California public health officials are investigating the possible tuberculosis exposure of nearly 1,000 babies from a Kaiser Permanente nurse, and meanwhile hundreds of worried parents have been flocking to the San Francisco hospital to begin screening tests. Kaiser disclosed that a night-shift healthcare worker in the maternity ward's postpartum unit had developed an active case of tuberculosis. The nurse was a Kaiser employee from March 10 to Aug. 10, and Kaiser learned of the infection Aug. 18. It then began notifying 960 mothers and 115 employees that they and their babies may have been exposed.
The American College of Emergency Physicians, an organization representing the nation's 26,000 emergency medicine doctors, fired back today at a John McCain campaign advisor who said, in effect, that as long as there are emergency rooms, no one in American is really uninsured. The advisor, John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas, said that emergency rooms are a last resort for healthcare for anyone because, by law, emergency rooms can't turn away a patient in need of immediate care. Linda Lawrence, MD, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, said in response: "Emergency physicians can and do perform miracles every day, but taking on the full-time medical care for 46 million uninsured Americans is one miracle even we cannot perform. Access to care in the emergency department is no substitute for the comprehensive healthcare reform policy that should be at the heart of the platform of any presidential campaign."
A Los Angeles man who recruited homeless people from skid row as medical patients as part of a scheme to defraud government health programs of millions of dollars has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges. Estill Mitts, 64, agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion in a plea agreement. Mitts was arrested Aug. 6 along with Rudra Sabaratnam, MD, an owner of City of Angels Medical Center. They were arrested as federal officials raided three hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties and made public a 21-count indictment that accuses the pair of healthcare fraud and receiving illegal cutbacks.
Georgia health officials have announced a plan to preserve Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids for the next two years. About 1.4 million Georgians participate in Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor, and in PeachCare, the program for children of needy families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. The programs are funded by state and federal sources. Health advocates said keeping the programs intact is even more important in these tough economic times when more people might need public assistance.
A legal debate has begun in Philadelphia, with the city and Fox Chase Cancer Center arguing the merits of surrendering a quarter of Burholme Park to keep the hospital and research facility in the city. The expansion requires 19 acres of the 69-acre park, and would encompass most of the land that makes up the privately run Burholme Park Golf Center. A lawyer representing a group of neighbors argued that leasing active parkland is unprecedented and that it goes against the will of Robert Waln Ryerss, whose 1895 bequest of his mansion and surrounding property created the park. Fox Chase has looked at other options, including moving to Delaware, if it’s not allowed to expand into Burholme Park.
A new Illinois law strengthens protections against discrimination based on the results of genetic tests that can pinpoint someone's risk of disease. Advocates hope the law will offer peace of mind to people who might otherwise be dissuaded from undergoing such tests because they fear repercussions from their employer or health insurer. Genetic testing can show a person's risk for cancer, heart disease and other ailments, as well as lead to lifesaving treatment. But some people won't get the tests because they fear the information will be used against them, the advocates say.