Physicians should check apps’ privacy protections before suggesting them to patients. A new report says most apps — especially free ones — don’t offer much privacy.
By SUE TER MAAT
amednews.com
Posted Aug. 5, 2013
Physicians might think twice about advising patients to use some mobile health and fitness apps. A July report indicates that many of those apps compromise patients’ privacy. Just recommending apps may put doctors at risk for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
“Even suggesting an app to patients — that’s a gray area,” said Marion Neal, owner of HIPAASimple.com, a HIPAA consulting firm for physicians in private practice. “Doctors should avoid recommending apps unless they are well-established to be secure.”
The entire story is here.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
The Army's hidden child abuse epidemic
By Richard Sandza
Army Times
Originally published July 29, 2013
Here is an excerpt:
When the Army suspects child abuse or neglect, Campbell said, “we’ll investigate and prosecute and try to make sure we have the right program in place to take care of the soldiers and their families and do what’s right there.”
Of the 29,552 cases of child abuse and neglect in active-duty Army families from 2003 through 2012, according to Army Central Registry data, 15,557 were committed by soldiers, the others by civilians — mostly spouses.
The Army’s rate of child abuse was 4.5 cases per 1,000 children for 2011. The civilian rate was 27.4 per 1,000 children, according to the Children’s Bureau of the Department of Health and Human Services.
But the number of Army cases has spiked 28 percent between 2008 and 2011, while the number of civilian cases has increased by 1.1 percent.
The entire story is here.
Army Times
Originally published July 29, 2013
Here is an excerpt:
When the Army suspects child abuse or neglect, Campbell said, “we’ll investigate and prosecute and try to make sure we have the right program in place to take care of the soldiers and their families and do what’s right there.”
Of the 29,552 cases of child abuse and neglect in active-duty Army families from 2003 through 2012, according to Army Central Registry data, 15,557 were committed by soldiers, the others by civilians — mostly spouses.
The Army’s rate of child abuse was 4.5 cases per 1,000 children for 2011. The civilian rate was 27.4 per 1,000 children, according to the Children’s Bureau of the Department of Health and Human Services.
But the number of Army cases has spiked 28 percent between 2008 and 2011, while the number of civilian cases has increased by 1.1 percent.
The entire story is here.
The End of Neuro-Nonsense
Is the age of mindless brain research already over?
By Daniel Engber
Slate
Originally published July 29, 2013
Brain-bashing, once an idle pastime of the science commentariat, went mainstream in June. At the beginning of the month, Slate contributor Sally Satel and Scott O. Lilienfeld published Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience, a well-informed attack on the extravagances of “neurocentrist” thought. We’re living in dangerous era, they warn in the book’s introduction. “Naïve media, slick neuroentrepreneurs, and even an occasional overzealous neuroscientist exaggerate the capacity of scans to reveal the contents of our minds, exalt brain physiology as inherently the most valuable level of explanation for understanding behavior, and rush to apply underdeveloped, if dazzling, science for commercial and forensic use.” In the United Kingdom, the neuro-gadfly Raymond Tallis—whose own attack on popular brain science, Aping Mankind, came out in 2011—added to the early-summer beat-down, complaining in the Observer that “studies that locate irreducibly social phenomena … in the function or dysfunction of bits of our brains are conceptually misconceived.”
The entire story is here.
Thanks to Tamler Sommers for this story.
By Daniel Engber
Slate
Originally published July 29, 2013
Brain-bashing, once an idle pastime of the science commentariat, went mainstream in June. At the beginning of the month, Slate contributor Sally Satel and Scott O. Lilienfeld published Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience, a well-informed attack on the extravagances of “neurocentrist” thought. We’re living in dangerous era, they warn in the book’s introduction. “Naïve media, slick neuroentrepreneurs, and even an occasional overzealous neuroscientist exaggerate the capacity of scans to reveal the contents of our minds, exalt brain physiology as inherently the most valuable level of explanation for understanding behavior, and rush to apply underdeveloped, if dazzling, science for commercial and forensic use.” In the United Kingdom, the neuro-gadfly Raymond Tallis—whose own attack on popular brain science, Aping Mankind, came out in 2011—added to the early-summer beat-down, complaining in the Observer that “studies that locate irreducibly social phenomena … in the function or dysfunction of bits of our brains are conceptually misconceived.”
The entire story is here.
Thanks to Tamler Sommers for this story.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Medicare Drug Program Fails to Monitor Prescribers, Putting Seniors and Disabled at Risk
by Tracy Weber, Charles Ornstein and Jennifer LaFleur
ProPublica
Published: May 11, 2013
Ten years ago, a sharply divided Congress decided to pour billions of dollars into subsidizing the purchase of drugs by elderly and disabled Americans.
The initiative, the biggest expansion of Medicare since its creation in 1965, proved wildly popular. It now serves more than 35 million people, delivering critical medicines to patients who might otherwise be unable to afford them. Its price tag is far lower than expected.
But an investigation by ProPublica has found the program, in its drive to get drugs into patients' hands, has failed to properly monitor safety. An analysis of four years of Medicare prescription records shows that some doctors and other health professionals across the country prescribe large quantities of drugs that are potentially harmful, disorienting or addictive. Federal officials have done little to detect or deter these hazardous prescribing patterns.
The entire story is here.
ProPublica
Published: May 11, 2013
Ten years ago, a sharply divided Congress decided to pour billions of dollars into subsidizing the purchase of drugs by elderly and disabled Americans.
The initiative, the biggest expansion of Medicare since its creation in 1965, proved wildly popular. It now serves more than 35 million people, delivering critical medicines to patients who might otherwise be unable to afford them. Its price tag is far lower than expected.
But an investigation by ProPublica has found the program, in its drive to get drugs into patients' hands, has failed to properly monitor safety. An analysis of four years of Medicare prescription records shows that some doctors and other health professionals across the country prescribe large quantities of drugs that are potentially harmful, disorienting or addictive. Federal officials have done little to detect or deter these hazardous prescribing patterns.
The entire story is here.
The Woman Who Ate Cutlery
By CHRISTINE MONTROSS
The New York Times - Opinion
Published: August 3, 2013
Here are some excerpts:
The costs of M’s repeated hospitalizations are staggering. Her ingestions and insertions incur the already high costs of hospital admission and the medical procedures and surgeries she requires. In addition, once M is hospitalized as a psychiatric patient, a staff member must stay with her at all times to make sure she doesn’t ingest utensils from her meal trays, insert tools from group craft activities into her body or drink Purell from the dispensers on the unit walls.
(cut)
In one of the ironies in a country with health care discrepancies, a single hospital admission for M — paid for by the taxpayer-financed state medical-assistance program — costs more than a year of private outpatient care would.
The entire article is here.
Thanks to Tom Fink for the story.
The New York Times - Opinion
Published: August 3, 2013
Here are some excerpts:
The costs of M’s repeated hospitalizations are staggering. Her ingestions and insertions incur the already high costs of hospital admission and the medical procedures and surgeries she requires. In addition, once M is hospitalized as a psychiatric patient, a staff member must stay with her at all times to make sure she doesn’t ingest utensils from her meal trays, insert tools from group craft activities into her body or drink Purell from the dispensers on the unit walls.
(cut)
In one of the ironies in a country with health care discrepancies, a single hospital admission for M — paid for by the taxpayer-financed state medical-assistance program — costs more than a year of private outpatient care would.
The entire article is here.
Thanks to Tom Fink for the story.
Monday, August 19, 2013
A Star Philosopher Falls, and a Debate Over Sexism Is Set Off
By JENNIFER SCHUESSLER
The New York Times
Published: August 2, 2013
Ever since Socrates’ wife was painted as a jealous shrew by one of his pupils, women have had it tough in philosophy.
Thinkers from Aristotle to Kant questioned whether women were fully capable of reason. Today, many in the field say, gender bias and outright sexual harassment are endemic in philosophy, where women make up less than 20 percent of university faculty members, lower than in any other humanities field, and account for a tiny fraction of citations in top scholarly journals.
While the status of women in the sciences has received broad national attention, debate about sexism in philosophy has remained mostly within the confines of academia. But the revelation this summer that Colin McGinn, a star philosopher at the University of Miami, had agreed to leave his tenured post after allegations of sexual harassment brought by a graduate student, has put an unusually famous name to the problem, exposing the field to what some see as a healthy dose of sunlight.
The entire story is here.
The New York Times
Published: August 2, 2013
Ever since Socrates’ wife was painted as a jealous shrew by one of his pupils, women have had it tough in philosophy.
Thinkers from Aristotle to Kant questioned whether women were fully capable of reason. Today, many in the field say, gender bias and outright sexual harassment are endemic in philosophy, where women make up less than 20 percent of university faculty members, lower than in any other humanities field, and account for a tiny fraction of citations in top scholarly journals.
While the status of women in the sciences has received broad national attention, debate about sexism in philosophy has remained mostly within the confines of academia. But the revelation this summer that Colin McGinn, a star philosopher at the University of Miami, had agreed to leave his tenured post after allegations of sexual harassment brought by a graduate student, has put an unusually famous name to the problem, exposing the field to what some see as a healthy dose of sunlight.
The entire story is here.
Judges Extend High Court Same-Sex Ruling
By ASHBY JONES
The Wall Street Journal
Originally published August 4, 2013
Just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of a federal law that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, judges in lower courts are citing and even building on the ruling in battles over state laws concerning same-sex marriage and other issues affecting gays and lesbians.
A federal judge in Cincinnati cited the June ruling in U.S. v. Windsor in finding Ohio's 2004 law banning the recognition of same-sex marriages from other states "likely" to be unconstitutional, at least in regard to the couple that brought the suit.
The entire story is here.
The Wall Street Journal
Originally published August 4, 2013
Just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of a federal law that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, judges in lower courts are citing and even building on the ruling in battles over state laws concerning same-sex marriage and other issues affecting gays and lesbians.
A federal judge in Cincinnati cited the June ruling in U.S. v. Windsor in finding Ohio's 2004 law banning the recognition of same-sex marriages from other states "likely" to be unconstitutional, at least in regard to the couple that brought the suit.
The entire story is here.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
The Whistle-Blower’s Quandary
By ADAM WAYTZ, JAMES DUNGAN and LIANE YOUNG
The New York Times
Published: August 2, 2013
IMAGINE you’re thinking about blowing the whistle on your employer. As the impassioned responses to the actions of whistle-blowers like Edward J. Snowden have reminded us, you face a moral quandary: Is reporting misdeeds an act of heroism or betrayal?
(cut)
It makes sense that whistle-blowing brings these two moral values, fairness and loyalty, into conflict. Doing what is fair or just (e.g., promoting an employee based on talent alone) often conflicts with showing loyalty (e.g., promoting a longstanding but unskilled employee).
The entire story is here.
The New York Times
Published: August 2, 2013
IMAGINE you’re thinking about blowing the whistle on your employer. As the impassioned responses to the actions of whistle-blowers like Edward J. Snowden have reminded us, you face a moral quandary: Is reporting misdeeds an act of heroism or betrayal?
(cut)
It makes sense that whistle-blowing brings these two moral values, fairness and loyalty, into conflict. Doing what is fair or just (e.g., promoting an employee based on talent alone) often conflicts with showing loyalty (e.g., promoting a longstanding but unskilled employee).
The entire story is here.
Pfizer Settles a Drug Marketing Case for $491 Million
By KATIE THOMAS
The New York Times
Published: July 30, 2013
The drug maker Pfizer agreed to pay $491 million to settle criminal and civil charges over the illegal marketing of the kidney-transplant drug Rapamune, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday.
The settlement is the latest in a string of big-money cases involving the sales practices of major pharmaceutical companies; four years ago, Pfizer paid $2.3 billion for improperly marketing several drugs. The recent case centers on the practices of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, which Pfizer acquired in 2009.
The entire story is here.
The New York Times
Published: July 30, 2013
The drug maker Pfizer agreed to pay $491 million to settle criminal and civil charges over the illegal marketing of the kidney-transplant drug Rapamune, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday.
The settlement is the latest in a string of big-money cases involving the sales practices of major pharmaceutical companies; four years ago, Pfizer paid $2.3 billion for improperly marketing several drugs. The recent case centers on the practices of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, which Pfizer acquired in 2009.
The entire story is here.
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