The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Slog: Health

Lunchtime Quickie: Prancercise With Joanna

Kelly O — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 12:35:13 -0700

I know this is sooooo last week, but summer is here people. Let Joanna, one of Florida's finest, prance you into fitness (insert horse whinny sound here).

h/t to Resso!

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Civil Rights Groups Call on Gov. Inslee to Delay Religious Hospital Mergers

Cienna Madrid — Fri, 31 May 2013 10:28:26 -0700

UPDATE: Governor Inslee's office says that he "remains very concerned" about this issue and has asked his staff to look into "all available options—including a moratorium—that will help ensure all Washingtonians maintain access to all health care services, whether reproductive care [or]end of life services."

Ten women's and civil rights organizations, led by the ACLU of Washington, are calling on Governor Jay Inslee to enact an immediate six-month moratorium on all proposed or pending hospital merger decisions in Washington state. As I reported earlier this year, the proposed mergers involve Catholic healthcare institutions that could severely restrict patient access to lawful treatments like abortion and end-of-life care.

Noting that "serious state constitutional concerns" arise when public tax dollars are used to fund religious hospitals that restrict access to women's reproductive healthcare and death-with-dignity services, the three-page letter (.pdf) states, "As leader of our state, we ask you to act immediately to safeguard patients' access to all lawful and medically appropriate health care services by: (i) enacting a six-month moratorium on any decision by the Washington State Department of Health on proposed or pending applications related to hospital ownership, operations, or management; and (ii) utilizing this six-month period to conduct a community health needs assessment that would provide an objective evaluation of such mergers' impact on patients' ability to access medically appropriate health care services and provide policy guidance moving forward.

I've contacted Inslee's office for comment; I'll let Slog know when I get a response.

The letter notes that without such a moratorium, 45 percent of hospital beds could be controlled by religious institutions by year's end (that number is currently at 40 percent). By contrast, religious institutions only controlled 20 percent of hospital beds in April 2010.

To get a better sense of how ominous all these mergers are, it's helpful to take a look at the Ethical and Religious Directives that guide Catholic hospital care (and the ACLU's letter helpfully includes a few, .pdf). For example:

Directive 1: A Catholic institutional health care service is a community that provides health care to those in need of it. This service must be animated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and guided by the moral tradition of the Church.

Directive 5: Catholic health care services must adopt these Directives as policy, require adherence to them within the institution as a condition for medical privileges and employment, and provide appropriate instruction regarding the Directives for administration, medical and nursing staff, and other personnel.

Directive 24: In compliance with federal law, a Catholic health care institution will make available to patients information about their rights, under the laws of their state, to make an advance directive for their medical treatment. The institution, however, will not honor an advance directive that is contrary to Catholic teaching. (If Directive 24 isn't explicit enough, Directive 28 says that your "free and informed health care decision" should be followed "so long as it does not contradict Catholic principles.")

And my personal favorite, Directive 36: A female who has been raped should be able to defend herself against a potential conception from the sexual assault. If, after appropriate testing, there is no evidence that contraception has occurred already, she may be treated with medications that would prevent ovulation, sperm capacitation, or fertilization. It is not permissible, however, to initiate or to recommend treatments that have as their purpose or direct effect the removal, destruction, or interference with the implantation of a fertilized ovum.

The list (.pdf) goes on and on and on. It's truly horrifying.

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Browse the Medicare Hospital Charges and Payment Data

Jonathan Golob — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:31:44 -0700

As I wrote about last week, Medicare (for the first time ever) released what hospitals in the United States charged, and what they were paid, for the top 100 diagnoses in 2011.

If you're curious, I've written a simple (and ad-free) web app you can use to browse the data. (I suggest comparing the Las Vegas, NV region to Baltimore, MD.)

Be gentle, but have at it.

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Welcome News for People Who Like Foods That Taste Good

Goldy — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:33:39 -0700

As a big fan of savory foods, I welcome this news:

In a report that undercuts years of public health warnings, a prestigious group convened by the government says there is no good reason based on health outcomes for many Americans to drive their sodium consumption down to the very low levels recommended in national dietary guidelines.

Those levels, 1,500 milligrams of sodium a day, or a little more than half a teaspoon of salt, were supposed to prevent heart attacks and strokes in people at risk, including anyone older than 50, blacks and people with high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease — a group that makes up more than half of the American population. ... But the new expert committee, commissioned by the Institute of Medicine at the behest of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there was no rationale for anyone to aim for sodium levels below 2,300 milligrams a day. The group examined new evidence that had emerged since the last such report was issued, in 2005.

I mostly cook and bake for myself rather than eating out or buying prepared foods, so I'm guessing my sodium intake is way lower than the average American's. But there's no way I manage to stay below 1,500 milligrams on most days. Now I can stop giving myself hypertension worrying about my salt intake.

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This Is What Most Abortion Clinics Used to Be Like

Goldy — Tue, 14 May 2013 09:14:25 -0700

You know those gruesome old stories about back-alley abortions, from way back before Roe v. Wade made abortion legal and safe? They looked somewhat like this:

A Philadelphia jury on Monday convicted abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell on three counts of murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of three babies and one adult patient at his inner-city clinic. The case, which revealed horrific conditions at Gosnell’s practice as well as gruesome details about the illegal operations he performed there, became a flashpoint in the national debate about abortion.

So-called "pro-lifers" are attempting to use the Gosnell case as an argument for tightening restrictions on abortion, but experience tells us that would only create more Gosnells. In addition to the murder charges, Gosnell was convicted of dozens of counts of performing medically unjustified late-term abortions beyond Pennsylvania's 24-week limit. Gosnell's practice wasn't just alleged to be unsanitary, unsafe, and unqualified—much of it was determined to be illegal. As this case shows, criminalizing abortion—even late-term abortion—does nothing to reduce demand; instead, it just drives desperate women to seek ever more desperate options.

That was America's experience before Roe v. Wade, and that is the experience repeated in countries throughout the world. Indeed, a recent study in the Lancet reports that the abortion rate is actually lower in the jurisdictions with the most liberal abortion laws: "Restrictive abortion laws are not associated with lower abortion rates," the study finds, a conclusion entirely consistent with past research. In the US, legal abortions remain remarkably safe, with only a handful of maternal deaths out the approximately one million abortions performed each year. But worldwide, 47,000 women still die each year from unsafe abortions, accounting for 13 percent of all maternal deaths. That is the reality that US pro-lifers would return us to.

Clinics like Gosnell's are rare. If they weren't, this case wouldn't have been so sensational. But if pro-lifers have their way, it will once again become the norm.

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But I Thought That Was the Way a Free Health Care Market Was Supposed to Work...

Goldy — Sat, 11 May 2013 09:38:25 -0700

Texas, of course, but still:

SANTA FE, Texas (AP) - A Southeast Texas woman is facing a felony charge for allegedly delaying hospital treatment of her teenage son's gunshot wound until she researched treatment options online.

And this in a nutshell is why the market cannot function on its own to provide efficient and affordable health care.

Markets only function properly when consumers have the ability and opportunity to make informed comparisons of products, services, and prices. It's not the wisdom of the capitalist that drives innovation but the wisdom of the market—the mass of consumers for whom's dollars the capitalists compete. Without the ability for consumers to make informed purchasing decisions there is no rational competition for products and services, and thus no rational market. And without a rational market to allocate resources, there is no inherent efficiency.

But who is going to shop around for the best health care product at the best price when oneself or one's child is suffering from a high fever, or a kidney stone attack or, say, a gunshot wound? Not only does one not have the luxury of taking the time to shop around for the right deal in the midst of a health care crisis, one might even be prosecuted for behaving like market theories dictate an informed health care consumer should behave. Instead, when faced with unbearable pain or impending death, most of us head to the nearest emergency room, and then deal with the hospital bill as best we can after the fact.

Under those circumstances, there is no market at all. And in that context—with little or no consumer feedback—it is a fantasy to insist that a private health care market can efficiently allocate health care resources.

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The American Health Care Market

Jonathan Golob — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:28:44 -0700

How much a plate of spaghetti is going to cost you isn't usually a mystery. Sure, the price can vary quite a bit—from a few cents if you're making the plate yourself from groceries, to dozens of dollars at a fancy restaurant. You shouldn't be too surprised by the bill at the end; the price is right there on the menu, or on the box—same for you as anyone else.

The American healthcare system remains remarkably opaque—particularly if you are among the uninsured. The cost of a hospitalization for a heart attack varies tremendously depending upon the hospital giving the treatment. And, unlike a restaurant, hospitals generally refuse to state the price up front.

To reduce healthcare costs, the plan for the past few decades has been to pass on costs to the consumer. The idea here is to use the market (in the Adam Smith sense of the word) to force down prices—expecting patients to find the most efficient, cheapest, hospital for a given problem. (Spoiler: It hasn't worked.)

But, how can you decide which hospital is most efficient, if you have no idea what they're charging? The net result is underinsured or uninsured Americans understand that getting sick is a good way to end up bankrupt, without any real sense of how to pick a more efficient provider.

Something exciting has happened this week, possibly changing this dynamic: The Center for Medicare Services, for the first time, has published the list prices charged by hospitals around the country (to Medicare) for the top one hundred reasons patients end up in the hospital.

Let's look at what hospitals are charging, and receiving, in the Seattle area. In each of these charts, the blue bars is the bill charged to Medicare by the hospital, the red the payment the hospital actually received (from Medicare and all copayments or deductibles paid by the patient). You'll note, like almost all insurers in the US, Medicare pays a significant discount from the billed cost. A patient without insurance can expect the full, undiscounted rate.

First up, the charge for a pneumonia admission:

For a COPD (rotten lungs, usually after a lifetime of smoking) flare:

Coronary artery disease, requiring a stent (either a heart attack or a heart-attack-to-be):

The overbilling is (in part) a negotiation tactic between the hospitals and the insurers—a way of amplifying the percentage discount to a prospective insurer while maintaining revenues. The side effect is to leave the uninsured or underinsured as road-kill—charged two or three times the total bill payed from an insured person.

If nothing else, the Affordable Care Act (i.g. Obamacare) will make this better by shifting a majority of people from the uninsured into the insured group—paying the discounted rate, with insurance picking up most of the total tab.

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Portlanders Have a Very Uncivil Argument About Water Fluoridation

Paul Constant — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:01:40 -0700

Today, the city of Portland is mailing out ballots for a special election to determine whether their water should be fluoridated. Our (hot) sister paper, The Portland Mercury, published a feature debunking the 7 sanest anti-fluoride arguments. The comment thread to this story is incredible, and I encourage you to read it. I can't wait to see how this vote turns out; if the results of the vote was based on noise in comment threads alone, I'd expect fluoridation to go down in flames.

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A Revolutionary Idea in Health Care

Bethany Jean Clement — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:30:10 -0700

Take care of sick people, in person, at home, on an ongoing basis. Wait, TOO revolutionary! SHUT IT DOWN!!!

Thanks, Jill.

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I Dunno, You'd Think Having to Hold a Bake Sale to Help Pay for Sen. Mike Carrell's Medical Bills Might Cause Republican Lawmakers to Rethink Their Opposition to Healthcare Reform...

Goldy — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:17:29 -0700

Internal fundraiser today in OLY to raise money for Sen. Mike Carrell's medical bills. #WALEG twitter.com/CallaghanPeter…
— Peter Callaghan (@CallaghanPeter) April 24, 2013

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Spring Is in the Air (Hold Your Breath!)

Goldy — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:10:17 -0700

Nothing like a press release from the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) to cheer up your day:

The time for spring cleaning is here, and with it, the risk of exposure to serious animal-carried diseases like hantavirus and rabies. The Department of Health recommends taking precautions when cleaning areas where wild animals may have been. Visible droppings, nests, dead rodents or bats are signs of animals that can carry these dangerous diseases.

“Although these illnesses are rare, they can be deadly,” says State Health Officer Dr. Maxine Hayes.

The news release page on the DOH web site is always an uplifting read. For example, in recent months I've enjoyed "Tick season is here and the state Department of Health is collecting them," "Chicks and ducklings can carry Salmonella, putting kids at risk," and of course the classic "Seattle psychologist suspended indefinitely due to mental illness."

Happy spring!

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The Blunt Charm of Marilyn McKenna

Cienna Madrid — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:34:38 -0700

I've never met Marilyn McKenna—like most of my coworkers, I've only had the pleasure of being forcefully ignored and shut out of press events by her husband—but like Dan, the more I hear about her, the more I like her. Take yesterday's profile in the Seattle Times, which covers her relationship with food, her dramatic weight loss, and her evolving stance on gay marriage, all delivered with a refreshing I-don't-give-a-fuck frankness:

McKenna has called Inslee “a legitimate moron”; said that she would eat dog food if it had peanut butter on it; and admitted to ogling the much-younger lifeguard at the local YMCA.

“What can I say? I’m married, not dead,” she told me the other week. “Twitter is fun. I enjoy talking to people. I use it like you would a diary.”

So what brought on the change from quiet, conservative political wife to someone who admits to sleeping in a Hooters T-shirt?

I'm lukewarm on dog food but I'd enthusiastically ogle lifeguards with Mrs. McKenna.

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Thank God Emergency Contraception May Finally Be Available Without Bullshit Restrictions

Anna Minard — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:15:37 -0700

I know Goldy mentioned it in Morning News, but it feels like the news that emergency contraception will soon be available over the counter without age restrictions deserves its own celebration.

From the New York Times:

A federal judge ruled Friday that the government must make the most common morning-after pill available over the counter for all ages, instead of requiring a prescription for girls 16 and younger. In his ruling, he also accused the federal government of “bad faith” in dealing with the requests to make the pill universally available, and said its actions had been politically motivated.

Says Senator Patty Murray:

Today's ruling highlights the importance of Food and Drug Administration regulations being based on science, not politics. As numerous medical societies and patient advocates have argued, improved access to birth control, including emergency contraception, has been proven to benefit a woman's personal, economic and social health and stability. Increasing access to obtain a safe and effective product they may need to prevent an unintended pregnancy is an essential part of basic health care.

You're goddamn right, judge and senator. The 2011 decision by Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius to overrule the FDA's recommendation on the safety and regulation of a medicine was a fucking embarrassment. It was backhanded political bullshit and it had really serious implications: A drug that has been proven safe for all ages and loses efficacy by the day should not be made more difficult to acquire for people who really need it—young teenagers who just had unprotected sex (for any of a variety of reasons) and don't want to be pregnant. The judge today called the government's continued refusal to lift restrictions on the drug "arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable."

Did you ever have to acquire Plan B as a teenager and find it confusing, difficult, and embarrassing? Ever buy it for a terrified younger friend who didn't know how to navigate the health-care system alone? Thanks to this ruling, those days may be over. Finally. Unless the DOJ decides to appeal. Also, let's recall that it's not always easy to get ahold of emergency contraception even if you can find a pharmacy that carries it. NARAL Pro-Choice Washington has a handy map of pharmacies that dispense it and ones who've said they may not, usually on moral/religious grounds. Still, a celebration is in order.

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"A kilo is a kilo is a kilo."

Dan Savage — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:06:57 -0700

The first airline in the world to charge passengers by weight declares their new pricing model a success:

Passengers do not pay for a seat but pay a fixed price per kilogram, which varies according to the length of the route. Analysts believe other airlines around the world are likely to follow suit, especially as the rising weight of populations adds to fuel costs. Some airlines in the United States have already begun forcing passengers who cannot fit in a single seat to buy two tickets....

The head of Samoa Air, Chris Langton, said the new system was fairer and that some families with small children were now paying substantially cheaper fares. "This is the fairest way of travelling," he told ABC Radio. "There are no extra fees in terms of excess baggage or anything – it is just a kilo is a kilo is a kilo."

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How Rodney Tom Can Save the Day for Reproductive Access

Anna Minard — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:30:23 -0700

Hi there, Senator Tom. Let's talk, huh?

As Goldy reported in Morning News, the senate committee to which you referred the Reproductive Parity Act seems destined to abort the bill. The anti-choice committee chair, Randi Becker (R-Eatonville), released a statement last night saying that after a packed hearing yesterday, "the decision of the committee is that the bill will not move forward from here this year." Which, c'mon, Senator Tom, you knew. You knew this would happen when you assigned this important bill to the Republican-controlled health care committee instead of the insurance committee, which is led by Democrat Steve Hobbs.

But I know you support the bill—you told me so. Your office did, and so did you. And it's passed in the house already. And the governor supports it. And a majority of the senate has come out in support of it, pledging in a public letter that "when House Bill 1044 comes to the floor of the Senate we are all committed to vote for it." (And hey! That's your signature right there on that letter of support, second to last!)

And I mean, there's no way you're just using your "pro-choice" position and the support of pro-choice voters and advocates to look more bipartisan and moderate than you are, right? There's no way you've bragged about your 100 percent NARAL rating and let them vociferously defend you in elections (listen to that press release! "Senator Tom's steadfast support for women's health care and women's rights"!), that you've spoken to a rally of women's health advocates as recently as this February—Planned Parenthood presented you as one of the "inspiring... pro-choice voices in Olympia!"—and then you're just going to let this legislation die.

You have other options.

The deadline for bills to pass out of committee is tomorrow. But you have a little time—you can show some of that "steadfast support for women's health care" by throwing your weight around. You did get yourself this sweet-ass majority leader status, after all—you know how to pull some shit when you need to. So go ahead: Move that the senate advance to the ninth order of business. Yeah, it's a weird parliamentary workaround, but you can do it. I know you know how it works—you did it last year to help Republicans hijack the budget. And you'd have the votes, that majority of senators who signed that letter, to pull the bill out of committee, and put it to a floor vote, and pass it.

So do it.

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The Republican Answer to Obamacare Is a Lottery

Paul Constant — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:19:06 -0700

In Tennessee, Republican Governor Bill Haslan has refused to expand Medicaid under Obamacare. But he must acknowledge that rising health care costs are a problem, right? What's the solution to this problem in Tennessee? ThinkProgress explains:

Twice a year, Tennessee holds a “health care lottery” that gives some hope to the uninsured residents in the state who can’t afford health coverage. Tennesseans who meet certain requirements — in addition to falling below a certain income threshold, they must be elderly, blind, disabled, or a caretaker of a child who qualifies for Medicaid — may call to request an application for the state’s public health insurance program, known as TennCare.

Go read the whole post. It sounds absolutely terrible.

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Interview with a Professional (and Legal) Burglar

Paul Constant — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:34:31 -0700

This Reddit Ask Me Anything is pretty fascinating. Here's the introduction:

For work I get to break into hospitals and steal things. It's referred to as a "Physical Penetration Test." It's an integral part of a risk assessment, which is required under 164.308(a)(1) of HIPAA.

I routinely pick locks, steal access badges, impersonate medical personnel, harvest data and credentials, crack passwords, and utilize various social engineering tactics.

My official title is "Information Security Consultant." I have a degree in Information Systems Management, as well as; CCNA, Sec+, and CISA certifications.

Ask Me Anything!

It's easy to forget because we all have jobs, but few things are as interesting as a person talking about the things they do every day. And this job is an especially fascinating one. You should go read the whole interview thread.

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Speaking of Food Deserts

Anna Minard — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:22:59 -0700

USDA
SEATTLE! Here are your food deserts.

Gillian posted a great video on Monday of Ron Finley's TED Talk on urban gardening as one solution to food deserts. Now the USDA has gone and updated their tool for mapping the country's food deserts. From the USDA site:

Expanding the availability of nutritious and affordable food by developing and equipping grocery stores, small retailers, corner markets and farmers’ markets in communities with limited access is an important part of the First Lady's Let's Move! initiative.

There are many ways to define which areas are considered "food deserts" and many ways to measure food store access for individuals and for neighborhoods. Most measures and definitions take into account at least some of the following indicators of access:

• Accessibility to sources of healthy food, as measured by distance to a store or by the number of stores in an area.
• Individual-level resources that may affect accessibility, such as family income or vehicle availability.
• Neighborhood-level indicators of resources, such as the average income of the neighborhood and the availability of public transportation.

Up there to the right is what it looks like if you zoom in on Seattle. Food deserts are colored green. You can go zoom around the map yourself right here.

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The State's Teens Are Depressed, but at Least They're Not Self-Medicating with Alcohol and Drugs

Anna Minard — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:47:00 -0700

Or something! We just got the results of the biennial Healthy Youth Survey from the state's Department of Health, and while teen smoking and drinking are down (just say no!), the rate of "feeling crappy because being a teenager can be really bullshit sometimes"* among Washington's youth remains pretty much the same.
*Not a direct quote.

The facts:

About 10 percent of 10th graders reported smoking a cigarette at least once in the past 30 days, which is waaaay down (it was around 13 percent in 2010 and 25 percent in 1999). Weirdly, "nearly as many 10th graders smoked tobacco from a hookah pipe as from a cigarette, and about 7 percent said that they smoked a cigar in the last month." My suggested follow-up question: "Cigar-smoking sophomores: totally boss or totally lost?"

On boozin': The survey reports that 12 percent of 8th graders, 23 percent of 10th graders, and 36 percent of 12th graders used alcohol in the past 30 days. They DOH says this represents "nearly 11,000 fewer students... using alcohol compared to 2010" survey results.

But the emotional health part of the survey is not trending downward:

About 8 percent of 8th and 10th graders attempted suicide in the past year. Over 100,000 youth, ages 12-17, seriously considered suicide—about one in every six students. More than one in four teens surveyed said they felt so sad or hopeless for two weeks in a row that they stopped doing usual activities: 26 percent in 8th grade, 31 percent in 10th grade, and 30 percent in 12th grade. These numbers haven’t changed much over the past 10 years.

The DOH says it's a "concern" that "the percentage of Washington 10th and 12th graders who smoke marijuana is nearly double the percentage of cigarette smokers." But, um, that seems about right to me. According to a DOH fact sheet on the survey, "In 2010, suicide was the leading cause of death in Washington for youth ages 15 to 24." I'd say maybe we should go ahead and focus a little bit of the drug- and alcohol-prevention money on some counseling, huh?

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Just the Tip

Grant Brissey — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:36:33 -0700

The missing one is stuck deep inside my ear canal. No one has any tweezers.

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Tonight: A Cafe Racer Benefit for David George "the Bug Chef" Gordon

Brendan Kiley — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:48:00 -0800

David George Gordon is a municipal treasure. He's a naturalist, bug chef, cookbook author, musician, and one of the odder (and more endearing) stars in the constellation of Seattle culture.

I first met him in 2008, when he came to my kitchen for a Stranger video about how to cook a tarantula (the squeals you hear in the background are courtesy of photographer/videographer Kelly O and food critic/managing editor Bethany Jean Clement):

Later, I got to know him as the harmonica player for God's Favorite Beefcake (two of whose members were killed during the Cafe Racer murders). And I've always been a fan of his "Feast of St. Gratus," when he cooks a bug banquet and serves it up to the public.

Recently, Gordon had stroke—thankfully, he lost none of his cognitive abilities, but he's got some steep hospital bills to pay. Tonight, Cafe Racer is throwing a benefit party starting at 6 pm. (I'm not sure exactly what it'll look like, but these folks know how to have fun. Facebook page here.)

On a side note: I'm always (and increasingly) infuriated by how many people have to resort to fundraising to cover their necessary medical bills. This is old news, but still—when we have to crowd-source and rely on donations to pay for urgent medical care, we have been failed by both the government and the market.

It's pathetic.

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Don't Plan on Having a Complicated Pregnancy (or Death) in Western Washington

Cienna Madrid — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:09:53 -0800

As I wrote in this feature, Catholic hospitals are taking over local hospitals, imposing their religious morals on patients' healthcare, and denying access certain legal treatments (abortions, information about physician-assisted suicide, even access to birth control) to their patients.

The ACLU of Washington has created two maps that depict the reaches of religious healthcare in Washington state. The first map shows what counties are currently dominated by religious hospitals. (As you can see, it includes the most populous counties.)

The second map shows what will happen should 10 proposed Catholic hospital mergers be completed in western Washington.

ACLU of Washington
Click to enlarge.

Basically, the difference between the two maps is that all hospitals in Skagit, Snohomish, and Kitsap county would become religiously affiliated, as well as over 50 percent of hospitals in Grays Harbor. This means that in these counties, accessing comprehensive healthcare could become much harder as residents find themselves at the brutal mercy of the Catholic church.

For more information on what the ACLU of Washington is doing to raise awareness about the potential impacts of these mergers, go here.

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Recently in Bacteria

Grant Brissey — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:33:52 -0800

So, there's a new "nightmare bacteria" surfing the immune systems of four percent of U.S. hospitals and 18 percent of its nursing homes. It's nightmarish because it often doesn't respond to "last-resort antibiotics" called carbapenems. The fatality rate is reportedly about 50 percent in people who contract serious infections. Some more:

Although CRE bacteria are not yet found nationwide, they have increased fourfold within the United States in the past decade, with most cases reported in the Northeast.

Health officials said they're concerned about the rapid spread of the bacteria, which can endanger the lives of patients and healthy people. For example, in the last 10 years, the CDC tracked one CRE from one health-care facility to similar facilities in 42 states.

One type of CRE, a resistant form of Klebsiella pneumoniae, has increased sevenfold in the past decade, according to the CDC's March 5 Vital Signs report.

"To see bacteria that are resistant is worrisome, because this group of bacteria are very common," said Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.

So, basically, Washyourhandsington.

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Cabaret Performers for UW TEST

Brendan Kiley — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:43:55 -0800

On March 30, UW TEST—a student-run organization that offers free HIV testing and trains med students to be better providers when it comes to sexual health and working with the LGBTQ community—is having a fundraiser cabaret.

"It's a pretty cool group," writes UW med student and UW TEST volunteer Adam. "And last year they hosted a variety show fundraiser with a bunch of people from the Seattle Men's Chorus in Meany Hall. Each performance somehow reflects an experience of knowing someone with, being diagnosed with, or living with HIV. Song, dance, monologue, etc. Attendance is around 300; all volunteer."

Here's the Facebook page for the event. Full information about UW TEST and the cabaret are below the jump.

And they are reportedly still looking for performers. If you're interested, contact Kristen Rogers (kmrogers@uw.edu) or Benjamin Lang (blang@uw.edu).

THE CABARET

A spectacular musical event for UW TEST, the UW Medical Student-run Outreach HIV Testing Program!

Featuring guests (30+!!!) from the Seattle Men's Chorus, King County Public Health, UW School of Medicine, and performers throughout Seattle!

The show contains songs and scenes, each a reflection on the multitude of experiences in HIV testing from love to loss to resilience to hope.

Kane Hall: http://www.washington.edu/maps/print/?place=117.

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN PERFORMING?

We are looking for any acts: singing, poetry, burlesque, dance, monologues, and more. You must be willing to submit an audition video and attend at least one practice and the event on the 30th of March.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Contact Kristen Rogers (kmrogers@uw.edu) or Benjamin Lang (blang@uw.edu) or visit our Facebook event at https://www.facebook.com/events/272919082758708/

WHO WE ARE

UW TEST is a medical student-run outreach HIV testing program that offers HIV Testing and Education, promotes Sexual Health, and facilitates Treatment Referral. We currently provide free rapid HIV testing on a weekly basis at Seattle Area Support Groups and endeavor to expand our HIV testing, advocating and educational services.

UW TEST is a collaboration between the UW School of Medicine's Family Medicine and QMedicine LGBTQ Student Interest Groups, Seattle King County Public Health, and Seattle Area Support Groups.

Our mission is to provide student-run, culturally excellent HIV testing services to our community and equip future physicians with advanced risk assessment skills and the tools to integrate regular HIV testing into their future practice.

UW TEST is a medical student-run outreach HIV testing program that offers HIV Testing and Education, promotes Sexual Health, and facilitates Treatment Referral. We currently provide free rapid HIV testing on a weekly basis at Seattle Area Support Groups and endeavor to expand our HIV testing, advocating and educational services.

UW TEST is a collaboration between the UW School of Medicine's Family Medicine and QMedicine LGBTQ Student Interest Groups, Seattle King County Public Health, and Seattle Area Support Groups.
Our mission is to provide student-run, culturally excellent HIV testing services to our community and equip future physicians with advanced risk assessment skills and the tools to integrate regular HIV testing into their future practice.

PROGRAM GOALS
Provide skilled, student-run, culturally excellent HIV testing services to our community;
Build relationships between the University of Washington and Seattle King County Public Health;
Train medical students in advanced sexual history-taking and risk reduction counseling;
Increase student comfort and competency in working with LGBT and drug-using populations and others at risk in the WWAMI region; equip future physicians with the tools and skills to integrate HIV testing into their future practices.

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Because Guns Make Us Safer

Goldy — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:31:37 -0800

Tragic:

Family and friends in Michigan are mourning the death of a 4-year-old Jackson County deputy’s son, who accidentally shot and killed himself over the weekend.

[...] “How did that kid get that weapon? How did he get a loaded weapon? How did they have access to it?” the neighbor wondered.

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Artificial Feelings

Charles Mudede — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:29:17 -0800

Time:

Scientists have moved closer to enabling amputees with artificial limbs to feel what they are touching. The first bionic hand that will allow the wearer to experience touch again will enter trials later this year, thanks to the work of scientists at the école Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland and their partners at Project TIME (Transverse Intrafaciscular Multichannel Electrode System) — a program focused on the treatment of phantom limb pain.

In our generation, we may see something like this solution to this problem...

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ACLU Seeking Testimony from Patients Who've Been Denied Care at Religious Hospitals

Cienna Madrid — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:30:29 -0800

As I write in this week's paper, Catholic hospitals are flourishing in Washington State, which is impacting end-of-life care for dying patients, as well as reproductive health care for women:

To understand Catholic health care, it's important to know the rules that guide Catholic hospitals, otherwise known as Ethical and Religious Directives (ERDs). These directives are drafted and tweaked by the rotating cast of mostly white, mostly celibate bishops couch-surfing at the Vatican. ERDs operate like a code of conduct that medical staff in Catholic hospitals agree to abide by, regardless of whether or not a particular staffer is Catholic. For the most part, the directives aren't suggestions—they're prescriptive.

... As you'd expect, the directives pertaining to women's fertility read like a misogynist romance novel or found art from the Middle Ages: "Catholic health institutions may not promote or condone contraceptive practices." Emergency contraception can only be given to rape victims, and even then only "if, after appropriate testing, there is no evidence that conception has occurred already." Vasectomies and tubal ligations are also prohibited. Egg and sperm donors are deemed "contrary to the covenant of marriage," surrogate motherhood is prohibited because it denigrates "the dignity of the child and marriage," and doctors at Catholic hospitals can't help infertile couples conceive artificially—using their own eggs and sperm—because test-tube babies "separate procreation from the marital act in its unitive significance."

Then there's this: "Abortion... is never permitted."

Now the ACLU of Washington is seeking testimony from patients who've been denied reproductive health care or end-of-life services at religious-based medical facilities. As their website states, "We also would like to hear about any experience of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression in seeking or accessing health care services, counseling, or referrals in Washington state."

To submit your testimony, go here.

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Six Thousand King County Children Live in Homes Where Firearms Are Stored Loaded and Unlocked (and Other Details from Public Health's Gun Violence Report)

Goldy — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:24:48 -0800

Public Health Seattle & King County
If we could only get guns out of the hands of young men, we'd have no gun problem.

Seattle & King County Public Health has released a detailed report on Gun Violence in King County, and it's chock full of interesting data. For example, did you know that the number of firearms deaths in King County surpassed the number of traffic deaths starting in 2007? In 2010, 123 county residents died from firearms compared to 102 traffic deaths.

Among the other interesting bullet points:

Between 2006 and 2012, 29 percent of firearm deaths in King County were homicide, compared to 68 percent suicide.
The average annual cost of firearms deaths and injuries in King County is $177 million.
The average charge for a firearm hospitalization is $66,000.
A 10 percent reduction in violent crime would boost residential housing value by $2.9 billion in the Seattle metropolitan area.
The firearm homicide rate in King County is 35 percent lower than the national average.
Homicide rates in the US are 7 times higher than those in other high-income nations; firearm homicide rates are 20 times higher.
Nationally, 54.3 percent of murder victims are killed by somebody they know, 24.8 percent by a family member.
The odds of a homicide are 2.7 times higher in homes with firearms than in homes without.
Southeast Seattle has one of the highest firearm homicide rates in the county, but one of the lowest firearm suicide rates.
In King County, 42 percent of suicides are by firearms.
In King County, 88 percent of firearm suicides are male; 10 percent of firearm suicides are under the age of 25.
An estimated 6,000 King County children live in homes where firearms are stored loaded and unlocked.

And tons more data. More than you want to know. But well worth the read regardless of where you stand on the gun control issue.

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Baby Steps

Goldy — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 06:31:10 -0800

It's encouraging to see a Seattle Times editorial columnist acknowledging that we are systematically underinvesting in crucial social services:

Washington has more mentally ill patients in jail than in hospitals. It ranks last in the country in community psychiatric beds per capita, with ward after ward closing because reimbursement rates don’t come near to their costs.

Now if only the editorial board would stop fighting every effort to raise the tax revenue necessary to pay for the services they acknowledge we need.

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Certain Scientists: Women Who Use Birth Control Are Walking Graveyards

Dan Savage — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:54:18 -0800

Rightwing Watch:

Well, here’s some medical research we hadn’t heard about. Generations Radio host Kevin Swanson, who last week delved memorably into feminist theory, tells us this week that “certain doctors and certain scientists” have researched the wombs of women on the pill and found “there are these little tiny fetuses, these little babies, that are embedded into the womb…Those wombs of women who have been on the birth control pill effectively have become graveyards for lots and lots of little babies.”

Please go read the entire post. The religious right really is coming for your birth control, straight ladies and gentleman. And why do they want to ban birth control? Kevin Swanson explains:

Women [are] fighting and not being happy with the role that God put them in that he laid out in Genesis. So whenever you seek to desire, when women seek to desire the men’s role, they lose the part and the idea of what children does, not just for the kingdom and not just does with their family, but does for their gender role.

God put you on this earth to crap out as many babies as possible, ladies. And while the number of human beings on this planet went from one billion in 1800 to seven billion today, and while we're on track to hit fifteen billion human beings by the end of this century, and while it might seem like maybe you ladies could take a century or two off at this point and just enjoy sex for the fun of it and cut waaaaaaaaaaaaay the hell back on the number of babies you're having, you don't want to do that because eventually your uterus will be so crammed with the bones of little dead babies that you'll rattle when you walk.

And stop desiring the men's role, will you?

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