The GOP’s Brave New World

Rick Santorum has been getting mileage out of promoting chastity, but to what effect?

Posted by Barry Nolan on 2/13/2012 at 6:59AM | 1 Comment

It really sounds great when the GOP candidates and the Tea Party types are out on the campaign trail and say all those inspiring things about how they want to “promote individual freedom by reducing the size and scope of government and its intrusion into the lives of its citizens.” You gotta love the sound of that.

And they make it clear that they wish to stop Obama from doing all of the oppressive things he’s been doing to Americans. Things like letting them engage the “pursuit of happiness,” as they see it. (Did you know Rick Santorum has boldly taken a firm stance against the “Pursuit of Happiness? Really. He did.) READ MORE

Richard Mangino’s Outstanding Recovery

Remarkably, the double hand-transplant recipient is able to play piano again.

Posted by Janelle Nanos on 2/2/2012 at 11:05AM | No Comments

Richard Mangino a few weeks after surgery. (Photo by Michael Warren.)

While tracking down some of Boston’s most outstanding medical breakthroughs for our Top Docs issue last December, I had the pleasure of meeting Richard Mangino, the quadruple amputee who had just received a remarkable double hand transplant at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. READ MORE

Massachusetts Health Reform: What’s Working, What’s Not

Posted by daily feed on 1/26/2012 at 8:45AM | No Comments

Massachusetts Health Reform: What’s Working, What’s Not. Now that it’s the “national model” that Mitt Romney can’t discuss, everyone’s turning their eyes to the Bay State to see how it’s going. The pros: An increase in coverage and a decrease in emergency-room visits. The con: It’s not getting any cheaper.  [Washington Post]

Boston Researchers: One of Five Pharmacists Misinformed on Plan B

Cold calls to pharmacies didn't go so well.

Posted by Janelle Nanos on 12/22/2011 at 9:42AM | No Comments

Suffice it to say that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s unprecedented decision earlier this month to bypass FDA recommendations and not allow over-the-counter access to the Plan B morning-after pill has not gone over so well. In the past few weeks, the decision has been widely maligned by women’s health care advocates, and you know, the entire scientific community.

The opposition got another tool in their arsenal this week with the publication of a new article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In a cold call survey, researchers from Boston Medical Center and the BU Center for Public Health found they were repeatedly given misinformation about the availability of the Plan B pill when reaching out to pharmacies across the country.

Between September and December 2010, researchers posing as young women called 943 pharmacies in Nashville, Philadelphia, Austin, Cleveland, and Portland, Oregon and asked a series of questions about the availability of the Plan B pill. In nearly 20 percent of cases, they were told that the pill was not available at all before they revealed their age. The reasons for the availability weren’t made clear — maybe the pharmacist actually didn’t have it or maybe they were morally opposed — but one-fifth of stores being out of the drug isn’t a strong place to start.

 

READ MORE

With Arrest of Dr. Punyamurtula Kishore, A Feared Increase in Overdoses

Posted by daily feed on 12/6/2011 at 8:51AM | 7 Comments

With Arrest of Dr. Punyamurtula Kishore, A Feared Increase in Overdoses. Kishore closed 29 offices and treatment centers amid charges of Medicaid fraud, essentially leaving up to 3,000 recovering addicts without access to the powerful anti-addiction drug Vivitrol. Now, state officials and addiction centers are scrambling to pick up the slack and prevent an onslaught of overdoses.  [Biz Journals]

Introducing: Hub Health

We just launched Boston's guide to living well.

Posted by boston daily on 12/2/2011 at 10:01AM | No Comments


December brings our annual Top Docs issue, but this year, we’re excited to unveil a new section of our website: Hub Health, Boston’s guide to living well.

You can browse the section at bostonmagazine.com/hubhealth, or read the Hub Health blog for daily headlines, nutrition updates, and fitness tips from our experts — including Brian Hamill, a running coach and runner who’s finished an impressive 45 marathons in 23 states; Allison Knott, a registered dietician and Boston transplant from the South; and Ayla Withee, a registered dietician who founded EatSimply.org.

To stay connected, sign up for the Hub Health newsletter here.

Vermont Woman Approved as Face Transplant Recipient

Posted by daily feed on 12/1/2011 at 8:08AM | No Comments

Vermont Woman Approved as Face Transplant Recipient. Carmen Tarleton, who’s already endured 50 surgeries after her ex-husband attacked her with a baseball bat before dousing her body with lye, would undergo the miraculous surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. ”I don’t want to have to always ask for an extra napkin. It’s those kind of everyday things. It’s well worth it to me. I have so little function in my face,” Tarleton said, hoping that she’ll be able to blink again. “… I’m hoping I look similar. Anything close is fine. Anything’s fine anyway.”  [Seattle Pi]

The Fleeting Fall in New England

Who says you can’t seize the moment and play in the leaves like you did as a kid?

Posted by Rebecca Pacheco on 11/28/2011 at 9:01AM | No Comments

Beautiful fall foliage creeps up a building in Beacon Hill. Photo by Rebecca Pacheco.

Fall is beautiful in New England, mostly because of the leaves. Pardon me, foliage.

The foliage is magical, if you’re paying attention. A couple weeks ago while out for a morning run, the leaves on the trees lining the Charles River nearly stopped me in my tracks. They were bright yellow and fluttering down like pieces of gold out of the chilled blue sky. My heart jumped a little the way it does sometimes when I’m happy to be running and unconcerned with my legs or my lungs or the standard cacophony of thoughts in my head, ranging from the mundane to contemplative to crazy. There was just the crazy beautiful, courtesy of the leaves, nay … foliage.

Days later, while running with a friend, I was riveted again, this time by a swath of sidewalk covered in fresh pieces of fiery red. I raced toward them, breaking Runner’s Code, which clearly states that one does not cut off the path of one’s running partner, and scuffed the length of the sidewalk, kicking up the fallen leaves as I ran. READ MORE

Mass. General Discloses ‘Alarm Fatigue’ Settlement

Posted by daily feed on 11/28/2011 at 8:19AM | No Comments

Mass. General Settles Disclose ‘Alarm Fatigue’ Settlement. The lawsuit against the hospital, whose nurses tuned out frequent alarms on the now-deceased 89-year-old patient’s cardiac monitor, was settled this spring. We’re no doctors, but shouldn’t you do the opposite and pay more attention to frequent alarms?  [Boston Herald]

Harvard’s Excuse for Skipping the Green Bean Casserole Tomorrow

Posted by daily feed on 11/23/2011 at 8:18AM | No Comments

Harvard’s Excuse for Skipping the Green Bean Casserole Tomorrow. The Harvard School of Public Health found traces of bisphenol A (BPA) in 100 percent of volunteers who ate canned soup — compared to 77 percent in people who didn’t — because BPA is present in the lining of the can. Crazy Aunt Sophie’s mushy green bean casserole, be damned.  [BBC]
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