Issues
March 2, 2012
Mayo Clinic Proceedings: ‘Bureaucratic Hurdles … Interfere With Legitimate Cannabis Research’
Federal officials should reclassify cannabis under federal law and permit “long-stifled research into a potential trove of (the plant’s) therapeutic applications,” according to review published in the February issue of the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, a peer-reviewed journal sponsored by Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. ENews Park Forest, 03/01/2012
Tags: cannabis
February 29, 2012
UK Medical Students Turning to Sex Work, BMJ Articles Claim
The lurid press release headline “Worrying Rise in Number of Medical Students in Prostitution Over Last Ten Years” touted 2 articles published this week in the student edition of the British Medical Journal, but close examination of the reports suggests that there may be far less there than meets the eye…That concern would be even […]
Tags: British Medical Journal, chair of rheumatology, Eric Matteson
February 28, 2012
Reefer Madness: It’s Time For a Logical Policy on Marijuana
What’s the Big Idea? The legal status of medical marijuana in the United States is very hazy these days. 16 states plus the District of Columbia allow the use of medical marijuana, but there is a great discrepancy as to who is allowed to smoke it and how much they are allowed to possess. 17 […]
February 22, 2012
Red flags flying in this senior’s case
We pause briefly in our ponderings about Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu’s sex life to consider a case equally shocking (though far less titillating). That is, how did a frail old lady named Pauline come to be giving away her house to a stranger? And not only a stranger but the person who owns the […]
Tags: assisted-living home, house given away to stranger, Pauline Balseiro
February 17, 2012
Situation critical — one patient’s story
Laurie Anderson is a 33-year-old mother of two young boys. Laurie’s been patiently waiting for years for the care she needs. And she’s fed up. She recently started a Facebook page titled: “This is what it is like to be a patient in Saskatchewan.”… Do you think the Mayo Clinic would have made her wait […]
Tags: "This is what it is like to be a patient in Saskatchewan", Facebook, Laurie Andersen
February 16, 2012
Mayo Clinic ordered to reinstate whistleblower
Mayo Clinic says it will appeal an order from a federal administrative law judge to reinstate an employee who complained about the safety of the clinic’s vehicles. The Department of Labor judge ruled Mayo unlawfully discriminated against courier James Seehusen, who had complained about a broken windshield on a vehicle and said the clinic failed […]
Tags: Department of Labor judge, James Seehusen, safety of clinic's vehicles
February 15, 2012
ARMSTRONG: Obamacare grants doctors liberty to withhold care
If you haven’t noticed it yet, you soon will. The Obama administration has launch-ed a full-court press to sell the president’s “signature” achievement, Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, to the American public as well as to the 800,000 American physicians it directly impacts. As one of those doctors, it was no surprise when an […]
Tags: Affordable care act, Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Charlie and Dr. Will Mayo, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Dr. George Crile, Journal of the American Medical Association, Obama administration, obamacare
February 10, 2012
Institute study makes strides in stem cell self-renewal
A team of researchers at the Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota-Mayo Clinic has made a key finding in stem cell research. The team has proposed a mechanism for the control of whether embryonic stem cells continue to multiply and remain stem cells, or change into adult cells like brain, liver or skin. Austin Post Bulletin, […]
Tags: embryonic stem cells, Hormel Institute, stem cell research, University of Minnesota-Mayo Clinic
February 1, 2012
Pulse on Health: For whom do experts speak?
Two physicians, one from the University of Pennsylvania and one from Massachusetts General Hospital, wrote a New York Times opinion piece criticizing Mayo Clinic for investing in proton therapy to treat cancer. I called to see if plans to publish potentially controversial opinions were shared internally beforehand, because a source suggested their employers were caught […]
Tags: Massachusetts General Hospital, New York Times, proton therapy, University of Pennsylvania
January 31, 2012
Quietly, U.S. Moves to Block Lawsuits by Military Families
Why is the Justice Department trying to make it more difficult for service members and their families to sue the government for medical malpractice?… The Case of Asenath German…Asenath German came to the Naval Hospital in Jacksonville on October 3, 2008 complaining, not for the first time, of a severe headache…She was then transferred to […]
Tags: Asenath German, brain hemorrhage, medical malpractice, military doctors, military medical staff, military nurses, Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, neurosurgical, severe headache