Posts Tagged ‘Health’
a University medical manager flimflammed patients out of their prostheses and sold them on ebay
I wonder how many of those devices were bought and re-bought with Medicare or other government programs? Another, "your tax money at work" story. The manager of prosthetic devices at the University of Minnesota Medical Center has been suspended with pay pending a federal investigation into whether he defrauded patients by convincing them to replace high-quality artificial limbs and parts and then selling their discards on eBay. Court documents unsealed this week show federal agents recently searched the Coon Rapids home of Peter Stasica Jr., 50, who has been employed by the hospital's owner, Fairview Health Services, since 1994. They seized computer equipment, financial records and several prosthetic devices, including a lower leg, an arm and a knee. The FBI said in a [...]
Study: Living in the City Makes You Crazy
Why I live in South Carolina! Urban dwelling has never been known for its soothing effects, but new research suggests that people living in large cities are more likely than small-town residents to exhibit psychotic-like symptoms such as paranoia and delusions. In a study of more than 7,000 people in the Netherlands, investigators found that both full-blown psychotic disorders and milder psychosis-like symptoms were more common among those living in urbanized areas. The link was most apparent among people born and raised in densely populated areas, suggesting that childhood environment may create "enduring liabilities" for adult psychiatric health, according to the researchers. Dr. Jim van Os of Maastricht University and colleagues report the findings in the July issue of [...]
Plutonium found in Fukushima plant soil
Tokyo Electric Power Company says plutonium has been found in soil samples from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. It says the radioactive substance appears to be related to the ongoing nuclear accident, but the level detected is the same as that found in other parts of Japan and does not pose a threat to human health. TEPCO collected samples from 5 locations around the power plant over 2 days from March 21st and found 2 samples contaminated with plutonium. Plutonium is a byproduct of the nuclear power generation process. At the number 3 reactor of the Fukushima plant, plutonium is an ingredient in mixed oxide, or MOX, fuel. Radioactivity from plutonium can be shielded by a sheet of paper. But it can remain in lungs and other organs to cause long-term damages [...]
What is a Sievert? Is radiation levels from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant dangerous?
The Japanese authorities say radiation levels from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant climbed to potentially harmful levels for a brief interval on Tuesday. Residents living within 30km (18 miles) of the plant have been advised to leave the area, or to stay indoors, and try to make their homes airtight. Experts have stressed that swift action should be able to minimize any impact on human health. What are the immediate health effects of exposure to radiation? Exposure to moderate levels of radiation - above one gray - can result in radiation sickness, which produces a range of symptoms. Nausea and vomiting often begin within hours of exposure, followed by diarrhea, headaches and fever. After the first round of symptoms, there may be a brief period with no apparent illness, [...]
Congressional Budget Office cost estimates of GOP Healthcare Plan
This evening, CBO released a preliminary analysis of a substitute amendment to H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, proposed by Representative John Boehner, the Republican Leader in the House of Representatives. CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimate that the amendment would reduce federal deficits by $68 billion over the 2010-2019 period; it would also slightly reduce federal budget deficits in the following decade, relative to those projected under current law, with a total effect during that decade that is in a broad range between zero and one-quarter percent of gross domestic product. That amendment contains several provisions that are intended to increase rates of insurance coverage by reducing its costs or subsidizing its purchase, [...]