Archive for the 'Medical/Nursing' Category

The weekend has come, and so has the dreary weather, at least in my part of the world, known as central Maryland. But there’s a bright side, in that I won’t have to shovel anything. In other parts of the world, here’s a bit of what’s been going on:

The University of Alabama in Huntsville has fired professor Amy Bishop, accused of shooting 6 colleagues, killing 3 of them.

From the “stoopid criminals” department: Oregon Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has been suspended for the upcoming 2010 football season, after pleading guilty to a burglary charge. What did he steal? Two laptop computers and a guitar.

The Ninth Circuit has ruled that “God” in the Pledge of Allegiance is constitutional.

The National Review interviews pro-life Democrat Bart Stupak. For politicians with views similar to Stupak’s, 2SecondsFaster asks, “What should pro-life Democrats do?”

Members of the Thomas More Society react to the Illinios Attorney General’s claim that state’s constitution contains the right to an abortion.

Some say that defending the enemy is a time-honored tradition, sometimes invoking John Adams’ defense of the British soldiers accused in the Boston Massacre. A Wall Street Journal editorial begs to differ.

The Weekly Standard celebrates hope and change – in Iraq.

The New England Journal of Medicine reports a survey indicating that Obamacare could result in a decrease in the number of physicians. (H/T Hugh Hewitt)

SayAnythingBlog warns of a double-dip recession.

On the other hand theSpec reports that the world-wide freight recession could be ending.

The Empire State brings forth the nanny state. The New York legislature is considering a bill that would forbid restaurants from using salt in cooking.

And finally, a young protestor gives her opinion of President Obama’s fiscal policies.
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So perhaps Terri Schiavo did feel some extreme pain as she slowly starved and dehydrated to death at the wishes of her “husband”.

NEW YORK — Scientists have detected glimmers of awareness in some vegetative brain-injury patients and have even communicated with one of them — findings that push the boundaries of how to assess and care for such people.

The new research suggests that standard tests may overlook patients who have some consciousness, and that someday some kind of communication may be possible.

In the strongest example, a 29-year-old patient was able to answer yes-or-no questions by visualizing specific scenes the doctors asked him to imagine. The two visualizations sparked different brain activity viewed through a scanning machine.

“We were stunned when this happened,” said one study author, Martin Monti of Medical Research Council Cognitive and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, England. “I find it literally amazing. This was a patient who was believed to be vegetative for five years.”

Ever since a research paper four years ago showed apparent signs of awareness in a vegetative patient — one who was included in the new study — families of patients have been clamoring for brain scans, said Dr. James Bernat of Dartmouth Medical School, a spokesman for the American Academy of Neurology.

So the “experts” said that he was in a “vegetative state”, and I’d say 5 years is pretty persistent. Yet he was able to communicate, albeit on a pretty basic “yes”/”no” level. Sounds like the brain, despite having severe damage that makes doctors believe that the person is little more than a vegetable, still can hold some form of consciousness.

Unreal, and this will hopefully lead to doctor’s being able to save the lives of patients who might otherwise meet a quite painful death at the hands of intentional negligence….

One of our neighbors to the north, who have socialized medicine, will be going to the U.S. for medical treatment.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams will undergo heart surgery later this week in the United States.

Deputy premier Kathy Dunderdale will be acting premier in Williams’ absence. At a news conference to confirm his upcoming operation, she would not reveal where in the U.S. it would take place, or even if the operation could be done in Canada.

“It was never an option offered to him to have this procedure done in this province,” said Ms. Dunderdale, refusing to answer whether the procedure could be done elsewhere in Canada.

Interesting. A Canadian government official will soon receive medical treatment in the U.S., while some American government officials are intent on making the American medical system more like Canada’s.

Some background information: In Canada, a premier is the head of a provincial government. However, unlike American state governors, he is not a chief executive, but a member the provincial legislature, usually the head of the majority party. His role is thus the provincial equivalent of the prime minister in Canada’s national government.

A few other links to this story:
Cleveland.com
Taragana Health News
Washington Examiner
Star Tribune

Courtesy of Ed Morrissey over at Hot Air:

Sheesh.

I heard this wonderful little snippet that I had to rewind and hear about twenty times just to make sure I heard it come out of the President’s speech tonight:

A belief that in this country, hard work and responsibility should be rewarded by some measure of security and fair play. And an acknowledgment that sometimes government has to step in to help deliver on that promise.

This has always been the history of our progress.

In 1935, when over half of our seniors could not support themselves and millions had seen their savings wiped away, there were those who argued that Social Security would lead to socialism. But the men and women of Congress stood fast, and we are all the better for it.

In 1965, when some argued that Medicare represented a government takeover of health care, members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, did not back down.

I will agree with the statement that hard work and responsibility SHOULD be rewarded with “some measure of security and fair play” in that if you work an honest days work, you should find yourself better off. SHOULD. There is no guarantee, never has been. Living is risk. Doing anything carries risk. You can work your butt off and circumstances could pop up and “BAM”, everything you worked for is gone. OR things go really, really well, and you are comfortable and wealthy beyond one’s wildest imagination. That is our history.

Not the GOVERNMENT having to come in to “help deliver on that promise”, though I’m not sure what the “promise” was.

And THEN he has the guts to come out and say that this is the way our “progress” has always been, using FDR’s New Deal and Johnson’s Great Society as examples of “always”. Yeah. Don’t go back to the Founders, but just back into the progressive era of this country where the foundations of socialism were set, where the soft tyranny could begin, complete with the nanny state we will all enjoy. This is a slow creep. Though it seems that the snowball has picked up momentum in the last few years or so…

We have gone from equality of opportunity to equality of results. We must now guarantee a certain level for each citizen to enjoy, regardless of effort or circumstance. And we must take away from others in order to do this. Once again, our Founders did not intend this.

Bah. I fundamentally differ with this man, and the majority of his party and supporters. They believe in “leveling” the playing field, implying that adversity, and overcoming it, are their jobs and not each individual citizens.

Before some lefty troll jumps in and starts sqwaking that I am talking all crazy anarachist here, let me say that the government, local, state and federal all have their roles, with the federals the weakest as far as what it should be meddling in. That being said, if laws are being broke to the detriment of one, then ofcourse the government steps in to the fray to correct it.

And how the U.S. Constitution is being violated here requiring the use of federal power to correct a violation of a right is lost on me, and is just ignored as a non-issue. Because only those crazy Ron Paulians or nutty libertarians give a rats arse about that withered old parchment anymore. Shoot, there is a NEEEEEEEED. People are HUUUURRRRTTTING! Going BAAAAANKRUPT! Blah. Blah. Blah. I don’t say this to be harsh or cold, but the people spewing these sob stories are doing so not because they want me to help them, but so that I will let the government step in and help them, by taking away my choice and freedoms, confiscating more of my wealth and property, all to further their agendas that they can’t pay for. Yeah, that was a run-on sentence, I’m pretty sure, but I’m on a roll, so screw it.

On Fox, they’re discussing the cost, and how the President is pretty much got 10 pounds of crap stuffed into a 5 pound bag with his figures on how to pay for it. Not just the evil Repubs, but even Obama supporters are saying that he’s off. On CNN, they’re stuck on lamenting the “LIE” outcry during his speech that got Pelosi’s eyes bugged out and her hot under the collar, and anything else but the costs. I won’t even turn over to MSNBC where Matthew’s leg is quivering, Olbermann is frothing at the mouth, and Maddow, well, I can’t even look at her much listen to her smug Adam’s apple.

The question I have is, how are we going to fight this when it passes. And it will pass, in some form. Public option or not, the government will show its tentacles in the bathing suit areas of our liberties. Will the states say enough! We reassert our rights under that dusty and ill-used 10th Amendment, and since this has nothing to do with interstate commerce, you can go pound sand D.C. Or will individuals say that they’re rights are being violated because the federal government has come and ORDERED them, under penalty of law, to purchase a product. And this is NOT like auto insurance. IF I don’t own a car, I don’t have to purchase auto insurance. When this happens, and our freedoms continue to be whittled away for our own good, when is enough enough? And where do WE go to find freedom again?

Bah. I’m going to bed…

Taxachusetts is getting prepared for the swine flu – by crafting a bill that if passed, would give state and local agencies a broad set of powers, in the event of an emergency. Some of these would would be:

to require the owner or occupier of premises to permit entry into and investigation of the premises;

to close, direct, and compel the evacuation of, or to decontaminate or cause to be decontaminated any building or facility, and to allow the reopening of the building or facility when the danger has ended;

to decontaminate or cause to be decontaminated, or to destroy any material;

to restrict or prohibit assemblages of persons

The state would also be able to require citizens to be vaccinated or undergo “preventative procedure”, and able to isolate or quarantine those who are unwilling or unable to submit to the vaccination or procedure, if they are determined to be infected or exposed. Anyone knowing violating a quarantine or isolation order may be fined $1,000 per day while the violation continues.

On the other hand, if law enforcement or medical personel cause any harm (from Section 12 of the bill),

No law enforcement authority or medical personnel shall be held criminally or civilly liable as a result of an act or omission carried out in good faith in reliance on said order

Read the bill here. It’s 28 pages, pretty modest as far as legislation goes these days.

So blue staters will be paying for “national” health care for red staters?

Or, in other words, bringing Robin Hood into the health care finance business.

Hmm.

A new idea from the brains bowels of a Massachusetts state commission.

Commission members said they will urge Governor Deval Patrick and the Legislature to replace the current system, in which insurers typically pay doctors and hospitals a negotiated fee for each individual procedure or visit, with a set payment for each patient that covers all that person’s care for an entire year.
[...]
Massachusetts would be the first state to broadly adopt such a system, which would essentially put doctors and hospitals on a budget in an effort to restrain health spending.
[...]
Legislators created the commission last year, directing it to identify ways to slow soaring healthcare costs in Massachusetts, where spending is growing by more than 8 percent annually, driven largely by the high price and heavy use of hospitals.
[...]
The system pushes up costs because it encourages doctors and hospitals to do lots of procedures, and do those that are most profitable, even if they’re not always necessary, according to health policy analysts.
[...]
“Massachusetts has recognized that its cost trends are unsustainable so something has to be done,” said Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, a Washington, D.C.-based policy group. But he said the proposed changes are “very ambitious.”
[...]
The new payment system the commission expects to recommend has been tried before; it was known as “capitation” when it initially became popular under managed care in the 1980s and early 1990s. The system broke down when many small physician practices lost millions of dollars on very sick patients with high healthcare costs, and amid widespread concern that the system encouraged doctors to deny patients necessary care so they could stay within their budgets.

Oh yay!! About time they clamped down on them there hospitals and doctors! MA recognizes that IT cannot mandate everyone be insured AND offer patient choice. All the tools doctors have at their disposal to help them help US are up for the chopping block here.

Hospitals are needed, but heck, lets’ curtail their use as much as possible. Sick patients be damned. We mustn’t trust the masses of people and their doctors to decide what is the best course of action. Nope…

We can’t let them decide if they want tests and procedures that aren’t necessary, but aid doctors in diagnosing diseases and helping them locate exactly where problems are….so, when you have a pain in your back say goodbye to the MRI that might show WHAT causes that pain. Say goodbye to the CAT Scan that might show a tumor developing (even when it’s so small it could not be seen any other way…)The heck with pesky tests that might offer you a chance to live if a disease is found early. Kiss goodbye the frivolous test that discovered clogged arteries going into your heart, that will require an angioplasty procedure that will prevent a heart attack…

Let’s just deny SICK people choices. Let’s screw them over- after all a health care system isn’t MEANT for sick people right?

The hell with the 65 yr old lady who develops Altimeters Disease- which is very expensive to “treat” and is always terminal.

The hell with the 39 yr old man who was driving home from work when his car was hit head on by another car, that resulted in his being brain injured for the remainder of his life- requiring him to be on life support- and other expensive care.

The hell with the 50 yr old man who ate all the right foods, maintained a perfect weight, who ran everyday- yet had a massive heart attack one Monday during his morning jog.

These are just a few examples of how people get “sick”- and who will require many years of “tests” and “care” in order to live (or, to wait to die in some cases). Do we want to place their health care on a budget??? Do we really want to go there?

It cost more money to take care of people who are ill, have diseases, health problems and the like! That’s elementary folks. No amount of healthy living lifestyles will prevent every expensive medical condition. And we cannot force people to stop their unhealthy habits (YET).

But we can offer them an incentive: Make then pay for their own health care.
We the people should be able to decide whether we will purchase health insurance.
We the people should be able to decide what kind of coverages we need and want.
We should be able to comparison shop for the best plans that suit our needs.

Governments should not step in to control the tools and resources medical science has developed. It is these very tools that help our doctors help US.

When I first read stories about face transplants my first reaction was “Oh here we go…people not happy with their appearances seeking more surgery to make them perfect!”

Was I wrong. Kicking myself now….

CLEVELAND — When Connie Culp heard a little kid call her a monster because of the shotgun blast that left her face horribly disfigured, she pulled out her driver’s license to show the child what she used to look like. Years later, sporting the nation’s first surgically attached face, she’s stepped forward to show the rest of the world what she looks like now.

NOT that many years ago she was a pretty woman…with a beautiful smile and probing eyes.

Culp’s husband, Thomas, shot her in 2004, then turned the gun on himself. He went to prison for seven years. His wife was left clinging to life. The blast shattered her nose, cheeks, the roof of her mouth and an eye. Hundreds of fragments of shotgun pellet and bone splinters were embedded in her face. She needed a tube into her windpipe to breathe. Only her upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip and chin were left.

Not only did her destroy her appearance…but her ability to breath, eat, smell, taste…all those things we simply take for granted. Her vision remained unscathed, as was her mind. I cannot imagine what it’s been like for her- to see herself after the trauma and to live her life in such misery.

Then, on Dec. 10, in a 22-hour operation, Dr. Maria Siemionow led a team of doctors who replaced 80 percent of Culp’s face with bone, muscles, nerves, skin and blood vessels from another woman who had just died. It was the fourth face transplant in the world, though the others were not as extensive.

“Here I am, five years later. He did what he said — I got me my nose,” Culp said of Djohan, laughing.

In January, she was able to eat pizza, chicken and hamburgers for the first time in years. She loves to have cookies with a cup of coffee, Siemionow said.

I bet that coffee tasted VERY GOOD. Imagine that!

Going from not having a nose, to being able to SMELL again with a new one. God bless you Connie and the docs who did the operation. Initially the idea of surgically attaching a dead person’s facial tissue to another human being kind of grossed me out…gave me the illy willies…but now I’m over THAT.

The new “face” is still a work in progress. Connie will require more surgeries to trim it down, as the muscles grow and mature. Her current appearance will change; right now she is highly swollen and stiff, a normal post-surgery side effect.

Connie offers some advice to people:

“When somebody has a disfigurement and don’t look as pretty as you do, don’t judge them, because you never know what happened to them,” she said. “Don’t judge people who don’t look the same as you do. Because you never know. One day it might be all taken away.”

One of life’s lessons is right here folks.

Earlier today, Governor Martin O’Malley announced the opening of Maryland’s Swine Flu Operations Center in Baltimore, which will be under the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH). According to the governor,

“We want the citizens of Maryland to know that their government is doing everything we can at this time to prepare for any contingency with regard to swine flu. I want to thank our health and emergency professionals for their quick and thorough efforts as we take these precautions to protect the citizens of Maryland.”

Maryland hospitals are also getting prepared.

And not a moment too soon. Six possible cases of swine flu in Maryland have been reported, three in Baltimore County and three in Anne Arundel County. Fortunately, the people are all recovering. (For the record, I don’t live in either county.)

For some general information:
The Washington Post has some questions and answers about swine flu. The Baltimore Sun lists 14 things you need to know to stay safe. The federal Centers for Disease Control has put out this video.