MS Maze

By Jim Pietrangelo

What would make you mad enough to pick up and throw a metal patio table at a woman? Acceptable answers might be:

• ‘She was threatening me with a gun.’

• ‘I caught her trying to abduct my child.’

• perhaps even ‘She was a zombie and was trying to eat me.’

One answer not making the list: ‘She was a census worker and wanted to talk with me.’

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Census Worker Violence: Going Census is the New Going Postal

Photo Credit: 2010 Census

As we attempt to cross the bridge to health care reform, we’ve got to watch our footing.

People with pre-existing conditions were a main focus of the legislation, but millions of us will have to wait until 2014 for even the slightest relief.

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3 Danger Zones on the Bridge to Health Care Reform

Photo Credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/896851

The U.S. Supreme Court this week declined to hear appeals from both sides in the federal government’s racketeering lawsuit against the tobacco industry (The United States v. Philip Morris USA, Inc.)

The decision is both a victory and a colossal disappointment.

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Supreme Court Declines Case: Big Tobacco Scores Big

Photo courtesy PhotoXpress.com

Do you recognize disability when you see it?

Last week’s post about an able-bodied woman using a handicapped parking space, then suing over the ticket she received, resulted in spirited conversation in the comments section.

It’s an emotional topic for a lot of people, not the least of whom are those who have the legal right to use the specially marked spaces, but who have an invisible disability. Judgements are often made based on nothing more than appearance.

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Savoring the Privilege of Walking

Image credit: PhotoXpress.com

The individual health insurance market is notoriously difficult to navigate. Finding insurers and the getting to the straight facts on plans, premiums, and requirements is a daunting task.

Help is on the way. Beginning on July 1, a government website will provide a list of private and government health care plans available for individuals and small businesses.

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Coming Soon: Government Website to Help Consumers Navigate Health Insurance Market

Photo courtesy PhotoXpress.com

Ronald McDonald is in trouble again.

The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) served McDonald’s with notice of its intent to sue over “unfair and deceptive marketing” by using toys to “lure small children into McDonald’s.”

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McDonald’s Accused of ‘Creepy and Predatory Practices’

Image used under Creative Commons License with thanks to

Adam NFK Smith

Ninety days after signing the Patient Affordable Health Care Act into law, the Obama administration issued regulations to implement the Patient Bill of Rights, which includes provisions that begin on September 23 for most plans:

Affordable Health Care Act Patient Bill of Rights: Change in Small Doses

Image credit: PhotoXpress.com

Janice Eberle, feeling put-upon over a $300 fine for parking in a handicapped parking space, is suing the town that issued the ticket.

It’s not that she wasn’t parked in a handicapped parking space — she admits she was.

It’s not that she actually did possess a handicapped parking placard — she admits she did not.

It’s not that she has a disability — no, not that either.

So what is her defense? Well…

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Is this Able-Bodied Woman Entitled to Handicapped Parking?

Photo copyright PhotoXpress.com

Millions of cancer patients are skipping treatments because of cost, putting long-term health and well-being at risk.

An analysis conducted by Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center shows that two out of 12 million adult cancer survivors have skipped treatment in the previous year due to financial reasons.

Among cancer survivors, 7.8 percent went without some kind of medical care…

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Millions Skipping Life-Saving Cancer Treatments Over Cost

Photo: visualsonline.cancer.gov

Too many doctors are being forced to stop accepting Medicare patients because of the program’s regulations and unstable payment system.

While Congress delays, doctors and their patients are left in a state of limbo.

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Doctors Cutting Medicare Patients: Stop the Trend!

Photo Source: National Cancer Institute, Photographer: Bill Branson

Do you really need that PET scan, CT scan, or x-ray? How will the results alter the course of treatment? Those are questions you should be asking your doctor.

The increased risk of cancer from radiation exposure to any single test is small, but the risk of cancer increases as the dose of radiation increases.

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Americans Over Exposed to Radiation: Is Modern Medicine Making You Sick?

Photo used under the Creative Commons Attribution License, with thanks to BlatantNews.com

A typical restaurant employee cross-contaminates food with pathogens (disease-producing agent) once per hour.

They do it by wiping their hands on their aprons and by using the same utensils and surfaces for both raw and cooked foods. Compliance with hand-washing guidelines decreases when kitchens hit peak hours.

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Eat Out? Get Sick! Restaurants Are Cross-Contaminating Our Food

Photo: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/157966

Remember the joy of being a child and the simple pleasure of rolling around in the grass, discovering flowers, and climbing trees?

A child growing up in the big city might not, but you can help a city child experience the power and the beauty of nature this summer… and it will only take a moment of your time…

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Help a City Child Experience Nature

Photo: photoxpress.com

I like the idea of different endings rather than failures. Very few things in my life have actually turned out the way I envisioned, but most of them have turned out well. Some have turned out even better than I dared hope.

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Not a Failure, but a Different Ending

Photo courtesy of Wendy Booker

Can’t afford a doctor? No health insurance? Well, you can always go to the emergency room.

Kathy Myers found out the hard way that the ER isn’t the answer. Out of work, lacking insurance, and unable to get proper treatment for a painful shoulder injury incurred a month ago, the 41 year-old Michigan woman took drastic steps…

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Desperate Woman Shoots Herself for Healthcare

Photo used under the Creative Commons Attribution License, with thanks to Rosser321