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February 1, 2008

Lifetime's Mastectomy Petition - More Surface Than Substance?

Whenever I see a beautifully crafted dessert, I am always hopeful it will taste as good as it looks. More often than not though, I am disappointed by the incongruity between the attractive exterior and inferior interior. This is precisely how I feel about Lifetime Networks’ sugar-coated online petition for an end to “drive-through mastectomy,” a 20-million-signature-strong petition that had actress Marcia Cross (of Desperate Housewives) lobbying Capital Hill last Wednesday.

Continue reading "Lifetime's Mastectomy Petition - More Surface Than Substance?"

Posted by Gloria Sin at 4:54 PM | 1 Comment

October 11, 2006

Another Good Reason to Work From Home...

If you’re one of the four million people who ride New York City’s subway system everyday, you know how awful a train sounds as it comes screeching to a halt in the station. But, you may not know that it’s ruining your hearing.

In the new study "Pilot Survey of Subway and Bus Stop Noise Levels," published in the September issue of the Journal of Public Health, researchers from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health say that subway noise can exceed recommended guidelines from the World Health Organization and the Environmental Protection Agency. Thirty minutes of exposure per day, they say, can result in hearing loss.

In fact, the average maximum noise on subway platforms is almost as loud as a chainsaw (94 to 100 decibels). So every once in a while, it might not be a bad idea to call in pre-sick.

Posted by Josie Swindler at 2:49 PM | 2 Comments

June 1, 2006

Patients, Grasshopper

There was a two-page feature in last week's issue of Time that reminded me of a blog entry posted by a reader during last fall's FC Now BlogJam. (We'll celebrate the blog's third anniversary this August.)

Nathan Thornbourgh takes a look at an innovative program at Harvard Medical School in which aspiring physicians shadow patients every single time they interact with the healthcare system. This goes far beyond empathy in the examination room -- it embraces every aspect of a patient's -- a customer's -- medical care.

Posted by Heath Row at 3:37 PM | Add Comment

May 17, 2006

Doctors, Help Us Heal Ourselves

I just learned about a fascinating initiative in which 20 global health organizations and universities are working with IBM to see whether an open-source approach might help clip the wings of bird flu.

Building on the work of Larry Brilliant, the initiative will tap IBM's Interoperable Healthcare Information Infrastructure and Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler, which will involve an open-source community of epidemiologists exploring how diseases spread.

Posted by Heath Row at 2:58 PM | 2 Comments

March 29, 2006

Avian Anxiety

Yesteray, The New York Times devoted its entire science section to the threat of Avian flu becoming a global pandemic. It took something of an on-the-one hand, on-the-other perspective, but the stories, particularly those about the 1918 flu pandemic, definitely sent a chill down this reader's spine.

Unaddressed in the stories was the issue of corporate preparedness. What, if anything, are your companies doing to plan for ths possibility of bird flu disrupting business operations? Do you think the threat is overly hyped or not taken seriously enough?

Posted by Jennifer Reingold at 9:56 AM | 5 Comments

September 15, 2005

Next: iPod Hearing Aids?

A new Wired article states that younger generations are experiencing hearing damage equal to older adults due to prolonged use of portable music players at high volumes.

I watch my volume, but most don't (for the record, one study suggests that listening one hour a day at 60% volume is safe). I have co-workers who listen while they work as much as three hours daily. Should manufacturers warn people of this danger (and not just in the instruction booklets)? Or maybe volume levels should be regulated by the electronics companies?

What's the responsibility of the manufacturer? Warnings, technical tweaks, anything?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 1:04 PM | Add Comment

August 11, 2005

As a Matter of Fat

New York City's Health Department suggested that restaurants stop using trans fatty oils. They're believed to be very unhealthy, causing clogged arteries. The Dept. did not ban the ingredient outright, they only urged the eateries to move away from such oils.

I find this move strange. The harmful nature of trans-fatty oils have been known for years. It is a clear danger. Yet, the government doesn't eliminate it altogether. Certain pharmaceuticals are banned, and others are merely forced to carry warning labels. When is the more extreme action of removing something from stores warranted? The government doesn't allow car companies to use cheap parts with safety flaws. Why should they allow cheap oils with health risks?

It is a delicate situation: Once one thing is banned they might ban another and another. Then restaurants and food businesses, like markets or caterers, may have their wrists tied. Should the Government regulate food so closely? When do regulations begin limiting businesses unreasonably?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 9:58 AM | 3 Comments

April 8, 2005

Can GM Heal Thyself?

Sure, GM chief Rick Wagoner has plenty of problems he's currently battling. But the auto maker's real Achilles' heel, it turns out, may lie in the company's funding of retirees' health benefits. The Wall Street Journal turned its expert gaze to this issue in a story that ran yesterday and came up with some astounding findings. Currently, the company is spending about $5.6 billion to cover health costs for 1.1 million retirees. Obese beneficiaries, it's estimated, account for a full 26% of the people receiving care. Extrapolated out, that means obesity alone is costing the company about $286 million per year. That's some weighty stuff Wagoner's got to deal with. All told, the Journal estimates that health-care spending at GM totals roughly $1,525 for every vehicle produced. When you're talking about the difference between paying $20,000 for a car versus $18,475, that's a hefty chunk of change.

Continue reading "Can GM Heal Thyself?"

Posted by Ryan Underwood at 11:28 AM | 4 Comments

February 24, 2005

Private Healthcare?

An article in the Sunday New York Times caught my eye. It talked about a possible government mandate to standardize computerized health records, if the industry doesn't come up with a set of technical standards on its own. The benefit of electronic records outlined in the article is undeniable: A predicted $170 billion cost savings from redundant paperwork and tests, plus a sharp reduction in medical errors, which account for more deaths (45,000 to 98,000 annually) than breast cancer or motor vehicle accidents. Not to mention "other data mining possibilities" like national health research.

Privacy arguments aside, electronic health records will become standard. We live in a digital age and we have a health care system desperately in need of an overhaul.

Continue reading "Private Healthcare?"

Posted by Lynn Moloney at 6:36 PM | 3 Comments

February 18, 2005

Pain-Free Day for Big Pharma

An FDA advisory panel today recommended that recently controversial drugs Celebrex, Vioxx, and Bextra remain on the market, albeit with some restrictions. The panel acknowledged that the drugs can cause heart attacks and strokes, but said the benefits the painkillers provide outweighs the risks. The suggested limitations on the drugs include no direct to consumer marketing and narrowing the class of patients who are eligible to receive the drugs.

The FDA doesn't have to accept the advisory panel's recommendations. If you're them, what do you do? If you're the pharmaceutical companies, how do you restore faith in this tarnished class of drugs?

Posted by David Lidsky at 4:57 PM | 6 Comments

December 13, 2004

A Nonprofit Pharmaceutical Company?

Yes. The Institute for OneWorld Health in San Francisco claims to the the first one in the U.S. Just today it received a $42.6 million five-year grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to try to cure malaria.

Posted by Alan Deutschman at 9:39 AM | 1 Comment

November 30, 2004

Taking the Day

In the past, we've taken a look at sick-day excuses. Recent research in the UK indicates that business people have no excuse not to take sick days if they need to.

University College London scientists found that workers who drag themselves into the office when they have a cold may have a greater risk of heart disease. 30-40% of those in the study experienced 200% the chance of heart disease.

Lesson learned: If you're sick, stay home. Now it's not just so your coworkers don't get ill, too. You'll live longer.

Posted by Heath Row at 11:09 AM | 1 Comment

November 15, 2004

Are You There God? It's Me Your Pharmacist

Saturday morning my mother and I spent an hour on the phone relishing in post-election blues. As we swapped frustrations across 2,000 miles (I'm in the blue state of New York; She's blue in the red state of Florida), she informed me of an infuriating article she read in USA Today. Evidently, pharmacists have the right to "refuse on moral grounds to fill prescriptions for contraceptives."

One CVS customer was denied refills of her birth-control pills because her pharmacist doesn't believe in birth control. Another woman (who claimed she was a victim of rape) was refused contraceptives in an Eckerd drug store for the same reason. According to the article, the American Pharmacists Association has a policy that arms druggists with the right to refuse to fill prescriptions "if they object on moral grounds." Mississippi, South Dakota and Arkansas all have legislation that protects a pharmacist's God-given right to insert their conscience into a consumer's decision.

Continue reading "Are You There God? It's Me Your Pharmacist"

Posted by Danielle Sacks at 12:35 PM | 28 Comments

August 13, 2004

Changing the World of Senior Care

I was in Orlando yesterday speaking to the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives and got out of Florida just ahead of the hurricane. (Kind of a metaphor for my life, now that I think about it.) Be that as it may...

Since The Radical Leap came out in April, I've received quite a few very inspiring (and, frankly, gratifying) emails from folks who read the book and felt compelled to share their experiences and stories with me. As a result, I've started corresponding with Stan Hindmarsh, CEO of Hallmark Assisted Living in Canada.

In a phone conversation, Stan told me, "for most people the age of our residents, the biggest challenge they have in life is to make it through the day without falling down...not here." Stan and his colleagues at Hallmark are making the lives of their residents more meaningful by giving them opportunities to take on challenges and to change the world. Several have taken trips to Guatemala to do service work. I hope I'll have the gumption to do that when I'm 91 years old!

Take a look at what they're doing

Posted by Steve Farber at 4:15 PM | 1 Comment

March 16, 2004

The Tropicalization of Digitization and Global Red-Light Districts

Bruce Sterling is an internationally acclaimed author who lives in Austin, Texas. Having produced a steady stream of enlightening essays and ground-breaking science fiction since 1976, Sterling's most recent book is Tomorrow Now.

In his SXSW Interactive presentation, Sterling riffed through a wide range of topics, including politics, globalization and offshoring, technology and security, and the potential of NGOs. What follows is a partial transcript of his talk.

Continue reading "The Tropicalization of Digitization and Global Red-Light Districts"

Posted by Heath Row at 1:39 PM | 1 Comments

November 6, 2003

Healthcare, a la Carte

Doctors are starting to offer low-cost healthcare in exchange for payment at the time of treatment as a way to sidestep the red tape and bureaucracy inherent in health insurance and HMOs. By accepting only cash, checks, and credit cards -- and advertising their fees online and on site at their offices -- they're able to keep overhead low and cut costs to patients, sometimes by as much as 90%. While pay-as-you-go healthcare won't be sufficient for major medical problems, it may be a viable -- and growing -- option for general physical maintenance work. One participating doctor quips that his office visits cost "between an oil change and a brake job." Jiffy Lube, M.D.

Posted by Heath Row at 8:23 AM | 1 Comment