringing with it strong winds and drenching rain that impacted Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. In response to Isaac, the Red Cross mobilized thousands of disaster workers to help people by opening 157 shelters, providing thousands of overnight stays. Volunteers served hundreds of thousands of meals, distributed more than 140,000 relief items and provided thousands of health and mental health contacts.

Hurricane Sandy made landfall along the Atlantic seaboard in late October, leaving massive devastation in its wake. In all, eleven states and Puerto Rico felt the impact with New York and New Jersey seeing the most devastation. The large Red Cross relief effort continues today, weeks after the storm’s landfall. As of December 1, more than 15,300 trained disaster workers mobilized to provide help. The Red Cross has handed out millions of relief items and meals, provided tens of thousands of health and emotional support contacts to people whose lives have been turned upside down. Even as relief work continues, the Red Cross will be on the ground supporting recovery efforts for some time.

Spring Tornadoes and Floods

In early March, as many as 95 confirmed tornadoes touched down, destroying communities across the Midwest and Southeast. Tornadoes slammed through the Dallas-Fort Worth area in early April and in mid-April, dozens of tornadoes ripped across the Midwest for a second time.

In all, severe spring weather affected communities in 16 states, including Kansas, Illinois, Missouri,Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi,Oklahoma, West Virginia and Texas. The Red Cross launched responses to provide safe shelter, warm meals and relief supplies to people forced from their homes. Disaster workers served nearly a quarter of a million meals and snacks and handed out more than 112,000 relief items like cleaning supplies and comfort kits.

June Derecho

A string of storms with winds up to 90 miles per hour swept across Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, New Jersey, Ohio and the District of Columbia in June, bringing with them hundreds of reports of impact from devastating winds. Millions were without power in sweltering areas as high temperatures broke records. The Red Cross provided thousands of overnight stays in more than 70 shelters, served more than 246,000 meals and snacks, and distributed about 128,000 relief items.

Summer Wildfires

Dry conditions fueled devastating wildfires across the western part of the country, forcing evacuations and destroying homes. In response, the Red Cross launched wildfire relief operations in nine states including Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington and California. The Red Cross provided nearly 4,000 overnight stays in shelters, served more than 159,000 meals and snacks, and handed out tens of thousands of relief items to people in need.

International Response

The American Red Cross helped almost 3 million people around the world in 2012, responding to 13 disasters in more than 20 countries. These included floods in Bolivia, Peru, Afghanistan, the Philippines,Bangladesh, Nigeria and Panama. Assistance was also sent to Senegal, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger,Mauritania, Mali and Malawi to help people affected by food shortages, as well as a drought in Paraguay. Red Cross workers are also responding to help people affected by civil unrest in Syria and a cholera outbreak in Sierra Leone. The American Red Cross responded in Jamaica and Haiti after Hurricane Sandy made landfall in those countries.

The Red Cross thanks everyone who has supported disaster relief operations this year. Every nine minutes the Red Cross responds to a disaster in communities across the country, and whether it’s a hurricane or a fire in someone’s home, the Red Cross is there. Click here to view a photo slideshow of disaster responses supported this year.

The Red Cross also provides 24-hour support to members of the military, veterans and their families – in war zones, military hospitals and on military installations around the world; collects and distributes more than 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply and trains more than 9 million people in first aid, water safety and other life-saving skills every year.

If someone would like to support the Red Cross mission and help those in need, they can visit www.redcross.org. Contributions may also be sent to someone’s local Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.

Image Courtesy : American Red Cross

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Tucson, U.S.A. — The United States is forfeiting a half century of leadership in medical care and medical research and development, writes orthopaedic surgeon Lee Hieb, M.D., in an article in the winter issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

“We are rapidly throwing it all away as we spiral ever downward into a “vampire economy”—an economy so overtaxed and overregulated that it is sucking the lifeblood out of its productive citizens, she writes.

Hieb undertakes a diagnostic examination of the medical economy, and features the following findings:

• There are 140,000 pages of regulations pertaining to Medicare, compared with a “mere” 82,000 in an impossibly complex tax code.
• Today, 49 cents out of every dollar is spent by government. In 1920, only 10 cents was spent by government, and 90 cents privately. Even in 1947, after World War II and the Marshall Plan, only 20 cents of every dollar was spent by government.
• Businesses are organized into cartels. Some are favored by government, so that profits are retained privately, but losses are shared by taxpayers.

The diagnosis, Hieb writes, according to the Austrian school of economics, is that we have a classic fascist economy. According to Lwewellyn Rockwell, “Fascism is the system of government that cartelizes the private sector, centrally plans the economy to subsidize producers, exalts the police state as the source of order, denies fundamental rights and liberties to individuals, and makes the executive state the unlimited master of society.”

Hieb’s description of the economy comes from the title of Guenther Reimann’s 1938 book, The Vampire Economy: Doing Business Under Fascism.

“The frontispiece of Reimann’s book is a pictorial representation of what it took a car manufacturer to get 5,000 tires for his autos. After 6 months and numerous encounters with boards, chambers, secretaries, ministers, councils, and commissars, the company received 1,000 rubber tires and 4,000 ersatz tires, at a 200% increase in price.”

Hieb compares this with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), although the FDA takes 15 years to approve a drug, not just 6 months.

When F.A. Hayek wrote The Road to Serfdom in 1928, 55 percent of the German economy was controlled by the government, and their military expenditure was 10 percent of their budget. Today in America it is estimated that 45 percent of our economy is controlled by the government, and our military consumes 21 percent of the national budget.

Hieb explores the moral hazards of dependency on government money, and warns physicians: “We must never put ourselves in such financial dependency on the government that we are willing to compromise Hippocratic principles of ethical patient care.” Independence, she writes, is the “garlic necklace.”

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a national organization representing physicians in all specialties, founded in 1943, publishes the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

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Philadelphia, U.S.A. — The Center for Autism Research at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is among The Children’s Miracle Network’s (CMN) “Ultimate Gift” beneficiaries for its social media-based holiday fundraising program, Give Miracles. In addition to its social media presence, ads announcing the campaign for CHOP will run in the Wall Street Journal on November 10 and 24, and on December 1 and 15.

With 1 in 88 American children affected, autism is one of the most common childhood disorders, yet it remains a mystery in many ways, leaving millions of families desperate for answers about what causes autism; what are the best treatments; and why autism prevalence continues to rise. Donors who support autism programs at CHOP through the Give Miracles campaign will help unlock the mysteries of this perplexing and complicated disorder and fuel some of the most needed medical breakthroughs of our generation.

Research at CHOP is revolutionizing the understanding of autism. CHOP’s multidisciplinary teams in psychology, neurosciences and genetics are spearheading the largest and most innovative autism studies ever conceived. CHOP’s autism experts are applying state-of-the-art research and clinical tools to discover autism’s causes and find new treatments, while providing comprehensive, coordinated, family-centered care and support to meet each child’s specific developmental and educational needs.

Give Miracles provides donors with tangible evidence of their gift, from the initial donation to its final use. It is the first Impact Giving (TM) program of its kind, as it enables donors to choose the hospital they want to support and the amount and type of gift; those who donate will remain engaged with ongoing email updates on their gift’s impact for children with autism who are seen at CHOP and throughout the world.

“When people donate their hard-earned money, they want to know how it is used,” John Lauck, CEO of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, said. “The Give Miracles program lets donors be involved in the philanthropic process. They can have a direct connection to the impact their dollars are making at the local hospitals and on the kids they are supporting.”

GiveMiracles.org features a social fundraising platform powered by technology powerhouse Fundly, allowing  donors to create customized fundraising pages that call on their Facebook and Twitter networks for donations. This crowdfunding feature allows multiple contributions—especially helpful for addressing large fundraising goals like CHOP’s autism center. These miracle-making gifts could also be purchased by single benefactors—such as corporations and foundations.

To learn more about supporting autism programs at CHOP, visit GiveMiracles.org.

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Like any expecting mother, Sheena Coke was excited to see her newly born for the first time on December 18, 2008 in Pueblo, Colorado. Unfortunately, her newly born son, Nickolas Coke, was not like other babies. He was born only with a brain stem, a serious birth defect known as anencephaly. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), babies born with this condition are without parts of their brain and skull; each year, it is estimated that 1 in every 4,859 babies in the United States are born with this condition.

Nickolas lived a miraculous life; he was celebrated as a medical miracle though doctors only expected him to live up to a few hours like most babies born with anencephaly. Defying the odds, Nickolas lived a full 3 years and 11 months. Sheena told KOAA-TV in July, “I think the love and caring that everyone gives him is making him stronger and making him live longer.”

According to Sherri Kohut, Nickolas’ grandmother, Nickolas caught a virus which caused his breathing to become labored and eventually stop. She said that CPR was performed on him three times, but Nickolas was gone after the last try. He was laid to rest last Wednesday.

Nickolas did not rely on special medical equipments but had to consume numerous types of medicine. Kohut said, “He was never hooked up to any machines, no tubes, no nothing. He taught us everything, he taught the love, how to be family. He taught us everything.” The Coke family spent the last three years focusing on cherishing and celebrating each day of Nickolas’ life.

Anencephaly is one of the most fatal forms of neural tube defects (NTD). Referring to Duke Center for Human Genetics, NTD is an opening in the spinal cord or brain that can arise in the first few days of human development; thus, it can only be detected within the first month of pregnancy. A prevention technique could be the consumption of multivitamins along with 400 micrograms of folic acid on a daily basis at least 4 weeks before a planned pregnancy.

The life of Nickolas Coke will forever be a medical mystery. He will always be remembered as the little boy who fought to live. Recently, he became an elder brother to Jace Nickolas James. Nickolas was well loved and taken care of. His grandmother referred to him as a hero; she said, “He was our hero because he showed the strength; if I can do this anything can be done.”

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Couer d’alene, U.S.A. — Financial Data Management (FDM), a provider of medical billing and practice management services to physician practice groups, is facilitating federal Meaningful Use reimbursement bonuses for filing electronic prescriptions by utilizing the E-Prescribing module of MedInformatix claims processing software.

Six ophthalmologists from different practice groups received Meaningful Use bonuses in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements in 2010 and 2011 by remotely accessing the firm’s MedInformatix software to transmit electronic prescriptions, for example. The technology also helped the physicians avoid a penalty in 2012 for not filing electronic prescriptions.

Enacted as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Meaningful Use program aims to improve patient care by encouraging healthcare providers to use certified technology that generates electronic health records MedInformatix E-Prescribing Module, which is fully-integrated with the MedInformatix EHR/PM Version 7.5 base product, and certified through Surescripts, which is the nation’s largest e-prescription network.

The system checks prescriptions for drug-to-drug interactions, allergies and adherence to medical data table guidelines set by the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP).

More physicians in FDM’s network could qualify for Meaningful Use incentives, as much as $44,000 per eligible provider, if they begin using certified technology to collect and track clinical conditions electronically before 2015.

“The incentives provide a strong push for complying with Meaningful Use, especially for older physicians who are comfortable circling patient diagnoses on paper and have little interest in logging in to a computer or mobile device to record the same,” said Stacy Alan Ramsey, FDM president.

Using the MedInformatix system, FDM has leveraged advanced capabilities including the ability to scan documents, post explanation of benefits from insurers or electronic remittance advice, and extract data by time period and insurance carrier through robust filters when questions arise about claims.

Among other benefits achieved by FDM through use of MedInformatix:

• Most of the firm’s practices transmit their superbills directly to the MedInformatix system using remote access, eliminating paper documents and associated overhead costs.
• FDM’s billers, coders and payment posters can handle more work because of MedInformatix’s streamlined processes. Today the firm processes more than 10,000 claims monthly and works with more than 1,000 insurance companies, including small entities focused on worker’s compensation – all without adding staff from the days when its volume was a fraction of the size.
• Because the system runs on Microsoft SQL Server, the firm also can access its own raw data to create complementary applications and automate charge entry and other functions. The firm’s programmers built a document management system and added criteria to run simultaneously with MedInformatix’s checklist that flags errors before claims are sent to insurance companies. Other systems lack this customization ability because they have proprietary databases housed on the Web, not with the client.

MedInformatix has supported FDM through its expansion to serve a range of practice specialties including pain management, cornea ophthalmology, retina ophthalmology, anesthesiology, cardiothoracic surgery, radiology and otorhinolaryngology (ENT).

Image Courtesy : hang_in_there / Foter / CC BY

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Nashville, U.S.A. — On October 30, Emdeon, a provider of revenue and payment cycle management and clinical information exchange solutions, announced the launch of Emdeon EDGE, an integrated, technology-enabled solution that includes complete payment integrity and cost containment services designed to help detect improper healthcare claims and prevent inaccurate payments.

Emdeon has built a leading payment integrity and cost containment solution by acquiring three market leaders – The Sentinel Group, EquiClaim and TC³ Health – and integrating them with Emdeon’s vast healthcare network. By combining the best of these companies’ recognized leadership in fraud, waste and abuse technology, investigation expertise, cost management services and comprehensive audit and recovery services, Emdeon is able to offer healthcare payers one complete solution to help ensure accurate claim payments throughout the adjudication lifecycle.

Healthcare fraud, waste and abuse in the United States continues to be an increasing problem with industry estimates placing the cost upwards of $200 billion a year. In fact, a joint letter from the secretary of Health and Human Services and the U.S. attorney general issued in September 2012 emphasized to healthcare trade organizations the need to ensure accurate and proper healthcare claims, and stated that attempts to “game the system” will not be tolerated.

“Healthcare payers can benefit from Emdeon’s multi-payer data analytics that drive insights that cannot be gained from single payer data,” said Terry Cameron, senior vice president of payment integrity for Emdeon. “This capability can help detect improper claims and prevent lost dollars that otherwise may be missed. Additionally, Emdeon combines the analysis from that same data with knowledge and expertise to create more efficient payment integrity processes and more savings opportunities.”

Emdeon EDGE easily integrates within the existing claim adjudication workflow and provides multi-layered protection that offers both prospective and retrospective claims review, as well as in- and out-of-network claims management.  By leveraging Emdeon’s claims data and network, these services enable superior detection of fraud, waste and abuse and the reduction of costly errors and time-consuming manual processes. As a result, payers can increase efficiencies, maximize returns and have confidence that their healthcare payments will be correct.

Emdeon EDGE is a comprehensive payment integrity solution that includes the following four suites: Emdeon EDGE Fraud, Waste & Abuse Protection Suite, Emdeon EDGE Integrated Repricing Suite, Emdeon EDGE Audit & Recovery Suite and Emdeon EDGE Analytics Suite, each with a broad set of features for maximum benefit. Healthcare payers can purchase these services together for the most extensive protection or individually to fit their needs.

Image Courtesy : Mercy Health / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

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There has been an outbreak of the deadly fungal meningitis disease in the US, affecting thousands of people with 16 people already dead. According to the website of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), authorities are  gravely concerned with the sudden outbreak linked to pharmacy-distributed steroids.

The outbreak of fungal meningitis has been directly linked to steroids supplied by Massachusetts-based New England Compounding Center (NECC); the company has announced that it is proceeding with an “abundance of caution” because of the risk of contamination, although there is no evidence so far that any of its other products have been contaminated.

Meningitis is a rare disorder that evolves as a consequence of spreading fungus through the blood to the spinal cord. It is generally caused by the inflammation of protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord called meninges. In other words it is swelling of edges or lining around spinal cord and brain.

Speculation tells us that injections distributed by NECC, called methylprednisolone acetate, used widely to nurse back pain, may have been cause of this clinical mayhem. Close to 13,000 people may have received the drug as part of their treatment. So far cases of meningitis have surfaced in Tennessee, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas, Idaho, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio and Florida.

According to the CDC, more than 20 states have received the implicated drugs, and it has launched a multistate investigation to figure out the underlying cause of meningitis outbreak.

The CDC issued a cautionary call for patients who feel ill. They advise that anyone who is concerned about whether they received medication from the NECC should contact their physician. The CDC also issued clinician guidelines stating that physicians should contact patients who have been exposed. The CDC also warned that people with weaker immune systems, like those suffering from AIDS, are at greater risk of getting infected with fungal meningitis.

Dr Michael Carome, from a Washington based public advocacy group Public Citizen, said “Congress exempted drugs compounded by pharmacists from the usual safety and efficacy requirement.”

If speculation turns out to be true, and the cause of the outbreak is pharmacy miscalculation, then from broader perspective it is a regulatory loophole rather than clinical blunder.

David Miller, Chief Executive Officer at IACP, brought severity to the situation when he said that “this is not traditional compounding we’re talking about, it is multi-state selling and large-scale manufacturing.”

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Colorado, U.S.A. — Experts agree childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, with three in 10 U.S. kids either overweight or obese. Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) joined forces with notable Olympic athletes and youth leaders for the Triple Play Leadership Summit to provide a forum for young people to develop their own solutions for confronting the obesity crisis in their communities.

The Leadership Summit took place at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado and featured American boxer Marlen Esparza, who earned the Bronze Medal in Women’s Boxing at the 2012 Olympics. The weekend symposium focused on community action and engaged approximately 127 Boys & Girls Club kids and staff—representing 42 Clubs from around the U.S.—who were selected based on their commitment to enriching and improving their communities.

At the conclusion of the event, participating youth developed action plans for how they will combat obesity in their own communities by the end of the year. The young leaders will implement such activities as cleaning up parks, reforming school lunch menus and organizing walks and runs to help put other young people on a better path for healthy lifestyles.

“Like many challenges kids face today, the childhood obesity crisis can seem daunting because it has many factors and implications that extend far beyond this generation,” said Esparza. “It was invigorating to be surrounded by so many motivated kids who are taking ownership of this issue and proposing solutions that are developed by kids for kids. It gives me tremendous hope.”

The Triple Play Leadership Summit is a component of the BGCA Triple Play program, supported by founding sponsor Coca-Cola and the WellPoint Foundation, which encourages kids ages 6-18 to eat a balanced diet (mind), become more physically active (body) and increase their ability to engage in healthy relationships (soul).

“The Triple Play program is the premier healthy lifestyles initiative within our organization. The number of obese or overweight children today is more than three times what it was just a generation ago, so this effort is a key part of our commitment to addressing childhood obesity,” said Judith Pickens, Senior Vice President, Program & Youth Development Services, BGCA. “Through this Summit, we look forward to having hundreds of young people extend the Triple Play message and impact beyond Boys & Girls Clubs and into their surrounding communities.”

At the event, Boys & Girls Club kids participated in a mini-Olympic experience where they received hands-on tips from Olympians in a variety of sports. They also engaged in various training activities, including broadcast journalism, public relations and community service. All participants also took part in at least 60 minutes of exercise during their stay.

“Community health challenges are best met with a coordinated community response,” said Lance Chrisman, executive director of the WellPoint Foundation. “The WellPoint Foundation is proud to support Triple Play because we know that healthy habits can last a lifetime and that today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders. We look forward to seeing the many outstanding local projects and health-improving efforts that will result from this Leadership Summit.”

“Physical activity and nutrition education are the most important, teachable components in health and wellness,” said Erika Von Heiland Strader, Director, Community Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company. “By supporting the Triple Play program and the Triple Play Leadership Summit, we are not only preparing the youth to live more active lives – we are preparing them for brighter futures.”

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New Mexico, U.S.A. — Overeaters Anonymous (OA) is launching a 13-week radio show to help listeners better understand compulsive eating and recovery. The program, Sound Bites from Overeaters Anonymous—A 12-Step Solution to Compulsive Eating,is a weekly, one-hour program that will be broadcast online on Voice America beginning October 17and running through January 9, 2013.

Built on a twelve-step program patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous, OA offers a program of recovery from compulsive eating issues using a three-fold approach that addresses individual physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.

“Many people think everyone in OA is morbidly obese. They are surprised to learn that in OA, you’ll find members who are obese, overweight, average weight, underweight, still maintaining some control over or totally unable to control their eating behaviors,” said Naomi Lippel, Managing Director for Overeaters Anonymous. “Sound Bites from Overeaters Anonymous enables us to share first-hand the personal struggles of compulsive eaters, and the strength, hope and recovery they found using OA’s twelve step program.”

The program will address topics that include:

• How and why a 12-step program can work for compulsive eating
• How OA’s Plan of Eating is different than a diet
• The 9 Tools of Overeaters Anonymous
• Keeping your eating sane during the holiday season
• 100+ Pounds to lose—Is there hope for me in OA?
• The three levels of recovery from compulsive eating
• What to expect at an OA meeting
• In All Our Affairs—How recovery in OA can improve every aspect of your life
• New year’s resolutions—what can you do differently this time?

And a live call-in show that will answer listener’s questions about Overeaters Anonymous.

Sound Bites from Overeaters Anonymous can be found on Voice America starting October 10 by visiting www.voiceamerica.com and searching for “Overeaters Anonymous.”

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Washington, U.S.A. — The U.S. Census Bureau has released 2010 estimates of health insurance coverage for each of the nation’s roughly 3,140 counties. Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) are the only source for single-year estimates of health insurance coverage status for every county in the nation.

These estimates are available by sex, age groups, race and Hispanic origin (for states only), and income-to-poverty ratios. As in past years, the estimates pertain to those younger than 65 as a whole. However, for the first time, there are estimates of coverage at the county level for those in the 50 to 64 age group.

By 2014, changes to the law will extend certain Medicaid benefits to uninsured people falling into specific income groups, and SAHIE estimates will permit users to track the impact of the law on small counties. The estimates also enable local planners to determine, for instance, the counties in which low-income children are most likely to lack health insurance. The mapping tools available on the SAHIE website can also show regional trends in coverage, displaying for instance, that small counties with a high range of uninsured children are mostly in Texas, Nevada and Montana, and small counties with a low range of uninsured are mostly in the Northeast and Midwest.

The new inclusion of the 50 to 64 age category allows tracking of the insurance status of this population, which is more likely to consume health care compared with younger age groups. Knowing the number of uninsured at this older age group allows planners and health care officials to better prepare for the health care needs of this population.

SAHIE is partially funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others in the health care field. The CDC uses these statistics in support of its National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, providing free cancer screenings to low-income, uninsured women.

“We use SAHIE data to more effectively gauge the level of need for breast and cervical cancer screening in various geographic jurisdictions across the country,” said Marcus Plescia, director of the CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control in Atlanta. “The information provided by SAHIE data is important to us in program planning and management, targeting and resource allocation decisions and evaluation.”

The estimates are based on statistical models combining data from a variety of sources, including the American Community Survey (ACS), Census Bureau population estimates, administrative records (such as aggregated federal tax returns and Medicaid participation records) and 2000 Census statistics.

At present, SAHIE is the only source of health insurance estimates for all counties. There are no county estimates derived from the Current Population Survey. In September, the Census Bureau will release health insurance coverage estimates for counties with a population of 65,000 or more from the 2011 ACS. The following month, similar estimates will be released for counties with a population of 20,000 or more from the 2009-2011 ACS. Starting next year, the five-year estimates from ACS will include statistics on health insurance coverage for all areas, regardless of size.

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Tampa, U.S.A. — Scientists, clinicians and patients will gather at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) in downtown Tampa September 6 to share research insights and energize the search for a cure for Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) and related disorders.

This year, for the first time, the scientific symposium will be live streamed through the Friedreich Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) Facebook page, with opportunities for visitors to join the discussion long distance. To connect to the live stream and learn about cutting edge research advances in FA, visit: http://www.facebook.com/CureFA/app_196506863720166 on September 6 at 6 p.m.  You do not need a Facebook account to join.

The fourth annual scientific symposium “Understanding a Cure” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. onThursday, Sept. 6, at USF Health CAMLS, 124 South Franklin Street, Tampa, FL 33602. The symposium, free and open to the public, is hosted by FARA and the USF Ataxia Research Center (ARC) and includes a tour of CAMLS.

FA (Friedreich’s ataxia) is a rare, debilitating neuromuscular disorder. Symptoms, typically emerging between ages 5 and 15, often progress to severe disability and include the following: loss of coordination and muscle weakness that leads to wheelchair use, energy deprivation and fatigue, vision impairment, hearing loss, slurred speech, aggressive scoliosis, diabetes, and life-shortening cardiac disease. There is not yet an approved treatment or a cure.

“This year’s Friedreich’s Ataxia Symposium will build upon the momentum of the last three years by highlighting some of the most promising discoveries yet from leading researchers in the field,” said Theresa Zesiewicz, M.D., professor of neurology and director of the USF Ataxia Research Center, who moderates the symposium. “The opportunity for patients who cannot be with us in person to join the interactive symposium in real-time via Facebook has generated a lot of excitement. We’re looking forward to lively discussions.”

The list of speakers and the evening’s agenda can be found at: http://curefa.org/energyball/sep6.html 

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Seattle, U.S.A. — Since its opening in 2008, the Ben & Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment (the Ivy Center) at Swedish Medical Center’s Neuroscience Institute has led the expansion drive of major research projects and expanded treatment options for patients living with brain cancer in the Pacific Northwest and throughout the world. The Ivy Center was founded in 2008 to create a world-class treatment and research facility focused on delivering excellent patient care and advancing progress toward more effective treatments for brain cancer.

While great strides have been made in the treatment of breast, colon and other common cancers, only three new drugs to treat brain cancer have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the past 35 years, and these drugs prolong the lives of patients by only a few months. Such a center was needed at the time, said Greg Foltz, M.D., a neurosurgeon and director of the Ivy Center, because brain cancer had been for far too long a neglected or “orphan” disease.

In fact, today the life expectancy of a person diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most common form of malignant primary brain cancer, is only about 15 months — only slightly better than it was a century ago, Dr. Foltz said. “We felt we needed to focus our efforts on coming up with better treatment options,” said Dr. Foltz. “We felt someone had to champion this cause so we embarked on a mission to get more researchers and physicians focused on this disease. And we did.”

The Ivy Center at Swedish has partnered with and led major brain cancer programs with the Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation, Institute for Systems Biology, Allen Institute for Brain Science, University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Accium Biosciences and The Elliott Foundation. This has led to a variety of new brain cancer treatment options and research programs for people living with brain cancer in our region. “Previously, none of this existed,” said Dr. Foltz.

Five Years of Progress Made

The goal of the Ivy Center was to create a place where brain tumor patients and their families would have access to the best care and latest clinical research. The Ivy Center has achieved this making it possible for the center’s neurosurgeons, oncologists, radiologists and nursing staff to work in close collaboration with the program’s team of scientists. This collaboration allows clinicians and scientists to provide patients with the best of care as well as direct access to promising new therapies and clinical trials.

The Ivy Center’s clinical team provides comprehensive, integrated care that includes the latest neurosurgery techniques and technology, including intra-operative MRI-guided navigation, precision Gamma Knife radiosurgery as well as the support of a team of physical and occupational therapists, counselors, and other specialists who provide each patient with comprehensive, personalized care.

“People with brain cancer have needs that transcend the traditional requirements of most patients. Care is not just about an operation, it’s not just about a medication,” said Dr. Foltz. “Brain cancer is a life-changing event, so it’s very important from the first meeting that these patients know that we’re there for them, that we care deeply about them and we’re going to provide all the resources that are possible to help them fight their disease.”

Holly Zimmerman, a Bellevue, Wash. resident who has been battling brain cancer and is leading a team in this year’s Seattle Brain Cancer Walk, can speak personally to the importance of the first meeting. “A small seizure led doctors to the discovery of a tumor in my parietal lobe—what immediately followed was brain surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and a very scary prognosis for me and my family,” said Zimmerman. “This disease is unique and it takes an extraordinary team of medical professionals to conquer it. As a one-year survivor of brain cancer, I have great hopes.”

New Strategies in the Search for a Brain Cancer Cure

Over the past five years the Ivy Center has established an international reputation for its expertise in the genetic analysis of individual tumors. At the Ivy Center, a genetic profile is created of every patient’s tumor with the goal to identify each tumor’s individual weaknesses and to develop new, personalized treatment strategies that target these weaknesses.

The Ivy Center’s genomic database — now one of the largest brain tumor research projects in the country — was developed in collaboration with the world-renowned Institute for Systems Biology. This collaboration brings together physicians and scientists in the fields of neurosurgery, neuropathology, systems biology, genomics and biostatistical analysis. Together they are determining how networks of genes and proteins interact in brain cancer to discover new targets for diagnostic tests and treatments.

In another partnership, the Ivy Center and the Allen Institute for Brain Science are creating a 3-D map of gene activity within brain tumors.  These maps can then be compared with maps of gene activity in normal brain tissue to identify which genes are malfunctioning in the cancer tissue. Once these genes are identified the goal is to develop diagnostics and treatments that target these malfunctioning genes.

All data from these projects are being made available online to researchers around the world for free.

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Alexandria, U.S.A. — Americans want to keep in place state and local alcohol regulations to keep them safe, according to a new bipartisan national poll conducted for the Center for Alcohol Policy (CAP).

“Americans overwhelmingly agree that alcohol is a unique product that is not like other consumer goods, which is why they believe it needs to be treated differently,” said Patrick Lynch, former Rhode Island Attorney General, former president of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) and current member of the CAP Advisory Council. “This national survey also shows that people think it’s important that decisions about alcohol are made at the local level by people who know the community.”

Survey findings include:

Americans do not think alcohol is just like other consumer products, and they support state restrictions on alcohol that are not found on other consumer goods.

• 72% believe states should regulate alcohol because it is different from other consumer goods.
• 79% believe that alcohol is NOT just like toilet paper and tin foil.
• 78% support the current drinking age of 21 or older.
• Americans believe that local businesses that understand the local community should manage local alcohol distribution and sales.
• 81% support the rights of states to determine their own laws and regulations regarding the sale of alcohol.
• 76% support the rights of individual states to regulate the manufacture; sale and distribution of alcohol.74% believe that local businesses should be in charge of alcohol distribution in the local community because they understand local preferences.
• Americans do not want to replicate the United Kingdom’s disastrous experience with alcohol deregulation.
• 72% agree that the U.S. should not follow the UK and remove alcohol regulation.

The United Kingdom’s high rates of youth intoxication; increasing cases of liver disease; and a rise in alcohol-fueled violence and public disorder have been well documented by the news media. Prime Minister David Cameron has called binge drinking a major issue: “The crime and violence it causes drains resources in our hospitals, generates mayhem on our streets and spreads fear in our communities. My message is simple. We can’t go on like this. We have to tackle the scourge of violence caused by binge drinking. And we have to do it now.

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Pennsylvania, U.S.A. — Department of Health Secretary Dr. Eli N. presented on August 21 nearly $4 million in Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement Program, or CURE, grants to support two research projects focused on esophageal cancer treatment and advancing detection of abdominal aortic aneurysms.

The CURE program funds health research with the purpose of discovering new scientific knowledge to help improve the health of all Pennsylvanians.

These competitive grants focus on specific research priorities established and reviewed by the Department of Health in conjunction with the Health Research Advisory Committee, a panel made up of universities and research institutes.

The funds, allocated in the 2011-12 fiscal year, focus on projects that translate the information found within the human genome and support research that commercializes and brings to market new, proven cancer diagnostics or therapeutics.

Twelve projects statewide are receiving CURE grant awards totaling $15.3 million. Since the grant program’s inception, Geisinger Clinic has received nearly $5.2 million in CURE funding, part of the more than $750 million in total CURE awards.

“This is an exciting time in health research and we are confident this research will improve public health and help Pennsylvanians to live longer, healthier lives,” said Avila.

More information about the CURE program is found at the Department of Health’s website at www.health.state.pa.us/cure.

Overview of the funded projects and awards announced on August 21:

• Geisinger Clinic: Utility of Genomic Data in Population Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm ($2,909,969):

The project is using knowledge of genetic risk factors to improve screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), the 13th leading cause of death in the United States.

• Geisinger Clinic: Diagnostic-Prognostic Testing in Patients at High Risk for Esophageal Cancer ($1 million):

The project is developing a test that predicts the risk of developing esophageal cancer in patients with chronic gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) and Barrett’s Esophagus.

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Washington, U.S.A. — Although parents should be the protectors of their children, they can also be their most severe abusers.

This seems to be the case in the life of Ariana-Leilani King-Pfeiffer, a 9-year-old dual German/American Citizen whose father is denying her access to medication that would save her life.

The child has been diagnosed with severe chronic neutropenia (SCN), a life-threatening disease affecting only one in one million people worldwide. The condition entails a scarcity of neutrophils, which defend the body from bacterial infections. She is on the Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry (SCNIR) with less than 1000 others worldwide.

While healthy individuals contain between 3000 and 7000 neutrophils per mm^3 in their body, in the case of someone with severe neutropenia the absolute neutrophil count falls below 500 neutrophils per mm^3 for over 3 months according to the SCNIR. In such cases, seemingly minor bacterial infections could result in toxic shock, loss of limbs, or prove fatal—at any moment.

SCN can be acquired in a variety of ways: through chemotherapy treatment, from a viral infection, an autoimmune response and some individuals are born with the condition. Dismissing these possibilities in the case of King-Pfeiffer based on her medical records, Dr. Karl H. Welte, Co-Director of the SCNIR believes her condition has likely been “induced by toxic agents”—meaning someone is purposely introducing harmful drugs into the child’s system.

Patients can be treated with the hormone G-CSF, also known as neupogen. This medication helps them to fight off infections by increasing neutrophil levels. However, according to an affidavit by Dr. Robert Sklaroff, King-Pfeiffer is not receiving adequate treatment. While her medical records indicate that she was administered neupogen during three yearly dental visits, resulting in her ANC levels rising from 3000 to 9000, she is not being given the medication regularly as needed.

However, her father has made securing excessive amounts of the addictive ADHD medication Concerta for his child a monthly priority. Considering this, one is left wondering why he has neglected to provide neupogen for his highly at-risk child, although she is entitled to it free of charge through the SCNIR.

The NGO Innocence in Danger International brought these circumstances to the attention of the German Embassy in Washington DC. They then proceeded to write to the relevant U.S. authorities in order to call them to action, explaining, “we feel that a fully independent medical examination of the child should be ordered.” So far no toxicology screenings or urinalyses have been performed and the only physician treating the child is an associate of her father.

Visit www.Ariana-Leilani.org to learn more about the critical condition of this child and the neglect that is putting her life in danger. Make sure to sign and circulate the petition on the site urging political actors to ensure she receives the treatment necessary to save her life.

Image Courtesy of  Ariel foundation

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Oakland, California, U.S.A. — With a protracted heat wave in many regions of the state over the past week that is slated to continue through this week, the California Department of Industrial Relations’ (DIR) Division of Occupational Safety and Health (commonly referred to as Cal/OSHA) is urging employers to protect outdoor workers from heat illness and allow for new workers to adjust to changes in weather (also known as acclimatization).

“This is the longest period of sustained high temperatures in California since 2006 and employers at outdoor worksites should stay on the alert,” said DIR Director Christine Baker. “Ensuring that new employees are closely supervised while they are acclimatizing to working in high heat – on top of providing water, rest, shade and training – is an essential step in making sure a jobsite is a safe place to work.”

A 2005 Cal/OSHA study showed that employees who are not used to working in extreme heat are at the highest risk of developing heat illness. That same study showed that forty-six percent of reported cases of heat illness occurred on the employee’s first day on the job.

“Providing water, rest, shade and training are essential for all employers with outdoor worksites. Any new employee who is not used to working in high heat conditions is at an increased risk of developing heat illness, and supervisors should use caution in acclimating them to a new work environment,” said Cal/OSHA Chief Ellen Widess. “Close supervision of heat-exposed workers is critical because life-threatening heat illness can develop and progress very rapidly.”

It can take anywhere from four to fourteen days for the human body to become properly acclimated to working outdoors in an extremely hot environment. Some best practices for employers who may have new employees working in high heat include assigning employees to less physically demanding tasks in their first fourteen days on a new job or working a new employee onto a shift slowly. But all workers can be adversely affected by “heat waves” where temperatures are still high even at night.

“Given the extreme heat we have been experiencing, employers must have emergency medical plans in place, ready to be used at a moment’s notice,” added Widess.

Under California’s first-in-the-nation heat illness prevention standard, employers with outdoor workers are required to establish and implement emergency procedures, and provide training on heat illness prevention to all workers. Every outdoor workplace must have drinking water for workers – at least one quart per hour per employee – and shade for recovery and rest periods. Shade must be provided when temperatures are above 85 degrees, and be available at employee request at any temperature. Employers are also required to train employees to properly identify heat illness symptoms.

The heat illness prevention standard was strengthened two years ago to include a high heat provision that must be implemented by five different industries when temperatures reach 95 degrees. These procedures include observing employees, closely supervising new employees, and reminding all employees throughout the shift to drink water.

The specified industries include agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction and transportation or delivery of agricultural products, construction material or other heavy material. However, all employers are advised to take additional precautions during periods of high heat.

Cal/OSHA’s website provides employers with a Heat Illness Prevention e-tool for reference. More information on how to prevent heat illness and training materials can be found in both English and Spanish on Cal/OSHA’s website and also at the “Water Rest Shade” campaign site. Materials in additional languages are available at the website as well.

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San Francisco, U.S.A. — New campaign finance reports reveal that Monsanto Co. just contributed $4.2 million to defeat Proposition 37, which would require labeling of genetically engineered food. That is the largest contribution in the race. Total contributions to defeat Proposition 37 amount to $25 million, and nearly $23 million during the last week.

Other major new contributions against Proposition 37 were given by E. I. Dupont de Nemours ($1,273,600), Dow Agrosciences ($1,184,800) and PepsiCo ($1,126,079).

“The giant pesticide and food companies are afraid of the mothers and grandmothers who want the right to know what’s in our food,” said Stacy Malkan, media director of California Right to Know. “These companies will try to buy the election, but it won’t work. California moms and dads will prevail over Monsanto and Dupont.”

Thus far, the “Big 6″ pesticide companies (Monsanto, Dow, BASF, Bayer, Syngenta and DuPont) have contributed $13.5 million to defeat Proposition 37.

Of the twenty largest contributors to the No on 37 campaign, only one (Nestle USA) is from a company based in California. And even Nestle USA is a subsidiary of the giant Swiss food conglomerate Nestlé S.A.

To date, total contributions against Proposition 37 are approximately $25 million.

Image Courtesy of   kthread

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Phoenix, U.S.A. – The Affordable Care Act is a hot, debatable topic right now. Whether it is one you support or not, it generates awareness regarding the need for affordable healthcare in our country. It has become nothing less than a necessity to find a solution to the healthcare problems we face as a country.

According to data released by Kaiser EDU, Health expenditures in the United States neared $2.6 trillion in 2010, over ten times the $256 billion spent in 1980. This has created a dilemma for the tens of millions of Americans who cannot afford necessary medical tests because they either don’t have insurance at all, or have a policy with a restrictively high deductible.

Dr. Scott Hastings, Family Practice doctor in Show Low, Arizona, founded BidOnHealth.com, a website that allows consumers to purchase medical tests at an affordable price. The BidOnHealth.com model follows the ever so popular trend of purchasing items online at a discounted rate. Anyone who has used a website like Priceline.com will find this concept familiar. Priceline is best known for their bidding option where the consumer makes choices within certain parameters, offers the amount they are willing to pay, and then enters a credit card number in hopes that their offer is accepted.

BidOnHealth.com uses a similar approach for medical tests and healthcare services. Consumers choose their geographic location along with the tests or services they need, and make offers based on what they are willing to pay. Using this bidding option, consumers can save up to 90% off the average retail price of the tests or services they are purchasing. However, bidding is not a requirement at BidOnHealth.com; tests and services can also be purchased immediately at an incredible discounted rate of 60% off.

BidOnHealth.com is contracted with reputable laboratories, radiology facilities and providers to ensure a quality end-product. The services and facilities remain constant whether the consumer is saving 60% or 90%. This is one instance where the old adage, “you get what you pay for,” does not ring true.

BidOnHealth.com has been recognized across the country for their innovative approach to healthcare.

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Las Vegas, U.S.A. — Nevada nursing homes and the patients under their care face $20 million cumulative reduction in Medicare funding in 2013-14 as a result of several different federal budgetary actions and regulatory payment changes made by Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) since 2009, a new 50 state data analysis projects.

Nationally, nursing homes and the patients under their care face nearly $4 billion in reductions in 2013-14, and a staggering $65 billion reduction over 10 years, according to the independent health policy advisory firm, Avalere Health. Nursing homes, technically referred to as skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), are Nevada’s second largest health facility employer.

In differentiating the impacts of different budget cuts and regulatory payment changes that result in less cumulative government funding, the Avalere analysis, funded by the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care, will be utilized to help inform Nevada policymakers how the successive battery of federal funding reductions undermine facility operations, disrupt staffing, and threaten seniors’ care amid the growing influx of older, higher acuity patients – increasing numbers of whom are able to return home after successful rehabilitation.

The Avalere analysis, the first retrospective national and state-by-state look at recent reductions in Medicare payments to facilities, projects the 2013-14 budgetary impact on Nevada based on the following major government actions since 2009: Affordable Care Act (ACA) productivity adjustment ($7 million cut in 2013); Case-Mix Adjustment in FY 2010 CMS Rule ($7.3 million regulatory reduction in 2013); Forecast Error Adjustment in FY 2011 CMS Rule ($1.3 million regulatory reduction in 2013); Sequestration provision of Budget Control Act ($4.3 million cut on January 1, 2013 ); Bad Debt provision in March 2012 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act ($2.1 million cut 2012-14 beginning October 1, 2012 ).

Alan G. Rosenbloom, President of the Alliance, said that with approximately 70 percent of facility expenses related to staffing, the impact of federal Medicare cuts combined with a fragile state Medicaid system causes significant difficulties in regard to hiring and retaining the direct care staff that help make a significant difference in care quality and patient outcomes.

“More Medicare cuts from Washington – which are imminent — undermine Nevada facilities’ ability to continue sending more and more patients home as quickly as possible. The unintended consequences of these cuts and regulatory payment changes will affect patient access, quality and require that care increasingly be rendered in settings that actually increase the cost to government.

This makes no sense, and is wrong for seniors, providers, taxpayers and the future of our entire U.S. health care system. We respectfully urge Nevada candidates for federal office to address how they would help stop more Medicare cuts for the state’s skilled nursing facilities and the seniors under their care.

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At least 154 cases of a new strain of swine flu were detected across several states. The number of victims had been 29 one week ago, but the five time increase has officials concerned about another mass outbreak.

The original strain of swine flu, H1N1, killed at least 17,000 people between 2009 and 2010. This was highly contagious and moved so fast that countries only reported the number of deaths and clusters of unusual outbreaks.

This new strain, H3N2v, a variant of the H3N2 common influenza, so far has only effected people in direct contact with pigs. The states that are most affected also come in most contact with traveling fairs, complete with petting zoos and shows; people that work around pigs on a regular basis are high at risk. Indiana reports at least 113 cases, Ohio 30 cases, and one case each in Hawaii and Illinois.

Dr. Joseph Bresee of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes that “This is not a pandemic situation.” The CDC states that the disease must transfer easily between humans before it is considered a pandemic. However, they told ABC News that they are also concerned that “the new strain has a gene from the 2009 pandemic strain that might let it spread more easily than pig viruses normally do.” H3N2v could become another worldwide problem.

Bresee admits that the number of cases is expected to continue to rise, and a few human-human transmissions wouldn’t surprise anyone.

The good news is the cases are mild compared to other virulent flus, and no one has died so far. The two cases that resulted in hospitalization both fully recovered and were discharged.

The flu vaccine from this year doesn’t cover the new strain, so all are urged to be careful and take precautions by careful hand washing and avoiding eating and drinking around infected humans and animals. The CDC suggests seeking medical care for suspected infection.

While adults may have antibodies for H3N2v from similar flus in the 1990′s, parents should take extra care into account for children, who are the most affected so far. The CDC also warns those over 65, pregnant women and individuals with chronic diseases not to attend traveling fairs this year.

Fair officials are keeping an eye out for any pigs that exhibit flu symptoms. These include a runny nose, coughing and sneezing. In the meantime, Bresee is working on finding a vaccine for the virus in the chance it becomes a pandemic.

Image Courtesy of   Diego Cupolo [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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Landover, Maryland. — Giant Food of Landover, following a voluntary recall by Ready Pac Foods, announced it removed from sale select Ready Pac Apple Snax products due to a positive finding of Listeria monocytogenes on equipment used to produce the apple products.

The following products, all with a use-by date of July 8, 2012 through August 20, 2012, are included in this recall:

• Ready Pac Snax Apple & Cheese with Caramel Dip, 4.2 oz., UPC 7774523896
• Ready Pac Apple Granola Yogurt Snax, 4.3 oz., UPC 7774523089
• Ready Pac Snax Apple, Celery, Raisins with Peanut Butter, 3.9 oz., UPC 7774523897

To date, Giant has received no reports of illness associated with consumption of this product. Customers who have purchased the product should discard any unused portions and bring their purchase receipt to Giant for a full refund. Listeria is a common organism found in nature. Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease.

Healthy people rarely contract listeriosis. However, listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. Listeriosis can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths, as well as serious and sometimes fatal infections in those with weakened immune systems, such as infants, the elderly and persons with HIV infection or undergoing chemotherapy.

Consumers looking for additional information on the recall may visit the Giant website at www.giantfood.com.

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Oakland, California, U.S.A. — With heat waves predicted across many California regions over the next week, the California Department of Industrial Relations’ (DIR) Division of Occupational Safety and Health (commonly referred to as Cal/OSHA) urges all employers of outdoor workers to revisit their heat illness prevention process and their emergency response procedures to ensure they are thoroughly prepared.

“Cal/OSHA’s adoption of the nation’s first set of heat illness standards has done much to prevent heat deaths throughout California, but that does not mean our work is done,” said DIR Director Christine Baker. “This is going to be the hottest weather in three years after two summers of milder temperatures. Employers must be prepared to handle periods of high heat, conduct training refreshers and plan ahead so that their front line staff and supervisors can take proper precautions during times of high heat.”

“Heat illness is preventable and should not occur if proper procedures are followed. As high heat develops across the state, I remind all employers to take special care so that they can provide the appropriate safeguards for their outdoor workers,” said Cal/OSHA Chief Ellen Widess. “This includes closely monitoring the weather and modifying the work accordingly. It also includes making sure everyone on the worksite knows how to prevent heat illness, as well as how to handle a medical emergency.”

The regulations require employers to:

• Train all employees and supervisors about heat illness prevention.
• Provide plenty of cool, fresh water and encourage employees to drink water frequently.
• Provide a shaded area for workers to take a cool down recovery break.
• Give workers a period of time to get used to the heat, especially during a heat wave or for new workers. This is known as “acclimatization.”
• Prepare a site-specific emergency heat plan and train workers on steps to take if someone gets sick.

The heat illness prevention standard was strengthened two years ago to include a high heat provision that must be implemented by five different industries when temperatures reach 95 degrees. These procedures include observing employees, closely supervising new employees, and reminding all employees throughout the shift to drink water. The specified industries are agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction and transportation or delivery of agricultural products, construction material or other heavy material. However, all employers are advised to take additional precautions during periods of high heat.

A Heat Illness Prevention e-tool is available on Cal/OSHA’s website. Additional information on heat illness prevention and training material in both English and Spanish can be found on Cal/OSHA’s website and at the “Water Rest Shade” campaign site. Materials in additional languages can be accessed through the website.

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Memphis, U.S.A. – The Stuttering Foundation (www.StutteringHelp.org) responds to a new study published in the online issue of Neurology, “Neural anomaly and reorganization in speakers who stutter.”

“It is our experience that a competent therapist can help a person who stutters become fluent in one week. That is not the challenge; the goal in stuttering therapy is staying fluent – taking what you learn in the therapy setting and transferring it into the real world and maintaining that level of fluency over time,” said Jane Fraser, president of the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation.

“Whenever we can show that physical changes we make through therapy actually affect the brain in a positive way, it is very reinforcing. Change doesn’t just happen in a vacuum. However, we must again ask ourselves this important question … do these changes in the brain hold up over time?

“Without a doubt, this study opens the door to new research into long term changes in the brain that would reinforce fluency. For that, we are very encouraged.”

Foundation Spokesperson Jane Fraser

Jane Fraser is president of The Stuttering Foundation and co-author of If Your Child Stutters: A Guide for Parents, 8th edition. She is also vice president of Action for Stammering Children, the Michael Palin Centre, in London.

About the Foundation

Malcolm Fraser, a successful businessman who stuttered, went on to establish and endow the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation in 1947. The Stuttering Foundation provides free online resources on its Website, www.StutteringHelp.org, including services, referrals and support to people who stutter and their families, as well as support for research into the causes of stuttering. Please visit us at www.StutteringHelp.org.

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Las Vegas, U.S.A. – MGM Resorts International and the Jared Foundation announced plans to work toward expanding a program that addresses chronic weight and obesity issues among children living in the region.

“We are what we eat and the United States is facing a widely-documented crisis and epidemic,” said Jim Murren, Chairman & CEO of MGM Resorts International at the announcement of the expansion of the Coordinated Approach to Childhood Health in Las Vegas.

“CATCH transforms a child’s environment, culture and society by coordinating child health efforts across all aspects of the educational experience: classroom, food services, physical education, and family. CATCH adds healthy eating and physical activity to the school environment and drives the message home to parents through family and community outreach,” said Jared Fogle, a healthy eating advocate and spokesperson for SUBWAY restaurants.

Murren and Fogle announced a fundraising campaign of $235,000. MGM Resorts International has donated an initial $25,000 to help broaden the program.

CATCH has been recognized and recommended by the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation among other organizations. It focuses on addressing the issues of childhood obesity by transforming a child’s environment by coordinating child health efforts across all aspects of the educational experience: classroom, food services, physical education, and family.

CATCH has been implemented in 132 after-school sites in Southern Nevada since 2010, serving 7000 children daily with physical activity and nutrition lessons. A federal obesity prevention grant allowed Southern Nevada Health District to bring CATCH training and programming to four parks and recreation departments and after school program sites in Boulder City, North Las Vegas, the Cities of Las Vegas and Henderson, and the YMCA of Southern Nevada.

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Washington, U.S.A. — Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) has announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has agreed to move forward on CT screening for veterans at high risk for lung cancer. This was communicated to Laurie Fenton Ambrose, LCA President & CEO in written correspondence by VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Robert A. Petzel.

“I am so pleased that high level engagement with senior VA officials has borne fruit,” said Fenton Ambrose, “as bringing this life saving benefit to our veterans has been one of our highest priorities.”

In 2010, the National Cancer Institute terminated one of the largest trials in its history after proving that screening those at high risk for lung cancer with CT scans could dramatically reduce lung cancer deaths.

“No one deserves to die from lung cancer – and certainly not the men and women who have served their country,” said Admiral T. Joseph Lopez (USN-retired), Chairman of the LCA Board of Directors, who personally advocated for the screening benefit.

Lopez continued, “Now that the wheels are in motion at the VA I know that they will understand the urgency and move quickly as lives are literally at stake.”

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. Military men and women are at higher risk for lung cancer than civilians due to higher smoking rates and exposure to lung cancer causing chemicals.

“As former Secretary of Veterans Affairs, I am grateful to the Lung Cancer Alliance for raising the importance of CT screening for those veterans at risk of lung cancer and to Secretary Shinseki and Under Secretary Dr. Pretzel for this life saving step for the men and women who served our nation in uniform,” said The Honorable Anthony J. Principi, who served as Secretary from 2001 – 2005.

LCA launched in February a National Framework for Lung Screening Excellence and Continuum of Care to ensure that lung cancer screening is implemented responsibly, safely and cost effectively. To date over 150 medical centers across the country have committed to LCA’s National Framework and are screening responsibly and at low cost. The VA has indicated it will also follow established best practices to ensure risk is minimized and the benefit maximized.

In addition, LCA has long been working with a coalition of veterans service organizations, led by Vietnam Veterans of America, to make lung cancer a higher Veterans health care priority and to adapt lung cancer screening for those veterans at risk for the disease.

Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA), http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/, is committed to ending injustice and saving lives through an alliance of advocacy, education, and support. LCA provides live, real time support, referral and information services for patients, their loved ones and those at risk for lung cancer; conducts national awareness campaigns; and advocates for multiple millions in public health dollars for lung cancer research.

Image Courtesy of   photobank.kiev.ua / Shutterstock.com

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Houston, U.S.A. – A tiny heart pump that maintains blood flow in babies and small children with serious heart failure proved effective and life-saving in a pioneering study involving 17 institutions led by Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). A report on this study appeared recently in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study looked at the safety and probable benefit of the Berlin Heart EXCOR Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device (VAD), the only VAD available for babies and children. Patients who received the Berlin Heart lived longer on the device and were more likely to receive a transplant or recover heart function than children who were maintained on more traditional support using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), according to the study’s results.

“This study is unprecedented and represents broad collaboration among the top pediatric cardiac transplantation centers in North America, really the who’s who in the field,” said Dr. Charles Fraser Jr., surgeon-in-chief at Texas Children’s Hospital and professor of surgery and pediatrics at BCM. Fraser is also the corresponding author of the report and was national principal investigator of the study. “This study is now the gold standard for VAD therapies in children. Everything going forward will be compared to this.”

Before the Berlin Heart

Before the Berlin Heart, physicians used complicated medical therapies to treat children with heart failure, hoping to keep them alive until a suitable donor heart became available. Newborns and small children often died as they waited since no more than 70 or 80 small donor hearts become available each year. ECMO provided only short term support when the child’s heart failed completely. The Berlin Heart offers families a new ray of hope.

“With the Berlin Heart, we have a more effective therapy to offer patients earlier in the management of their heart failure,” said Fraser. “When we sit with parents, we have real data to offer so they can make an informed decision. This is a giant step forward.”

Children on the device can leave the intensive care unit and go to a regular hospital room where they receive rehabilitation and better nutrition while they wait for a transplant. While there are many such devices available for adults, development and approval of devices for children and especially for babies has lagged.

Prospective study

“This prospective trial is unprecedented because it was not a look back at how children on the device had fared but instead followed their clinical course from the device’s implantation. The results were compared to those of children who received ECMO, the only other method of treatment,” said Fraser, also chief of congenital heart surgery at Texas Children’s.

“We thought we knew a lot about this device and how it worked, but the FDA was insistent that we conduct a trial and they were right. We did not know as much as we should about how the device performs in practice.”

Higher survival rate

For example, he said the survival rate with the device is higher than anticipated and so was the stroke rate. While the stroke rate was of concern, residual effects from the stroke did not prevent most patients from receiving a transplant, the researchers note.

The Berlin Heart is not totally implanted inside the body. Physicians insert cannulas, or flexible tubes, in the heart and they extend through the skin and connect to a small pump located outside the body. That pump, along with its computerized drive unit, maintains blood flow.

Fraser and his colleagues in the United States and Canada compared the outcomes for 48 children (infants to 16 years) who received the device between 2007 and 2010 to matched patients in a national registry for those patients supported by ECMO. They divided the patients who received the German-manufactured heart assist device into two groups based on their body size.

Those in the cohort of smaller patients (average age 1 year) survived on the heart for a median time of 28 days compared to five days for the children on the ECMO device. The longest time a child in this cohort was on the Berlin Heart was 174 days compared to 21 days for the ECMO group. At 174 days, 88 percent of the children in the cohort had been successfully transplanted and 12 percent had died or failed weaning. In the comparison group, 25 percent of the children had died at 21 days and none were still on the ECMO device.

For children in the second cohort with a larger body size (average age 9), the median survival on the Berlin Heart was 43 days compared to five days for the ECMO group. The longest a child stayed on the assist device was 192 days; the longest a member of the matched group was on ECMO was 28 days. In the device group, 92 percent of the children who had received the VAD had been successfully transplanted or weaned off the device at 192 days and 8.3 percent had died. In contrast, 33 percent of the children in the ECMO group had died at 30 days and none were still on that device.

Some children did suffer serious side effects, including major bleeding, infection stroke and high blood pressure. These findings are as important as the survival statistics because they set the stage for future development and refinement of these devices, said Fraser.

Humanitarian Device Exemption approval

The Berlin Heart EXCOR Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in children in 2011. That allows the device to be used as a bridge to transplantation. The Berlin Heart has been used in approximately 1,000 children worldwide.

It assists the ventricles – the pumping chambers of the heart – in circulating blood throughout the body. In most children with heart failure, the left ventricle fails and the device is used to assist its activities. However, in a few instances, two devices are used to replace both chambers of the heart. This pump is available in a variety of sizes.

Without the assistance of the device, children awaiting a transplant would become increasingly sick as their heart failed. The device improves their circulation and keeps them alive until they receive a heart transplant. In some rare instances, patients recover enough to come off the device and maintain blood flow on their own.

Fraser first used pump seven years ago

Fraser first used the pump in an infant – tiny Brady Burch of Corpus Christi – seven years ago. Brady, now 7, went on to receive a transplant and enters first grade this fall. The success with Brady stimulated Fraser to push for a study of the device to determine its effectiveness.

Fraser said a major limitation of the study is that it is not truly randomized – a method by which patients are assigned an experimental treatment or currently accepted treatment by chance, as in the flip of the coin.

“There was no way we were going to randomize patients. Even using ECMO as a comparison was difficult,” Fraser said. They drew their comparison patients from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization registry based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They matched each patient who received the Berlin Heart to two closely comparable individuals in the registry. While using these historical control patients was difficult, it was the only ethical method of obtaining comparison, Fraser said. He believes the study will provide important information for the future.

“I don’t think we are far from a small, implantable VAD in children,” he said. “The implantable devices will be less cumbersome. There are approved, fully implantable devices already available for adults. This gives us the drive to push even further for more devices like this that can be life-saving options for these children who have no other treatment options.”

Texas Children’s Hospital implanted more Berlin Heart devices in the course of the study than any other center and has one of the most comprehensive pediatric ventricular assist device programs in the world.

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Royal Oak, Michigan, U.S.A. — Appropriate use of testing is a hot topic in medicine as physicians and hospitals look for ways to improve quality while containing cost to achieve high-value care. This is especially true in the field of cardiology where the potential consequences of incorrect diagnosis have led to overuse of cardiovascular imaging with CT scanners, called coronary CT angiography.

A landmark study, led by Kavitha Chinnaiyan, M.D., director of Advanced Cardiac Imaging Education, Beaumont Health System, has shown that inappropriate CCTA use can be reduced by 60 percent with educational programs, increased physician collaboration, and close monitoring. The research is published in the August 8 online issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The results come from a multicenter, statewide quality improvement initiative called the Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Consortium, sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield/Blue Care Network of Michigan. A total of 47 centers in Michigan took part in this ongoing initiative during the time period of this study (July 2007 to December 2010).

“We looked at more than 25,000 patients in the ACIC registry, reviewed data on appropriate use, then had a period of intervention with 5,000 referring physicians across the state offering educational programs, close monitoring and feedback to physicians on CT use,” says Dr. Chinnaiyan, ACIC program director.

As coronary CT angiography is a relatively new imaging methodology, this statewide collaborative was formed in part to assess how providers should best utilize this technology, while at the same time reducing its inappropriate use. After the intervention, there was a follow-up period where appropriate use was reviewed again.

“We found that appropriate use increased and inappropriate use decreased by 60 percent across all referring physician specialties – including cardiologists, internists, emergency room physicians,” says Dr. Chinnaiyan. “These are very exciting results for doctors, patients and for payers.”

Coronary CT angiography is the fastest growing application of CT scanners in the U.S. About 500,000 Americans undergo CCTA each year at an average cost of $500 – $1500.

“The study suggests that voluntary, mutually established quality metrics reinforced by education and feedback can result in major changes in inappropriate use,” notes Dr. Chinnaiyan. “This collaborative approach involving physicians, hospitals and payers may be applied beyond CCTA to enhance value in other areas of medicine.”

The ACIC was launched by Blue Cross Blue Shield/Blue Care Network of Michigan in collaboration with Beaumont Health System in July 2007 as a collaborative quality initiative to improve the practice of coronary CT angiography. The initiative has generated many important findings on effective use of advanced cardiovascular imaging techniques. Beaumont is the coordinating center for the consortium.

“This is another exciting example of how hospitals and the Michigan Blues are supporting collaborative learning and partnership that leads to better care for patients in our state,” says David Share, M.D., MPH, vice president and assistant chief medical officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. “The ACIC is one of 12 collaborations studying different aspects of patient care that the Michigan Blues support in partnership with more than 70 hospitals across the state.”

Earlier this year, ACIC-generated research found that CCTA is more effective than cardiac stress testing at identifying heart disease requiring an expensive, invasive heart catheterization procedure. Dr. Chinnaiyan also authored that research published in the February 14 Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Beaumont is a world leader in cardiac CT imaging, with other published research on the use of CT imaging for diagnosing or predicting heart attack; identifying unstable plaque likely to cause a heart attack; and diagnosing chest pain patients in the Emergency Center.

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The Woodlands, Texas, U.S.A. – Berlin Heart announced recently that a study published in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) concludes that survival using the Company’s EXCOR Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) is “significantly greater” than the standard-of-care (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or “ECMO”) as a “bridging therapy” for children in need of a heart transplant.

The principal author, Charles D. Fraser, Jr., M.D., Surgeon-In-Chief and Head of the Division of Congenital Heart Surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital, and Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine served as the National Principal Investigator for the clinical trail.

The trial was a prospective, multi-center, single-arm cohort study. Children implanted with the EXCOR Pediatric VAD as a bridge to cardiac transplantation were compared to a historical control group of children supported by ECMO that were selected from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization registry. Seventeen pediatric cardiac centers in the United States and Canada participated in the trial.

A total of 48 patients in need of support (ages 16 and under) were divided into two cohorts based on body size. Each cohort included 24 patients, Cohort 1 the “smaller” participants and Cohort 2, the “larger” participants. Among participants in Cohort 1, median time of support was 27 days in contrast to the matched ECMO control median support time of 5 days.  In Cohort 2, the median support time was 43 days whereas the ECMO control group was supported a median of 5 days. Overall, 88% of participants in Cohort 1 and 92% of participants in Cohort 2 survived to either heart transplantation or weaning with the use of the EXCOR Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device.

“The EXCOR Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device represents a major medical advance in the treatment of children who need a heart transplant,” said Dr. Fraser. “Most of these babies and children would not otherwise survive without the support of EXCOR while awaiting donor hearts. I know that I speak for all of the medical professionals who participated that we are tremendously gratified to have been a part of this ground-breaking study.”

“Until the FDA approved EXCOR, options for mechanical circulatory support as a bridge to heart transplantation in children with severe heart failure were finite,” added Robert Kroslowitz, President and CEO of Berlin Heart’s North American operations. “More specifically, the effective period of ECMO support is typically limited to only 10 days before life-threatening complications ensue that often preclude transplantation.

The narrow duration of support afforded by ECMO is often inadequate considering current waiting times for a pediatric heart transplant (a median of 119 days for all infants in 2008). Consequently, less than 50% of the children supported on ECMO survive to undergo heart transplantation.”

“Publication of the EXCOR study results in one of the most esteemed peer-reviewed medical journals in the world offers strong testimony that the FDA’s recent approval of EXCOR represents a landmark event for children suffering from terminal heart failure,” said Kroslowitz. “Indeed, the worldwide medical community is now offered this lifesaving device to support desperate children who would not otherwise survive while waiting for a heart transplant.  No doubt, EXCOR represents a new era for treating children with heart disease.”

The Berlin Heart EXCOR Pediatric VAD is a mechanical cardiac support system for critically ill pediatric patients suffering from severe heart failure. The system is designed to support pediatric patients of all age groups, from newborns to teenagers, and is intended to bridge patients awaiting heart transplantation from days to many months, until a donor heart becomes available. The FDA granted “Humanitarian Device Exemption” (HDE) approval of Berlin Heart’s EXCOR Pediatric VAD in December 2011. The device is also approved for use in Europe and Canada.

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The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will honor Metta World Peace of the Los Angeles Lakers with a Special Recognition Award at the 2012 Voice Awards for his work to raise awareness about mental health issues and for his financial support of charities that provide mental health awareness and treatment services for children.

In addition, SAMHSA will recognize screenwriter and producer Shonda Rhimes with a Career Achievement Award for her ongoing efforts to educate television audiences about the real experiences of people with behavioral health problems and those impacted by trauma.

The event will take place on Wednesday, August 22, 2012, at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California. Since 2005, the Voice Awards has brought together representatives from the entertainment industry and the behavioral health community for an evening of educational awareness building about mental health and substance use disorders and the power of recovery. This year, SAMHSA will highlight stories of mental illness and substance abuse, as well as the behavioral health challenges of athletes, including their resilience and paths to recovery.

The awards program recognizes the achievements of consumer/peer leaders who are sharing their stories of recovery and working to promote the social inclusion of people with behavioral health problems throughout the Nation. William (Bill) White of Bloomington–Normal, Ill., will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for his leadership, research, and advocacy to promote recovery from addictions.

Consumer/Peer Leadership Awards will be presented to behavioral health advocates and community leaders Henry Acosta, Plainsboro, N.J., and Shery Mead, Plainfield, N.H., as well as advocates and athletes Chris Herren, Portsmouth, R.I.; Chamique Holdsclaw, Atlanta, Ga.; and Brandon Marshall, Chicago, Ill. The Young Adult Leadership Award will be presented to Brittany Holt of Greensboro, N.C.

The Voice Awards also honors writers and producers who incorporate dignified, respectful, and accurate portrayals of people with behavioral health challenges into film and television productions. Finalists include “Take Shelter” (Sony); “Castle” (ABC); “Glee” (FOX); “Homeland” (Showtime); “Necessary Roughness” (USA); “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (NBC); and “Parenthood” (NBC).

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Miami, U.S.A. — The Black Treatment Advocates Network (BTAN) and the Black AIDS Institute are sponsoring HIV Post-Conference Updates in Ft. Lauderdale on August 6 and Miami on August 7 to bring new information from the recent International AIDS Conference (AIDS2012) to South Florida communities. BTAN delegates recently attended AIDS2012 in Washington, D.C., where they learned about the latest HIV research, testing and treatment to implement in their local communities.

In Miami, BTAN will launch the Post-Conference Update at CECOSIDA, 521 NE 81 ST, Miami, FL, 33321. In both Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, BTAN will hold a reception from 5:30 to 9 pm, which will include a screening of the Frontline documentary, ‘End Game’, followed by a panel discussion about the international conference, the current state of AIDS in each city, and how to end the AIDS epidemic in these communities.

The Fort Lauderdale Post-Conference Update will take place from 5:30 to 9 pm at New Mount Olive Ministry Center, 401 NW 9th Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311. In addition, there will be a science and treatment training session with the Miami-Dade Health Department on August 8.

“The most important thing we can do now is to act: To take what we learned at the International AIDS Conference back into our communities,” said Phill Wilson, President and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute. “Words are not enough now; we are beyond the meetings and the conversations – we can end AIDS in South Florida; if we act decisively, boldly and locally.”

BTAN, a network of Black Advocates committed to bringing the latest HIV/AIDS science to Black communities, is holding the Post-Conference Updates in partnership with the South Beach AIDS Project (SoBAP), Empower “U” and other local AIDS Service Organizations in South Florida, and supported by the Miami-Dade and Broward County Health Departments. They are working together to underscore the urgency of access to the newest testing methods and treatments, and to build resources and infrastructure in local healthcare facilities.

“Being at the AIDS2012 Conference was a momentous occasion and being able to bring it back to our neighborhood – one of the most impacted communities in the country – is essential, ” said Charles Martin, Executive Director of South Beach AIDS Project. “I am proud to work with the Black AIDS Institute to make this happen.”

Approximately 125,000 people, roughly 11.7% of the national total, currently live with HIV infection in Florida, which ranked number one among states in the number of cases of HIV infection reported in 2010, according to the Florida Department of Health Annual Report for 2011.

In 2011, Miami-Dade County reported the highest number of HIV cases and the greatest number of new AIDS cases in the entire state of Florida. Broward County (which includes Fort Lauderdale) currently ranks number two in the nation for cases of people infected by HIV, logging the second highest number of new AIDS cases per capita in the United States.

Image Courtesy of   Elvert Barnes

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