Daily news bucket

6 Comments

1. 

   Knoxville Progressive on January 31, 2006 at 10:51 am

   Or maybe a story that evokes images of circling vultures over a carcass reflects my mood today:

   Wildlife experts are urging the Indian government, which has shown little action to date, to ban a widely used veterinary drug in order to save vultures from extinction.  Numbers have plummeted in recent years because they are being poisoned by traces of the anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac, in animal carcasses.  A study published by the Public Library of Science says an alternative drug, meloxicam, is harmless to vultures  (but costs twice as much).  Protecting vultures could help prevent the spread of diseases such as rabies by wild dogs feeding on carcasses sitting rotting without vultures to remove them.  Rabies is widespread in India.  

2. 

   ask on January 31, 2006 at 11:14 am

   The killings continue in Darfur:

   U.N. sounds Darfur warning in 42-page OHCHR report – U.S. condemns attacks by Sudan’s SLA

   A new detailed UN report [see summary here below] warns that killings, rapes and indiscriminate attacks are still forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes in Darfur. Excerpt from Scotsman January 28, 2006:
   “A 42-page report said those carrying out the violence included soldiers who fired at civilians from helicopter gunships.

   The report criticised the government of coup leader Omar el-Bashir, saying promises to end centuries of discrimination and marginalisation of black African minorities were marked by “token gestures” while murder and torture went unpunished.”

3. 

   AndiF on January 31, 2006 at 11:24 am

   Bayprairie at medialgirl provides an excellent summary of issues and news affecting Reproductive Rights for the week of Jan. 22-28

4. 

   ask on January 31, 2006 at 1:07 pm

   As if Iraq needs more misery.
   New bird flu scare in north Iraq

   Twelve people suspected of having the H5N1 strain of bird flu are being treated in Kurdistan in northern Iraq, officials say.

   Iraqi authorities have begun culling poultry in the region and the World Health Organisation (WHO) will send a team of experts there on Wednesday.

   A 54-year-old woman from the town of Raniya is thought to be the most serious of the suspected cases.

   Iraqi officials say a teenage girl died of the strain two weeks ago.

   Shanjin Abdel Qader died in a hospital in the nearby city of Sulaimaniya on 17 January, after an illness lasting 15 days.

5. 

   ask on January 31, 2006 at 2:59 pm

   From The Sydney Morning Herald:
   Study reveals global toll of birth defects

   ABOUT 8 million children each year are born with birth defects that are genetic in origin, and 70 per cent of them could be prevented or mitigated, a new study has found.

   In the absence of treatment, at least 3.3 million of the children die before age five, while 3.2 million are disabled for life.

   Australia, however, is one of the three countries with the lowest rates of birth defects, with about 40 per 1000 live births
   (snip)
   But the incidence of birth defects and disability can be sharply reduced in developing countries. Experience from high-income states shows this can be by up to 70 per cent, Dr Christianson said. Some solutions are fairly simple, such as adding folic acid and iodine to the food supply and including a rubella shot in the vaccination program. In 2000 Chile began adding folic acid to flour and saw a 40 per cent drop in neural tube defects. Genetic testing for defects such as phenylketonuria (a digestive disorder) and thalassemia can be as little as $US5 ($7) per test.

6. 

   DuctapeFatwa on January 31, 2006 at 3:10 pm

   Primary care, the basic medical care that people get when they visit their doctors for routine physicals and minor problems, could fall apart in the United States without immediate reforms, the American College of Physicians said on Monday.

   “Primary care is on the verge of collapse,” said the organization, a professional group that certifies internists, in a statement. “Very few young physicians are going into primary care and those already in practice are under such stress that they are looking for an exit strategy.”

   Dropping incomes coupled with difficulties in juggling patients, soaring bills and policies from insurers that encourage rushed office visits all mean that more primary care doctors are retiring than are graduating from medical school, the ACP said in its report….

   U.S. doctors have long complained that reimbursement policies of both Medicare and private insurers reward a “just-in-time” approach, instead of preventive care that would save money and keep patients healthier.

   “Medicare will pay tens of thousands of dollars…for a limb amputation on a diabetic patient, but virtually nothing to the primary care physician for keeping the patient’s diabetes under control,” said Bob Doherty, senior vice president for the ACP…

   The ACP cited an American Medical Association survey that found 35 percent of all physicians nationwide are over the age of 55 and will soon retire…

   within a few years there will not be enough primary care physicians to take care of an aging population with increasing incidences of chronic diseases,” said Dr. Vineet Arora, chair of the College’s Council of Associates.

   Dr. Sara Walker, a Missouri physician, said she believed doctors were leaving general practice because of drops in Medicare reimbursement to doctors.

   “A drop in Medicare payments will not only force me to stop taking Medicare patients but could force me out of business,” agreed Dr. Kevin Lutz, a solo practitioner in Denver.

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