| Public never warned about dangerous device
A young mother in Los Angeles was desperate. A rare form of cancer was ravaging her 5-month-old son. Their doctor said chemotherapy offered the best hope for survival, a 1-in-4 chance. Natalia Campos watched as her baby, Antonio, struggled in pain through the first few treatments. Then she learned of an alternative-therapy clinic that promised a cure, without pain, using a machine called a PAP-IMI. Twice a day at the Bio-Energy Services clinic, Campos held Antonio while the 260-pound machine pulsed powerful electromagnetic waves into the tumor bulging from his neck. The treatments failed, and Antonio died — the victim not only of his cancer, but of what one health official later called a "major national health fraud." The man behind that fraud is Panos Pappas, a math professor from Athens, Greece, who invented the PAP-IMI.
Researchers find most Americans snack-crazed on the job
NEW YORK -- Apple in your top drawer, granola bar in your briefcase, sesame seeds -- raw and unsalted -- in a bowl on your desk. Yes, these are the healthy staples used to stave off the midafternoon siren call of the office vending machine. Clearly, they don't work. Close to three-quarters of 2,063 full-time U.S. workers surveyed said they scarf down an unhealthy snack such as chips or candy at least once a week on the job. And 27 percent say they do it three or more times a week. The results are from a phone survey in this summer by Opinion Research Corporation for Nationwide Better Health, a Columbus, Ohio-based health and productivity management company. The survey also found 38 percent of respondents placing the blame for their habit on work-related stress, and 48 percent saying their cafeterias and office vending machines offer no healthy alternatives to the yummier, junkier snacks.
CT Scans To Determine Heart Disease In The Emergency Room
In the future, patients who arrive at a hospital Emergency Department complaining of chest pain may be diagnosed with a sophisticated CT scan. If the diagnosis is negative, the patient can go home�"and the total time at the hospital will be much shorter than it is today.
That is the theory behind a study being presented at the RSNA (Abstract ID: 5009389; Monday, November 26, 3:10 p.m.) by Rajan Agarwal, M.D., a resident in Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
"The cost of chest pain triage (where patients in the Emergency Department are prioritized based on their symptoms) and management has been estimated to be as high as $8 billion annually, with most patients ultimately not having to remain in the hospital. Therefore," Dr. Agarwal states, "there is a tremendous opportunity to reduce health care costs if we can demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of this procedure with low-risk patients who go to the Emergency Department."
Further, this reduced length of stay improves resource utilization by decreasing costs, improving inpatient bed shortages and reducing crowding in the Emergency Department.
Crawford Central adopts nutrition program
Some goodies have been longtime favorites for school kids. Crawford Central adopts nutrition program By Jamie Musick 11/19/07 — Some goodies have been longtime favorites for school kids. But many parents will soon be reconsidering the numbers of iced cupcakes and fudge brownies they're bringing to school, and perhaps choosing pre-sliced apples and broccoli florets instead for their children's classroom parties. And elementary and high school administrators will be closely monitoring how many chicken patties and fried foods students are purchasing throughout the week. .
State Of Colorado Expands Contract With Alere Medical To Include Medicaid Recipients With COPD
Alere Medical, Inc., a leading health management company, announced today that it has been chosen by the State of Colorado to manage its Medicaid recipients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) beginning in October 2007. This is the second expansion of the State of Colorado's contract with Alere Medical, which is also successfully managing the state's Medicaid heart failure and asthma patients.
"We believe that the success we've achieved with Alere's asthma program, combined with the preliminary positive experience in Alere's heart failure program, will result in similar results for our members with COPD," said Christy Hunter, Disease Management Coordinator for the state.
"Alere has been very pleased with the success of its Medicaid heart failure and asthma programs in Colorado," added Timothy J.
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