Seeking to rein in medical costs, a Michigan commission in moved to prevent hospitals in the state from each spending $100 million or more to provide a new form of radiation treatment for cancer. The commission sets standards for major hospital construction, and said it would allow only one center to be built in the state for the treatment. It also ordered the state's largest hospitals-four of which had already proposed their own centers-to collaborate on that one project.
Lasik alternatives have virtually no advertising and attract far fewer patients. Tragic testimony before the Food and Drug Administration reinforced warnings that Lasik does come with risks--lost vision, painful dry eye, glare and other night-vision problems. Aggressive marketing makes patients falsely believe clear sight is guaranteed, complained Jayne Weiss, MD, of Detroit's Kresge Eye Institute.
Florida legislators have approved $14-million for the Hernando County Health Department for a new public health clinic. The new clinic would unite Health Department offices currently spread among several sites throughout the county, and officials said a new clinic would help the uninsured in the county who end up in emergency rooms for primary care. According to a Health Needs Assessment, about 17 percent of Hernando residents do not have medical insurance.
The governing board of Marrero, LA-based West Jefferson Medical Center threw all discussion about how it runs the public hospital behind closed doors, and vowed to maintain the format. Attorney Peter Butler Jr. said the board adopted the new agenda format to expedite meetings. Louisiana's open meetings law requires government bodies to conduct their business in public, except during nine situations outlined by the Legislature. A separate law passed specifically for hospital service districts provides an exemption for developing "marketing strategies and strategic plans to effectively compete."
The John C. Murphy Health Center in Berkeley, MO, will no longer have pediatricians and obstetricians-gynecologists working there. The doctors will continue to be in two other county-run health centers. The change would not save money or reduce staff, but simply open up space in the crowded John C. Murphy Health Center, said health officials. In a statement, the director of the research and medical services division of the health department said "we recognize that some clients may be concerned about these changes, but I want to assure everyone who comes through our doors that no matter what clinic a county resident visits, they will have their medical needs assessed and addressed."
Workers at Chilean public hospitals are striking to demand better working conditions and filling of vacancies. Doctors have not joined the walkout, but Union leader Carlos Castro says about 80 percent of the 65,000 workers joined the strike. Emergency services were not affected, but many nonurgent surgeries had to be rescheduled as a result of the strike.