An increasing number of U.S. residents are traveling abroad for a controversial stem cell treatment that are unavailable in this country. Some U.S. researchers worry about the rise in "stem cell tourism" as foreign clinics promote treatments for multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and a host of other illnesses. They contend that foreign doctors are pitching risky procedures on the Internet to vulnerable patients, with no science to back up their claims.
Several Orlando-area companies are opening on-site health clinics or highlighting services at existing facilities, hoping to reduce their health-insurance costs by emphasizing preventive care. The companies expect the relatively small expenditures needed to start a clinic and keep it operating to result in long-term savings.
A coalition of healthcare advocacy groups is combining disparate voices to present what members tout as an enhanced consumer voice to elected officials, university authorities, and private sector leaders as they redesign Louisiana's medical provider system. The unnamed consortium includes, among others, the Louisiana Health Access Network, the Louisiana Justice Fund, the Cancer Action Network, the American Cancer Society's local chapter, the Louisiana Technology Council, and a local chapter of the Service Employees International Union. Marsaeh Delatte, spokeswoman for the group and a Health Access Network executive, said the new coalition is in the early stages of planning a series of public meetings across the state where they will educate Louisiana residents on the status of healthcare access and policy while surveying those attending about their views on the relevant issues.
Richard Hynes, MD, the chief medical officer at Holmes Regional Medical Center, is suing the Melbourne, FL-based hospital's board of directors for violating hospital bylaws and potentially compromising patient care. On behalf of the hospital's medical staff, Hynes alleges that the board violated its own bylaws, which form a contract under Florida law between the hospital and doctors and allied health professionals who work at the hospital. "This is all about ensuring quality of patient care," said Richard Levenstein, the attorney for Hynes, the president of the medical staff, and the hospital's estimated 584 physicians.
A new study has found that 44% of qualified applicants to Florida nursing schools were turned away in the 2007-2008 academic year. The Florida Center for Nursing reports that the 12,563 qualified applicants who were rejected by Florida nursing schools nearly equals the state's shortage of nursing positions the nonprofit group estimates for 2009. Florida nursing schools enrolled 14,644 new students in the last academic year.
A man who raped women as an on-duty Los Angeles police officer was hired by Los Angeles County as an X-ray technologist after he got out of prison, even though the job would leave him working alone and unsupervised with female patients. The man disclosed his criminal history in his county job application, and both the head of hospital human resources and a chief aide then signed papers that said there was no reason his convictions for rape should prevent him from doing the job, according to newly obtained records and interviews.