Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Dr. Sorum

CATHLEEN F. CROWLEY:

Majority of doctors want federal government to pay costs of medical treatment.

posted at 8:29 P.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

MATTHEW PERRONE:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it is investigating a possible link between Merck's best-selling Singulair and suicide. FDA said it is reviewing a handful of reports involving mood changes, suicidal behavior and suicide in patients who have taken the popular allergy and asthma drug.

WNYT's Benita Zahn first broke this story.

posted at 7:20 P.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

From the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced that National Government Services (NGS) has been awarded a contract of up to five years for the combined administration of Part A and Part B Medicare claims payment in Connecticut and New York.

You can read the rest HERE.

Is this the end of Upstate Medicare Division? It would appear so. Thank you to Amanda Pyskadlo at NYOH for this information.

posted at 10:55 A.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Sorry, I've been away for a while.

HOWARD J. LUKS, M.D.:

Now the fund is over 1 Billion dollars in the red....and as state law mandates, it is up to the physicians of NYS to remedy that.

Will New York's doctors have to pay a $50,000 surcharge???

posted at 11:05 A.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

MARILYNN MARCHIONE:

Government health officials have conceded that childhood vaccines worsened a rare, underlying disorder that ultimately led to autism-like symptoms in a Georgia girl, and that she should be paid from a federal vaccine-injury fund.

posted at 5:08 P.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

KEVIN FREKING:

WASHINGTON (AP) - In coming weeks, private audit companies will begin scouring mountains of medical records. Their mission: Determine if health care providers erred when billing Medicare and require them to return any overpayments to the federal government. The auditors will keep a tidy percentage for their services.

posted at 9:10 A.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

STEPHEN SINGER:

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Aetna Inc. said Wednesday it will delay a proposed policy that would stop covering the cost of using anesthesiologists during colonoscopies. The policy had been opposed by a group of New Jersey doctors who said denying coverage of anesthesiologists to anxious patients would lead to fewer cancer screenings.

Same old song.

posted at 10:28 P.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

DR. ROBERT JARVIK ON THE OUTS?

When "diet and exercise isn't enough," Pfizer still wants consumers to ask their doctor about Lipitor - just not Dr. Robert Jarvik, the inventor of the artificial heart...

posted at 2:22 P.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Friday, February 22, 2008

ZAKKI HAKIM:

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia sent 12 bird flu samples to a World Health Organization laboratory this week after receiving assurances its rights to any vaccines produced from them would be recognized, the health minister said.

posted at 7:56 A.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

LEIGH HORNBECK:

SCHUYLERVILLE -- A student in Schuylerville Central School district has a staph infection, school officials said Tuesday. The student was diagnosed with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, and is under the care of a physician.

posted at 7:58 A.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Albert M. Ellman, M.D. - RIP

posted at 8:58 A.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

MICHAEL KAHN:

LONDON (Reuters) - Middle age is truly miserable, according to a study using data from 80 countries showing that depression is most common among men and women in their forties.

Depressing!

posted at 10:55 A.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Thursday, Januray 24, 2008

NEW LIFE?

WASHINGTON (AP) - Around the world, a handful of scientists are trying to create life from scratch and they're getting closer.

posted at 8:09 P.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

BIRD FLU

Kolkata, January 22 About 2,324 cases of people suffering from fever have been reported from the Birbhum district — Ground Zero of the bird flu outbreak in the state — in the last five days.

posted at 10:14 A.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

KEVIN FREKING , Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's health agenda this year will consist largely of fending off Democratic lawmakers until a new president and Congress take charge.

posted at 11:40 A.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Ellis, St. Clare's Hospitals Reach Merger Agreement

posted at 4:55 P.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

STILL SMOKING?

NEW YORK (AP) - He's the poster boy for the state's new anti-smoking campaign. But 48-year-old Skip Legault is still smoking - despite an amputated leg, two heart attacks and a stroke. The state Department of Health confirmed Friday that they chose a smoker for the ads, saying it helps underscore the risks associated with nicotine addiction.

posted at 11:45 A.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

MSSNY RESPONDS TO THE STATE-OF-THE-STATE

(READ TEXT HERE)

posted at 3:02 P.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

CATHLEEN F. CROWLEY:

ALBANY -- In his State of the State speech Wednesday, Gov. Eliot Spitzer will propose shifting New York's health care to focus more on prevention, starting with the Medicaid program.

posted at 11:20 A.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

I hope that everyone had a terrific Holiday.

We are pleased to report that the Modern Medicine radio program is back on the air. If you reside in the Albany metro area you can listen in on AM 590 WROW at noon on Saturdays. WROW also has streaming audio, but I don't know if it's up on the weekends. You can access it HERE.

posted at 2:55 P.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Sorry, it's the holidays, so blogging has been light.

Here is a taste of what we can expect beginning in January:

E.B. SOLOMONT:

Fed up with the state's medical malpractice insurance crisis, some New York City doctors are airing televised messages in their waiting rooms that warn patients of a looming physician shortage.

The article features a photograph of our statewide glorious leader, Dr. Bob Goldberg. Is this guy made for TV or what?!

I also found myself on the Mark Williams show the other day on AM 590 WROW talking about this subject. It is evident that Mr. Williams does not think that a $50,000 "tax" on doctors to balance out the liability carriers in New York State is a good idea. I agree. He also blames the Spitzer Administration for the problem. Sorry Mark, but this has been brewing long before Eliot Spitzer took office. Anyway, where in the world can you get a front row seat to watch a train wreck before it happens? Stay tune!

Happy New Year to everyone!

posted at 4:40 P.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

STEPHEN GRAHAM , Associated Press:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- International health experts have been dispatched to Pakistan to help investigate the cause of South Asia's first outbreak of bird flu in people and determine if the virus could have been transmitted through human contact, officials said Sunday.

Now in Pakistan?

posted at 9:50 A.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

Friday, December 7, 2007

BEIJING (Reuters) - The father of a Chinese man who died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu last week has also been diagnosed with the disease, authorities said on Friday.

This could be serious.

posted at 1:16 P.M. by Jonathan H. Dougherty, M.S.

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