Tag Archives: wednesday

Dr. Manny: Government must stop bamboozling Americans about Plan B

I am now totally convinced that our current federal government loves confusion. When you have a single agenda, and many ways to spin it, the American public never gets a clear answer and that is exactly what has happened with the Plan B emergency contraception controversy. A U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must make certain forms of the emergency contraception pill available to children of all ages, without a prescription. This is exactly what I have been warning the American public about. One has to remember that the FDA first approved this form of over-the-counter contraception for women of all ages back in 2011. When that initial FDA ruling came out, there was a loud public outcry and restrictions were quickly put in place barring women under the age of 17 from purchasing these pills. But of course, that was just one spin on the story. In April, a New York judge ruled that restricting access to Plan B was inappropriate, forcing the FDA to reconsider their initial finding that emergency contraception should be available to children of all ages. And then, we got a third spin on the story, as the FDA tried to lower the age limit for access to emergency contraception to15 in May. There was another outcry and more criticism, because we know perfectly well that a 15-year-old may not have a clear understanding of how to utilize emergency contraception. Now, we see that an appeals court is forcing the FDA to do what they wanted to do in the first place. How convenient. And the final ruling is still unclear, after the court decided on Wednesday that while the two-pill version of emergency contraception can now be sold over-the-counter to women of all ages, the one-pill version will still only be sold to women age 17 or older. The court did not explain its reasoning. While there is still a lot of confusion about the ruling, it seems as though the FDA will ultimately get its way. So, what’s the message here?

Man spent 15 years with pencil in head after childhood accident

BERLIN – & German doctors say a man spent 15 years with a pencil in his head following a childhood accident. Aachen University Hospital says the 24-year-old man from Afghanistan sought help in 2011 after suffering for years from headaches, constant colds and worsening vision in one eye. A scan showed that a 10-centimeter (4-inch) pencil was lodged from his sinus to his pharynx and had injured his right eye socket. The unnamed man said he didn't know how the pencil got there but recalled that he once fell badly as a child. The German doctors removed the pencil and say the man has recovered. Hospital spokesman Mathias Brandstaedter said Wednesday the case was presented for the first time at a medical conference this week.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/29/german-hospital-man-spent-15-years-with-pencil-in-head-after-childhood-accident/

More doctors, hospitals using electronic records

The Obama administration says more doctors and hospitals are embracing technology as adoption of computerized medical records reaches a “tipping point” in America. A report Wednesday from Health and Human Services says more than 50 percent of doctors' offices and 4 in 5 hospitals have transitioned from paper to electronic records, thanks partly to more than $14 billion in government incentive payments. The hope is that electronic records will make caring for patients safer and less costly, by helping avoid mistakes and cutting down on duplication. But others say there's still a long way to go. An outside group's report last year found little progress in getting medical computers in different offices to talk to each other. Concerns have also surfaced about patient privacy and vulnerability to fraud.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/23/more-doctors-hospitals-using-electronic-records/

New SARS-like virus: WHO reports patient-to-nurse spread of deadly infection

Two health workers in Saudi Arabia have become infected with a potentially fatal new SARS-like virus after catching it from patients in their care - the first evidence of such transmission within a hospital, the World Health Organization said. The new virus, known as novel coronavirus, or nCoV, is from the same family of viruses as those that cause common colds and the one that caused the deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that emerged in Asia in 2003. “This is the first time health care workers have been diagnosed with (novel coronavirus) infection after exposure to patients,” the Geneva-based U.N. health agency said in a disease outbreak update late on Wednesday. The health workers are a 45-year-old man, who became ill on May 2 and is currently in a critical condition, and a 43-year-old woman with a coexisting health condition, who fell ill on May 8 and is in a stable condition, the WHO said. France has also reported a likely case of transmission within a hospital, but this was from one patient to another patient who shared the same room for two days. NCoV, like SARS and other similar viruses, can cause coughing, fever and pneumonia. Scientists are on the alert for any sign that nCoV is mutating to become easily transmissible to multiple recipients, like SARS - a scenario that could trigger a pandemic. WHO experts visiting Saudi Arabia to consult with the authorities on the outbreak said on Sunday it seemed likely the new virus could be passed between humans, but only after prolonged, close contact. Initial analysis by scientists at Britain's Health Protection Agency last year found that nCoV's closest relatives were most probably bat viruses. Yet further work by a research team in Germany suggests nCoV may have come through an intermediary - possibly goats. The WHO's Wednesday update said that, while some health care workers in Jordan had previously contracted nCoV, these Saudi cases were the first clear evidence of the virus passing from infected patients. “Health care facilities that provide care for patients with suspected nCoV infection should take appropriate measures to decrease the risk of transmission of the virus to other patients and health care workers,” it said. It also advised health care providers to be “vigilant among recent travelers returning from areas affected by the virus” who develop severe acute respiratory infections. Since nCoV first emerged and was identified in September 2012, the WHO says it has been informed of a total of 40 laboratory-confirmed cases worldwide, including 20 deaths. Saudi Arabia has had most of the cases - with 30 patients infected, 15 of them fatally - but nCoV cases have also been reported in Jordan, Qatar, Britain, Germany and France.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/16/new-sars-like-virus-who-reports-first-patient-to-nurse-infection/