MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'department'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:55:32 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181762&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2wBwW5zdM10%2F By Malou InnocentOver the past decade, American taxpayers have lost as much as $60 billion dollars to massive fraud and waste in the nation building campaigns of Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report released today by the Commission on Wartime Contracting. The independent panel confirms much of what we already know about rent-seeking in wartime; nevertheless, the panel details specific reconstruction projects and programs that display a stunning array of mismanagement: A modest $60 million agricultural development program in northern Afghanistan expanded to the south and east to the tune of $360 million. The cash-for-work program was intended to distribute vouchers for wheat-seed and fertilizer in drought-stricken areas. Today, the program spends $1 million a day. The panel reports,... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181762 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:54:37 +0100 5181762 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5169552&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-state-of-drug-seeking-in-america-nothing-should-hurt%2F2011.08.26 This might sting a little… When I was a child, I was often painted orange with Merthiolate.  My grandmother, like every good grandmother, kept a bottle handy at all times.  Merthiolate was an antiseptic, containing Mercury, that was marketed for cuts and scrapes. A fall on the gravel, a slide on the pavement, a run through the briar patch and you’d be sitting on the kitchen table while grandma colored you orange with the magical elixir, which incidentally burned like fire! On a recent emergency department shift, we were colluding about the general state of drug-seeking in America, which has been enabled by our ‘nothing should hurt’ ideology.   One of my dear friends, Nurse Nancy, had a realization; an epiphany, really. (more…) *This blog post was originally publ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5169552 Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:00:34 +0100 5169552 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159197&cid=t_115778_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F08%2F25%2Fusing-tragedy-to-justify-mental-health-services-in-delaware%2F In a letter that could’ve been written in virtually any state by any National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) representative, NAMI Delaware executive director Matthew Stehl and president Mary Berger recently wrote an op-ed for Delaware’s leading newspaper, The News Journal. In the opinion piece, Stehl and Berger decry the lack of adequate funding for mental illness treatment in the state. In a period of economic recession, state-funded health and human services are usually the first to undergo cuts. But it’s an especially relevant issue in Delaware, because the U.S. Department of Justice struck an agreement with the state to ensure it improves its mental health services for its indigent and poor residents who need mental health services. All of which is good. I’m ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159197 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:55:45 +0100 5159197 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159836&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FAhQvJIfu6qE%2F Concerns about conflicts of interests are all the rage these days. The FDA is debating whether to loosen rules over complaints that an insufficient number of experts are available for its advisory committees. And the National Institutes of Health just issued new rules covering academics who receive federal funding for their research and also have ties to industry (see here and here). As it turns out, the US Department of Health & Human Services, which oversees both agencies, has its own problems with conflicts. A new report by the HHS Office of Inspector General found most conflict-of-interest waivers issued two years ago were not documented as recommended in federal ethics regulations and only a minority of waivers were signed and dated by HHS employees receiving them. These waivers... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159836 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:12:11 +0100 5159836 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159840&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F0qGTbAcfmZ0%2F Six months after a federal appeals court decided a pair of GlaxoSmithKline sales reps are not eligible for overtime pay, they are now asking the US Supreme Court to review their case. And the implications for the pharmaceutical industry are likely to be far-reaching, given that drugmakers have been laying off thousands of sales reps as part of a massive wave of cost cutting in recent years. The petition, however, is not surprising, because there has been a split among appeals courts over this issue. Last year, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that Novartis reps are entitled to overtime (back story), and the Supreme Court earlier this year declined to review the decision (see here). That ruling came just two weeks after the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159840 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:07:40 +0100 5159840 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158995&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Freducing-the-use-of-ct-scans-in-children%2F2011.08.25 Well, this is satisfying. Over the years, in our ER we have mirrored the nationwide trend and have significantly increased the utilization of CT scans across the board. The reasons are manifold. Some cite malpractice risks, and indeed in our large group we have had one lawsuit for a pediatric head injury and another for a missed appendicitis which probably did contribute. But, in my opinion, there have been many other drivers of the increased use. For one, CTs have gotten way, way better over the last 15 years, which quite simply has made them a better diagnostic tool. They’ve also gotten way faster. As the facilities have invested in CT scanners, they have increased their capacity and increased their staffing, so the barriers to their use have rapidly diminished. I am so old that I ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158995 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0100 5158995 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139693&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJYQ_y5NMH5Q%2F By Caleb O. BrownNext month, the Obama Administration will begin granting waivers to states that are not on track to meet proficiency requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will be granting these waivers selectively, based mostly on states’ willingness to abide by new executive branch mandates not included in NCLB, likely including adopting national curriculum standards. Duncan has the authority under NCLB to grant waivers, but not to compel states to jump through administration hoops in order to earn them, as Neal McCluskey has documented clearly. As Neal notes in today’s Cato Daily Podcast, essentially imposing national standards – as well as other potential waiver demands – represents a large-scale assertion of federal executive pow... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139693 Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:42:21 +0100 5139693 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118607&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsIhHwzm_3Z0%2F By Jim HarperWith the Department of Homeland Security constantly spinning out new projects and programs (plus re-branded old ones) to investigate you, me, and the kitchen sink, it’s sometimes hard to keep up. But I was intrigued with a report that behvaior detection officers are getting another look from the Transportation Security Administration. Behavior detection is the unproven, and so far highly unsuccessful (Rittgers, Harper), program premised on the idea that telltale cues can reliably and cost-effectively indicate intent to do harm at airports. But there’s a new behavior detection program already underway. Or is it interrogation? Due to a bottleneck at the magnetometers in one concourse of the San Francisco airport (no strip-search machines!), I recently had the chance... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118607 Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:43:58 +0100 5118607 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107665&cid=t_115778_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fuk-offers-us-chance-learn-failure So far, it seems reasonable to believe that HITECH is working, but where could things go wrong? read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107665 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:43:50 +0100 5107665 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096465&cid=t_115778_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fhealth-information-exchange-current-projects-inspiring-future-pathways There’s been a lot of talk lately about the future of health information exchange (HIE)—what it will mean 10, 15 or even 20 years down the road. There is no question that providers recognize the importance of HIE, and realize in combination with electronic health records (EHRs) that it will transform the practice of medicine. The question is whether providers are fully aware of the many HIE projects on the ground right now that already are beginning to impact patient care. read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096465 Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:07:33 +0100 5096465 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096169&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FZOrZ812LqXk%2F By Benjamin H. FriedmanThe legislation signed by President Obama yesterday, as a solution to the debt ceiling debate, includes the possibility of cuts to military spending. But as Chris Preble points out, the legislation guarantees no defense cuts. Republicans will try to dump all the required cuts on non-defense areas. And the White House has already distanced itself from the prospect of any real defense budget cuts, as did Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. Both support only the first round of cuts, which will at best halt Pentagon growth at roughly inflation. On The Skeptics blog, I take a more detailed look at deal’s likely impact on military spending. I also examine its political effect, arguing that it will cause at least four political fights. The first concerns war fun... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096169 Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:29:42 +0100 5096169 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086172&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Foverwhelmed-ers-continue-to-rise-to-the-challenge%2F2011.07.31 Last night I was contacted by a physician in the local urgent-care.   I like him, and we made polite, but brief, conversation.  ‘So, are you guys busy?’ I gave him the status report.  ‘Well, yeah.  We have about 25 people waiting to be seen the waiting room is full and every patient room is full.  Also, we just received a gun-shot wound to the head by EMS.’ ‘Wow, sounds terrible!  So, here’s what I need to send you…’ What he sent was, in fact, reasonable.  A young woman with signs and symptoms of meningitis (who was treated earlier in the day for and upper respiratory virus…with Amoxicillin, of course.) She needed a lumbar puncture, which I performed and which was  negative. But I had this thought.  I could probably have said, (more…) *This blog ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086172 Sun, 31 Jul 2011 21:00:39 +0100 5086172 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077688&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fcan-pharmacogenomic-tests-help-to-improve-public-health%2F2011.07.29 Adverse drug events are a serious public health problem. Consider the following facts: an estimated 82% of American adults take at least one medication and 29% take five or more; 700,000 emergency department visits and 120,000 hospitalizations are due to adverse drug events annually; $3.5 billion is spent on extra medical costs of adverse drug events annually; at least 40% of costs associated with adverse drug events occurring outside hospitals can be prevented. How can genomics help? Pharmacogenomics is the study of genetic variation as a factor in drug response, affecting both safety and effectiveness. The intended applications of pharmacogenomics research include identifying responders and non-responders to medications, avoiding adverse events, optimizing drug dose and avoiding unnece... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077688 Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:00:10 +0100 5077688 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5078036&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F0pYjzQ4aXt4%2F Earlier this month, the Florida Department of Health filed an administrative complaint against Peter Gleason, a physician, in connection with his 2006 arrest for off-label marketing of the Xyrem cataplexy drug, which is used to treat a sudden loss of muscle tone associated with narcolepsy. His talks were funded by Orphan Medical, which was bought by Jazz Pharmaceuticals. He recently pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor with no intent, sentenced to one year of probation and paid a $25 fine. However, the state failed to note one important detail - Gleason died this past February. The 57-year-old physician recently saw his medical licenses suspended in Pennsylvania and California, and the accumulated weight of the events apparently led him to commit suicide, according to his sister. We left mess... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5078036 Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:44:42 +0100 5078036 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077678&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2F5hHFowu-r40%2F On June 9, 2011, sanofi-aventis U.S. announced the “sanofi-aventis U.S. Innovation Challenge: Data, Design, Diabetes” at the National Institute of Health’s Health Data Initiative Forum. The challenge, which launched on July 1, integrates open data with a human-centered view into diabetes, and will award $220,000 in total prize money. The challenge is designed for fast learning, so that innovators can create the needed service solutions for people living with diabetes. It brings together the richness of open data sets made available on healthdata.gov, the values of human-centered design, and the leading edge methodology of the top innovation accelerators. Until July 31st, innovators can submit their concepts on www.datadesigndiabetes.com.  In early August, an independent panel of exp... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077678 Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:30:17 +0100 5077678 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062290&cid=t_115778_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F07%2F25%2Fneed-mental-health-treatment-in-2-weeks-fat-chance%2F This study demonstrates quite the opposite. Read the full article: Medical News: Barriers High in Mental Health Care (Source: World of Psychology) World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062290 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:15:01 +0100 5062290 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062500&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FdI34cgVq2EI%2F After two decades during which complaints have mounted over various aspects of clinical trials, the US Department of Health & Human Services has issued a proposal that would, presumably, better protect clinical trial subjects. There are various suggestions, but include improving consent forms for participants and mandating the use of a single institutional review board for multi-study sites. “The current regulations governing human subjects research were developed years ago when research was predominantly conducted at universities, colleges, and medical institutions, and each study generally took place at only a single site,” the HHS states in its proposal, which indicates comments can be submitted for 60 days as of July 25 - which is today - according to an HHS spokeswoma... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062500 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:16:58 +0100 5062500 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5051233&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F_Ne7ygGc-0w%2F Faced with being banned from doing business with such federal healthcare programs as Medicare and Medicaid, Forest Laboratories ceo and president Howard Solomon recently retained former US Senator John Breaux as a lobbyist. The Louisiana pol is now a senior counsel with the Patton Boggs law firm, which has a large healthcare practice (see here). His lobbying registration form was filed on June 14, two months after the Office of Inspector General of the US Department of Health & Human Services notified the drugmaker that its 83-year-old executive was facing exclusion (read this). The Hill first reported Forest hired Breaux. Last year, Forest pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and made a $313 million payment that included $164 million in criminal penalties, and signed a corporate ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5051233 Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:48:51 +0100 5051233 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5036227&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fcurious-about-herbal-medicine%2F2011.07.17 So, you’re curious about herbal medicine. Is there any truth to this stuff? Uncle Howie tells you that he read in the National Enquirer about an herb that has better antibacterial effects on cuts and scrapes than Neosporin ointment — never mind that Neosporin is composed of three different antibiotics that come originally from bacteria themselves. So you set out on a quest to purchase some of this herb, known colloquially as goldenseal. When you go to your local Whole Hippie Dump-a-Load-of-Cash Emporium you find goldenseal alright, in about twenty different forms. On one side of the aisle are containers with loose, crushed up leaves and roots that look like medical marijuana. On a shelf, you find see-through capsules that seem to contain a powdered version of the herb. Down the aisle a... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5036227 Sun, 17 Jul 2011 21:00:14 +0100 5036227 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5029214&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FAAIOYoMxzQQ%2F In yet another victory for sales reps, a federal judge ruled that a Boehringer-Ingelheim rep is not exempt from overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and should be paid overtime. The ruling, which came in the form of a summary judgment and is now headed to trial to determine damages, is the latest in a highly contentious decision that has divided courts across the country For the past few years, a growing number of sales reps have argued they were unfairly denied overtime and nearly every drugmaker has been taken to court (look here and here). The US Department of Labor, however, has sided with the reps, arguing that many of the biggest drugmakers have misinterpreted the Fair Labor Standards Act. Here is the issue: the FLSA overtime compensation requirement does not apply to ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5029214 Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:50:06 +0100 5029214 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008567&cid=t_115778_136_f&fid=37850&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.carinforkaren.com%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D1133 (Source: Carin' For Karen) Carin' For Karen blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008567 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:13:32 +0100 5008567 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4984393&cid=t_115778_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F06%2F29%2Fwho-knows-or-cares-how-planned-parenthood-cuts-affect-nashville-womens-health-care%2F Not the Governor who pushed for the move, apparently. Earlier this month, I wrote about how Republican-led efforts to defund Planned Parenthood in Tennessee will affect women in Nashville – one of two TN cities where the state usually gives federal family planning and cancer prevention money to Planned Parenthood. In Nashville, that money will now go to the local health department, which explicitly said that it doesn’t expect to serve the same number of women for the money. Planned Parenthood made up the gap between the federal funds and what it takes to actually serve Nashville’s women by raising funds from donations. The health department does not expect any additional funds to make the shortfall, and would need local tax increases to make up the difference. As at le... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4984393 Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:44:39 +0100 4984393 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975832&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F95kWXhww15U%2F By Gene HealyMy Washington Examiner column this week is on TSA, the federal agency that’s its own reductio ad absurdum. In the latest TSA atrocity, the agency forced a wheelchair-bound, 95-year-old leukemia patient to remove her adult diaper, for fear she might be wired to explode. “It’s something I couldn’t imagine happening on American soil,” her distraught daughter told the press: “Here is my mother, 95 years old, 105 pounds, barely able to stand, and then this.” My God, what is she on about? Proper procedure was followed! As I point out in the column: in a classic case of “mission creep,” TSA is taking its show on the road and the rails. Remember when, pushing his bullet-train boondoggle in the 2011 State of the Union, President Obama cracked that it would... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975832 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:29:46 +0100 4975832 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968583&cid=t_115778_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F06%2F23%2Fwhen-things-go-wrong-in-massachusetts-fire-the-employees-not-carney-hospital%2F Mental health care in Massachusetts is sometimes a hit or miss proposition. Especially if you’re poor or indigent, or may present a danger to yourself or others. For the 14-bed locked hospital unit at Carney — now owned by Steward Health Care — it apparently was such a “miss” proposition that they ended up sacking the entire staff. Yes, you heard me — all 29 psychiatric nurses and mental health counselors were let go about a month ago. Meanwhile, Massachusetts continues to pay Carney Hospital to run its program, with all new staff. Is it possible that 29 different professionals really were responsible for the four complaints? Or is this a perfect example of incompetent management and senior hospital executives covering their asses, and trying to put the ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968583 Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:39:20 +0100 4968583 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4960202&cid=t_115778_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FKL0ko4TEcXU%2F A couple of very interesting recent announcements show (in a military context) how well-targeted brain training can complement and augment existing approaches, both to help “normal” and “clinical” populations, in ways that silo-based, rear-mirror thinking often misses: U.S. Department of Defense Awards $2 Million to Brain Plasticity Inc. to Study Impact of Brain Training for Traumatic Brain Injuries (press release): “Brain Plasticity Inc. (BPI), a technology incubator dedicated to the discovery and development of novel technologies that harness the basic principles of brain plasticity to improve the lives of people with neurological and psychiatric disorders, was recently awarded a $2 million grant from the United States Department of Defense.” “The grant will fund a two-year... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4960202 Thu, 23 Jun 2011 11:21:27 +0100 4960202 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952993&cid=t_115778_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F06%2F17%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-june-17-2011%2F Most therapists, even before they were therapists, have a natural ear for pain. They are like magnets attracting people who are in dire need of a listener. I know because I was one of them. And over the years, I’ve learned that the real challenge underlying all of the stuff they talked about was acceptance. People felt rejected, heartbroken, beaten up emotionally because they felt that the life they were living wasn’t the life that they were supposed to be living. They mourned their inability to look a certain way, be a certain kind of person or get married and have kids by a certain age and be nurtured unconditionally by two loving parents. But life never unfolds the way we think it’s supposed to. And there is a lot of grief in that. One of the most painful things to con... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952993 Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:07:40 +0100 4952993 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934015&cid=t_115778_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F06%2F13%2Fdefunding-planned-parenthood-in-tennessee-tying-together-the-news%2F I posted on Friday about Nashville’s Department of Health deciding to accept the funds that would normally go to Planned Parenthood for family planning services, and stating when they did so they were taking the money on the condition that they did not have to serve the same number of people. A commenter here – who appears to be close to the issue – pointed out that the county would probably need more local tax dollars to provide the same amount of service that Planned Parenthood provided with a combination of those federal funds and private donations. I saw a few news items today that don’t make a coherent whole, but that I felt were related to the issue. 1. State Health Commissioner Susan Cooper reportedly sent a letter to the Metro Public Health Department urgin... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934015 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:19:41 +0100 4934015 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921393&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPTxrRugA624%2F By Tad DeHavenThe Department of Labor has been added to Cato’s Downsizing Government website. Proposed spending cuts are $143 billion. The following essays examine the department’s activities: Failures of Unemployment Insurance. The UI system is costly to taxpayers and creates numerous economic distortions. Federal involvement should be ended and the states left free to design their own systems. Employment and Training Programs. Federal programs for unemployed workers have never worked very well, are relatively little used, and are unneeded in today’s economy because private markets provide many alternatives. Reforming Labor Union Laws. Federal union laws that mandate exclusive representation, union security, and prevailing wages are costly to the economy and restrict indivi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921393 Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:17:19 +0100 4921393 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911449&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FCQ43vnA9tJg%2F By David RittgersI received a response to my recent blog post on the Department of Education serving a warrant and dragging Kenneth Wright of Stockton, California from his home at six in the morning (incident added to the Raidmap, and here’s an updated link to the story). Here is the word from Department of Education Press Secretary Justin Hamilton: “Yesterday, the Depart of Education’s office of inspector general executed a search warrant at Stockton California residence with the presence of local law enforcement authorities. While it was reported in local media that the search was related to a defaulted student loan, that is incorrect. This is related to a criminal investigation. The Inspector General’s Office does not execute search warrants for late loan payments. Because this ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911449 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:28:45 +0100 4911449 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911450&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FmxymmNehZsA%2F By Malou InnocentAs confirmed by yet another U.S. government report, this one prepared by the Democratic majority staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, America’s nation-building mission in Afghanistan has had little success in creating an economically viable and politically independent Afghan state. The Washington Post’s Karen DeYoung writes: The report also warns that the Afghan economy could slide into a depression with the inevitable decline of the foreign military and development spending that now provides 97 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. [Emphasis added] U.S. leaders could look at that statistic and justify prolonging the mission. In fact, the report suggests, “Afghanistan could suffer a severe economic depression when foreign troops leave in 2014... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911450 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:10:41 +0100 4911450 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911451&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FD5RpmLJrNPA%2F By David RittgersDepartment of Education officers employed a SWAT team because of unpaid student loans. I am not making this up: Kenneth Wright does not have a criminal record and he had no reason to believe a S.W.A.T team would be breaking down his door at 6 a.m. on Tuesday… As it turned out, the person law enforcement was looking for was not there – Wright’s estranged wife. “They put me in handcuffs in that hot patrol car for six hours, traumatizing my kids,” Wright said. Wright said he later went to the mayor and Stockton Police Department, but the City of Stockton had nothing to do with Wright’s search warrant. The U.S. Department of Education issued the search and called in the S.W.A.T for his wife’s defaulted student loans. This, along with the J... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911451 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:48:13 +0100 4911451 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911458&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FQxVIGCRKwPA%2F By Walter OlsonLast week First Lady Michelle Obama and the U.S. Department of Agriculture unveiled “ChooseMyPlate.gov,” an updating of the federal government’s ongoing efforts to lecture us on how to eat. While the idea of nutrition recommendations from Washington, D.C. isn’t itself new, the past couple of years have seen a lurch toward a more coercive approach, especially under the Obama administration, under pressure from a burgeoning “food policy” movement, as I explain in a new Daily Caller op-ed: All sorts of nannyish and coercive ideas are emerging from that [movement] nowadays: proposals at the FDA to limit salt content in processed foods; mandatory calorie labeling, which poses a significant burden on many smaller food vendors and restaurants; ne... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911458 Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:50:54 +0100 4911458 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911572&cid=t_115778_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F06%2F07%2Fhow-our-intuitions-deceive-us-an-interview-with-daniel-simons%2F In 2004 Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris received the Ig Nobel Prize in Psychology, awarded for “achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think,” for the experiment that was the inspiration for their popular book, The Invisible Gorilla, and website. Daniel Simons is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois. His research focuses on the limits of human perception, memory, and awareness, and he is best known for his research showing that people are far less aware of their visual surroundings than they think. We recently sat down with Simons to talk about his current work. In celebration of the June 7th release of the paperback edition of The Invisible Gorilla you guys are starting a charity campaign. Ple... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911572 Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:16:55 +0100 4911572 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893405&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBGwwH_nACTM%2F By Ilya ShapiroPeople in the D.C. area maye be familiar with the tragic tale of Fairfax teacher Sean Lanigan, who was falsely accused of sexual molestation, resulting in termination and a destroyed reputation.  As pointed out by friend of Cato and Cato Supreme Court Review contributor Hans Bader, however, the Department of Education is pushing a policy that would allow for more Sean Lanigans, even in cases not involving anything close to rape or molestation: If the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has its way, more teachers like him will end up being fired even if they are acquitted by a jury of any wrongdoing.  It sent a letter to school officials on April 4 ordering them to lower the burden of proof they use when determining whether students or staff are guilt... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893405 Thu, 02 Jun 2011 19:22:05 +0100 4893405 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4883556&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4gQD5uysK4k%2F By Tad DeHavenLast week, a motion to proceed on a budget resolution introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was decisively defeated in the Senate (7 in favor, 90 opposed). Paul’s proposal would have balanced the budget in five years (fiscal year 2016) through spending cuts and no tax increases. Social Security and Medicare would not have been altered. Instead, the proposal merely instructed relevant congressional committees to enact reforms that would achieve “solvency” over a 75-year window. That’s hardly radical. Paul’s proposed spending cuts were certainly bold by Washington’s standards, but they weren’t radical either. For example, military spending would have been cut, in part, by reducing the government’s bootprint abroad. From the Paul proposal: The ability to ut... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4883556 Tue, 31 May 2011 19:14:12 +0100 4883556 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872058&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FgzN-yzO2kgM%2F By Walter OlsonFifty-three elementary schools in the District of Columbia take part in the federal government’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, a recently ramped-up federal initiative that dishes out millions to local schools to get them to use raw produce as snacks. According to the Washington Examiner, it was by inadvertence that students at Turner Elementary School were given raw green onions (scallions) as a snack the other day when they were supposed to be given zucchini slices instead. Children were observed making “yuck” faces before throwing the offerings in the trash or, in some cases, resourcefully tucking them into their bags to take home for their parents to cook. Are we sure this is the best way to keep students from sneaking Doritos into the building? On ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872058 Fri, 27 May 2011 19:54:51 +0100 4872058 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4841440&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtYpomVeivos%2F By Tad DeHavenA year-long investigation by the Washington Post into the Department of Housing & Urban Development’s HOME affordable housing program uncovered systemic waste, fraud, and abuse. The tale is yet another example of why the federal government should extricate itself from housing policy and allow the states to chart their own course. The piece is lengthy and should be read by interested readers in its entirety, so I’ll just excerpt the Post’s findings: Local housing agencies have doled out millions to troubled developers, including novice builders, fledgling nonprofits and groups accused of fraud or delivering shoddy work. Checks were cut even when projects were still on the drawing boards, without land, financing or permits to move forward. In at least 55 cases, dev... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841440 Tue, 17 May 2011 18:07:26 +0100 4841440 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4820958&cid=t_115778_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2F2-green-energy-building-techniques-healthcare-facilities Health facilities consume about two and one-half times the power of a standard commercial facility. They are massive consumers of energy and utilities due to a multitude of contributing factors including:  lengthy hours of operations, constant volume environmentally filtered air management, complex waste control systems, and extraordinary primary and secondary power equipment. Healthcare facilities are easily identifiable as a case study for green technology programs and the applications can be overwhelming. No sticky read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4820958 Fri, 13 May 2011 19:33:10 +0100 4820958 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4820843&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FiNiaIFEqVdE%2F National Women’s Health Week is a weeklong health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health. It brings together communities, businesses, government, health organizations, and other groups in an effort to promote women’s health. The theme for 2011 is “It’s Your Time.” National Women’s Health Week empowers women to make their health a top priority. It also encourages them to take steps to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases. Those steps include: Getting at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both, each week Eating a nutritious diet Visiting a h... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4820843 Fri, 13 May 2011 13:20:01 +0100 4820843 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4813242&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FN1KhQQSxd_Q%2F By Tad DeHavenFlorida Governor Rick Scott deserves a big round of applause for dealing a major setback to the Obama administration’s costly plan for a national system of high-speed rail. As Randal O’Toole explains, the administration needed Florida to keep the $2.4 billion it was awarded to build a high-speed Orlando-to-Tampa line in order to build “momentum” for its plan. Instead, Scott put the interests of his taxpayers first and told the administration “no thanks.” That’s the good news. The bad news is that the administration is going to dole the money back out to 22 passenger-rail projects in other states. Florida taxpayers were spared their state’s share of maintaining the line, but they’re still going to be forced to help foot the bill for passenger-rail projects in... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4813242 Wed, 11 May 2011 20:21:43 +0100 4813242 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4813360&cid=t_115778_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F05%2F11%2Fva-mental-health-care-is-so-bad-its-unconstitutional%2F So says a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, after reviewing the evidence about the ability of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to offer an appropriately level of mental health care and treatment to returning soldiers. In this way, the costs of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been grossly underestimated, because they don’t take into account the increased needs and costs of the vets’ ongoing and increasing mental health care. The longer we’re at war, the worse it’s going to get. According to the article on TIME.com about the recent ruling, not only do some vets have to wait weeks to get in to see a mental health professional at many VA medical centers, but there’s often no significant triaging ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4813360 Wed, 11 May 2011 15:30:28 +0100 4813360 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4813208&cid=t_115778_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2F10%2F2011-tennessee-womens-health-report-card-highlights%2F Today marked the release of the 2011 Tennessee Women’s Health Report Card, a publication which provides a snapshot of the health status of women in our state, and the disparities they experience. It’s a handy resource for anyone interested in making a case – or understanding the need – for improved health services and community programs, and includes statistics that clearly illustrate some of the challenges we face. Among them: 18.4% of us – or almost 1 in 5 – smoked while we were pregnant. The rate is highest (21.4%) among white women, and lower among African American (10.3%) and Hispanic (2.4%) women. African American women experience tremendous disparities in their infant mortality rate, with 16 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 6 for... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4813208 Wed, 11 May 2011 00:48:20 +0100 4813208 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4813262&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5w7FGpVVr_Y%2F By Jim HarperThis morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law had a hearing entitled: “Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smartphones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your Privacy.” Among the witnesses was Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein from the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. Weinstein made a gallingly Orwellian pitch: If you want privacy protection, increase government surveillance. From his written statement: ISPs may choose not to store IP records, may adopt a network architecture that frustrates their ability to track IP assignments and network transactions back to a specific account or device, or may store records for only a very short period of time. In many cases, these records are the only e... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4813262 Tue, 10 May 2011 17:22:27 +0100 4813262 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4813263&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fv8cVoY_dGYM%2F By Randal O'TooleTo sell his high-speed rail program, President Obama desperately needed a success story—a high-speed train operating during his administration that would awe the public and lead to a national demand for more such lines. That success story was going to be Florida’s Orlando-to-Tampa line, the only true high-speed route (as opposed to speeding up existing trains by 3 to 5 mph) that could have been completed during Obama’s term in office (assuming he is re-elected). Anticipating that success, the administration drafted a proposal to use federal gasoline taxes and a “new energy tax” to fund $53 billion for more high-speed rail lines over the next six years. (The proposal also included $250 billion for highways, $120 billion for urban transit, $27 billi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4813263 Tue, 10 May 2011 17:10:46 +0100 4813263 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4789222&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F_8xJ2WgGK-k%2F By Neal McCluskeyYesterday, the U.S. Department of Education sent proposed — and  highly controversial — “gainful employment” regulations to the Office of Management and Budget for review, the first step in the process of officially publishing them. The regulations — assuming they haven’t changed drastically from previous proposed versions — would limit the ability of students in vocational postsecondary programs to access federal financial aid if those programs produce debt burdens the regs deem too high, or salaries they deem too low. The exact details on what constitutes ”too high” and “too low” should be revealed soon. The big problem with this is that it is aimed at easily abused for-profit schools while leavi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4789222 Wed, 04 May 2011 16:03:47 +0100 4789222 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4775373&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FIn343nt1Z4k%2F By George Scoville Habeas corpus applies to anyone, citizen or not, in custody under American law, no matter what President Bush and President Obama decree. House Republicans’ cuts to the Department of Education, which will spend over $70 billion next year, didn’t even amount to $1 billion. “Regardless of whether Pakistan gets its way, its impudence in pushing Afghanistan to abandon America exposes the real balance of power in the region.” “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to refer to a government whose intelligence service assists military efforts by al Qaeda and the Taliban against U.S. troops in Afghanistan as an ‘ally.’” Here are five ways to cut military spending today without changing our strategic focus: Monday Links is a post f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4775373 Mon, 02 May 2011 14:29:08 +0100 4775373 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4775396&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fjudging-illness-severity-and-the-financial-implications-of-dialing-911%2F2011.05.01 Nora misjudged the height of the stair outside the restaurant, stepped down too hard, jammed her knee and tore her meniscus.  Not that we knew this at the time.  All we knew then was that she was howling from the pain. There we were on a dark, empty, wet street in lower Manhattan, not a cab in sight, with a wailing, immobile woman.  What to do?  Call 911? Find a cab to take her home and contact her primary care doctor for advice?  Take her home, put ice on her knee, feed her Advil and call her doctor in the morning? Sometimes it is clear that the only response to a health crisis is to call 911 and head for the emergency department (ED).  But in this case – and in so many others we encounter with our kids, our parents, our co-workers and on the street – the course of action is les... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4775396 Sun, 01 May 2011 16:00:04 +0100 4775396 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4762747&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4D2pubWPm0Q%2F By Justin LoganToday in Politico I have an op-ed titled “How Washington changed Obama.” In the piece, I argue that the recent appointments of Leon Panetta as secretary of defense and Gen. David Petraeus as director of the CIA, combined with revelations in the recent New Yorker article by Ryan Lizza, suggest that President Obama has given up on changing U.S. foreign and defense policy: Panetta is a dubious choice to fulfill Obama’s recent pledge to trim military spending. Any secretary charged with realizing that pledge would need extraordinary credibility with Capitol Hill Republicans, many of whom are determined to continue raining money on the Pentagon regardless of the nation’s parlous fiscal position. Despite having once been a Republican, Panetta ran for Congress as Democr... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4762747 Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:04:31 +0100 4762747 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4758733&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPDJoX94MhVE%2F By David RittgersThe Obama administration’s record on open government isn’t so hot, but the State Department expects the utmost in transparency from anyone applying for a passport. Here are the details on a proposed passport application: The proposed new  Form DS-5513 asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any “religious ceremony” around the time of birth; and a variety of other information.  According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.” This document is only intended for those who do not hav... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4758733 Wed, 27 Apr 2011 20:51:26 +0100 4758733 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4758739&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FUzDsC43VEhQ%2F By Christopher PrebleThe report that Leon Panetta will be appointed Secretary of Defense, and Gen. David Petraeus will become the new CIA director, does not come as a huge surprise. But I worry that President Obama’s decision to fill these positions from within his administration signals an unwillingness to rethink U.S. foreign policy. Such a reevaluation is desperately needed. Leon Panetta brings some experience in national security affairs to DoD, including his stints at CIA and on Capitol Hill, and as a member of the Iraq Study Group. His more relevant experience, however, may be as Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton administration. Bob Gates effectively shielded the Pentagon from spending cuts, but that merely postponed the reckoning that Panetta ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4758739 Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:04:46 +0100 4758739 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4753663&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FpXmPkYP_95k%2F By Neal McCluskeyAs promised (actually, a week later than promised) I have read the Fordham Institute “Briefing Book” for reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act. As expected, it’s big on trumpeting national standards, and squishy on almost everything else. Perhaps most aggravating, though, is how loose it is in characterizing the views of those of us at the Cato Institute, who apparently are part of the big group of education analysts who love the idea of Washington lavishing money on education but are, presumably, too blinkered to want to get results for it:   The local controllers. These folks, led by conservative and libertarian think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute, want Uncle Sam, for the most part, to butt out of education polic... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4753663 Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:19:33 +0100 4753663 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4734108&cid=t_115778_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeinthefastlane%2FWZHV%2F%7E3%2FGw3SydNx1Wc%2F Own the wound is a collection of videos on wound care created by Michelle Lin the guru behind Academic Life in Emergency Medicine. (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4734108 Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:00:34 +0100 4734108 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4719885&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjFmU0d2pZjw%2F By Christopher PrebleA little over a year ago, I posted two different graphs (with the help of my colleague Charles Zakaib) that showed the growth of U.S. national security spending vs. that of other NATO allies over the last ten years. The data, based on the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ annual Military Balance, showed that U.S. taxpayers spend far more on our military, both as a share of total economic output, and on a per capita basis, than do any of our allies. New data, for 2009, was made available in IISS’s Military Balance 2011, and the revised graphs are shown below. (Again, thanks to Charles for his help). As I suspected, the gap remains as wide as ever. In a few cases, it has grown wider. As you can see, the $2,101 that every American man, woman, and child ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4719885 Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:37:31 +0100 4719885 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4684755&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fd10VVkKY8lg%2F In yet another twist in the ongoing battle over sales reps and overtime pay, the US Department of Labor has filed an amicus curiae brief in support of two GlaxoSmithKline reps, who recently lost a case in which a federal appeals court ruled they are not eligible for overtime pay. The Labor Department, however, wants the entire appeals court to rehear the case if the appeals panel declines to do so. Two months ago, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reached its decision after determining that pharmaceutical sales reps are exempt from relevant provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and, therefore, should not be paid overtime (see this and this). That decision affirmed a lower court ruling issued in November 2009 (which you can read here) and, significantly, contradicted a Labo... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4684755 Thu, 07 Apr 2011 19:14:12 +0100 4684755 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4684478&cid=t_115778_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2F8o9rFUIBgWw%2F I’ve been starting to contribute a bit to InformationWeek. One of my first projects was interviewing five of the publication’s first-ever list of 25 leading healthcare CIOs. I wrote the profiles on Stephanie Reel of Johns Hopkins Health System, Lynn Vogel of MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Paul Tang of Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Bill Spooner of Sharp HealthCare and Craig Luigart of the Veterans Health Administration. The link above contains the full text, or you can download an abbreviated “print” edition in the form of the March InformationWeek Healthcare e-zine here. It’s not the first time I’ve written about CIOs for a national publication not specific to healthcare, but I’m pretty proud of reaching the pages of InformationWeek. Meanwhile, che... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4684478 Wed, 06 Apr 2011 04:46:38 +0100 4684478 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4653303&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FxVmzFqAFTaU%2F By Tad DeHavenLast year the House Republican leadership created the GOP’s “YouCut” website, which offers several possible spending cuts for citizens to vote on. The cut with the most votes goes to the House floor for an up-or-down vote. It’s a decent idea, but unfortunately, most of the cuts the GOP have offered thus far only amount to chump change. This week the House Republican leadership finally put the Pentagon on the YouCut chopping block. However, the possible cuts suggested by the GOP are pathetic: 1. Reduce the Department of Defense’s printing and reproduction budget by 10 percent ($36 million in savings in fiscal 2012). 2. Reduce spending for Defense studies, analysis and evaluations by 10 percent ($24 million in savings in fiscal 2012). 3. Restrict payout of annual nati... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4653303 Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:26:56 +0100 4653303 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4653307&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FkAWrw1TmOdo%2F By Andrew J. CoulsonLindsey Burke of the Heritage Foundation has a good post today dissecting Rep. Nancy Pelosi's recent press release on DC school vouchers. If anything, Burke goes a little easy on Rep. Pelosi, comparing the maximum value of the vouchers  ($7,500) with the published figure for DC public school spending ($17,600). As it happens, the public school spending figures published by the Department of Education (and the Bureau of the Census) are always badly out of date. That means they don't take into account the continuing trends of rising overall spending and falling enrollment in DC public schools (let alone inflation). When you break down the DC K-12 education budget for the 2008-2009 school year, as I did in this Excel spreadsheet, it comes out to just over $28,000 per pupi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4653307 Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:38:08 +0100 4653307 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4653313&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FfcHyBTaElD0%2F By Caleb O. BrownThe Weinberger-Powell Doctrine offers Congress and the President five key hurdles before military force should be employed. Chris Preble, in this new video, runs through the reasons why President Obama's Libya incursion fails the Weinberger-Powell test. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel, too. Five Rules for Going to War is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4653313 Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:38:11 +0100 4653313 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4642592&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-government-is-not-keeping-up-with-medical-guidelines%2F2011.03.28 In case people are wondering if our governmental overlords really care about the latest and greatest treatment guidelines published by our professional health care organizations, take note. CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) is still using guidelines for defibrillator implantation from 2005 to justify payment for services in their national coverage decision, whereas the latest guidelines published by the Heart Rhythm Society published in 2008 carry signficiant differences in their recommendations for appropriate patients for this technology. So which set of guidelines should doctors use? The answer is obvious: if you use the latest data to decide who should receive a defibrillator, you might be subject to a Department of Justice investigation. So much for using updated guideli... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4642592 Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:00:00 +0100 4642592 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4642588&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FeM2gzPgZi_c%2F Women experience differences in their health care services and outcomes. The fact sheet, Healthcare Quality and Disparities in Women: Selected Findings, summarizes key findings from the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports related to health care for women. Related posts:Update From Haiti: Despair Sets In And Women Consider Suicide The Society for Women’s Health Research: A Case Study of Advocacy for Women Disruptive Women on the Radio…with Real Women on Health (Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care) Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4642588 Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:42:36 +0100 4642588 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4642778&cid=t_115778_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FzMup-MmCrO0%2F We are honored to announce that Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier, US Department of Education’s Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education, will open 2011 SharpBrains Virtual Summit next Wednesday, March 30th, sharing Welcome Remarks with all participants. Brenda Dann-Messier was nominated by President Obama as assistant secretary for vocational and adult education on July 14, 2009. On Oct. 5, 2009 she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and began her official duties on Oct. 13, 2009. As the first assistant secretary for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) who is also an adult educator, Dann-Messier leads the Department’s efforts in adult education and career and technical education, as well as efforts supporting community colleges and correctional education. She o... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4642778 Sat, 26 Mar 2011 14:27:05 +0100 4642778 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4626835&cid=t_115778_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeinthefastlane%2FWZHV%2F%7E3%2FL1d65XzpRt4%2F Musings on the point of equipoise for investigating and discharging chest pain patients in light of a new paper in the Lancet describing a rapid rule-out protocol for acute coronary syndromes (the ASPECT trial). (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4626835 Wed, 23 Mar 2011 08:55:13 +0100 4626835 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4615103&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fdogs-hospitals-and-unintended-consequences%2F2011.03.19 Every day I go to the emergency room to admit my adults, I can hear the screaming babies and toddlers. Sometimes, the screams are actually from their parents after realizing  how much their visit is going to  cost.  But most of the time it’s really frightened kids in an unfamiliar environment. Happy’s hospital used to hand out hospital stickers so kids would associate emergency rooms with a fun place to hang out.  It turns out, after  intense behind the scenes discussions with administration, that this policy was a covert attempt to increase the volume of our pediatric emergency room volumes. After looking at the numbers, and understanding how hospitals get paid,I have now come on board and am part of a committee think tank that does nothing more than think of ways to get ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4615103 Sat, 19 Mar 2011 17:00:00 +0100 4615103 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4600522&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FP80T-EmXiK8%2F By Jim HarperAt least one report has it that a Commerce Department official will announce the Obama administration's support for "baseline privacy legislation" at a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing. You mean, like, the Fourth Amendment? If only it were so. The action is in the House Government Reform Committee, which is holding a hearing on the Transportation Security Administration's strip-search machines. What's the administration's "baseline privacy policy" on that? I've already written two posts in the last year (1, 2) titled "Physician, Heal Thyself"... Obama Administration to Take a Stand on Privacy, But it Ain’t Fixing the Strip-Search Machine Morass is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4600522 Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:30:27 +0100 4600522 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4592366&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2yhf1F4z5Qo%2F By Neal McCluskeyOver at Flypaper, Chester Finn suggests that people like me are either crazy or on the verge of it for fearing that the Shanker Institute's "common content" manifesto might very well be another step toward federal control of American education.   "Over in the more feverish corners of the blogosphere, and sometimes even in saner locales," he writes, "the Shanker Institute’s call for 'common content' curriculum to accompany the Common Core standards has triggered a panic attack." Now, I wouldn't say "panic attack." To panic is to "be overcome by a sudden fear," but I've been watching the move toward federal curriculum control for some time. Back in 2008 many of the groups behind the Common Core called for Washington to "incentivize" adoption of national standards. ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4592366 Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:33:41 +0100 4592366 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4570545&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fa-helpful-vitamin-chart%2F2011.03.10 Lately I’ve been worrying about Kevin’s refusal to eat broccoli, and wondering what exactly is so good about those green bunches of roughage. In browsing the Web for more detailed information on the matter, I found a helpful vitamin chart. This table comes from the HHS–sponsored National Women’s Health Information Center — a good spot to know of if you’re a woman looking online for reliable sources. It’s a bit simple for my taste. In the intro, we’re told there are 13 essential vitamins our bodies need. After some basics on Vitamin A — good for the eyes and skin, as you probably knew already — the chart picks up with a quick review of the essential B vitamins 1, 2 ,3 ,5 ,6 , 9 and 12 (my favorite), followed by a rundown on Vitamins C, D, E, H (that would be biotin) and ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4570545 Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:00:54 +0100 4570545 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4570525&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1RFFzv-zctM%2F By Jim HarperRep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) is the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. That's the subcommittee that makes spending decisions for the Department of Homeland Security and the programs within it, including the REAL ID Act. Earlier this month, a constituent of his from Fyffe, Alabama posted a question on Mr. Aderholt's Facebook page: Rep. Aderholt, I've seen reports that the "REAL ID ACT" will be implemented in May of this year, giving the govt the ability to track every person who has a drivers license via encoded GPS. Is this actually the case and if so, what is the House going to do to stop this Orwellian infringement of our Liberty. Also, HOW could this have happened in the first place! Mr. Aderholt has not replied. But Right Side News recen... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4570525 Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:03:28 +0100 4570525 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4570531&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBIcjiB8MLAc%2F By Tad DeHavenSpending at the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be an estimated inflation-adjusted 43 percent higher this year compared to just a decade ago. The following chart shows the dramatic rise in USDA spending from fiscal 1970 to the president’s projection for fiscal 2011: Most folks probably think of farm subsidies when they think of the USDA. However, farm programs only account for 19 percent of total USDA outlays. The vast majority of USDA spending, 69 percent, goes to food subsidies: food stamps, school breakfast and lunch programs, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). In fact, spending on food stamps alone this year will account for roughly half of total USDA spending. Why aren’t these programs housed at the Department ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4570531 Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:04:19 +0100 4570531 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4566340&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FGtQ9Mzf-Fi0%2F One of the more widely visited web sites for information on numerous drugs is PubMed Health, which caters to consumers and is run by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a division of the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. The site boasts that it provides up-to-date info on “diseases, conditions, injuries, drugs, supplements, treatment options, and healthy living,” along with a focus on comparative effectiveness (see this). Last week, however, the site blundered by continuing to provide info about how to use unapproved drugs that had never had undergone review by the FDA, which announced a new effort to have these meds withdrawn. Then, the site appeared to back date its revisions when the goof was brought to its attention (lo... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4566340 Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:08:12 +0100 4566340 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4560354&cid=t_115778_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F03%2F08%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-march-8-2011%2F My first year of grad school was one of the most relaxing years of my life. Sounds crazy right? But the reason for my surprising sense of peace and tranquility, despite the stress of moving to a new city and all the papers and presentations that come with getting your masters, was due to one simple word. Meditation. My first course in the semester was, “Stress Management 101.” My daily homework assignment consisted of an hour’s worth of meditation on my own time and than 3 hours of talking about and practicing mindfulness meditation in class at night. Basically, on top of sleeping better, I was spending a good part of my day focused on being relaxed. Boy do I miss those times. But then I wondered what the difference was between now and then? Why do I need a homework assig... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4560354 Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:46:36 +0100 4560354 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4552045&cid=t_115778_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F05%2Fa-series-of-personal-and-bloggy-updates%2F I just realized last night that I haven’t actually posted anything here since last Sunday’s round-up. In usual blogger style, I’m going to say how busy I’ve been. This week has been pretty packed at work, including work related to another women’s health topic comparative effectiveness review that might get done. I also found out that I get to go to the IHA health literacy conference this year, which I’m really excited about – but that of course took some unexpected time making arrangements and working with colleagues on a poster abstract. At home, I’m currently reading “The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex,” which I’m finding pretty compelling, and which talks about the ways in which d... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4552045 Sat, 05 Mar 2011 19:09:28 +0100 4552045 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4549737&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FVNcSGn3W7Js%2F By Neal McCluskeyBecause the evidence of wrongdoing and evasion is so clear, and the effect has been so damaging, I have devoted a lot of pixels to the GAO's horrendous "secret shopper" report on for-profit colleges, as well as the stonewalling about what caused the initial report to be so biased. A potentially even bigger story, though, is what appears to be the machinations of an unholy alliance of Department of Education officials, Senate HELP Committee chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Wall Street short-sellers hoping to make big bucks off the demise of for-profit schools. This Daily Caller article, and the connected video of Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), are good places to start learning more about this, as is the website of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4549737 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:06:27 +0100 4549737 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4544944&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FgWQnovK_N-E%2F By Jim HarperUntil now, Florida has not been one of the states to buck the federal government's national ID mandate, established in the REAL ID Act of 2005. A pair of grand jury reports in 2002 had moved the state to tighten its driver licensing processes prior to any federal action, so it was already doing many of the things that the Department of Homeland Security is now seeking to require of states in the name of REAL ID. Full compliance with REAL ID remains a distant hope, so DHS has set out a list of 18 "milestones," progress toward which it is treating as REAL ID compliance. Full compliance with REAL ID includes putting driver information into a network for nationwide information sharing---including scanned copies of basic identity documents. It includes giving all licensees and ID h... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4544944 Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:53:26 +0100 4544944 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4536046&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fn-jG7Yi8Qpk%2F By Jim HarperThe zeitgeist on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. may be for limited, constitutional government, but that doesn't mean that big-government conservatives aren't going to use the reprieve voters gave Republicans in the fall to once again advance big-government goals. On Monday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano encouraging her to fully implement our national ID law, the REAL ID Act of 2005. The deadline for state implementation of the national ID law lapsed nearly three years ago. Half the states in the country have affirmatively ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4536046 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 13:01:58 +0100 4536046 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4532571&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F3ON0OinTH9Q%2F In what is being hailed as a victory for sales reps, the US Supreme Court has decided not to review lawsuits in which a lower court decided that Novartis and Schering-Plough should have paid overtime to its sales teams. The move means that still other lawsuits filed against several other drugmakers are likely to yield the same outcome, possibly prompting changes in the way sales reps are compensated (see the court denials here and here). Here’s the background: a federal appeals court last July ruled Novartis reps are not exempt from overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and, therefore, should be paid overtime. The same court also upheld a similar decision reached two years ago against Schering-Plough by a federal court, which denied a motion to dismiss a case brought ag... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4532571 Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:17:56 +0100 4532571 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4525032&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fnot-enough-psychiatric-beds%2F2011.02.26 I read today that Eastern Ontario has started a bed registry to keep track of where open psychiatric beds are available. This is something I’ve long advocated. The United States now has less than 10 percent of the beds it used to have 50 years ago. Granted, treatment has improved and community resources are enhanced. But there are still areas that often do not have a sufficient number of hospital beds for folks needing acute inpatient psychiatric care. The Ontario story described in the Ottawa Citizen states that six of the area hospitals have been connected to a computerized “bed board” that provides real-time information on who has an appropriate bed available. This saves time in the ER and gets patients to needed treatment more quickly. Otherwise calls need to be made... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4525032 Sat, 26 Feb 2011 19:00:00 +0100 4525032 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4512378&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FhMJkfU3uRBc%2F By Jim HarperA fascinating enforcement action under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) shows what really matters in the world of privacy regulation. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has imposed a $4.3 million civil penalty against Maryland-based Cignet Health for violations of its regulations. HHS's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found that Cignet violated 41 patients’ HIPAA rights by denying them access to their medical records, which they requested between September 2008 and October 2009. The penalty for these violations is $1.3 million. But Cigna's real crime was willful disobedience of the government. Who knows why, but according to the government: During the investigations, Cignet refused to respond to OCR’s demands to produce the record... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4512378 Thu, 24 Feb 2011 01:22:02 +0100 4512378 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4489687&cid=t_115778_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D4117 Jump to follow-up The long-awaited government decision concerning statutory regulation of herbalists, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and acupuncture came out today. Get the Department of Health (DH) report [pdf] It is not good news. They have opted for statutory regulation by the Health Professions Council (HPC). This is much what was recommended by the disgraceful Pittilo report, about which I wrote a commentary in the Times, and here, A very bad report: gamma minus for the vice-chancellor, and here. The DH report is merely an analysis of responses to the consultation, but the MHRA says "The Health Professions Council (HPC) has now been asked to establish a statutory register for practitioners supplying unlicensed herbal medicines. The proposal is, following cre... DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4489687 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:04:09 +0100 4489687 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4477760&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fin-the-er-with-abdominal-pain-lower-your-diagnosis-expectations%2F2011.02.15 Abdominal pain is the bane of many emergency physicians. Recently, I wrote how CT scans are on the rise in the ER. Much of those scans look for potential causes of abdominal pain. In an essay from Time, Dr. Zachary Meisel discusses why abdominal pain, in his words, is the doctor’s “booby prize.” And when you consider that there are 7 million visits annually by people who report abdominal pain, that’s a lot of proverbial prizes. One reason is the myriad of causes that lead bring a patient to the hospital clutching his abdomen. It can range from something as relatively benign as viral gastroenteritis where a patient be safely discharged home, to any number of “acute” abdominal problems necessitating surgery. But more importantly, we need to consider how limited doctors actually a... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4477760 Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:00:19 +0100 4477760 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4478154&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FsV05nxGEdwk%2F In the latest twist in the ongoing battle over sales reps and overtime pay, a federal appeals court yesterday ruled that two Glaxo reps are exempt from relevant provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and, therefore, should not be paid overtime. The decision affirms a lower court ruling issued in November 2009 (which you can read here) and, significantly, contradicts a US Labor Department brief filed in this and other cases supporting overtime pay for sales reps (read the brief here). The latest decision suggests, once again, that the issue could eventually reach the US Supreme Court, since courts across the country have been so divided. Last summer, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that Novartis reps are entitled to overtime (back story). Here is a primer: The FLSA�... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4478154 Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:22:14 +0100 4478154 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4477699&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTiVWVOvmBW8%2F By Christopher PreblePresident Obama might want it to appear as though he is reining in defense spending with his budget submission for FY 2012, but his approach to the Pentagon’s budget reveals the opposite. Perhaps the president hopes that his adoption of the faux cuts that Secretary Gates put on the table last month will be seen as responsible. Perhaps he is taking a prudent first step and signaling to the military, and its suppliers and contractors, that the days of double-digit increases are over. That may be; but far deeper cuts are warranted. . If the president had truly wanted to send a signal, he would have followed the advice of his own deficit reduction commission and endorsed far deeper cuts in military spending. The Department of Defense will spend $78 billion less over the ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4477699 Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:48:26 +0100 4477699 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4464482&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FM4wg3M3p8Us%2F By Jim HarperThere is one thing you can take to the bank from TSA administrator John Pistole's statement that he wants to shift to "risk-based" screening at airports: it hasn't been risk-based up to now. That's a welcome concession because, as I've said before, the DHS and its officials routinely mouth risk terminology, but rarely subject themselves to the rigor of actual risk analysis. What Administrator Pistole envisions is nothing new. It's the idea of checking the backgrounds of air travelers more deeply, attempting to determine which of them present less of a threat and which prevent more. That opens security holes that the risk-averse TSA is unlikely to actually tolerate, and it has significant privacy and Due Process consequences, including migration toward a national ID syst... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4464482 Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:58:14 +0100 4464482 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4455252&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F8cho0RTmMwM%2F By David Boaz"Google is under siege in Washington like never before," Politico reports. In an interview with POLITICO, a Google spokesman argued that a cabal of antitrust lawyers, lobbyists and public relations firms is conspiring against the Internet search giant. The mastermind? Google says it’s Microsoft. Maybe it’s irony, or maybe it’s payback. In the 1990s, Microsoft was the tech industry wunderkind that got too big for its britches — and Google CEO Eric Schmidt, then an executive at Sun Microsystems and later Novell, helped knock the software titan down a peg by providing evidence in the government’s antitrust case against it. . . . But there are also increasing calls from some Silicon Valley competitors and Washington-based public interest groups for the Justice Departm... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4455252 Wed, 09 Feb 2011 19:57:00 +0100 4455252 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4438886&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fis-the-er-really-the-best-place-to-get-primary-care-quicker%2F2011.02.05 In 1986, when Congress passed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), hospitals and ambulance services were mandated by law to stabilize anyone needing emergency healthcare services regardless of citizenship, legal status, and/or insurance status. This was instituted at the time to prevent the prevalent practice of “dumping” — refusing to treat patients because of insufficient insurance or transferring or discharging patients on the basis of anticipating high diagnosis and treatment costs. While the implications of this law are indeed very noble in providing undifferentiated care to all patients based solely on healthcare needs and not financial status, it has unfortunately led to many patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) for primary care is... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4438886 Sat, 05 Feb 2011 17:00:34 +0100 4438886 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4436731&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FeMS0QKy7dL0%2F By David BoazThe U.S. ambassador to Iraq expects to have 17,000 people on his staff after the United States "withdraws" from Iraq at the end of the year, he told the Senate this week. This is astounding. A typical American embassy in a small country might have 100 employees, in a big country such as Great Britain or Russia maybe a few hundred. A staff of 17,000 (including contractors) is not an embassy, it's an occupation force. Or at least a viceroy's staff. Here's the Washington Post report: The top U.S. diplomat in Iraq on Tuesday defended the size and cost of the State Department's operations in that country, telling lawmakers that a significant diplomatic footprint will be necessary after the withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of this year. James F. Jeffrey, the U.S. ambassador in... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4436731 Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:10:51 +0100 4436731 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4436734&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1wHKFKpvb7E%2F By Sallie JamesJames Sherk of the Heritage Foundation has an excellent report out today on Trade Adjustment Assistance, and why Congress should allow the program to expire. Without action, it is set to do so on February 12 [$]. Trade Adjustment Assistance is a collection of programs that have been with us since the mid-1970s. The programs provide taxpayer-funded benefits to workers (and firms, and farmers, and entire "communities") who are harmed -- e.g., by losing their job -- from import competition. The main program is the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers program, administered by the Department of Labor and the subject of a paper I wrote in 2007.  It pains me to say that my 2007 call for its abolishment was instead followed in 2009 by an expansion of the program as part of ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4436734 Fri, 04 Feb 2011 17:04:54 +0100 4436734 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4436941&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FpgW5SMkd_Ws%2F The US Department of Justice has decided to intervene - or join - a whistleblower lawsuit that was filed in late 2008 by three former Abbott Laboratories sales reps, who accused the drugmaker of concocting an illegal scheme to promote its Depakote seizure med. The charges include paying kickbacks to docs to boost prescriptions and, subsequently, defrauding Medicare and Medicaid. The fact that the feds are interested is not a surprise. In late 2009, Abbott disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filed that the Justice Department ws investigating Abbott’s sales and marketing activities of the pill, which is used to treat bipolar disorder, seizures and migraines. The probe centers on possible violations of the Federal False Claims Act, the Food and Drug Cosmetic Act and the Anti-K... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4436941 Fri, 04 Feb 2011 13:35:45 +0100 4436941 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4424237&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Ffire-department-app-theres-a-hero-in-all-of-us%2F2011.02.01 Just admit it: Deep in your heart you’ve always wanted to be an emergency medical technician, if at least for a few moments. If you’re located in San Ramon Valley, California, you can now live that dream: The local fire department has released an iPhone app that will alert you of any emergency activity in the area. The well thought-out application will send out a push notification to users who have indicated that they are proficient in CPR whenever there is a cardiac emergency nearby. In addition, the closest public-access automated external defibrillator (AED) is located by the app. Current response status of dispatched units are shown and incident locations are pinpointed on an interactive map. There’s even a log of recent incidents including a photo gallery. For the ol... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4424237 Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:00:12 +0100 4424237 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4411503&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FDjnAj2SgJBM%2F By Jim HarperBen Friedman helpfully supplies more information to go with my positive reaction to the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to scrap color-coded threat warnings. Our colloquy leaves somewhat open what should replace color-coding. Because most threat warnings are false alarms, and because exhortations to vigilance will tend toward the vagueness of the color-coding system, Ben hopes “DHS winds up being tighter-lipped.” His points are good ones, but they don’t dissuade me from my belief that DHS should “begin informing the public fully about threats and risks known to the U.S. government.” The right answer here centers on who is better at digesting threat information—experts in the national security bureaucracy or the public? The... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4411503 Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:33:18 +0100 4411503 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4411508&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEUt-MMRartk%2F By Benjamin H. FriedmanJim Harper noted yesterday that the Department of Homeland Security (after lengthy review) has decided to scrap its color-coded alert system. The change is long overdue–the alerts implied, absurdly, that danger was equally distributed across the nation. The fact that the Department never used the blue and green threat levels (general and low risk), which most accurately describe the true danger most Americans face from terrorism, showed the systems’ inherent threat inflation. Eventually, everyone started ignoring the threat level, officials stopped changing it, and system became a charade. Jim argues that, in place of the colors, the Department should inform “the public fully about threats and risks known to the U.S. government,” treating us l... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4411508 Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:40:09 +0100 4411508 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4411723&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FCJkmCAQ7CCQ%2F Earlier this week, the US Department of Health & Human Services trumpted its track record in recovering $4 billion from investigations of healthcare fraud, some of which was made possible thanks to qui tam, or whistleblower lawsuits alleging violations of the False Claims Act (you can read the report here). Many drugmakers were targets and paid big fines, (back story) and the implication offered was that more such settlements are in the offing. But how many investigations are actually under way? The answer came just a couple of days later courtesy of US Senator Chuck Grassley, who referenced some data the HHS provided him in a Jan. 24 letter that was written in response to a request he made last month for a breakdown of the fraud probes. And so we now learn that, as of Jan. 4, there w... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4411723 Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:20:11 +0100 4411723 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4405759&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FmlQKtk-G6w4%2F By Jim HarperThe Department of Homeland Security is scrapping the color-coded terror alert system. The color-code system meant to serve as a way of keeping the public informed, but because it signaled some ambiguous sense of “threat” without providing a scintilla of information the public could use, it merely kept Americans ignorant and addled. Scrapping the color-coded threat system is only the beginning. The next step is to begin informing the public fully about threats and risks known to the U.S. government. We’re adults. We can handle it. In fact, we can help. And Good Riddance… is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4405759 Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:13:11 +0100 4405759 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4394748&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FpXbefPvyX2U%2F As drugmakers look to do more business in more foreign markets, corruption is always an issue, yes? That’s particularly true now that the US Justice Department - along with the US Securities and Exchange Commission - is paying closer attention to interactions between the pharmaceutical industry and foreign governments. Over the past year, several big drugmakers have received letters as the federal government seeks to uncover any violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which forbids US companies from bribing foreign government officials. One aspect of the probe reportedly involves exploring whether drugmakers and clinical trial organizations pay off third-party investigators to finesse research data. A report by the HHS Office of Inspector General noted that eight percent of... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4394748 Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:01:22 +0100 4394748 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4352711&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhealthcare-cybersecurity-an-internet-id-for-all-americans%2F2011.01.15 From CBS News: President Obama is planning to hand the U.S. Commerce Department authority over a forthcoming cybersecurity effort to create an Internet ID for Americans, a White House official said here today. It’s “the absolute perfect spot in the U.S. government” to centralize efforts toward creating an “identity ecosystem” for the Internet, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said. That news, first reported by CNET, effectively pushes the department to the forefront of the issue, beating out other potential candidates including the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. The move also is likely to please privacy and civil liberties groups that have raised concerns in the past over the dual roles of police and intel... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4352711 Sat, 15 Jan 2011 21:00:00 +0100 4352711 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4349498&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGak7QmeY6kU%2F By Tad DeHavenIn a recent post on earmarks and federal grants, I cited the crazy example of HUD’s Community Development Block Grant program funding facade renovations for a wine bar in Connecticut. Now a Michigan newspaper reports that Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo is looking for $220,000 in CDBG money to expand its facilities. I consider Bell’s to be one of the finest breweries in the United States. Bell’s desire to expand its production facilities reflects its success in getting people to part with their money voluntarily in exchange for their products. Now federal taxpayers, whether they like Bell’s or beer, could effectively be forced to give their money to Bell’s. There are over 1,500 craft breweries in the United States. Those breweries must pay federal taxes, so if Bell&#... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4349498 Fri, 14 Jan 2011 17:22:26 +0100 4349498 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4343111&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTr91zD-Y0eU%2F By Neal McCluskeyWith the release of a new report analyzing a quietly amended Government Accountability Office study that’s been used to club for-profit colleges, fear of GAO bias has reached a fever pitch. Sadly, the GAO’s response to the report does anything but assuage that fear. To get a decent sense for the government abuse both surrounding, and possibly perpetrated by, the GAO study in question, it’s worth a quick rehash of events. Basically, the study was requested by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee who has been waging war against for-profit colleges on the suspicion that the sector is rife with fraud, waste, and abuse. To get data to support his suspicion, Harkin asked the GAO to con... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4343111 Thu, 13 Jan 2011 20:22:51 +0100 4343111 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4338068&cid=t_115778_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fhit-task-force-guidance-health-it In September 2010, Vivek Kundra, the Federal Chief Information Officer, and I issued guidance articulating five key health IT policy and technology principles for Federal health IT projects. read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4338068 Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:52:45 +0100 4338068 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4331239&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F25BnSsPy6VY%2F Next week, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments about a highly contentious issue in which hospitals and clinics want the right to file lawsuits against drugmakers, which they believe have overcharged by not offering discounts or reimbursements as part of what is known as the 340B program. This provides access to discounted prescription meds to healthcare entities certified by the US Department of Health and Human Services. However, the White House recently filed an amicus brief siding with the pharmaceutical industry over concerns that its administration will get mired in an unending number of lawsuits, even though this position is at odds with the notion that the 340B program is designed to ensure underprivileged patients get access to needed meds (read the brief here). “You can par... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4331239 Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:50:36 +0100 4331239 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4314008&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fliposuction-related-death-and-finding-a-safe-doctor%2F2011.01.05 From the Chicago Tribune: A 35-year-old woman who wanted to resculpt herself for the new year with liposuction and a buttocks enhancement is dead from apparent complications of plastic surgery, her husband and lawyer said Thursday. Miami customer service representative Lidvian Zelaya died Monday, hours after the operation began at Strax Rejuvenation and Aesthetics Institute, a busy cosmetic surgery practice in Lauderhill. Zelaya went to Strax to have fat suctioned from her back and belly, and to have the material injected into her backside, family representatives said. She chose Strax because she got a good deal. Aronfeld said the operation was to be done by Dr. Roger L. Gordon. He was disciplined by the state in connection with two plastic surgery deaths in 2004. This is getting ridiculou... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4314008 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:00:26 +0100 4314008 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4309590&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FVw459i6YkKc%2F By Daniel IkensonA Wall Street Journal editorial today shines a long overdue spotlight on an antidumping case that is emblematic of the dissonance within U.S. trade policy. I, too, wrote about this case last year as an example of how the U.S. antidumping regime undermines U.S. manufacturing, penalizes U.S. exporters, and diminishes chances for achieving the administration’s goal of doubling exports in five years. In 2005, U.S. Magnesium Corporation, the sole producer of magnesium in the United States, succeeded in convincing the U.S. International Trade Commission and U.S. Commerce Department to impose duties on imports of magnesium from competitors in Russia and China. Before toasting this outcome with some clichéd or specious utterance about how the antidumping law ensures fair trade ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4309590 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:07:50 +0100 4309590 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4304878&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhen-cancer-hits-a-doctors-home%2F2011.01.02 This year has been a weird one for me and cancer. In the ER, we see cancer patients pretty infrequently. The occasional chemotherapy with fever, but that’s about it. I think the oncologists try hard to keep the patients out of the ER — to everybody’s benefit. But this year, I’ve had a weird rash of cases where I’ve made primary diagnoses of cancer in the ER — several times over and over and over again. In ten years I don’t think I’ve made as many cancer diagnoses as I have this year alone. Just very strange. Unfortunately, it came home to roost. My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer last week. (more…) *This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4304878 Sun, 02 Jan 2011 22:00:00 +0100 4304878 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4302855&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FzFXqdnT90Jw%2F By Jim HarperThe holiday travel season this year revealed some of the real defects in the Transportation Security Administration’s new policy of subjecting select travelers to the “option” of going through airport strip-search machines or being subjected to an intrusive pat-down more akin to a groping. Anecdotes continue to come forth, including the recent story of a rape victim who was arrested at an airport in Austin, TX after refusing to let a TSA agent feel her breasts. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security is working on the “next big thing”: body-scanning everywhere. This “privacy impact assessment” from DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate details a plan to use millimeter wave—a technology in strip-search machines&#... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4302855 Sat, 01 Jan 2011 13:01:54 +0100 4302855 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4294628&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fstick-to-one-er-avoid-unnecessary-tests%2F2010.12.28 Via Kaiser Health News: On a recent Friday night at the Boston Children’s Hospital ER, Dr. Fabienne Bourgeois was having difficulty treating a 17-year-old boy with a heart problem. The teen had transferred in  from another hospital, where he had already had an initial work-up — including a chest X-ray and an EKG to check the heart’s electrical activity. But by the time he reached pediatrician Bourgeois, she had no access to those records so she gave him another EKG and chest X-ray. He was on multiple medications, and gave her a list of them. But his list differed from the one his mother gave doctors, neither of which matched the list his previous hospital had sent along. This is excellent advice. Every ED has seen a patient, probably today, with “they saw me at the ER across t... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4294628 Tue, 28 Dec 2010 18:00:10 +0100 4294628 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4285202&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fchinese-bloodletting-forbidden-in-california%2F2010.12.23 In November 2010, the California Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) finally decided to act responsibly and forbid the prevalent practice of Chinese bloodletting by licensed acupuncturists. The practice became a concern for the DCA when allegations of unsanitary bloodletting at a California (CA) acupuncture school surfaced. The incident allegedly occurred during a “doctoral” course for licensed practitioners. The instructor was reportedly demonstrating advanced needling and bloodletting techniques. During the process, he took an arrow-like lancing instrument that is called a “three-edged needle” (三棱针), sharpened it with sandpaper, cleaned it with alcohol, and then asked a student-volunteer to roll a towel around his neck. The instructor then cleaned the student’s temporal ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4285202 Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:00:17 +0100 4285202 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4275312&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fe8bzmoXl4WI%2F By Chris EdwardsThe media is reporting on a new study that finds long-term benefits to kids of breastfeeding. Yet if health experts agree on the advantages of breastfeeding, why does the federal government subsidize mothers to use formula through the $7 billion Women, Infants, and Children program? The WIC program is run by the Department of Agriculture, which summarized the subsidies as follows (page 1): …infants participating in WIC consume about 54 percent of all formula sold in the United States. In most states, WIC participants use food vouchers or food checks to purchase their infant formula, free of charge, at participating retail grocery stores. It’s true that in addition to handing out free formula, WIC administrators counsel women on the advantages of breastfe... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4275312 Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:27:50 +0100 4275312 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4265686&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fk2hjXnwNZEM%2F By Andrew J. CoulsonThe Brookings Institution released a new study today on charter schooling—assessing how well it’s working and what the federal government should do about it. One of the recommendations reads as follows: Student participation in lotteries for admissions to any public [charter] school and the results of such lotteries should be a required student data element in state or district longitudinal data systems supported with federal funds. Why? Because it would make it a lot easier to measure relative school quality, by permitting more widespread use of randomized, control group experiments. Experiments are certainly great from a researcher’s standpoint, but mandating that schools must admit students on a random basis has a catch: an observer effect as subtl... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4265686 Thu, 16 Dec 2010 19:15:37 +0100 4265686 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4249043&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FgwG4wkc_VpU%2F By Daniel GriswoldThis morning’s report from the U.S. Department of Commerce that the pesky trade deficit shrank unexpectedly in October is being hailed in the media as “good news” for the economy, while the real news behind the numbers remains buried. According to the latest monthly trade report, exports of U.S. goods rose in October compared to September, while imports declined slightly. Rising exports are good news in anybody’s book, but according to the conventional Keynesian and mercantilist logic, falling imports must also be good for the economy because that means consumers are spending more on domestically produced goods, right? Wrong. In the real world, that assumption is almost always false, as I did my best to document a few weeks back in an op-ed titled, “Are risi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4249043 Fri, 10 Dec 2010 16:21:21 +0100 4249043 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4245285&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FpKb4J81JWAs%2F By Neal McCluskey I have no love of for-profit colleges and universities — they are as greedy at the public trough as any other higher ed sector — but it is becoming increasingly difficult to not get very angry about the treatment they’re receiving in Washington. Just one day after it was revealed that the GAO had substantially revised a report used back in August to smear proprietary colleges, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) — the driving force, along with the U.S. Department of Education, behind the war on profits — released a new report alleging that for-profit schools are ripping off G.I. Bill-using veterans.  At least, that’s what the media stories are suggesting. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to verify the actual content of the report... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4245285 Thu, 09 Dec 2010 20:45:31 +0100 4245285 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4241722&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fcreate-a-public-health-app-and-win-some-cash%2F2010.12.08 Healthy People 2020, a continuation of Healthy People 2010, was started by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It’s a nationwide health promotion and disease prevention plan that sets public health goals — with the deadline being 2020 in the latest iteration of the program. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is now launching a challenge for developers and researchers to make wellness applications for the Healthy People 2020 campaign — they are providing rich research data sets for free, some that can be found here, giving developers and researchers ample data to write applications with. They are also providing a list of topics for potential apps from a variety of categories, ranging from apps related to cancer to substance abuse. (more…) ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4241722 Wed, 08 Dec 2010 19:00:52 +0100 4241722 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4241728&cid=t_115778_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeinthefastlane%2FWZHV%2F%7E3%2FgjJf5eznflY%2F It may feel like the sands of time are fast running through your fingers, but there is still time to buy emergency Christmas gifts for your favourite emergency physician. Here is the official list of UCEM-approved 'Christmas Gifts for the Emergency Department'. (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4241728 Wed, 08 Dec 2010 09:20:14 +0100 4241728 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4230161&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-street-economics-of-drug-abuse%2F2010.12.04 I’ve discovered over the years that I really like economics. I never took an econ class in my entire life, since I was pretty focused on the life sciences, but I’ve picked up a fair amount informally over the years. Fortunately I have a strong background in statistics and math, and I’ve done a lot of reading on economics. I wouldn’t say that I have any special level of understanding or credibility on the topic. Perhaps it should be noted that my wife took away the checkbook for good reason. But I enjoy it as a topic, as something to read about and a powerful tool for understanding how the world works. One consequence of being an ER doc is that you are pretty close to “the street,” and I don’t mean Wall Street. I mean the folks living and scroungi... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4230161 Sat, 04 Dec 2010 18:00:00 +0100 4230161 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4219730&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F3BFss3qvpBg%2F By Christopher PreblePresident Obama’s Fiscal Commission’s report is out and they have wisely kept military spending on the table. Having not seen the accompanying list of specific cuts, it seems that rather than micromanage DoD’s decisions with respect to which weapons systems to cut or keep, the commissioners have laid down a different marker: find the cuts that make sense, but understand that the business-as-usual of the past decade is over. The report fixes on a number of spending cuts and reforms that Benjamin Friedman and I call for in the Cato Policy Analysis “Budgetary Savings from Military Restraint” including cuts to the civilian workforce (see recommendation 1.10.4). They also hold fast to the proposition that all spending must be on the table, and reject out of ha... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4219730 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:46:27 +0100 4219730 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4220426&cid=t_115778_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2010%2F12%2F01%2Fwikileaks-shut-your-piehole%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on Politics Daily. WikiLeaks, Shut Your Piehole. Mr. Assange somehow got the crazy idea that government is accountable. Extraordinary! Filed under: Politics Tagged: diplomacy, julian assange, robert donna trussell, secret, state department, wikileaks (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4220426 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:23:18 +0100 4220426 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4214075&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FHTAgh2Zoqq4%2F By Malou InnocentFor years I have told anybody who would listen how U.S. efforts to stabilize Afghanistan contribute to Pakistan’s slow-motion collapse. Well it appears that my take on the situation was not so over-the-top. Amid some 250,000 confidential diplomatic cables released by online whistleblower Wikileaks, former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson warned in cable traffic that U.S. policy in South Asia “risks destabilizing the Pakistani state, alienating both the civilian government and the military leadership, and provoking a broader governance crisis without finally achieving the goal.” On one level, this cable underscores what a disaster American foreign policy has become. But on another level, the leak of this and other cables strikes me as�... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4214075 Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:37:02 +0100 4214075 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4214204&cid=t_115778_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2010%2F11%2F30%2Frapid-tranquillisation%2F Rapid tranquillisation is sometimes used with disturbed violent patients in adult in-psychiatric settings and emergency departments. It’s only a small part of the algorithm for the short term management of these patients. Other aspects are prediction, prevention, other interventions than medication and a post incident review. There’s a guideline from the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). This guideline makes a distinction between psycotic and non psychotic context. With psychotic context the combination of lorazepam and haloperidol is advised and olanzapine i.m. is also advised with moderate disturbance. The evidence for the latter is mainly from industry sponsored studies and drug industry authored papers. As with most industry sponsored ... Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4214204 Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:30:59 +0100 4214204 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4207280&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fn04V4GSo1dE%2F By Jim HarperWriting in the Washington Post, George Washington University law professor Jeffrey Rosen carefully concludes, “there’s a strong argument that the TSA’s measures violate the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.” The strip/grope policy doesn’t carefully escalate through levels of intrusion the way a better designed program using more privacy protective technology could. It’s a good constutional technician’s analysis. But Professor Rosen doesn’t broach one of the most important likely determinants of Fourth Amendment reasonableness: the risk to air travel these searches are meant to reduce. Writing in Politico last week, I pointed out that there have been 99 million domestic flights in the last decad... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4207280 Sun, 28 Nov 2010 23:30:32 +0100 4207280 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4197027&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0GgZvvfEk2s%2F By David BoazLibertarians often debate whether conservatives or liberals are more friendly to liberty. We often fall back on the idea that conservatives tend to support economic liberties but not civil liberties, while liberals support civil liberties but not economic liberties — though this old bromide hardly accounts for the economic policies of President Bush or the war-on-drugs-and-terror-and-Iraq policies of President Obama. Score one for the conservatives in the surging outrage over the Transportation Security Administration’s new policy of body scanners and intimate pat-downs. You gotta figure you’ve gone too far in the violation of civil liberties when you’ve lost Rick Santorum, George Will, Kathleen Parker, and Charles Krauthammer. (Gene Healy points out th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4197027 Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:16:09 +0100 4197027 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4162922&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fdrug-seekers-and-a-new-threat%2F2010.11.13 I wish I could say that every patient encounter worked out well, that all my patients went home happy and satisfied. It would be nice, but unfortunately that is not true at all. There are many patients who present with unrealistic expectations or an agenda which is non-therapeutic, and I am relatively straightforward and unapologetic about correcting patient’s misconceptions about the care that is or is not appropriate in the ED. Unsurprisingly, this often though not always involves narcotic medications. Which is not to say that I am a jerk. I try to be compassionate, and I try to find alternative solutions, and I have been told that I can turn away a drug seeker more nicely than any other doctor in the department. But when it is time to say “no,” I say “no” ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4162922 Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:00:00 +0100 4162922 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4159211&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F8Ct18jDykS4%2F By Neal McCluskeyWhen I first started arguing that now is the time to press the case for eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, I noted that the biggest obstacle to scaling down fed ed has long been the cheap-shot smearing of would-be downsizers. Today, I want to thank Kevin Carey, Policy Director at the think tank Education Sector, for brilliantly illustrating that very unsightly strategy. Writing on Education Sector’s blog yesterday, Carey ripped into a post I put up that morning, a post that primarily linked to a call to abolish ED from a left-leaning educator. Carey’s rejoinder: Basically, Cato hates public education, and there’s a whole lotta crazy goin’ on: The Cato Institute is dedicated to creating ”a future where government-run school... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4159211 Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:46:08 +0100 4159211 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4159285&cid=t_115778_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F11%2F11%2Fin-honor-of-those-who-serve-2010%2F Today is Veteran’s Day, and we’d like to take a moment to honor those men and women who have chosen to serve our country in military service. With an all-voluntary armed forces, our country is at the mercy of individuals who, for little reason other than a desire to serve their country, willingly risk their lives and put their entire ordinary lives on hold (especially those in the National Guard and reservists). For you and I. We should do all that we can to ensure these folks come back to a country who welcomes them home, is thankful for their service, and provides them with all the necessary health and mental health care humanly possible. That’s our duty, as ordinary citizens, to recognize the sacrifice these men and women have made. I’d also like to take a moment... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4159285 Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:00:45 +0100 4159285 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151749&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2rbOt1IvouU%2F By Tad DeHavenSelf-anointed elites have been relentless in prodding government planners to apply their enlightened solutions for the purported benefit of the ignorant masses. As a result, the federal government has become a Super Nanny monitoring and guiding the intimate activities of the nation’s 300 million inhabitants. However, the government is not altruistic and does not have the solutions for how people should live their lives. The amalgamation of programs and regulations that constitute the federal government is basically a reflection of the myriad special interests that have won a seat at Uncle Sam’s table. Government consists of fallible men and women who are naturally susceptible to pursuing policies that have less to do with the “general welfare” and more to do with rewa... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151749 Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:57:43 +0100 4151749 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151752&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F8SsRTMRic7I%2F By Neal McCluskeyIt’s no secret that expelling the U.S. Department of Education is something that a lot of libertarians, and conservatives who haven’t lost their way, would love to do. What’s not nearly so well known is that there are also people on the left who dislike ED. Now, they don’t dislike it because it and the programs it administers clearly exist in contravention of the Constitution, or because its massive dollar-redistribution programs have done no discernable good. They dislike it because, especially since the advent of No Child Left Behind, it strong-arms schools into doing things left-wing educators often disagree with or resent, like pushing phonics over whole language, or imposing standardized testing. Many also truly believe in local control of sc... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151752 Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:33:32 +0100 4151752 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4139213&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fs13HczgvsS4%2F By Tad DeHavenOver at Downsizing the Federal Government, we focused on the following issues this week: Unfortunately, the party favored by tea party supporters at the moment has no interest in shuttering the Department of Education. Columnist Robert Samuelson is right: the Obama administration’s high-speed rail dreams “represent shortsighted, thoughtless government at its worst.” Attention GOP: the electorate wants spending cuts, and they will support the policymakers who take the lead on cuts if they are pursued in a forthright and serious-minded manner. New Republican members of Congress will be looking for ways to cut the budget deficit and also to increase economic growth. One way to do both is to privatize government assets. Will the House Republican leadership embrace spending... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4139213 Fri, 05 Nov 2010 20:03:58 +0100 4139213 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133669&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwF9ndwOaHXY%2F By Neal McCluskeyOver the last couple days I’ve been arguing that the time might be ripe to start pushing the case in Congress to get Washington out of education. Educationally, fiscally, and constitutionally it is the right thing to do, and the negatives of being smeared as “anti-education” or “anti-child” could be countered by very powerful voter sentiments against big, wasteful government. Well, it seems new Tea Party-type Congress members might get a chance to use education to prove their bona fides very early. In his post-pummeling presser yesterday, President Obama mentioned education as one area in which he could see bipartisan accomplishments being made, and several articles today — including on Politico and in The Washington Post — sugges... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133669 Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:31:38 +0100 4133669 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4119077&cid=t_115778_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F10%2F29%2Fwhite-house-policy-adding-to-stigma-of-suicide%2F A Department of Defense task force dedicated to preventing suicide in the military recently released a report with some disturbing facts. The report acknowledges that the physical and psychological demands on our volunteer fighting forces are huge. Between 2005 and 2009 alone, more than 1,100 soldiers committed suicide. That is one soldier dying by suicide every 36 hours. The report notes that the rate of suicide deaths in the Army has more than doubled. The task force mentions numerous research reports that have documented the psychological and emotional injuries — “the hidden wounds of war” — that have devastated many military members and their families. Personnel who are deploying — as well as those left behind — are under stress because of an imbalan... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4119077 Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:07:46 +0100 4119077 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4105673&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39261&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvactruth.com%2F2010%2F10%2F25%2Fmind-virus-mothers-pharma-department-of-defense%2F Conclusion At first glance, the initiative sounds like a positive way to help families take good care of their precious new babies. Strategic text message reminders are sent about getting enough sleep, scheduling well-baby check-ups with their health care provider … and injecting their precious new baby with lots and lots of vaccines.  Do new moms really need a reminder to take a nap?  Do fresh-from-the-womb little people really need toxic doses of aluminum, mercury, and other chemicals that don’t belong in their tiny bodies? One hundred seventy-seven nations around the world (http://newsbusters.org/blogs…) offer paid maternity leave for new moms.  What does our country offer?  A few dozen text messages laced with publicly and privately funded propaganda to push thei... vactruth.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4105673 Mon, 25 Oct 2010 16:33:47 +0100 4105673 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4065347&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FXGrJhxU0r9k%2F By Malou InnocentThe Department of State recently released newly declassified documents covering U.S. policy toward Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from January 1973-July 1975. At a State Department conference commemorating the release of these documents, diplomat, strategist, and Nobel laureate Henry Kissinger bemoaned the torment that consumed a generation of Americans as the conflict wore on. The insight Kissinger provides–possibly unintentional–underscores why assessments of war should go beyond critiques of its political and geostrategic ramifications; they should also extend to the various ways that war affects our society and public more generally. In Kissinger’s somber assessment of America’s involvement in Southeast Asia, he said he regrets that what should have been ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4065347 Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:06:43 +0100 4065347 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4055698&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FUOY8BYYyXwM%2F By Tad DeHavenThe President is continuing his push for the federal government to go deeper into debt in order to fund infrastructure projects. While nobody disputes that the country has infrastructure needs, the precarious nature of federal and state finances indicate that policymakers need to starting thinking outside the box. Specifically, policymakers should be looking to make it easier for the private sector to fund and operate infrastructure projects. As my colleagues Chris Edwards and Peter Van Doren have explained, the main problem with government infrastructure spending is the lack of efficiency: More roads and transit capacity may or may not make sense depending on whether the benefits exceed the costs. One sure way to find out is to have private provision and user charges. If use... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4055698 Mon, 11 Oct 2010 18:43:58 +0100 4055698 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4055715&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Femergency-medicine-who-should-set-the-standard-of-care%2F2010.10.11 According to the Standard of Care Project at EP Monthly: The Power of Agreement We can stop baseless malpractice suits before they get started. How? By having a majority of practicing emergency physicians go on record as to the baseline “standard of care,” beneath which is negligence. This has been rolling for a while, and I’ve been late to blog it. That does not in any way mean I’m not 100 percent FOR it. The idea is beautifully simple: The standard of care in emergency medicine (EM) should be set by practicing EM physicians, not case-by case in courts before lay juries with battling experts. (AAEM had the “remarkable testimony” series as a retrospective attempt to shame “experts” who gave, well, remarkable statements under oath, which to date has two ca... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4055715 Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:00:31 +0100 4055715 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4053293&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fanother-er-animation%2F2010.10.09 In a better setting than the animation of the ER patient faking a seizure (which was inexplicably set in what appeared to be a convenience store), this one at least looks medical. But I’m a little concerned about the red blood infusion just hanging in the background, not connected to anything. I’m pretty sure the Joint Commission wouldn’t approve of that. *This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4053293 Sat, 09 Oct 2010 12:00:00 +0100 4053293 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4031242&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhot-topic-certification-of-er-doctors%2F2010.10.04 Texas is at the center of a heated national battle over the training emergency physicians need in order to advertise themselves as “board certified.” Via the Houston Chronicle: At stake is the welfare of patients requiring immediate medical attention. Leaders of the traditional board say allowing physicians without proper training to advertise themselves as board-certified would mislead the public. Leaders of the alternative board say the proposed rule change will undermine the ability of Texas’ rural hospitals to staff their emergency departments with board-certified ER physicians. A final verdict may only come, given one board’s already delivered threat, in a court of law. At stake also are the careers of a lot of practicing Emergency Physicians, many of whom I’m proud ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4031242 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4031242 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4022891&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FHyvVKnZZb4A%2F By Neal McCluskeyThe trendy thinking might be that you’re loopy if you call for ending the U.S. Department of Education, or if you think the Constitution should actually have some bearing on federal education policy. Reality, however, strongly suggests that you’d be crazy not to think that way. If you have doubts, I urge you to read Pork 101: How Education Earmarks School Taxpayers, a new report on federal education “help” from the office of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK).    To start things off, the report succinctly summarizes the role the Constitution gives the feds in education: “The U.S. Constitution provides no role to the federal government in education.” That’s not entirely accurate—the 14th Amendment empowers Washingt... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4022891 Fri, 01 Oct 2010 21:27:25 +0100 4022891 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4013299&cid=t_115778_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fmilestone-vocabulary-resources The Vocabulary Task Force of the HIT Standards Committee is hard at work specifying the vocabularies and codesets that should be publicly available to accelerate certification and meaningful use efforts. (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4013299 Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:42:42 +0100 4013299 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4018184&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fnew-self-referral-disclosure-protocol-now-in-effect%2F2010.09.28 The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services scrapped its old self-referral voluntary disclosure program in 2009 (it dated back to 1998, and was revisited in 2008), and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) mandated that it be replaced. Just like clockwork, on the deadline for its promulgation the OIG obliged, and the new Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol is now posted and effective. The new protocol could be clearer and offer more comfort, but it doesn’t. Makes one pine for the old policy’s clarity: In the old days, voluntary disclosure bought you a discounted fine for Stark violations — not like the new protocol’s wishy-washy, maybe-we’ll-give-you-a-discount language. The new protocol also fa... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4018184 Tue, 28 Sep 2010 20:00:00 +0100 4018184 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3999293&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FVyEwh-7JadE%2F The nation’s medicine chest mayl be the moniker for the Garden State, but it’s no secret the pharmaceutical industry in New Jersey is shedding a tremendous number of jobs. And with ballooning deficits making it difficult for the state to offer any help, the cupboard is starting to look bare (see here). So the US Department of Labor is stepping in with a $3.6 million grant designed to assist 960 laid off workers. The grant will be administered by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, which wants to use the funds to leverage the out-of-work pharma talent to “create a world-class bioscience cluster” and keep those folks from moving elsewhere. As part of the plan, the state will provide workers with access to ‘dislocated worker services,&#8... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3999293 Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:37:46 +0100 3999293 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3993871&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fy_VormTVQeM%2F By Julian SanchezYesterday, I mentioned a recent report from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General on some potentially improper instances of FBI monitoring of domestic anti-war groups. It occurs to me that it also provides a useful data point that’s relevant to last week’s post about the pitfalls of thinking about the proper limits of government information gathering exclusively in terms of “privacy.” As the report details, an agent in the FBI’s Pittsburgh office sent a confidential source to report on organizing meetings for anti-war marches held by the anarchist Pittsburgh Organizing Group (POG). The agent admitted to OIG that his motive was a general desire to cultivate an informant rather than any particular factually grounded inve... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3993871 Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:52:26 +0100 3993871 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3965414&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmedical-insurance-pre-authorization-services-for-free%2F2010.09.13 The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released an advisory opinion at the end of last month okaying a hospital’s proposal to provide insurance pre-authorization services free of charge to patients and physicians. This is an issue that has long vexed folks in the imaging world. Clearly, this is a free service provided to referral sources (to the extent they are obligated by contract with third-party payors to obtain the pre-authorization before referring a patient for an MRI, for example), so why is the OIG okay with it? In their opinion, the OIG blesses the arrangement for four reasons. (more…) *This blog post was originally published at HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3965414 Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:00:13 +0100 3965414 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959928&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Femergency-rooms-overused-for-routine-care%2F2010.09.11 The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (our government’s name for healthcare reform) may make our already crowded emergency rooms swarm with more patients. A new study from Health Affairs shows that more than a quarter of patients who currently visit emergency departments in the U.S. are there for routine care and not an emergency. New complaints like stomach pain, skin rashes, fever, chest pain, cough or for a flare up of a chronic condition should not be treated in emergency rooms. They are best worked up and treated by an internist or family physician, preferably one who knows the patient. So why are these patients waiting for hours and spending up to 10 times as much money for emergency department care? (more…) *This blog post was originally published at E... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959928 Sat, 11 Sep 2010 15:00:00 +0100 3959928 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3957905&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0mFYmkzdI78%2F By Jim HarperWashington Times reporter Shaun Waterman has a characteristically excellent article out today about U.S. cybersecurity authorities failing to secure their own systems. According to a new report by government auditors, systems at the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), part of the Department of Homeland Security, were not maintained with updates and security patches in a timely fashion and as a result were riddled with vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit. Time and again, people look to government intervention based on what they imagine government might do under ideal conditions. Real conditions produce far weaker results. We’re better off distributing the problem of data, network, and computer security among all the self-interested actors in the count... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3957905 Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:43:51 +0100 3957905 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3925054&cid=t_115778_136_f&fid=37846&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthinfoispower.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F09%2F01%2Fcall-to-action-protect-expand-u-s-federal-ovarian-cancer-research-funding%2F Do you live in AL, CA, HI, IL, IA, KS, KY, MD, MI, MO, NH, ND, PA, TX, UT, VT, WA or WI? If so, one of your Senators sits on the U.S. Senate Defense Appropriations subcommittee that determines how much funding is given to the Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program. Ask your [...] (Source: Libby's H*O*P*E*) Libby's H*O*P*E* blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3925054 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:42:46 +0100 3925054 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3924877&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2F198049%2F Stem Cell Case: The Justice Department has filed an appeal regarding the temporary ban on federal funding for stem cell research. (via NPR) Post from: BlissTree (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3924877 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:52:41 +0100 3924877 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3921073&cid=t_115778_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F2qiuzJpIj5Q%2F The widely used Seroquel antipsychotic was never approved to treat post-traumatic stress disorder or the insomnia sometimes related to the afflication, but that hasn’t stopped the drug from being prescribed for that purpose by the US Department of Veteran Affairs and, in the process, becoming one of the VA’s biggest expenditures. Since 2001, VA spending on Seroquel jumped more than 770 percent, while the number of patients covered by the VA increased just 34 percent, the Associated Press writes. Seroquel is now the VA’s second-biggest prescription drug expenditure since 2007, behind the Plavix bloodthinner. The agency spent $125.4 million last fiscal year on Seroquel, up from $14.4 million in 2001, and the growth in spending outpaces the growth in personnel who have gone ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3921073 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:33:09 +0100 3921073 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3914996&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Felectronic-medical-records-er-wait-times-and-the-medical-blogosphere%2F2010.08.30 Here’s a confession: Despite my steadfast advocacy of medical blogging as a means to promote understanding and education, I continue worry a lot about professional liability. Not just whether the things I write could hurt my career, but, in terms of academic output, is blogging a waste of time? What view does my department’s leadership take on blogging? Still, I’ve continued to support medical blogging as a useful academic endeavor, hoping that someday this support would be borne out. When sites like Sermo and Facebook came along, I despaired that more physician opinions were going to be hidden behind walled gardens, available only to select colleagues or friends. Then, last week, some revelations — I discovered a member of my department’s leadership was blog... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3914996 Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:00:00 +0100 3914996 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3915002&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fa-meth-lab-the-er-judgment-and-grace%2F2010.08.29 Last week a trailer less than a mile from our house experienced a small explosion. Trailers, which seldom explode on their own (without undiscovered volcanoes or CIA drones with missiles) was concealing a meth lab. What can you say? If I weren’t an emergency physician I’d say, “Shocking! Ghastly! Unbelievable!” But I do what I do so I say, “Huh, how about that.” I’ve lost much of my capacity to be shocked. I have seen meth users, and probably meth dealers. I’ve known and enjoyed the company of alcoholics and Valium addicts. I’ve cared for murderers and the murdered (albeit briefly in the case of the latter). I’ve been involved in the evaluation of sexual assault victims, car thieves, drunk drivers and child abusers. A meth lab is, in its own way, k... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3915002 Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:00:40 +0100 3915002 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3913121&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fa-song-about-ending-up-in-the-emergency-department%2F2010.08.28 Somebody at Apple likes Goldfrapp. They’ve used her latest album for this tutorial and the sublime Seventh Tree was pictured on the first Apple descriptions of the Remote app. It’s nice when a monolithic institution shows a little personality. Of course, my interest in Goldfrapp is mostly professional: Who else has sung as well about ending up in an emergency department? *This blog post was originally published at Blogborygmi* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3913121 Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:00:00 +0100 3913121 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3907676&cid=t_115778_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fstrategic-management-studies-may-help-recs-help-providers While many healthcare providers are scrambling to apply the new Meaningful Use guidelines to their practices in order to qualify for HITECH incentives, RECs charged with assisting providers may want to look beyond financial incentives to other factors that support or inhibit organizational change. (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3907676 Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:38:12 +0100 3907676 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3902887&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7cw2y1Jr3nI%2F The Washington Post reports today on an article coming out in Foreign Affairs in which Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III reveals a successful 2008 intrusion into military computer systems. Malicious code placed on a thumb drive by a foreign intelligence agency uploaded itself onto a network run by the U.S. military’s Central Command and propagated itself across a number of domains. The Post article says that Lynn “puts the Homeland Security Department on notice that although it has the ‘lead’ in protecting the dot.gov and dot.com domains, the Pentagon — which includes the ultra-secret National Security Agency — should support efforts to protect critical industry networks.” The failure of the military to protect its own systems creat... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3902887 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:30:00 +0100 3902887 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3899366&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fif-you-dont-have-an-electric-car-you-hate-america%2F photo: Thinkstock Well, that’s kind of what Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary David Sandalow said. He said that electric cars are patriotic, quiet and cheap to drive. Hummers are expensive to drive and really loud — does that make them un-patriotic? Wait, I think I saw a Hummer near Ground Zero today! Get Glenn Beck, stat! We do like Sandalow’s idea of electric cars becoming the norm, though. We’d love to plug our car nightly rather than stop for gas every few days, and our wallets would like it as well. Would you buy an electric car? via Huffington Post Post from: BlissTree If You Don't Have an Electric Car, You Hate America (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3899366 Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:00:37 +0100 3899366 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3890476&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fa-little-old-ladys-power-in-the-er%2F2010.08.21 Here’s my column in the August edition of Emergency Medicine News. A person who seems powerless may hold an entire emergency room hostage! Magic Words: ‘I Have Chest Pain’ Propped in her bed, frail and weak, the little grandma sighed. Her complaints were legion: weakness, poor appetite, poor sleep, joint pain, cough, dry mouth. Her daughter, eyes rolling, was trying to balance three reasonable emotions. She desperately wanted to go home and rest after spending the day in the ER. She truly wanted to avoid her mother’s admission to the hospital, and she was, graciously, sympathetic to the physician who brought the bad news. ‘Mrs. Adkins, I know you feel poorly, and I’m sorry. But I have to say, I can’t find any reason to admit you to the hospital. You’re right as ra... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3890476 Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:00:13 +0100 3890476 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3880858&cid=t_115778_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Femergency-palliative-care-we-cant-save-you%2F2010.08.18 An alert reader alerted me to this related piece in Slate: “We Can’t Save You: How To Tell Emergency Room Patients That They’re Dying.” An excerpt: The ER is not an easy place to come to these realizations or assess their consequences. A handful of physicians are trying to change that. Doctors like Tammie Quest, board-certified in both palliative and emergency medicine, hope to bring the deliberative goal-setting, symptom-controlling ethos of palliative care into the adrenaline-charged, “tube ‘em and move ‘em” ER. Palliative/emergency medicine collaboration remains rare, but it’s growing as both fields seek to create a more “patient-centered” approach to emergency care for the seriously ill or the dying, to improve symptom m... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3880858 Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3880858