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Week of May 26 - In Case You Missed It...TOMF Medical News Roundup

May 30, 2014


In Case You Missed It...
May 27, 2014

Hope You Had a Good Memorial Weekend

After a weekend of beer, brats, dogs, ribs, burgers and carne asada it's time for a gut check...literally.

Your gut is filled with good and bad bacteria, all carefully balanced. Buns and canned beans can throw it out of whack. Last weekend's Parade magazine had some useful tips to keep things in balance.

1. Eat more plant-based foods, and avoid too much refined flour and sugar.

2. Use soap. Hand sanitizers can change gut bacteria.

3. Eat pickled foods, sparingly (a couple bites 3-5 times a week). Research shows it can help good bacteria.

4. Eat slowly, while relaxed, and chew food thoroughly. You'll digest better with less gas and bloat.

UA Saga Continues

Sunday's Star has a story that a prominent UA surgeon was suspended because of gossip.

Take it with a grain of salt. The story was filled with requests for the hospital side of the story and the hospital is prevented from responding by the nature of peer review. Many of us wish peer review were wide open, but hearings are secret and reviewers are protected by Arizona statue. Because of that it is very difficult for the public to decide what is going on.

Banner Gets Closer

Banner Health will officially acquire Casa Grande Regional Medical Center June 9. That means Banner will own two of the three hospitals in Pinal County (the other is in Queen Creek). Banner has helped keep the Casa Grande hospital open since it sought bankruptcy protection last December.

Banner owns and operates 25 hospitals in Arizona and Colorado.

In Case You Missed It...
May 28, 2014

A.T. Still Inducted

Andrew Taylor Still is noted as the founder of osteopathic medicine and because of this, he was inducted into the "Hall of Famous Missourians" on April 16, 2014.

In honor of Still's induction, A.T. Still University released this short (13 minute) documentary about him, watch it here.

Community Food Bank Pantry Locations

Click here for a list of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona's pantry locations and hours. All people are eligible to receive one food box per month. All agencies are open to the public; you no longer have to go to an agency within your registered zip code.

In Case You Missed It...
May 29, 2014

American Disease Hits Rest of World

Obesity was long thought to be an American problem but now it's official: The world is fat, and getting fatter.

Many news sources report today on a University of Washington study that revie2wed 1,700 studies from 188 countries and concluded 2 billion of us are overweight and not one country has found a way to stem growing waistlines -- and the associated diseases that come with them. The highest rates of overweight men and women were in the Mideast and North Africa.

But the US has the world's highest number of overweight people for any single country, with 13% of the world's overweight people living within our borders.

Maybe That's a Good Reason to Celebrate...

Today's announcement in the Arizona Daily Star that the University of Arizona has reactivated its heart transplant program.

Scott Lick MD is a surgeon with 20 years of experience in heart and lung transplants. He completed his training at Arizona under Jack Copeland MD. Nancy Sweitzer MD is an advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist and will work in support.

Rhee Throws the Book at It

CBS News 13 is reporting that local trauma surgeon Peter Rhee MD has a new book out, Trauma Red, The Making of a Surgeon in War and in America's Cities.

Rhee is a son of a surgeon and spent January 8, 2011 in a "bloody, bloody day at the office," when he led the team that cared for the victims of the Safeway shooting that wounded Congresswoman Giffords and seven others.

Traveling Outside the US This Summer?

Do yourself and your neighbors a favor and get vaccinated against measles.

Measles in the US are at a 20 year high and in most cases the disease was caught overseas by unvaccinated American citizens. While the numbers are low (288 cases) the disease can ravage an area (136 cases in Ohio).

You might especially consider vaccination if you plan a trip to Manila. More than 32,000 cases of measles have been reported in the Philippines in 2014.

In Case You Missed It...
May 30, 2014

Fallout

Eric Shinseki, retired 4-star general, resigned this morning as Veterans Affairs Secretary after a meeting with the President. His resignation comes in the wake of the appointments scandal first uncovered in Phoenix. See your trusted news outlets for details as they emerge.

ObamaCare in Arizona

Despite low dollars to help with, and low targets for, enrollment Arizona did quite well in the 2013-2014 health insurance sign-up period.

Arizona was 48th in the nation in federal dollars received to help with enrollment, but came in 29th among states in terms of potential marketplace population enrolled. Nearly 77 percent of enrolless received premium assistance.

The federal goal for sign-ups in the marketplace was 106,000. More than 120,000 signed up. You can see the St. Luke's initiative stats at http://slhi.org/infographic-breaks-down-arizonas-coverage-growth/

Meritus Approved to Accept Applications outside Enrollment Period

From Covered Clips. The e-newsletter of the Cover Arizona Coalition

Arizona's only health insurance CO-OP, Meritus, has been approved to accept applications for individuals and families outside of the enrollment period that ended on March 31. Meritus is the only Qualified Health Plan (QHP) in Arizona to continue accepting applications without a Qualifying Life Event.

The enrollment period that ended on March 31 does not reopen until Nov. 15. Individuals who did not purchase by March 31 were subject to the law's tax penalty for not having coverage. Now, individuals can apply for coverage through Meritus rather than waiting for the next enrollment period.

"Due to the large number of people who did not enroll during open enrollment, we feel that providing an opportunity for people to still secure coverage is important to the community," Meritus CEO Kathleen Oestreich said.

Individuals will need to go directly through Meritus-not Healthcare.Gov-to apply. They can go online, http://www.meritusaz.com/, or by phone: 602.957.2113 or 855.755.2700.

Driving Costs

We have all done the math. Car payment, insurance cost, price of gas, fees for emissions, plates and registration.

Once a decade the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration comes up with a different calculation. It looks at the cost to the US economy stemming from crashes. That price is staggering.

Two percent of our gross national product. $871 billion. Every year.

Costs go beyond fixing traffic damaged cars. It includes the loss of 32,000 lives, 2.9 million injuries; loss of productivity, medical and court costs; there are road repairs, lost productivity, loss of time getting to work when accidents occur.

The list is comprehensive. The major factor that could reduce this price tag? Eliminating drunk driving would cut costs by 20-25 percent.