Medicine to me

Post Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:04:00 +0000
Minnesota Virtual Clinic Provides Health Care Online Soon coming, presumably, to a neighborhood near you will be the <a href="http://www.ihealthbeat.org/Articles/2009/4/13/Blue-Cross-and-Blue-Shield-of-Minnesota-To-Launch-Virtual-Clinic.aspx">virtual clinic</a>, a kind of Internet cafe for people with boo-boos.<blockquote>Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota will launch a pilot project in which its 10,000 employees can use a "virtual clinic" to receive a live, 10-minute physician consultation for a flat fee. [...] Once a doctor and patient have connected, they can communicate via webcam and instant messages. Roy Schoenberg, who developed the virtual clinic software, said that physicians will have access to patients' electronic health records and that each virtual clinic visit will be added to a patient's EHR. BCBS is hoping that the "virtual clinic" will play a significant role in transforming health care by making health care more convenient and cost-effective.</blockquote>A somewhat similar <a href="http://interested-participant.blogspot.com/2004/09/telepsychiatry-kennebec-maine-ghost-of.html">tele-medicine system</a> was launched in the state of Maine a few years ago which included diagnosing and treating patients with psychiatric problems . The intent there was to provide some level of health care to low-density population areas in the remote parts of the state. I haven't seen any reports on the effectiveness of the program in Maine. Plans are for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield effort in Minnesota to be expanded to the general public. In any event, I'm <a href="http://interested-participant.blogspot.com/2009/04/virtual-clinic-provides-online-health.html">far from convinced</a> that doctors can adequately examine patients on the Internet. In addition, I'll probably never feel comfortable about putting patient medical records on the Internet.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/8125125-6951929136732360117?l=socglory.blogspot.com'/></div>

Autor of the post: noreply@blogger.com (Mike Pechar)

More Travel! Post Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:42:29 -0500

Posting will be irregular this week - I'm off traveling again, this time in the Washington, DC area. (This hasn't been the single most scientifically productive April I've ever had, unfortunately). I do hope to get some posts up, but not today - whatever news is happening, I'll catch up on it for tomorrow!

Autor of the post: Undefined

Spicing It Up Post Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:42:00 +0000
Along with all the health information, I have been trying to give you some recipes. It is always good to know, how to use those fruits and veggies to their fullest and prepare a tasty dish. Sometimes, I wished I had attended one of the <a href="http://www.allculinaryschools.com/">culinary schools</a>, so I could be more creative. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Please, don't let that withhold you, from trying to come up with a delicious concoction yourself. I think, being a chef is a great and rewarding career. There are so many <a href="http://www.allculinaryschools.com/featured/diploma-programs/">culinary schools</a> all over the country, with diplomas and degrees in different areas of the culinary art. It does not take long at all, to find one. Many more posts on fruit and vegetables will follow and I will keep looking for some recipes. Should you have one, please share. Variety is the spice of life. :-)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/17826874-110765575730656743?l=experiencingrheumatoidarthritis.blogspot.com'/></div>

Autor of the post: noreply@blogger.com (Corry)

Ginkgo Supplement Post Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 07:20:00 +0000
This supplement comes from a tree. The tree mainly grows in Eastern China and although it does not produce any flowers, it does yield nuts. These are used for cooking and assumed to have healing powers. Even though there are no proven results, the studies done on the effects of Ginkgo so far, are promising. Ginkgo Ginkgo biloba <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YbfDNTAiZQ8/SJtEYH6TitI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/b5oYGzxuK9k/s1600-h/ginko.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5231850573352110802" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YbfDNTAiZQ8/SJtEYH6TitI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/b5oYGzxuK9k/s200/ginko.jpg" border="0" /></a>Origin: Leaf of the ginkgo biloba tree, native to East Asia. Dosage: Liquid, tablet, softgel and capsule and extract; typically 120 mg to 240 mg extract daily. Choose supplements standardized to 5- to 7-percent terpene lactones and 24-percent flavonol glycosides, the active ingredients in ginkgo. Claims: Increases blood flow and circulation in Raynaud's phenomenon and claudication (pain in legs or arms caused by reduced circulation due to blocked arteries). What we know: There is no strong evidence that ginkgo improves mood, menopause symptoms, memory or fatigue. Studies: Results from a 2002 double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of ginkgo for the treatment of Raynaud's phenomenon showed that the supplements could reduce the number of disease flares by 56 percent. Ginkgo's side effects include stomach upset, dizziness or headaches. Do not take ginkgo if you are taking blood-thinning medication like aspirin, have epilepsy or experience seizures, have diabetes or are scheduled for surgery. <a href="http://www.arthritis.org/ginkgo.php">~Arthritis Foundation.</a> Ginkgo has also been used to treat asthma, bronchitis, fatigue, and tinnitus (ringing, or roaring sounds in the ears). It is said to improve memory, prevent Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia, multiple sclerosis, along with some other health issues. Ginkgo extracts are also used in skin products. 'The active ingredients of Ginkgo also have an excellent effect in cream for external use. For instance, Ginkgo cream helps prevent skin cell damage after injuries and relieves chilblains, varicose veins, and sunburn. It also improves the skin's elasticity and thus prevents wrinkling.' So, if you don't want to spend any money on one of the many creams, available in the stores, make your own. Here is how to do it: Ingredients: 350ml olive oil, 300g dried crumbled Ginkgo leaves, 50g beeswax Preparation: Pour the olive oil over the crumbled Ginkgo leaves, place in an earthenware or glass oven dish (with lid) and stir. Cover with lid, preheat oven to 38 °C and cook for about 1 hour. Take out of the oven and stir again. Leave to macerate for about a week. Stir thoroughly and cook again in a preheated oven for 1 hour. Place herb mixture in a cheesecloth and allow to drain overnight. Melt the beeswax in a saucepan over very low heat and add to mixture. Let cool down. Put the cream in dark jars and check the consistency. The cream is ready when it sticks to the fingers without being too solid or too liquid. <a href="http://www.ginkgo-wellness.de/recipes/index.html">~Nature+Culture.</a> The leaves lend themselves very well to make tea from. It can be sweetened with honey, or maple syrup. Of course an artificial sweetener will do just as well. The nuts have a slightly sweet flavor. They are often used in stuffing, soups, desserts, meat and poultry dishes. Many vegetarian recipes include Ginkgo as one of their ingredients in the dishes. The nuts are high in starch content and low in fat. I found some recipes and hope you enjoy them. Tea: Preparation: Use 1-2 teaspoons (approx. 1-2g) of dried, chopped, and washed leaves, or 2 teaspoons (approx. 4-6g) of fresh, chopped leaves to 250 ml boiling water. Place the leaves in a suitable tea infuser or mesh tea ball, put it in a tea pot and add boiling hot water. Steep for 7-8 minutes. Remove the tea infuser or mesh tea ball and, if wanted, add ½ teaspoon honey or maple syrup. Also try the following: add this infusion to your favourite tea or other teas you like. It makes an excellent drink! Soup: Ginkgo soup is a tasty way to provide your body with the active ingredients contained in Ginkgo nuts. It is nutritious, strengthens the kidneys, stimulates digestion, and improves hearing. Ingredients: 25g fresh or dried Ginkgo nuts, approx. 1l water, 25g boiled rice or potatoes, salt, lemon juice, black pepper. Preparation: Peel Ginkgo nuts (remove paper-like outer layer) and chop them to let the ingredients and taste fully develop. Put them in a pot, add the water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for approx. 20 minutes until the nuts are soft. Let cool down a little, then blend the water and nuts to a smooth puree in a mixer or food processor. When the mixture has the right consistency, pour it into a bowl and add the boiled rice or potatoes to thicken the soup. Season to taste before serving. For a stronger taste, add celery seeds, thyme, and marjoram. <a href="http://www.ginkgo-wellness.de/recipes/index.html">~Nature+Culture.</a> Besides the Vegetarian kitchen, Ginkgo is well known and used in the Chinese and Japanese kitchen as well. It is not commonly used for cooking, in the rest of the world. Should you have trouble finding it, try the specialized markets and Asian stores. I did found a warning on Ginkgo seeds though: "Uncooked ginkgo seeds contain a chemical known as ginkgotoxin, which can cause seizures. Consuming large quantities of seeds over time can cause death. Ginkgo leaf and ginkgo leaf extracts appear to contain little ginkgotoxin." So, be careful with uncooked seeds! Those are for the birds, I think??? :-) There are benefits and advantages to many things. Even though, something may sound great, experience may teach it is not always as wonderful as portrayed. That is why it is good to take the time, make inquiries and weigh the pros and cons. This goes for almost anything, with one exception: God's Word. We can trust and have faith, that is has only benefits! Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/17826874-8173651866665986738?l=experiencingrheumatoidarthritis.blogspot.com'/></div>

Autor of the post: noreply@blogger.com (Corry)

Post Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:37:00 +0000
Is Government Health Insurance Cheap? The false comparison between the costs of public and private medical plans. Congress is currently away on a two-week recess, but weighty work is occurring in its absence. Staff negotiators are trying to come to agreement on a budget framework for 2010 and beyond. Although this is happening behind closed doors, it appears likely that the budget deal will eventually include a government-run health-insurance option, or "public plan," to compete with private health insurance under the comprehensive health-care reform called for by President Barack Obama. Some lawmakers support or oppose a government-run health-insurance option for purely ideological reasons. Others are open to it because they are pragmatic and -- laudably -- want to be persuaded by data and facts. These moderates have been much influenced by the supposed fact that a public plan such as Medicare is more efficient than commercial insurance. Advocates of the public option routinely ask, "Aren't Medicare's administrative costs a fraction of those of private insurers?" But the comparison between public and private plans is a false comparison. Private insurance and public benefits are not the same business. For all its warts, private insurance tries to manage care. Medicare is mostly about paying the bills presented to it. Many who favor a public plan as part of comprehensive health-care reform dismiss the administrative "overhead" of private plans as having little or no value. Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark (D., Calif.), for example, insists that "most private plans are poorly managed." Contrasting them with the supposedly sleek and efficient Medicare program, he labels commercial insurance "the General Motors of medical care." In fact, the administrative expenses of private insurance plans represent money well spent for their members. Here are four reasons: First, private insurers must build provider networks. These networks can include high-value providers and exclude low-quality providers. Except for certain circumstances, including criminal acts, Medicare is forbidden from excluding poor quality providers. It lets in everyone who signs up. So one question to ask is, will the public plan have Medicare's indifference to quality -- or invest in the cost of a network? Second, private insurers must negotiate rates. Medicare just fixes prices using a statutory and regulatory scheme. And anyone who imagines a public plan would be less costly than private plans must keep the following issue front and center: In the many procedure categories where Medicare's statutory price does not cover full provider costs, shortfalls are shifted to private payers who end up subsidizing the public program. So, will a public plan negotiate rates or simply use fiat as a means of gaining subsidies from private insurance? Third, private insurers must combat fraud -- or go out of business. Indeed, these payers have every incentive to invest in antifraud personnel and strategies down to the point where return and investment are equal. But anyone who thinks that a public plan could serve as a "yardstick" for the private sector needs to consider Medicare's dismal record with regard to fraud, waste and other abuse. In fact, the total amount of Medicare fraud is unknown. The government does not measure or estimate fraud in its programs; instead, it measures payments made "in error." According to Medicare's own most recent data, payments made in error amount to over $10 billion annually. (Medicaid's payment errors in 2007 equaled a whopping $32.7 billion, according to a report by the Department of Health and Human Services.) Others have claimed Medicare's payments made in error are much higher. Even with the inclusion of the budget of the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, Medicare spends less than one-fifth of 1% on antifraud measures -- a small fraction of what private plans invest in their efforts to build a network of honest providers. Worse, in four of the past five years Congress has turned back Medicare's pleas for $579 million of additional antifraud funding, on the grounds that these dollars subtract from the budget funds for curing cancer and anti-obesity campaigns. Based on experience, Congress will always underinvest in fraud. Yet according to a House of Representatives Budget Committee hearing in July 2007, return on investment for certain Medicare antifraud measures were estimated to be in excess of 13-1. Will a public plan also hemorrhage from fraud because of chronic Congressional underinvestment? Fourth, private insurers must incur the administrative cost of marketing. Medicare, of course, does not need to market. A public plan competing with other alternatives would have to market itself to the public, and this means tax dollars used to advertise against private plans. Or the public plan could "compete" by using heavily subsidized marketing channels not available to private insurers, such as Social Security mailings, welfare offices, unemployment check stuffers, and the constellation of government-funded "advocacy organizations." None of these considerations should be interpreted as a defense of the status quo, or a denial of the fact that major health reform is needed. It is, and now. There are indeed many places where commercial health insurance is inefficient -- for example, by trying to exclude the sick rather than compete for the business of managing their ailments more effectively. Moreover, the facilitation of a national insurance exchange could lower information and search costs for our increasingly mobile workforce. But the impulse to "just pass something" -- a refrain heard often in the halls of Congress this spring -- is not good enough. There are more governmental paths to making things worse rather than better. As the case of Medicare's anemic anti-fraud efforts painfully illustrates, less management and lower administrative costs do not necessarily mean the program is really less costly. Fraud losses are just categorized as additional spending rather than as administrative expense. Ultimately, the desire of many advocates of a government-run health plan to exaggerate Medicare's efficiency derives from the fact that the program does not make a profit. These folks are motivated by the naïve assumption that most of the health sector's ills could be cured if profit-seekers were excluded. As the Congress continues the health-care debate, today behind closed doors, and soon in the open, there should be an honest discussion of administrative costs and their value. Those who believe that health care should have no profit should be open with their views and not hide behind the false economy of Medicare. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123966918025015509.html">SOURCE</a> Wrong to expose gross NHS abuses? Whistleblower nurse who filmed elderly patient neglect found guilty of misconduct over TV exposé. The truth is deadly to socialism A whistleblower nurse has been found guilty of misconduct for secretly filming the neglect of elderly patients for a BBC documentary. Margaret Haywood, 58, filmed patients suffering in filthy conditions at the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton for Panorama. The senior nurse's 20-year career now lies in tatters. A hearing today will decide whether she should be struck off the nursing register. The Nursing and Midwifery Council ruled that Miss Haywood had prioritised filming over her obligations as a nurse and had breached patient confidentiality. Last night the divorced mother of three from Liverpool told how she risked her career to help patients when working on the Peel and Stewart acute medical ward as an agency nurse between November 2004 and May 2005. She said: 'I did it because of the appalling state patients were in. I knew as soon I went on to the ward there were serious problems. 'There was blood on the curtains which had not been changed. There was faeces on the floor which had not been cleaned. It had obviously been there for days. 'Food was being left on the table when patients obviously needed help to eat. One lady was blind and did not even know the food was in front of her because no one told her. 'There was a lady who used to be a nurse herself who was afraid to ask to go to the toilet because of the nurses' attitude. Another woman who had terminal cancer was left screaming in pain because she was not given pain medication. 'I was absolutely broken-hearted. It's not what you expect when you go into nursing. 'I tried to put things right and get standards improved. I prepared a report, but no one took on board what I was saying. 'It was all being ignored and hushed up; that's why I went to Panorama. I only wanted to help people. I am a very caring and compassionate person.' The Undercover Nurse programme caused a public uproar when it was screened in July 2005. It later emerged that the hospital, which then had the lowest rating of zero stars and an £8million deficit, had received a number of complaints before filming started. Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust was forced to a public apology admitting 'serious lapses in the quality of care' after the issue was raised in the House of Commons. Since the programme aired, new care standards have been put into place. Miss Haywood, a grandmother of seven, now works for a private care home. She admitted breaching confidentiality - even though all patients on the programme gave consent after they were filmed. She said after the hearing: 'I will be devastated if I lose my registration. I've worked so hard. 'Nursing is my life, I'm devoted to it and I'm passionate about what I do. I think it's a case of shooting the messenger. 'I admitted breaching patient confidentiality, but I did not expect them to conclude that my fitness to practise had been impaired.' Last week a supply teacher who secretly filmed shocking scenes of pupils misbehaving and school cover-ups for a 2005 Channel 4 Dispatches documentary was found guilty of unprofessional conduct and suspended for a year. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1170269/Whistleblower-nurse-filmed-elderly-patient-neglect-guilty-misconduct-Panorama-expos.html">SOURCE</a> Whistleblower nurse considers High Court appeal The nurse struck off for using a secret camera to expose the neglect of elderly patients at an NHS hospital is considering a High Court appeal against the decision. Margaret Haywood, 58, gathered evidence of "horrendous" conditions at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton for a BBC Panorama documentary. Hundreds of nurses have contacted the Nursing and Midwifery Council to protest its decision to to ban her from the profession, amid fears that it will discourage other NHS whistleblowers from coming forward. Miss Haywood from Liverpool, who worked as a nurse for 20 years, is now taking advice from her professional body about challenging the ruling at the High Court. Chris Cox, director of legal services at the Royal College of Nursing, said: "The RCN has been providing legal representation for Margaret Haywood from the outset and is very surprised at the severity of the punishment dealt out by the NMC panel. "Our legal team are working with Margaret to explore the various legal options available to her in light of the judgment." The RCN has also set up a Facebook page and a public petition to build support for Miss Haywood, who was said to be devastated by the misconduct hearing's decision on Wednesday. It ruled that she had breached patient confidentiality by agreeing to take undercover footage for the BBC documentary, which was screened in July 2005, even though it conceded that conditions on the ward where she worked were "dreadful". Yesterday (FRI) the NMC disclosed that it had received 400 emails and 200 telephone calls in support of Miss Haywood, with most of the complaints coming from other nurses. The Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE) which reviews all decisions taken by the NMC, said it would not seek to challenge the ruling, as it only intervened when it believed punishments had been too lenient. "She of course has the right to appeal," a spokesman said. Any appeal must be lodged within 28 days. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5173236/Whistleblower-nurse-considers-High-Court-appeal.html">SOURCE</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/8125125-6637718738172401758?l=socglory.blogspot.com'/></div>

Autor of the post: noreply@blogger.com (JR)

What to do when you get a leech on your eye Post Date:
Per our Australasian colleagues: The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine has reported the first case of a leech being safely removed from a human eye. A 66-year-old woman from Sydney's north was gardening in March last year when she flicked soil into her left eye. ... Doctors at the Hospital removed the leech from ...

Autor of the post: Undefined

Protect Them from the Sun Post Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:58:26 +0000
A young child's skin is so delicate and damage from the sun can happen without you even being aware of it. Your child deserves the best sun protection that you can offer them. In addition to sunscreen, protect your child's sensitive skin with protective clothing.

Autor of the post: Undefined

Post Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:35:00 +0000
When Doctors Opt Out We already know what government-run health care looks like Here's something that has gotten lost in the drive to institute universal health insurance: Health insurance doesn't automatically lead to health care. And with more and more doctors dropping out of one insurance plan or another, especially government plans, there is no guarantee that you will be able to see a physician no matter what coverage you have. Consider that the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission reported in 2008 that 28% of Medicare beneficiaries looking for a primary care physician had trouble finding one, up from 24% the year before. The reasons are clear: A 2008 survey by the Texas Medical Association, for example, found that only 38% of primary-care doctors in Texas took new Medicare patients. The statistics are similar in New York state, where I practice medicine. More and more of my fellow doctors are turning away Medicare patients because of the diminished reimbursements and the growing delay in payments. I've had several new Medicare patients come to my office in the last few months with multiple diseases and long lists of medications simply because their longtime provider -- who they liked -- abruptly stopped taking Medicare. One of the top mammographers in New York City works in my office building, but she no longer accepts Medicare and charges patients more than $300 cash for each procedure. I continue to send my elderly women patients downstairs for the test because she is so good, but no one is happy about paying. The problem is even worse with Medicaid. A 2005 Community Tracking Physician survey showed that only 50% of physicians accept this insurance. I am now one of the ones who doesn't take it. I realized a few years ago that it wasn't worth the money to file the paperwork for the $25 or less that I received for an office visit. HMOs are problematic as well. Recent surveys from New York show a 10% yearly dropout rate from the state's largest HMO, the Health Insurance Plan of New York (HIP), and a 14% drop-out rate from Health Net of New York, another big HMO. The dropout rate is less at major medical centers such as New York University's Langone Medical Center where I work, or Mount Sinai Medical Center, because larger physician networks have more leverage when choosing health plans. Still, I am frequently hamstrung as I try to find a good surgeon or specialist to refer one of my patients to. Overall, 11% of the doctors at NYU Langone don't participate in at least two insurance plans -- Aetna or Blue Cross, for instance -- so I end up not being able to refer my patients to some of our top specialists. This problem, in addition to the mass of paperwork and diminishing reimbursements, is enough of a reason for me to consider dropping out as well. Bottom line: None of the current plans, government or private, provide my patients with the care they need. And the care that is provided is increasingly expensive and requires a big battle for approvals. Of course, we're promised by the Obama administration that universal health insurance will avoid all these problems. But how is that possible when you consider that the medical turnstiles will be the same as they are now, only they will be clogged with more and more patients? The doctors that remain in this expanded system will be even more overwhelmed than we are now. I wouldn't want to be a patient when that happens. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123993462778328019.html">SOURCE</a> NHS maternity units will still be short-staffed despite surge in number of midwives NHS maternity units will still be seriously short staffed even after a surge in the number of midwives promised by the Government, critics claimed today. More than 3,000 extra midwives will be in place by 2012 but new research has found they will still be delivering more babies per year than stipulated by safety guidelines - putting mothers and babies at risk. The number of births each midwife handles has been rising relentlessly for six years, and is now higher than at any time since Labour took office in 1997. Ministers' failure to anticipate a rising birth rate by employing enough midwives has led to a doubling in the number of payouts for medical blunders, and for the fact that rising numbers of women are being left alone and terrified during labour. Experts believe up to 1,000 babies a year die needlessly because doctors and midwives are too overstretched or poorly trained to detect warning signs. Safety guidelines, laid down by the Royal College of Midwives, say that midwives should deliver an average of 27.5 babies a year - one every 13 days or so - to ensure mother and child have the best quality of care. In January, the Daily Mail revealed that the average midwife was delivering 34 babies a year, or one ever 10 or 11 days - almost 25 per cent more than they should under the safety standard. Ministers have promised an extra 3,400 midwives by 2012 to plug the shortage. But new research by the RCM says this means that only four of the country's 10 health regions will meet the safety standards. Of the six that will fail, four will have more than 32 births per midwife. The East of England region will have a massive 35.2 births per midwife in 2012, followed by the East Midlands (33.9), Yorkshire and the Humber (33.8), and London (33.6). The Yorkshire figure is actually worse than the current ratio, largely the result of projected birth rate rises, which are largely down to the impact of immigration. Critics also claim much of the money ministers are earmarking for maternity services is not reaching wards and is being spent on other parts of the NHS. They say the figures prove the Government has no chance of honouring its pledge that all women should have one-to-one care from a named midwife during the entire pregnancy by the end of this year. Cathy Warwick, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said: 'Although the situation for most regions will be better, it will still not be good enough to deliver the quality of care women need. 'A step change is needed at regional level to recruit more midwives, and we hope that decision makers will treat it as a priority and put money they have been given for maternity services into maternity services.' Conservative health spokeswoman Anne Milton said: 'Midwives' morale is currently low and too much of their time is wasted by bureaucracy and red tape. We need to ensure that the workforce spends more time delivering healthy babies from healthy mothers than filling in needless forms.' <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1170685/NHS-maternity-units-short-staffed-despite-surge-number-midwives.html">SOURCE</a> Australia. A "caring" Leftist health minister says that the red tape comes first: So you must die <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bon2qYOaQ0M/ScmIuP1eNfI/AAAAAAAAAI4/HDTe9Y2lTt8/s400/nicola+roxon.jpg"> The "caring" one above A SYDNEY woman who has been told she has six months to live will try to raise more than $2 million for life-saving surgery in the United States after her plea for government funding was rejected. Pauline Talty, 36, from Kellyville, was told on Thursday she would not receive money to have a small bowel transplant in Pittsburgh, under the Federal Government's Medical Treatment Overseas Program, because the operation could be performed at an Australian hospital. Specialists at Melbourne's Austin Hospital, while trained in the procedure, have never performed a bowel transplant because of a lack of donor bowels. Ms Talty has short bowel syndrome, which developed after her intestines were damaged from radiotherapy she received for treatment of childhood cancer of the kidney. She said having the operation in Melbourne would put her at "risk of serious complication or even death". "My case is very complex and I don't want to be their first one. I only get one shot at this and if the Austin messes it up, I die. I don't get a second chance." Due to Ms Talty's stunted bowel growth from radiotherapy, she needs a child's bowel, but Professor Bob Jones, head of the Austin's liver transplant program, told her she may have to wait years for a donor. The average wait for a child's bowel in the US is 240 days. "I don't have years. I was told in October that I have 12 months to live and I have just wasted five months trying to appeal the Government's decision. "In Pittsburgh, they have been doing this for 20 years and have a 96 per cent success rate, which they have only achieved in the past few years. They have an abundance of bowels so I am not giving up." The federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, said: "I have real admiration for Pauline Talty, for her courage, and determination and I know this must be an incredibly difficult time for her. [But] there are clear, established guidelines for assessing applications under this program … which all applicants must meet." Ms Talty, who was a business strategist before she became ill, has been in Royal North Shore and Royal Prince Alfred hospitals for 13 months. She is fed through tubes in her chest and groin. Ms Talty has already raised about $200,000 for her living expenses and nursing care while in the US but is now appealing to the public for money to pay for the bowel surgery. <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/six-months-to-raise-2m-for-surgery-20090418-aas7.html">SOURCE</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/8125125-8089288801178013057?l=socglory.blogspot.com'/></div>

Autor of the post: noreply@blogger.com (JR)

How scarce is ammo? Post Date:
It's so scarce it's essentially a futures commodity now...These are prices for delivery in October. It's April. This is from Sportsmans' Guide.com. If you don't have ammo by now you have some decisions to make.

Autor of the post: Undefined

Vid Chuckle Post Date:
This is for the bio majors, and those to be... Via Musings of a Dinosaur

Autor of the post: Undefined

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