InjuryBoard National News Desk

Insurance Industry Insider Goes Public

Jane Akre — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:35:38 GMT

Wendell Potter�

Profits Before Patients?

LEARN MORE

Potter Testimony Transcript- Senate Commerce Committee, June 24, 2009
Wendell Potter's Blog
InjuryBoard News - When Insurers Play Doctor (Part One) - December 2007
IB News - When Insurers Play Doctor (Part Two) - December 2007
Bill Moyers Journal - Potter Interview
Washington Post on Conservatives for Patients' Rights
Ram USA Web site�
Single Payer Action - Web site�

�

IMAGE SOURCE:� Center for Media and Democracy Web site / Wendell Potter

For nearly 20 years, Wendell Potter, 57, had a six-figure job inside the health insurance industry, most recently as Vice President of Corporate Communications for the CIGNA Corporation. He left last year and is now a�Senior Fellow on Health Care with the Center for Media and Democracy, a nonprofit group dedicated to uncovering the corporate and public relations influences over government, opinion, and public policy.

As insurance industry lobbyists flock to the nation's capital to keep the lucrative industry alive, Potter is going public. He spoke out against the industry for the first time last month, testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee.�

He talks to Bill Moyers on PBS Friday, July 10^th and to Jane Akre, News Editor of �IB News about the kind of reform insurers are seeking that has more to do with Wall Street than bringing health care to millions of Americans living on Main Street.��

Akre: "You were with big insurance companies for two decades?"

Potter:� "Yes, almost 20 years doing PR (public relations) with the insurance industry. I started out as a newspaper reporter out of college in Memphis and Nashville.�I've been doing PR in one way or another since 1978. First was Humana in their Louisville, KY headquarters, then in 1993 until 2008, CIGNA Corporation as the chief spokesman or the company." �

Akre: �"Why did you leave? How did you feel about your job?"

Potter:� "Most of�the time I was a believer, I felt what I was saying was true, though I knew often when I was responding to reporters' question I was providing selective information. I would not purposely mislead a reporter or knowingly lie, but after a while you become aware of the fact I was obscuring information rather than providing it. It became an ethical dilemma. I just didn't want to do it anymore.

"One of the last things I did was a very high profile case. It involved a 17-year-old year old girl, Nataline Sarkisyan. At the end of 2007 in California her doctors at UCLA�said her only hope was a transplant. CIGNA denied coverage for the transplant. Her family went to the media and organizations that helped them level a protest. They got so much attention that CIGNA eventually agreed to cover the procedure. Unfortunately it came hours after the girl died.�

"We'll never know whether the transplant might have worked, but the family didn't have the means to pay for the transplant. The only hope they had was to change CIGNA's mind, but it was too late."

Akre: "What was your part in that?"�

Potter: "The Chief Medical Officer and I were the two people authorized to talk about the case.� Because of the nature of it and the fact that Ms. Sarkisyan died, there was a great uproar of support for the family and I got a lot of hate e-mails. It was a difficult time to live through.� It was toward the end, it was one of the things that ultimately made me decide I had to change."

Potter says an event began his transformation two years ago. It happened during a July 2007 visit to his parents in Kingsport, Tennessee.� ��

Potter:� "I picked up the local newspaper and saw an organization was holding a health care expedition at the fairgrounds.� They were bringing in doctors and nurses�into the Wise County fairgrounds in Wise, Virginia, in the heart of the coal mining area of Virginia. �I drove up out of curiosity and was overwhelmed to see all of the cars parked.�

"When I went inside the fairground gates, I saw hundreds and hundreds of people standing in the rain waiting for free care because they had no other means of getting care. And the care was being provided in animal stalls. Workers had worked for days cleaning out the stalls.� It hit me like a ton of bricks. Where was I?

"It was like a foreign country, but this was the United States. �That began to change my thinking. Two or three weeks later I was in Philadelphia and I was on the corporate jet and there was a flight attendant and she brought me my lunch on gold china with gold silverware. And I was sitting there on a luxurious leather chair. And it dawned on me that somebody's premiums were paying for the jet fuel for me to travel like that.� They had certainly no access to health insurance coverage if they were underinsured, and if they had insurance, they were unable to afford care because they had such high deductibles."

Editor's Note- * The organization is called Remote Area Medical or Ram USA and is operated out of Knoxville, Tennessee by Stan Brock. He initially started providing care to remote villages in South America but soon realized there was just as great a need in the U.S. where there are nearly 50 million uninsured people, and 25 million underinsured.� About 60 percent of Ram USA's work is now in the U.S.

Wall Street

Potter says Wall Street plays a powerful role in the insurance industry. �

Potter: "Their top priority is to drive up the value of the stock, which is discussed every three months with investors and analysts.�� Wall Street looks at two key figures - earnings per share and the medical-loss ratio, or medical 'benefit" ratio. That is the difference between what the company pays out in claims and what it has left over to cover sales, marketing, underwriting, administrative costs, and profits. To win the favor of analysts, for-profit insurers must prove they made more money during the previous quarter than a year earlier.

"For the institutional investors who own these companies, the pressure is intense. They have to release their financial results every three months and they know the results are going to be scrutinized. If the investor thinks they haven't done an adequate job managing the company, it will be punished and the stock price will decline.� I've seen when a company disappoints Wall Street. Their stock drops 20 percent or more in a single day. "

Akre: �"I think most people don't realize that insurance companies don't make their profit from premiums."

Potter:� "A big portion of the income of an insurer does come from investment gains and losses.� What the insurers do is take money they receive from premiums and invest that money - in various ways. Typically, they will invest in index funds and real estate�holdings.� It runs the gamut, they want to be broad to protect against swings in the market just like a typical investor would try to diversify their holdings.��

"One of the measures investors look for is a medical-loss ratio. That is a percentage.� The top number will be the percentage of that number that is used to pay claims.� That medical loss ratio is about 80 percent.� 80 percent is used pay claims, so 80 cents of every dollar is used by the insurance company to pay claims.

"The 20 cents is called administrative expenses.� The components of that include marketing, sales, underwriting, executive compensation, bonuses, and profits.� Insurers will lead you to believe a big chuck of that money will benefit consumers through disease management programs, but it is not close to the majority being spent.

"With underwriting, they want to make sure when they have a customer, they make a profit on that business, so they estimate what they expect the claim to be and how many claims will they file.�� It's guestimating claims. The result is that they use underwriting to keep premiums pretty high for small employers.�

"On the sales and marketing side, they devote an inordinate amount of that money to stealing customers from each other rather than offer insurance to someone for the first time.� They try to get the best employers, but the employer base is declining.� The pie is shrinking.� �When a customer signs a contract with a company it has a date for a renewal period that the customer can renew or put the business out to bid.� That happens quite often. The customer wants to determine if they can get a better deal somewhere else. All the big companies pay attention to that.� �They go after the largest customers and the best business. They try to avoid the smaller customers."

Akre: �"We hear about pre-existing conditions or people being dropped by their insurers to keep profits up too?"

Potter:� "One of the things I provided testimony about to the Senate Commerce Committee is the process of purging. Underwriters determine the claims filed are greater than the profit and they'll jack the premiums up so high the customers will have to walk away. Usually they are hard pressed to provide another carrier, so they're often stuck.�� Their alternatives are to cut benefits, or shift the cost to the employees or drop coverage entirely. More are doing that. Since 1993, the percentage of small business offering coverage has dropped from 61 to 38 percent.� A lot of that is because they're priced out of the market, they've been purged."� ��

Potter says insurers will determine if a sick policyholder may have omitted a minor illness or a pre-existing condition and then they can use that as a means to cancel the policy, even if the premium has always been paid on time.�

An investigation by the Energy and Commerce Committee�found that when a company�canceled the coverage of 20,000 people over five years, the company avoided paying $300 million in claims.

Akre: "Does that mean they get rid of sick employees?"

Potter:� �"It's clear they know, they're not supposed to have access to health records. When you see a layoff, look for employees who might cost them more."

Akre:� "Is the single-payer system a good direction to go in? It is something Congress should give serious consideration to?"

Potter: "Sen. Baucus has said that single-payer is off the table.� The reason is the insurance lobby is so generous they're not about to wipe out the insurance industry and the insurance industry is fighting the single-payer system."

Akre: "How are they doing that?"

Potter:� "They put an enormous amount of resources to scare people from single payer and they utilize scare tactics. They use conservative radio hosts, editorial writers and pundits, who are among the shills for the industry. And they can rely on them because they are ideological allies.� They'll fund a front group like Conservatives for Patients' Rights to carry that message using selective anecdotes from Canada or the UK."

Editors Note * - SourceWatch, is an online service created by the Center for Media and Democracy to identify the people behind groups and organizations. It says Conservatives for Patients' Rights is a front group run by Richard Scott. �The Washington Post identifies Scott as a former hospital chief executive and multimillionaire investor, who founded the group, spending �$5 million of his own money and up to $15 million from supporters to build a resistance to any government-run program.� According to the online news site, Politico, Scott's public relations campaign was coordinated by CRC Public Relations, the same firm that masterminded the "Swift Boat attacks" against 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry, reports the Washington Post.

The ads the group runs began airing in May and�feature horror stories about the problems patients have finding medical care in Canada and the United Kingdom.�

Potter:� "It's called Medicare in Canada and it's comparable to Medicare here.� We have government-run Medicare and it's been a godsend for people who enroll in those plans.� If it hadn't been for Lyndon Johnson in the 60s who was instrumental in getting it passed, I can't imagine what situation our senior citizens would be in today."

"They say you'll have a beauocrat between you and your doctor.� But what we have is worse than that. We have people standing in long lines to get care in animal stalls or a corporate beauocrat standing between you and care.� People in Canada like their system.� This is the same thing they did in the Clinton years.� It's frightening if you are not aware of who is behind the groups."� #

See your local listing to see the rest of the interview with Wendell Potter on Bill Moyers Journal, Friday July 10 on PBS.

Get Informed

�Health Care For America Now is a grassroots group of 1,000 member organizations in 46 states that advocates affordable health coverage for everyone, whether private or public so you are "no longer at the mercy of the private insurance industry".
�Conservatives for Patients' Rights is a nonprofit organization dedicated to patients' rights.� Their Web site has the ads that denounce government run health care in Canada and the United Kingdom.� SourceWatch calls it a front group for the insurance industry.�� #

Originally posted at Jane Akre

Do You Live In A Fat State?

Chrissie Cole — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:55:20 GMT

View Obesity Rates in your State

LEARN MORE

IMAGE SOURCE: U.S. Obesity Trends / CDC

Obesity rates are increasing or holding steady in some states, but did not drop in any single state.

According to a CDC news release, 26.1 percent of U.S. adults were obese in 2008, compared to 25.6 percent in 2007.

The data was collected through the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). A state-based phone survey that collects health information from adults aged 18 and over.

More than 400,000 U.S. adults were surveyed in the 2008 BRFSS. To assess obesity prevalence, participants are asked to provide their height and weight, which is used to calculate their body mass index (BMI).

A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight while a BMI over 30 is considered obese, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.

The results show adult obesity is most prevalent in Mississippi and less common in Colorado, which is also the only state where less than 20 percent of adults are obese.

Obesity is a major risk factor for several chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, and type 2 diabetes.

Trust for America’s Health, also recently released a report which found children obese or overweight weigh in at 30 percent nationwide. Overweight and obese adults account for 32.5 percent of the U.S population. Obesity among adults exceeds 25 percent in 31 states.

To view an animated map of obesity rates per state, click here. For the raw data released by the CDC, click here. #

Originally posted at Chrissie Cole

Delayed Aging With Antibiotic Rapamycin

Jane Akre — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:54:38 GMT

�

Rapamycin

LEARN MORE

National Institute on Aging- Interventions Testing Program�
Nature letter - story available by subscription
The�Jackson Laboratory�

�

IMAGE SOURCE:� The Jackson Laboratory/ mice for sale/�Web site�

�

It happened in mice experiments and was discovered quite accidentally.

The antibiotic, rapamycin has been shown to�extend the life in laboratory mice.�In these experiments the mice were given the antibiotic later in life, after 600 days, the equivalent of a person living to age 60, reports the�New York Times.��Most life extension interventions, including a low-calorie diet, are started early in life.��

Rapamycin is used to suppress the immune system in transplant patients.�

The experiments were conducted by researchers working at three institutions - Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine; the University of Michigan; and University of Texas Health Science Center. The teams were sponsored by the National Institute on Aging to test anti-aging drugs.�

The effect on aging was seen when mice were fed the drug directly into the intestine after a dosage in the bloodstream was not working. By the time that happened the mice were elderly. The�females�lived 14 percent longer,�and the males, males 9 percent longer.��

David Harrison, a gerontologist at The Jackson Laboratory�in Bar Harbor Maine and lead author on the paper, told The Scientist that�extending life by 9 percent is significant.�

Rapamycin is also used to show down the growth of cancerous tumors, so one theory is that�it is actually halting tumors rather than fighting the aging effect.� The Scientist reports that rapamycin works by inhibiting the�processes that degrade cellular waste. The drug has been found to extend the life spans of yeast, fruit flies, and nematodes.

"It's no longer irresponsible to say that following these up could lead to medicines that increase human life span by 10, 20 or 30 percent," Dr. Richard A. Miller of the University of Michigan said to the Times.

The findings are reported in the July 8 online version of Nature.��

The National Institute on Aging is studying�aging through its Interventions Testing Program ( ITP), which will look at the effects of food, diets, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals on aging.

Other studies will include the ingredient in red wine, resveratrol, that appears to mimic the effects of calorie restriction.� The supplement company, Sirtris, offers a supplemental version of resveratrol. The CEO says the study so far shows "quite modest effects of resveratrol". �#

Originally posted at Jane Akre

Longer Flights Increase Travelers Risk of Blood Clots

Chrissie Cole — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:44:00 GMT

LEARN MORE

Annals of Internal Medicine, July 2009
InjuryBoard on VTE / Venous Thromboembolism
InjuryBoard on Blood Clots
IB - Surgeon General Issues "Call to Action" to Prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis, Sept. 2008
Venous Disease Coalition

IMAGE SOURCE: Wikimedia Commons / blood clot diagram / author: German

The risk of venous thromboembolism, or VTE, is three times greater for travelers, than for people not cramped on an aircraft or other modes of transportation, according to a new study published online in the July issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The report, warns travelers about the importance of knowing the symptoms of VTE and staying hydrated and mobile while traveling to prevent the condition from developing on long trips.

Symptoms of clotting, also known as deep vein thrombosis include swelling in the arms or legs, skin redness, soreness or pain in the arms and legs or a warm spot on the legs.

The relationship between VTE -- clots that form in the veins, usually the leg, which can be fatal if they move to the lungs or heart -- and travel has long been suggested. But this is the first study to support the theory; previous research has yielded contradictory findings.

Overall, the risk of VTE is relatively small (1 in 20 million), though greater on trips longer than 4 hours, says Jack Hirsh, panel chair of the American College of Chest Physicians.

Researchers found, for each two-hour increase in travel time (by any mode), the risk of VTE, increased by 18 percent, while for air travelers the risk increased to 26 percent.

For the study, researchers looked at 14 reports on VTE and travel that had mixed findings. None of the studies individually showed risk. The relationship was identified by pooling results says, Dariush Mozaffarian, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard Medical School.

Hirsh recommends drinking a glass of water every couple hours and flexing your calf muscles against the foot rest if you are unable to get up and move around. Liquids help to dilute the blood, making it less likely to clot. While mobility keeps the blood flowing.

He advises against alcohol and coffee consumption while traveling as they dehydrate you.

Staying mobile and hydrated, are not proven measures to prevent VTE but they help. More research is needed on preventive measures.

People considered high risk for blood clots -- those with chronic illness, estrogen takers, smokers and those who have had clots before - - should talk to their doctor and may need to take a blood thinner before making a long trip. But, even so, the risk is still relatively low.

For those people that must travel on long flights several times a month and are concerned about VTE, there is an option. Studies have shown below-the-knee compression stockings to be helpful.

More than 200,000 new cases of venous thromboembolism occur each year in the U.S. with a 30 percent risk of dying within 30 days, according to the American Heart Association. #

Originally posted at Chrissie Cole

Doctors Discuss Dangers of Diprivan

Jane Akre — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:37:00 GMT

�

Jackson Doctor Talks to CNN About Diprivan

LEARN MORE

Food and Drug Administration - on Propofol (Diprivan)
Dr. Wischmeyer 2006 study- University of Colorado
Drug News - on Mayo Clinic study
IB News - Exclusive- Jackson and Diprivan - June 2009

�

IMAGE SOURCE: CNN/ Larry King talks to Dr. Arnie Klein Wednesday, July 8, 2009/�CNN Web site�

�

Appearing on CNN's Larry King Wednesday night, dermatologist, Dr. Arnie Klein, talked about his patient, Michael Jackson, and drug use by the star.

Dr.�Klein had a long-term relationship with Jackson, having treated him for lupus erythematosus, which appeared as a red butterfly rash and a crust on his scalp, as well as the skin condition vitiligo.

As to drug use, Dr. Klein said he had�given Jackson Demerol�"on occasion" to allow him to sleep. Jackson had beaten a drug addiction at one time, but Klein says he had a huge tolerance for the drug, Diprivan, generally administered by anesthesiologists in a surgical setting.

King:� "What would it be doing in someone's house?"

Klein: "I have no idea. And that's what doesn't make sense to me."

Short acting, a patient goes to sleep and Diprivan passes through the body quickly, Dr. Klein told King.� How do you get it outside of a hospital setting, asks King.� Like any dangerous substance the "rich and famous can buy anything they want to buy" said Klein.

Klein: "I knew at one point that he was using Diprivan when he was on tour in Germany. And so he was using it, with an anesthesiologist, to go to sleep at night. And I told him he was absolutely insane. I said you have to understand that this drug, you can't repeatedly take. "

King: "How could a reasonable anesthesiologist give that to someone other than prior to surgery?"

Klein: "Because I have to tell you, there are certain people in this world who are not reasonable."

King: "Are you surprised Diprivan was found in his home, supposedly?"

Klein: "I am very shocked by it."

King: "Did you ever see any IV type equipment in his house?"

Klein: "Never."

Dr. Klein says he was never asked to administer Diprivan, which he said he wouldn't as a dermatologist.

At least five doctors under investigation in connection with Jackson's death, some of whom went on tour with the singer. ��

Diprivan

Diprivan is not approved as a sleep aid by the FDA. CNN discusses its use in office procedures, urology, dentistry, gynecology and colonoscopies where it is thought effective because of the quick recovery time.

A Mayo Clinic study in 2008 found Diprivan use associated with a higher risk of cardiac arrest and deaths in patients with a condition known as refractory status epilepticus, prolonged seizures that do not respond to initial treatment. Mayo Clinic no longer uses Diprivan to treat RSE patients.

Diprivan, also known by its generic name propofol, was allegedly found in the Jackson house has a 100 percent death rate for most abusers says Dr. Paul Wischmeyer of the University of Colorado, to the New York Daily News.��"A cc too much of this drug can change you from being high to being dead. There is no margin for error for this drug. It kills people."

Dr. Wischmeyer led a 2006 study of Propofol after a colleague doctor died from the drug.�� Looking at 126 teaching hospitals, he found 25 abusers among which seven had died. Among them, six were medical residents, and one was a medical assistant.� Dr. Wischmeyer says the only abusers who stand a chance of surviving are the few doctors who become addicted.�

His study found one 31-year-old doctor who began injecting himself a dozen times a day to reduce his feelings of boredom and depression.�

"That somebody would be receiving this at home, that's just unfathomable," he said.

The abusers tended to have a prior history of drug abuse, not unlike Jackson's struggle with painkillers.

"Propofol was often the final drug used in a pattern of controlled substance abuse," the study noted. "This pattern may be because of the ease of obtaining Propofol."

Despite this 2006-2007 study, the FDA did not regulate the drug. Dr. Wischmeyer believes that this tragedy should lead to regulation of Propofol.� #

Originally posted at Jane Akre

Food and You: Blood Pressure

Jane Akre — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:16:34 GMT

Lentil soup

Veggie Amino Acid

LEARN MORE

Circulation - Glutamic Acid - Abstract, July 2009
DASH diet is detailed by the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Nutrition Data on - Foods highest in Glutamic Acid

�

IMAGE SOURCE: �Wiki Media Commons/Lentil soup/ author: Xufanc

�

Eat your vegetables sounds like grandmas sound advice, but there is new science that backs it.

Researchers have discovered that an amino acid found in vegetable protein appears to lower blood pressure.�� The research is published in the journal Circulation.

Glutamic acid�is the common amino acid found in vegetables and accounts for 23 percent of vegetable protein and 18 percent of meat protein.� It is found in beans, whole grains, soy products, rice, and bread.�

Participants from an international study showed a 4.72 percent higher intake of glutamic acid correlated with a 1.5 to 3-point reduction in the average systolic blood pressure (when the heart beats) and a 1 to 1.6-point lower diastolic pressure (when the heart rests between beats), reports the�Atlanta Journal Constitution.�

"The fact that the most important amino acid in vegetable protein is related to blood pressure supports the inference that a diet high in vegetable protein and low in animal protein has favorable effects on blood pressure," said Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University.

Dr. Stamler says the number could cut stroke death rates by six percent, and coronary heart disease deaths by four percent.�

The relationship between low blood pressure and higher intake of glutamic acid was seen in the study of 4,680 participants from China, Japan, the UK and U.S. and supports the idea that a diet high in vegetable protein and low in animal protein has a favorable impact on blood pressure.�

The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) developed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health follows the same thinking with its abundance of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans and lean poultry.�

According to Nutrition Data, foods highest in glutamic acid include seaweed, cabbage, tomatoes, asparagus, soy protein and sauce, fish and shellfish, lentil and some meats.� #

Originally posted at Jane Akre

Darvon, Darvocet Stronger Warning

Jane Akre — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:08:41 GMT

LEARN MORE

Drugs.com - on Darvocet�
Public Citizen - on Darvon's risks
IB News - Tylenol Smaller Doses May Prevent Liver Damage - June 2009

�

IMAGE SOURCE: CVS Pharmacy Web site/ Darvocet

�

Almost Taken Off The Market

Expect to see a new stronger warning on the label of the painkillers, Darvon and Darvocet.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has called for the additional warning because of a danger of overdose for the drug, propoxphene, after noting higher-than-expected fatality rates and possible toxic effects on the heart.

Darvocet is a combination of acetaminophen and propoxyphene, a group of narcotic pain relievers. Darvon contains propoxyphene. Both are highly addictive.�

Public Citizen, the consumer group, had asked for the drugs to be withdrawn from the market, and an expert advisory panel last February had concurred voting 14-12 to ban the drug products, but the FDA will allow them to stay with the stronger warning. ��

The drugs had been available since 1957. Over that time period, 91 deaths related to propoxyphene have been reported to the FDA, reports ABC News.� The data is not clear as some of the deaths were suicides and involved other drugs.�

Propoxyphene is similar to methadone in that it is an opioid painkiller used when Tylenol doesn't help.

Another FDA advisory panel last week decided that prescription products containing�acetaminophen (Tylenol)�should be given in smaller doses and the Extra Strength Tylenol should be sold by prescription only to reduce the dangers of serious liver injury.

The American Geriatrics Society has discouraged the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDS) drugs in older patients, so propoxyphene -containing analgesics, with fewer side effects, were considered a better option.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, of the advocacy group Public Citizen, says the FDA is allowing a risky drug to stay on the market.�

"The agency has decided to allow the continued marketing of a drug with the most patient-unfavorable ratio of risks of any drug I have ever seen," Wolfe said. "We will either appeal this anti-public health decision to the new FDA commissioner or argue in federal court that the decision was arbitrary and capricious."

Instead, the FDA will require manufacturers to stress the importance of taking the drug as directed to avoid the risk of overdose.��

"All current pharmacologic options for pain have significant liability.� Given the data currently available to FDA, propoxyphene is an acceptable choice for the treatment of mild to moderate pain when it's taken as directed" �Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said to ABC News.��

The American Academy of Pain Medicine issued a study this year that 2 million people had prescriptions for propoxyphene- containing product.� Their data suggested that more than 500,000 Americans take the drug every day for pain.� �#�

Originally posted at Jane Akre

The FDA's Division of Drug Information Is Now On Twitter

Chrissie Cole — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:02:12 GMT

LEARN MORE

FDA Division of Drug Information (DDI)
InjuryBoard Twitter News
IB - St. Cloud, The Ethics And Legalities Of Twitter

IMAGE SOURCE: FDA Twitter Account

In recent months Twitter’s popularity has soared. A wide number of people around the world now turn to Twitter in search of information during an emergency, for health and business advice, to networking, swine flu and so much more.

Twitter is a ‘micro blogging’ service under the umbrella of a social networking tool based on the basic question – “What are you doing?”

Now, the Division of Drug Information (DDI), a branch of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will be utilizing the power of Twitter to inform consumers, health care providers and the industry about information regarding human drug products and drug product regulation.

The DDI Twitter account will not communicate with people, but rather send accurate, informational updates regarding drug products and regulation.

Twitter Help

The concept of Twitter is amazingly simple [and addictive], which is likely one of many reasons that it has caught on like wildfire and continues to grow. The site allows users to send a small update (limited to 140 characters) to their "followers."

If you are still not sure what Twitter is and why you should care, stop by TwiTip where you can find a wealth of information about Twitter and how it can benefit you and your business. And if you aren't sure how to find followers, try Twellow.com , the Twitter yellow pages, which allows you to search by category. #

Follow DDI | Follow InjuryBoard

Originally posted at Chrissie Cole

Computer-Related Injuries On the Rise

Chrissie Cole — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:50:58 GMT

LEARN MORE

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, July 2009
NINDS: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Fact Sheet

IMAGE SOURCE: iStockPhoto / neck pain / author: Martinan

Computer users face a host of risks such as back and neck pain, carpal tunnel, blurry vision and headaches. But, according to a new study, a growing number of folks are landing in the emergency room due to acute injuries related to computers and computer accessories.

More than 90 percent of computer-related injuries occured at home. Injuries surged from 1,267 in 1994 to more than 9,000 in 2006, according to the study published in the July issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM).

The data comes from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), which is managed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The 13-year study involved 78,000 people ages 1 month to 89 years who were treated in emergency rooms for acute computer-related injuries.

The most common injuries were lacerations, especially in younger children and often head injuries. Second most common were abrasions and contusions.

“Children younger than five had the highest injury rate of all age groups. The most common cause of injury was tripping or falling,” said Lara B. McKenzie, PhD, of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, which conducted the study. “Wires can pose tripping and electrical hazards, computer cases have sharp edges and computer chairs are too big for small children - all of which create opportunities for falls.”

Mike Bryant, InjuryBoard’s St. Cloud partner, shares some helpful advice for avoiding computer-related injuries:

“In this business, we see a lot of people injured in a lot of different ways. But, this study suggests that as we sit at our computers, we need to make sure what we do around the computer is done carefully.”

? Think about where cords are.

? Don't lift it without using your legs or getting help

? Watch out how safely balanced the computer is

? Always watch out around electricity

? Keep computer equipment away from the edges of desks.

? Supervise kids when they're using the computer. #

Originally posted at Chrissie Cole

Mother Pleads Not Guilty of Withholding Care From Son

Jane Akre — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:27:49 GMT

Son Died in March�

LEARN MORE

Texas Law - On withholding medical treatment�
IB News - Judge Overrules Parents Alternative Treatment, May 2009

�

IMAGE SOURCE:� Boston Globe/ Kristin LaBrie / Web site�

�

Kristen LaBrie�was arraigned yesterday in Superior Court for withholding medical care from Jeremy, her autistic 9-year-old son who had cancer and died in March.�

LaBrie, of Salem, Mass. is facing up to 40 years in prison if convicted on all four charges including attempted murder, child endangerment, and permitting bodily injury to a disabled person, reports the�Boston Globe.

Prosecutors said LaBrie, 37, did not bring Jeremy to scheduled chemotherapy sessions to help him fight his non-Hodgkin lymphoma and failed to obtain his prescriptions.

The Essex District Attorney, Jonathan Blodgett's office says LaBrie failed to act between October 2006, when the boy was diagnosed, and March 2008, when Massachusetts General Hospital reported her to authorities.

She shook her head in the courtroom as the charges were read.

Jeremy Fraser, 9, had been diagnosed with a serious form of autism as a young child.� In October 2006, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma but was given an 85 to 90 percent chance of recovery, reports Associated Press.� After chemotherapy he went into remission.

He was supposed to be given more medication at home.�

After doctors checked and found LaBrie was not filling prescriptions. Jeremy's cancer returned as leukemia and could not be treated with chemotherapy.�

Defense attorney, Kevin James said in court that his client was the victim because the boy's father abandoned them and she had severe financial problems and no assistance with the boy's care.

Eric Fraser, Jeremy's father, says he is happy with his ex-wife's prosecution. Fraser took custody of the boy and put him in hospice care before he died in March. �

Parents have been known to withhold medical care for religious reasons as was the recent case of Daniel Hauser, whose parents wanted to choose treatments aligned with their belief in a Native American religion over chemotherapy. �Bioethicists write that in that case, the Court violated the family's right to confidentiality.� ��

The withholding of emergency medical treatment is much more problematic legally than the later withdrawal of interventions intended to extend life.�

Clinical Bioethics Blog discusses that Texas allows the withdrawal of medical treatment even if the patient is conscious, talking, and aware of his surrounding if the physician concludes the patient will die within six months and there is no health directive to the contrary.� �

The Texas legislature has introduced a bill to amend�this statute, Section 166.039.�� #��

Originally posted at Jane Akre