Archive for the ‘health’ Category
Friday, March 12th, 2010
Senator Leland Yee is today proposing a law that would require health insurance policies to include coverage for tobacco cessation services. He made the announcement today at San Francisco General Hospital along with all these people:
Supervisor Eric Mar
Dr. Mitch Katz, San Francisco Department of Public Health
Serena Chen, American Lung Association
John Hanley, San Francisco Firefighters
Dr. Dexter Louie, California Medical Association
Gail Maderis, BayBio
Dr. Steve Fugaro, San Francisco Medical Society
Karen Licavoli-Farnkopf, Breathe California
District 2 Supervisor Eric Mar talked about his parents, who both “smoked like crazy.”
Click to expand
All the deets:
Bill Introduced to Require Insurance Companies Cover Tobacco Cessation. Senator Yee and Supervisor Mar team-up to sponsor legislation to fight cancer
SAN FRANCISCO – According the US Surgeon General, tobacco use is the single greatest cause of disease and premature death in America today and is responsible for more than 435,000 deaths annually, including nearly 40,000 in California alone.
In an effort to fight this epidemic, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) today teamed-up with San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar, the American Lung Association, doctors, and firefighters to introduce legislation that would mandate health insurance policies include coverage for tobacco cessation services such as patches, nasal sprays, inhalers, gum, prescription medications, and counseling.
“The societal costs of tobacco-related death and disease approach $96 billion annually in medical expenses and $97 billion in lost productivity nationwide,” said Yee. “More then 70 percent of all current smokers, however, have expressed a desire to stop smoking. By ensuring that health plans cover the cost of quitting, more Californians will be able to kick this bad habit, medical costs will be reduced, and most importantly, lives will be saved.”
In 2006, as part of its universal healthcare program, Massachusetts began covering most expenses for smoking cessation counseling and prescription drugs for Medicaid recipients. The result has been an astonishing drop in the population of poor people who smoke — from 38% to 28%. There is also evidence of a parallel reduction in hospitalization for heart attacks and treatments for asthma.
“Smoking disproportionately impacts those in economically disadvantaged communities,” said Mar, who is sponsoring a resolution in support of Yee’s bill. “Requiring health care providers to include coverage for smokers who would like to quit smoking creates a healthier California and protects the public’s health.”
About 20 percent of adult Americans currently smoke, and 4,000 children and adolescents smoke their first cigarette each day. According to the California Department of Public Health, the adult smoking rate in California is 14 percent and there are approximately 3.8 million current adult smokers in California.
“It’s time to make it easier for the nearly four million Californians who smoke, to quit,” said Jane Warner, President and CEO of the American Lung Association in California. “Because, right now, we’re failing these people as highlighted by the ‘D’ grade earned in Cessation Coverage by the state in the American Lung Association’s recent State of Tobacco Control Report.”
“SB 220 takes another important step in the long journey of providing Californians the support and incentives they need to quit using tobacco products,” said Brennan Cassidy, M.D., president of the California Medical Association, which represents 35,000 physicians across the state. “Requiring health plans to cover smoking cessation treatment is a no-brainer. We know that when a person quits smoking it saves the health care system immensely by significantly reducing the chances of heart disease, lung cancer and other life-threatening diseases that require intensive, expensive treatment.”
“Smoking cessation is more cost-effective than other common and insurance-covered disease prevention interventions, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol treatment and routine cancer screenings,” said Yee. “Consumers need and deserve this treatment option.”
With SB 220, California would become the 8th state to mandate coverage for tobacco cessation services. In addition to the American Lung Association, Yee’s bill is supported by the California Medical Association, California Psychological Association, San Francisco Firefighters Local 798, San Francisco Medical Society, National Council of Asian & Pacific Islander Physicians, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO.
Tags: American Lung Association, BayBio, Breathe California, california, California Medical Association, cessation, Cigarettes, counseling, Department of Public Health., Dexter Louie, district 2, dr., eric mar, firefighters, Gail Maderis, general hospital, gum, health, inhalers, insurance, John Hanley, Karen Licavoli-Farnkopf, leland yee, medical, mitch katz, nasal sprays, patches, phd, prescription medications, required, sacramento, San Francisco, San Francisco Medical Society, sb 220, sb220, Senator, Serena Chen, smoke, smoking, state, Steve Fugaro, Supervisor, treatment
Posted in health | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
Those kids crowding Moffitt Cafe at UCSF Medical Center / Children’s Hospital will now have Run of the House, more or less, ’cause the restrictions against child visitors just got eliminated. So, as of yesterday, the place is, once again, totally wide open, more or less, to visitors aged 15 and less.
Not sure what other local hospitals are thinking these days, but UCSF says that Influenza activity has decreased considerably lately. Read all about it, below.
Godzilla menaces this huge architect’s model of UCSF under a glass box, so he’s always safe from H1N1. But runaway tow trucks, well, that’s a different story:
Moffitt Cafe is now released from its ragamuffin daycare role so it can return to being a haven for law students, a place of escape where legal scholars are free to hit on medical and pharmacological students and/or professionals in a target-rich environment. (At least that’s how the cafeteria was used back in the 90’s.)
Forthwith, the News of the Day:
UCSF Lifts Hospital Visitor Policy Restricting Children
March 09, 2010
UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Children’s Hospital are lifting their visitor age restriction, which prohibited visitors younger than 16 years old. The visitor policy is being lifted effective March 9, 2010.
Dr. Joshua Adler, chief medical officer at UCSF, said he believes the policy, implemented in November, and other strategies, such as vaccination of UCSF personnel, helped reduce the risk of hospital-acquired influenza.
Influenza activity has decreased considerably so that risk is now quite low, Adler said. In the hospital units where age restrictions are not usually in place, children now may visit. Unit-specific age restrictions, such as those in the intensive care units, may remain in effect, according to unit-based policy.
A requirement, however, remains in effect until March 31 that health care workers, who have not been vaccinated against both H1N1 and seasonal influenza, must wear a surgical mask while in patient care areas.
Adler thanked employees for their diligent infection control measures during the flu season. Record numbers of UCSF employees, faculty, residents, and students received flu vaccines this year, he said.
Tags: 15, 16, 2010, age, cafe, cafeteria, chief medical officer, children, Children's Hospital, childrens, dr., faculty, flu, hospital, hospital-acquired, hospital-acquired influenza, ICU, influenza, inner sunset, intensive care unit, Joshua Adler, kids, lifted, March 9, mask, medical, medical center, moffitt, older, p9olicy, parnassus, patient, residents, Restricting, restriction, San Francisco, seasonal, street, students, sunset, surgical, UC, ucsf, UCSF Children's Hospital, UCSF Medical Center, university of california at san francisco, vaccination, visitors, way, younger
Posted in health | No Comments »
Monday, March 1st, 2010
Our California Attorney General Jerry Brown can’t abide you smokers out there thinking “organic” cigarettes from American Spirit are better for you than other cigarettes. So he just cut a deal with the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company affacting how these ciggies will get marketed in California. Deets below.
Anyway, an appealing package, IMO:
Brown Secures Agreement with American Spirit Cigarettes Maker over Misleading Marketing of Organic Tobacco Products
Los Angeles-Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that his office has secured an agreement with Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, Inc., the manufacturer of American Spirit tobacco products, that requires the company to clearly disclose that its organic tobacco is “no safer or healthier” than other tobacco products.
Attorneys general from 32 other states and the District of Columbia signed onto today’s agreement.
“Stamping an organic label on tobacco products is ultimately a distinction without a difference-organic or not, cigarettes are bad for your health,” Brown said. “Today’s settlement with Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company ensures that all future advertisements make it clear that organic tobacco is no safer or healthier.”
More deets after the jump.
(more…)
Tags: advertising, agreement, American Spirit, arizona, Arkansas, assistant attorney general, attorney general, california, cigarette, colorado, company, Connecticut, d. c., Delaware, District of Columbia, Edmund G. Brown Jr., georgia, Governor, hawaii, Idaho, illinois, iowa, jeanne finberg, jerry brown, Kansas, Kentucky, los angeles, Louisiana, Maine, maryland, massachusetts, misleading, misled, Montana, natural, Natural American Spirit, nebraska, nevada, NEW JERSEY, new mexico, new york, north carolina, Oakland, Ohio, oregon, organic, Organic tobacco does NOT mean safer cigarettes, Organic tobacco does NOT mean safer tobacco, pennsylvania, pouch, roll-your-own, sacramento, safer, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, South Dakota, states, tennessee, tobacco, Vermont, warning, Washington, West Virginia, wisconsin
Posted in health | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
All right, a new UCSF Medical Center study shows that smoking cigarettes won’t help you avoid Alzheimer’s disease.
This might come as news to some people, especially to those who rely on tobacco-industry funding to show that tobacco helps people avoid Alzheimers.
Deets below.
UCSF, back in the day, along with the ur N Judah:
Study Shows Cigarette Smoking a Risk Factor for Alzheimer’s Disease
February 02, 2010
A UCSF analysis of published studies on the relationship between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and smoking indicates that smoking cigarettes is a significant risk factor for the disease. After controlling for study design, quality of the journals, time of publication and tobacco industry affiliation of the authors, the UCSF research team also found an association between tobacco industry affiliation and the conclusions of individual studies. Industry-affiliated studies indicated that smoking protects against the development of AD, while independent studies showed that smoking increased the risk of developing the disease.
Study findings were published online in the Jan. 29, 2010 issue (19:2) of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. An abstract of the paper is available online.
Ever more deets, after the jump
(more…)
Tags: Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's disease., analysis, center, Cigarettes, disease, funding, industry, medical, San Francisco, study, tobacco, UC, ucsf, UCSF Medical Center, university of california
Posted in health | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
All right, Consumer Reports has a few notes about San Francisco hospitals in another Missive from Yonkers this AM. Actually, the people at CR sound a little hacked off, and for a couple of reasons.
Item One: They’re using a hospital’s ICU Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection Rate as a yardstick of performance. Why? Why not. Here’s how CR feels:
“The procedures needed to eliminate ICU infections are simple, low-tech, and inexpensive, requiring a change of mindset and culture. All ICUs should be able to dramatically reduce if not eliminate these infections.”
O.K., so who has a central line infection rate of zero, who’s perfect?
Saint Luke’s Hospital
Saint Francis Memorial Hospital
Saint Mary’s Medical Center
After all those Saints go marching in, which San Francisco hospitals are doing less-than-perfect but better than average?
California Pacific Medical Center-Pacific Campus
Kaiser Foundation Hospital- San Francisco
But who’s left, who in the 415 is ”on the other end of the spectrum” with a reported infection rate that’s 80 percent worse than the national average when compared with similar ICUs?
UCSF Medical Center
Ouch.
Take a look for yourself on this almost-legible chart. Goran nasai, Gentle Reader - click to expand:
Do you buy all that? Well, for one, Steven E.F. Brown does, over at the San Francisco Business Times.
But what’s this - how about a little feedback from a California-licensed physician? Comes now Dr. Steven Suydam, who took a look at CR’s press release today and reacted thusly:
“Central line infections occur in every hospital, but some institutions, especially public academic institutions are simply more forthright about reporting them, and are more likely to have candid effective quality assurance programs in place, than private, for-profit institutions. In addition, hospitals have the latitude to classify a bloodstream infection as coming from an alternate source, if one is available, thereby avoiding the dreaded “CLABI” label. The alternative explanation, that UCSF physicians place central lines under less sterile conditions than private hospitals and maintain such lines with less care is simply nonsense.”
O.K. then. But as always, You Make The Call. It certainly would be interesting to hear about what UCSF thinks of all this. Moving on…
Widening our purview to the whole bay area gets us this:
“In the larger Bay Area, where Consumer Reports Health rated 29 hospitals, Consumer Reports found extreme variation between hospitals, even hospitals run by the same health care system. For example, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals in Hayward, Santa Rosa, Vallejo, and South San Francisco reported zero central line infections, while Kaiser Foundation Hospital in San Jose had an infection rate that was 14 percent worse than the national average and the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in San Francisco reported a rate that’s 40 percent better than average.”
Item Two: CR doesn’t like getting blown off when it goes nosing around for data. So it has lots of criticism for the way California as a state is handling reporting of statistics. The California Department of Health should have data for us by January 1, 2011, but CR isn’t optimistic about this deadline getting met.
Anyway, who’s on the Naughty List (CR’s Health Ratings Center’s Director is Dr. Santa, srlsy) with naught to report?
San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center
O.K. then.
What’s it all mean? No se, mi amigo/a. One thing for certain though, this news release means that Consumer Reports Health wants your money. Sign up for a free 30-day trial that you’ll soon forget about until you get your credit card statement in two or three months – I don’t care what you do with your money. (Frankly, I object to the whole Consumer Reports-is-my-Bible mentality that certain people have. IMO, CR is just another data point in the constellation of information out there.)
Anyway, read the whole thing for yourself, after the jump.
Stay healthy.
(more…)
Tags: 1, 2010, 2011, california, California Pacific Medical Cente, Catheter, center, central, Central Catheter, central line, Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection, clabsi, Consumer Reports, Consumer Reports health, department public, dr., Dr. Steven Suydam, Foundation, francis, general, general hospital, health, hospital, hospitals, ICU, Infection, infections, january, Kaiser, leapfrog, leapfroggroup, Line, luke's, mary's, MD, medical, medical center, memorial, Pacific Campus, Rate, reporting, saint francis, Saint Luke's, Saint Mary's, San Francisco, st., state, Steven Suydam, Steven Suydam md, ucsf
Posted in health | No Comments »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
[UPDATE: Joshua Sabatini has an update - the next committee hearing will be on February 22, 2010.]
Your San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar wants to expand Article 19F of the San Francisco Public Health Code – you know, the one from 1994 that prohibits smoking in enclosed areas and sports stadiums.
Check out the current rules after the jump, but don’t get used to them as they could be changing soon. This afternoon’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors Committee on Land Use & Economic Development could lead to some changes.
A graphic from this afternoon’s rally – secondhand smoke levels from outdoor dining areas at two unnamed cafes in North Beach are considered dangerous by the EPA:
80 souls were there before the committee meeting began:
Eric Mar and supporters enjoying a healthy smoke-free ride in the Richmond District back in 2008:
Brace yourselves:
COMMUNITY RALLY TO SUPPORT EXPANDING PROTECTIONS FROM SECOND HAND SMOKE
Rally & Press Conference Before the Board of Supervisors Committee
Hearing on Ordinance that Closes the Gaps in Public Health Code
Polk Street City Hall Steps
Monday, February 1 at 12:00 noon
WHAT: A rally and press conference to support an ordinance that will
expand protection from second hand smoke by closing gaps in the
San Francisco Public Health Code. San Francisco is poised to
join 18 other Bay Area cities in offering protection from
second hand smoke by prohibiting smoking in many outdoor areas
such as farmers markets, outdoor dining areas, theater and ATM
lines, hotel and motel lobby areas, and other places frequented
by members of the public. The rally will convene just before
the meeting of the Board of Supervisors Committee on Land Use &
Economic Development, which will hear the proposed legislation
for the first time.
WHO: A large crowd of community members including families, tenants,
tenant advocates, members of the Chinese Progressive
Association and San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition;
Supervisor Eric Mar, Supervisor John Avalos, Jul Lynn Parsons
(Co-Chair of Mayor’s Disability Council), Carol McGruder
(Tobacco Free Coalition member); Alex Tom (Tobacco Free
Coalition; Chinese Progressive Association) and others.
BACKGROUND:
The proposed ordinance would update Article 19F of the San Francisco Health Code, the landmark legislation adopted in 1994 that protects residents and visitors from second hand smoke. If approved by the Board of Supervisors and signed by the Mayor, San Francisco would join a long list of other Bay Area cities that have already expanded protection from second hand smoke for their residents to include many outdoor areas.
(more…)
Tags: 1, 1994, 19f, Alex Tom, areas, Article, Article 19F, association, bars, board, Carol McGruder, chinese, Chinese Progressive, Chinese Progressive Association, Cigarettes, City Hall, civic center, Co-Chair, coalition, district, enclosed, enclosed areas, eric mar, john avalos, Jul Lynn Parsons, Mayor’s Disability Council, one, Protections, protest, Public Health Code, rally, richmond, San Francisco, San Francisco Public Health Code, San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition, Second-Hand, smoke, smoking, sports, sports stadiums, stadiums, steps, Supervisor, Tobacco Free, Tobacco Free Coalition
Posted in government, health | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
The long wait ended yesterday when San Francsico government workers and volunteers threw open the doors of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in Civic Center yesterday morning in order to dose thousands of people for the H1N1 virus. See?
Click to expand:
A photo from SFGate shows that it was pretty crowded early on, but later in the day you could have just walked right in.
But look who showed up to hand out literature and home-made CD-Roms: a crew of conspiracy buffs! (You know, when your JFK assassination and your 9-11 controlled demolition and your chemtrails conspiracy hobby starts to run out of steam, it’s nice to have something new to pamphlet about.)
Almost all of those in line took the flourescent yellow handbills, but a good portion dumped them off ASAP, thusly. Everything that’s not colored bright goldenrod, canary, saffron or paella is official government literature:
Conspiracy theorists love vaccination campaigns – just ask conspiracy-monger (and windmill hater) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. about it, if you want.
And let’s hear from Louis Farrakhan:
“On 10/21/2009, Farrakhan told an audience in Memphis he believes the swine flu vaccine was developed to depopulate. During a gathering to observe the Nation of Islam’s Holy Day of Atonement, which also marked the 14th anniversary of the Million Man March in Washington, the (Memphis) Commercial Appeal reported Farrakhan as saying:
“The Earth can’t take 6.5 billion people. We just can’t feed that many. So what are you going to do? Kill as many as you can. We have to develop a science that kills them and makes it look as though they died from some disease.”
O.K. then.
But the conspiracy people really need to use larger type next time. Srsly:
Thank Gaia this operation wasn’t called Virus Connect or Vaccine Connect or whatever. Yish.
Now I didn’t get a shot personally (as I don’t fit into any of the categories listed) but I hung out long enough to conclude that this was the best-run one-day government operation I’ve ever seen within the 47 square miles of San Francisco County.
Tags: 2009, 2010, Auditorium, bill graham, civic, civic center, connect, conspiracy, december, department, Farrakhan, flu, H1N1, health, location, Louis, Louis Farrakhan, porcine, San Francisco, shot, swine, Theorists, vaccination, vaccine, virus
Posted in government, health | No Comments »
Monday, November 30th, 2009
I bet you’d love to have your very own smoking tent. One that’s large enough to be seen from outer space, right?
Well then you should envy California Governor Arnold Schwazenegger ’cause this beige smoking tent is all his.
As seen from the second floor of Sacramento’s Capitol Building. Click to expand:
Best of all, it’s been excluded from California’s new anti-smoking laws because, well, just because.
And if there’s the occasional flooding in our historic capitol due to all the fake plastic grass that’s been put down, well, that’s all right as well.
Here’s the bird’s eye view:
Happy smoking, Arnie!
Yes, whether it be cigars…
via aindavid
…or marijuana, like back in the day…
Smoking some sweet aparteid weed in South Africa - Pumping Iron, 1977
…happy smoking, Arnold!
Enjoy your tent.
Tags: Arnold, arnold is numero uno, Arnold Schwarzenegger, building, capitol, cigars, fake, flood, flooding, Governor, grass, green, marijuana, numero uno, pot, rain, sacramento, Schwarzenegger, smoking, smoking tent, south africa, tent, weed
Posted in government, health | Comments Off
Monday, November 16th, 2009
If you can tell the difference between the helipad-hating “Neighbors of SFGH” vs. the Stop the Helipad haters, well, then you’re one up on me. What they are, they’re a bunch of NIMBYs on a hill who don’t care how many people have died, and how many more will die, due to the lack of a helipad at San Francisco General Hospital. Anyway…
These hill-folk richers just had a party to raise money for their fight. [Oh, man, I've just discovered that writer Sajid Farooq yesterday posted "$100 Dinner Could Ground Pesky Lifesaving Helicopters*" over at NBC Bay Area, saving me the trouble of crafting a more complete post. Thanks, MSM! Click on over there for the deets.]
An artist’s conception of the “Neighbors” of San Francisco General Hospital having their high-rent lifestyles impinged upon by EMS flights buzzing about:
Lovey and Winston are not happy.
Read on to see the fruits of the labors of the Stop the Helipad people:
“A head-on collision on the Golden Gate Bridge in May threw the evening commute into chaos and drew immediate cries for new safety measures. Lost in the flurry of traffic reports and debate about possible barriers, however, was the aftermath of the crash for the most seriously hurt victim. Dr. Grace M. Dammann had to be transported by helicopter about 25 miles to John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek because San Francisco General Hospital lacks a helipad for its acclaimed Level 1 Trauma Center.”
Mmmm. According to an American College of Surgeons Consultation Survey of San Francisco General Hospital’s Trauma Program:
“The lack of a helipad and helicopter service is a major deficiency in providing optimal trauma care for San Francisco General Hospital and San Francisco. It is difficult to understand why a city the size of San Francisco does not have any medical air transport. The congested roads and bridges with the surrounding water make helicopter service an essential medical support service.”
Oh well, here’s another artist’s conception of what the next Neighbors of SFGH fun-raiser might look like, maybe down by the chopper-free Warm Water Cove off of 24th. I think Gilligan is the webmaster:
(Note Mary Ann in pigtails and high heels, you don’t see that look much these days.)
Obviously, NIMBYs are people too, and their concerns should be amplified and paid ‘tention to. But they go to far when they tell doctors how to save lives. We’re getting a pad at UCSF Mission Bay and we’ll, eventually, get another pad at the new and improved, earthquake-safe SFGH.
How many will die unecessarily until then?
*”Pesky Lifesaving Helicopters” – Pwned! I’m still laughing.
Tags: $100, 953 De Haro, dinner, general, helicopters, helipad, heliport, hill, hospital, level, mission, mission bay, neighbors, Neighbors of SFGH, nimby, nimbys, one, potrero, Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, Sajid Farooq, San Francisco, san francisco general hospital, sfgh, Southern Heights, stop, trauma center, ucsf
Posted in health | Comments Off
Monday, November 9th, 2009
Well, it was on this morning at William de Avila Elementary School on Haight Street, where the Chinese language immersion students got to drink fruit smoothies from Bananaman and also got to meet soccer heroine Brandi Chastain. It all had to do with the National Parent Teachers Association’s Healthy Lifestyles Month. All the deets below.
The Jamba Juice Bananaman must be channeling the ghost of Jeff Spicoli. Anyway, the kids loved him. Click to expand:
And here she is, straight out of San Jose, Brandi Chastain herself:
Parents, including knuckle-knocking DCCC member Tom Hsieh, Jr. (Mayor Gavin Newsom’s friend, camera left), were encouraged by Brandi Chastain to get up and start jumping around, to the delight of the students:
Well, that was the medium, here’s the message, after the jump.
(more…)
Tags: 2009, Alan Greene, Betsy Landers, Brandi Chastain, Byron Garrett, Byron V. Garrett, CEO, Champion, chinese, dccc, de avila, defender, dual, elementary, english, haight, immersion, inc, Jamba, jamba juice, James White, James D. White, Jr, juice, kindergarden, language, M.D, member, national, National PTA, parent teacher association, President-Elect, pta, school, sfusd, smoothie, soccer, street, team, Tom Hsieh, William, world cup
Posted in health | Comments Off
