AltWeeklies Wire
Take a Pass on Back Surgery and Decompress Your Spine Insteadnew
Spinal decompression, a procedure what involves computer-assisted application of "distraction forces" may provide relief for individuals with chronic back problems. However, critics feel that laypeople may be forking over large amounts of cash for a treatment that hasn't been scientifically proven to work.
The Georgia Straight |
Gail Johnson |
07-27-2009 |
Science
Health Care Reformers Fear the Cure May be Worse Than the Diseasenew
With President Barack Obama and congressional leaders in a strong position to finally overhaul the health care system, this should be a momentous time for the reform movement. So why are so many advocacy groups unhappy?
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Rebecca Bowe and Steven T. Jones |
07-22-2009 |
Science
Health Care Consumer, Beware: They're Called 'Limited Insurance Plans' for a Reasonnew
The real problem with limited insurance plans appears to be the way they're marketed. Like the rent-to-own or payday-loan industries, these types of insurance agencies seem to make their money off the most vulnerable segments of the population.
Houston Press |
Craig Malisow |
07-21-2009 |
Science
The Colorado Voice Clinic Thinks Every Person Has the Right to be Heardnew
Although the clinic has seen more than its share of famous patients, the facility is designed to help everybody who needs to keep their voices healthy, and clients range from students to housewives to lawyers to politicians to local musicians.
Some Mentally Ill People Say No to Pharmaceutical Solutionsnew
The MadPride movement is a revolt against the numbing of peculiar personalities with powerful chemicals. Those who take this path -- sometimes with the help of medical professionals, sometimes in defiance of them -- say they would rather embrace their madness then try to stifle it.
Health Care on Life Support: New Mexicans Tell Us What Reform Looks Likenew
Froozan Parwana is one of more than 400,000 New Mexicans without health insurance. Her trip to the emergency room last summer, which cost more than $300, was a harsh introduction to what awaits patients without medical coverage. The hospital bill forced Parwana to take fewer college classes.
Weekly Alibi |
Simon McCormack |
07-20-2009 |
Science
Why the Health Care Lobby Opposes the Public Optionnew
As a caravan rolled to Washington, Health Care for America Now's message about the incredibly complicated legislation had been reduced to one simple message: Whatever emerged, the bill must contain the strong public insurance option that Obama proposed -- and the private insurers, in league with the Republicans, were trying to kill.
Developmentally Disabled, Unable to Speak ... Ready to Work?new
Washington state wants developmentally disabled people to learn real-world job skills. Some families think that's asking too much.
Seattle Weekly |
Nina Shapiro |
07-13-2009 |
Science
Parasite City: A Gnawing Bed Bug Problem Grows in Southeast Baltimorenew
People whose homes have been infested say they have noticed a pattern: Spanish-speaking immigrants rent a rowhouse, and soon it becomes overcrowded. Mattresses are discarded on the street, leaning against fences or in areaways. Then neighboring homes are infested with bed bugs.
Baltimore City Paper |
Edward Ericson Jr. |
07-07-2009 |
Science
How Cheap, Mass-Produced Food Is Killing Our Environment, Our Economy — and Usnew
The food we eat today is making us fat. It's making us sick. And the vast, government-subsidized system of agribusiness and mechanized corporate food production is inefficient and unsustainable, slowly ruining our environment, our economy, and our culture.
Boston Phoenix |
Mike Miliard |
06-24-2009 |
Science
How Jackson Hospital's Mental Health Unit Fails Miaminew
Many tragedies have plagued the deeply troubled unit of the nation's third-largest public hospital. After an exhaustive review, New Times has uncovered the following: rushed patient releases, inadequate supervision, undocumented use of restraints, and possible civil rights violations.
Miami New Times |
Natalie O'Neill |
06-22-2009 |
Science
Connecticut's Needle Exchange Programs Face the Chopping Blocknew
New Haven launched one of the first needle-exchange programs in the country in 1990, and it became a national model for curbing the spread of AIDS through intravenous drug use. Gov. Jodi Rell's plan to eliminate the entirety of the $455,000 the state spends yearly on needle exchange is pennywise and pound foolish, advocates say, ensuring a spike in infections.
New Haven Advocate |
Andy Bromage |
06-16-2009 |
Science
How to Become More Medically Self-Sufficientnew
Dr. Charley Cropley shares five key things we can all do to take our health care into our own hands in order to improve the quality of our own lives, decrease our need for medical treatment and thus reduce our dependence on the health-care system.
Boulder Weekly |
Pamela White |
06-15-2009 |
Science
Rare Hib Disease Increases in Minnesotanew
Is the anti-vaccine movement to blame for a rise in the number of cases of a rare, life-threatening infectious disease?
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Erin Carlyle |
06-05-2009 |
Science
Vermont Health Commissioner Isn't Sweating Swine Flunew
The combination of a deadly new bug and the erosion of resources for her department will test the public-health and managerial chops of Wendy Davis, the state's No. 1 health officer.
Seven Days |
Kevin J. Kelley |
05-22-2009 |
Science
