October News

Gearing up for elections has meant lean pickings for most any kind of non political news!
What we did see in October was:

• Obesity rates are up in adolescents - some states are worse than others.. but think about the impact on their health over time....joint issues, lack of ability to exercise, heart disease risk, diabetes risk, etc...
• Whooping cough is resurging: Do you know why? who is recommended to be immunized against this? 
• There are new recommendations for meningitis immunizations - who is targeted? what is the health risk to the general public if there is an outbreak?

Think about how you can be impact someone's life by knowing about the above issues and telling someone about it!  Don't just think about this one, do something about it!

September news

Hot topics that were on the burner during the month of September included bedbugs, identity theft (with a twist) mobile medical apps and yes--bed bugs!!

The first topic (9/23/10) 'bugs found in similac' eeeewwww!! but for real, what is the impact on the baby's health? Probably no serious health concern except maybe an upset stomach. They did recall the formula. side bar: there was a study published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology  (March, 2005) identifying a relationship between asthma and roaches...jus sayin...

Twisted identity theft (Sept 15,2010): Well...now identity thieves are stealing your medical information. You might say, so what, I'll just ask for another ID card. Not so fast...It was reported that the thieves, use the stolen medical ID to have procedures and obtain prescriptions. then when you need services, you are DENIED!!! Can you imagine being told "I'm sorry, you can't have your appendix out because we took it out last month" as you lay moaning and groaning in pain.. or you get the bill for the MRI you didn't have...being stuck with convincing your insurance it wasn't you AND being sent to collections for the bill you won't pay because it wasn't you!!!! To top it all off, you have reached your cap for the year and it isn't even June!Yikes!!!  What's the impact to the general public as a result of this fraud

The bed bugs bite again...and again...and again...What is the potential complication for the patient with bed bug bites???

September also gave us a new iPhone app allowing electronic prescriptions...only doctors can subscribe -it's encrypted using the same technology that the military uses (not sure if that's good or bad)!! As a consumer of health care, what would this mean to you? As a health care provider, it could mean no more deciphering unrecognizable prescriptions!!! Gotta love itunes

Maybe most importantly, HEALTH CARE REFORM IS HERE! Starting Sept 23, one provision is that children are covered under  their parents health insurance until 26. More changes can be found at www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform
Think about how insurances will address these changes...check your mail box for notifications!!!
What are the checks and balances regarding health care costs?....
Think about it!