Tag: health

Cincinnati Sees First Two Coronavirus Deaths

Jordyn Pair

Cincinnati has seen its first two deaths from the coronavirus, the city’s Health Commissioner Melba Moore confirmed on Monday.

The two men who died were ages 86 and 71 and both had pre-existing conditions, according to The Enquirer.

“On behalf of the entire City of Cincinnati, we express our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the patients who died as well as all families of those affected by this pandemic,” Mayor John Cranley said, according to Fox News affiliate Fox19.

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Michigan Has Third-Highest Rate of Infection in Country at 35.3 Percent

Jordyn Pair

Michigan is keeping pace with some of the most-infected states in the country, with more than 35 percent of tests coming back with confirmed positive cases of the coronavirus, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.

As of Monday evening, Michigan has 6,498 confirmed positive cases out of 18,391 total tested — an infection rate of 35.3 percent. By comparison, New Jersey has an infection rate of 39.7 percent with 16,636 confirmed cases and New York has an infection rate of 35.7 percent with 66,497 confirmed cases. New York and New Jersey are the top two most-infected states in the country, followed by Michigan. California is currently the fourth most-infected state with 6,447 confirmed cases and an infection rate of 21.5 percent.

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Two Michigan Counties, Detroit Have More Than 70 Percent of All Michigan Cases

Jordyn Pair

Two Michigan counties and the City of Detroit carry more than 70 percent of all cases in Michigan, with more than 4,500 cases between them.

Oakland and Wayne counties, combined with the City of Detroit, have 4,560 confirmed cases out of the 6,498 in Michigan, according to data from Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Detroit, which the DHHS said is tracked separately from its home of Wayne County, has 1,801 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Monday night. This makes up 27.7 percent of all Michigan confirmed cases and makes it the area in Michigan which has the most confirmed cases of the coronavirus. It also has 54 of the 184 deaths from the virus in the state, or 28.3 percent — the highest in Michigan.

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Michigan’s Gov. Whitmer Asks Trump for Major Disaster Declaration

Jordyn Pair

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has submitted a request to President Trump to ask him for a major disaster declaration, which would allow the state to aid its residents in a variety of ways.

If granted in full, the declaration would allow the state to provide meals for families in need, rental assistance and temporary housing, as well as funding for field hospitals and mental health support.

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Delaware Says It Reports Negative Cases to CDC, Will Report to Public

Jordyn Pair

The Delaware Department of Health has confirmed that it is reporting both positive and negative test results of coronavirus testing to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, despite not making that information available to the public.

“Yes, we are reporting both positive and negative results to the CDC,” a spokesperson said in an email to The Michigan Star on Wednesday. “We absolutely understand the interest in knowing the number of negative test results received, as well as the number of positives.”

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CVS Will Hire 50,000 Workers, Company Announces

Jordyn Pair

CVS Health plans on hiring 50,000 employees to fill full-time, part-time and temporary positions as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the United States, the company announced on Monday.

Available roles include store associates, home delivery drivers, distribution center employees and customer service employees. CVS said many roles will be filled by employees from current CVS Health clients that have had to furlough workers, such as Hilton and Marriott.

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Michigan Coronavirus Cases Up to 53

Jordyn Pair

Michigan currently has 53 confirmed cases of the coronavirus after 20 more cases were recently confirmed, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced on Sunday.

The virus, identified by medical professionals as COVID-19, has been confirmed in seven different counties: Washtenaw County, Oakland County, Macomb County, Kent County, Wayne County, Ottawa County and St. Clair County. It has also been confirmed in the city of Detroit.

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Whitmer Expands Unemployment Benefits for Those Impacted by the Coronavirus

Jordyn Pair

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has issued an executive order extending unemployment benefits for Michigan workers impacted by the spread of the coronavirus in the state.

Under the expanded eligibility, unemployment benefits are available to workers who are sick, quarantined or immunocompromised and who do not have access to paid time off; workers who have “unanticipated family care responsibility” such as ill family or additional childcare responsibility due to school closures; and first responders who are ill or quarantined because of the coronavirus. The extended eligibility is in effect until April 14.

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Washington Journalist Neil McCabe Gives His Take on Joe Biden’s ‘Cognitive Issues’ and His Immunity From Being Questioned

Julie Carr

On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Michael Patrick Leahy and all-star panelist Crom Carmichael spoke with special guest former Breitbart colleague and Washington journalist Neil McCabe.

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State Officials Activate Michigan Joint Information Center in Preparation for Coronavirus

Jordyn Pair

State officials activated the Michigan Joint Information Center on Tuesday in order to assist state communications about the spread of the coronavirus disease.

There are currently no known cases of the coronavirus in Michigan.

The JIC allows responding public information officers across the state to post and access the latest verified information.

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Michigan Medicaid to Waive Copays, Cost-Sharing for Coronavirus Treatment

Jordyn Pair

The Michigan Medicaid program will waive copays and cost-sharing for coronavirus testing and treatment, according to an announcement from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday.

“We must take steps to ensure every Michigander has access to the care they need to combat the spread of this disease,” Whitmer said in a statement. “That’s why the State of Michigan is stepping up by waiving fees for testing and treatment associated with coronavirus.”

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Tennessee Health Department Confirms Measles Case in East Tennessee

Jason M. Reynolds
"Measles" by Dave Haygarth

The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed the first 2019 case of measles in East Tennessee. The department said is investigating after the State Public Health Laboratory confirmed a positive test for the illness in a resident of East Tennessee. While the investigation is currently centered in East Tennessee, all Tennesseans should be aware of measles and its symptoms, the Health Department said. These symptoms may include fever, runny nose, body aches, watery eyes and white spots in the mouth. The illness is typically accompanied by a red, spotty rash that begins on the face and spreads over the body. Nearly one in three measles patients will develop ear infections, diarrhea or pneumonia. Measles can be fatal in about one to two out of every 1,000 cases. “Our efforts are focused on preventing the spread of illness to others,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Tim Jones. The measles virus is highly contagious and can stay airborne or live on surfaces for up to two hours. People recently infected with measles may not have any symptoms of illness, but can transmit the virus for about five days before the typical measles rash appears. “Most people in Tennessee are vaccinated against measles and…

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Smoking Age Will Jump to 21 Under DeWine Budget

Andrew Shirley

In a move to improve health quality in the state, Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has included a provision in his proposed 2020-2021 Executive Budget that would increase the age for purchasing cigarettes from 18 to 21. The intent is to further discourage the use of cigarettes overall throughout the Buckeye State. Governor DeWine’s proposed budget was officially released on March 15.  Outlined in the Executive Budget: The fiscal years 2020-2021 Executive Budget proposes an important change to the cigarette and OTP taxes. The Budget would change Ohio law by increasing the minimum legal age – from age 18 to age 21 – for purchasing cigarettes, other tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, and cigarette papers. Although the proposed age increase does not constitute a change in how these products are taxed, it would reduce the quantity of purchased items because of the age change and therefore result in a modest decline in cigarette and OTP tax revenue. By the governor’s own assessment, the move would cut cigarette revenues by more than $20 million over the two year budget period. Despite this, a 2017 poll found that 58 percent of Ohioans favor this change. The measure has significant precedent throughout the country.…

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Ohio Medical Board Tightens Rules for Opioid Prescriptions

Andrew Shirley

Long overdue limits on opioid prescriptions are finally being introduced to the Buckeye State. As of Wednesday, the State Medical Board of Ohio has enacted new requirements that must be met for the prescribing and continuing use of opioids. The rules will affect both short term and long term prescriptions. How stringent the rules are depend on the current dosage. MED or “Morphine Equivalent Daily Dose” is the unit of measurement by which all opioids are measured for effectiveness. For prescriptions of up to 50 MED: prescribers are required to re-evaluate the status of the patient’s underlying condition causing pain, assess functioning, look for signs of prescription misuse, consider consultation with a specialist and obtain written informed consent from the patient. For up to 80 MED, prescribers will do all of the above and consider prescribing naloxone, a drug that functions as an incredibly effective treatment for opioid overdoses. Though it can be administered in a myriad of ways, naloxone is most commonly prescribed as a nasal spray. Lastly, for prescriptions of 120 MED and above, “there must be a recommendation from a board-certified pain medicine physician or board certified hospice and palliative care physician that is based upon a face-to-face visit…

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Ohio Department of Health Confirms Investigation of Doctor Who Prescribed Lethal Opioid Doses to 27 Patients

Andrew Shirley

In most major surgeries, a doctor will prescribe, at most, 20 micrograms of fentanyl, a powerful opioid pain killer. At most, as an “adjunct to general anesthesia,” 20-50 micrograms are used. Doctor William Husel of Columbus was administering, in some cases, 1,000 micrograms. After prescribing these lethal doses to at least 27 patients, justice may finally be coming for him. The Ohio Department of Department of Health confirmed Friday that it was launching an investigation into the shocking revelations regarding Dr. Husel. The investigation came after a Monday report that the critical care physician had prescribed these unprecedented doses of fentanyl to 27 patients. The earliest death, as discovered, appears to have taken place in March 2015. Jan Thomas, a near-death patient, was prescribed 800 micrograms of the opioid. Thirty-one minutes after the lethal prescription was administered, she was declared dead. As of reporting, the doctor faces at least four lawsuits, representing more than a dozen of the affected families. While the prescribing doctor is at fault in every one of these instances, the nature in which the deaths occurred raises additional and serious questions. Whenever a doctor requests a large amount of a controlled substance, like fentanyl, there is an extensive process of approval that…

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Elizabeth Warren Introduces Legislation to Create a Government-Run Pharmaceutical Manufacturer

Admin

by Molly Prince   Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced legislation on Tuesday that would establish a government-run pharmaceutical manufacturer to effectively compete with the private market. The Affordable Drug Manufacturing Act seeks to address the increasing prices of prescription drugs by injecting competition into the marketplace, consequently lowering the cost of mass-produced generic drugs. The bill would create the Office of Drug Manufacturing, which would be housed within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Warren said that adding the agency would increase competition. “In market after market, competition is dying as a handful of giant companies spend millions to rig the rules, insulate themselves from accountability, and line their pockets at the expense of American families,” Warren said in a statement. “The solution here is not to replace markets, but to fix them.” According to the bill, the Office of Drug Manufacturing would be tasked with producing drugs in cases where the market has been deemed to have failed. For example, in addition to requiring the agency to produce generic insulin within one year of authorization, it will be permitted to manufacture any prescription drug that the government has licensed. Moreover, the office can manufacture generic drugs if: No company…

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Century-Old American Art Form Alive and Tapping

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Tap dance, a young student says with a giggle, is “a bit louder than ballet.” Wearing leotards and pale pink tights, she and three other girls skip across the floor at a community center in Albany, California. Their shiny black tap shoes make them sound like a small herd of ponies clattering across cobblestones. The sound comes from metal “taps” on their heels and toes, taps that are attached to a small sounding board that makes the sounds crisp and bright. Uniquely American After just a few beginner lessons, these girls can make an explosion of merry syncopated noise doing classic tap moves such as the step-ball-change. By learning these steps, they’re part of a uniquely American art form that dates back to the 1800s, when a melting pot of ethnic percussive dances blended African tribal dances with English clog dancing, with a bit of Scottish hornpipes and jigs. Tap’s improvised inventions fit especially well with the growing popularity of American jazz. African-American dancers such as Bill “Bojangles” Robinson used their skills at tap as a stairway to stardom in the 1930s. High-stepping tap was the hallmark of dozens of movies, from “Singin’ in the Rain” to the animated “Happy…

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Bill Gates Backs $30 Million Push for Early Alzheimer’s Diagnostics

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Bill Gates

Reuters   Billionaire Bill Gates and Estée Lauder Cos chairman emeritus Leonard Lauder on Tuesday said they will award $30 million over three years to encourage development of new tests for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. For Microsoft co-founder Gates, launch of the Diagnostics Accelerator program follows an announcement in November of a personal investment of $50 million in the Dementia Discovery Fund, a venture capital fund aimed at bringing together industry and government to seek treatments for the brain-wasting disease. The effort, Gates said, was fueled in part by his personal experience with family members struggling with Alzheimer’s. The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s affects nearly 50 million people worldwide and is expected to rise to more than 131 million by 2050, according to Alzheimer’s Disease International. Gates and Lauder provided seed money for the diagnostics collaboration through the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), which was founded by Lauder. They will be joined by other philanthropists, including the Dolby family and the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation. Funding provided through the initiative will be open to scientists and clinicians globally working in academic settings, charities and biotechnology companies. As a philanthropy vehicle, the ADDF Diagnostics Accelerator venture will invest in riskier…

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Three Ways Regulation Makes Health Care Expensive

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by David Youngberg   Saying that America’s health care system is terrible isn’t anything you haven’t heard before. We spend more than any other developed country on health care and get less for it. In fact, many insured Americans don’t get anything at all. But because U.S. health care is not provided by a government monopoly, observers erroneously conclude that health insurance must be a purely capitalistic system and blame capitalism for the high costs and low benefits. But American health care is more cartel than competition. It would serve the public’s interest to turn our attention to the corporatism and protectionism that constrain patient choice and inflate health care costs. I’ve provided you with three areas we can easily change the status quo. End CONs—Certificates of Need Take a moment to imagine that opening a restaurant required you to demonstrate that your community “needs” another place to eat. Now, imagine in such a situation that, if regulators grant you permission, current restaurants—your future competitors—could challenge and ultimately block you from opening your restaurant. As crazy as this sounds, this is how the health care industry works in the USA. It’s called a Certificate of Need, and one is required whenever someone wants to build or…

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Study Suggests Link Between Ultra-Processed Foods and Cancer

Admin

Scientists suggested on Thursday a link between cancer and “ultra-processed” foods such as cookies, fizzy drinks and sugary cereals, though outside experts cautioned against reading too much into the study results. Researchers from France and Brazil used data from nearly 105,000 French adults who completed online questionnaires detailing their intake of 3,300 different food items.

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Commentary: Did ‘Government Expertise’ Make America Fat?

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by Richard Morrison   A panel of government experts gets together and decides what is healthy to eat and what isn’t. What could possibly go wrong? Freethink Media’s new video on the history of the Food Pyramid will make for surprising viewing for anyone who assumes official health and nutrition advice should be taken at face value. Starting in the late 1980s, the office of the U.S. Surgeon General took the lead in waging the federal government’s war on dietary fat. This led to years of recommendations and public information campaigns that, among other things, demonized animal protein sources (that often come along with a significant amount of fat) and steered Americans towards consumption of lots of low-fat carbohydrates instead—the base of the pyramid. Many Americas will remember the 1990s as the golden age of carbs. Now, of course, further research suggests that going down that path has actually made diet-related chronic health issues like obesity and diabetes even worse. And the same is true for other items on the government’s food enemies list. My colleague Michelle Minton documented in her detailed 2016 study Shaking up the Conventional Wisdom on Salt the largely false narrative most Americans have come to believe about sodium consumption and high blood pressure. Not…

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The NFL’s Downfall is an Opportunity for America!

Patrick Rooney

As a long-time sports fan, I’ve watched the NFL self-destruct before my eyes over the past few weeks with a sense of both sadness and hopefulness. Hopefulness? I’ll get to that. In truth, I’m not nearly the fan of sports that I once was. As a kid it was such a thrill to go the baseball game, or basketball game, or football game. All levels were exciting to watch, from youth to high school, to college, to the pros. But especially the pros. Professional sports has always had its good and bad. The good is that one gets the chance to see the best athletes in the world compete at the highest level—that’s entertaining and inspiring! The bad—which is more pronounced than ever—are the contract disputes, nasty player attitudes, steroid abuse, criminal acts, drunk and abusive fans, and so on. I suppose one could say, “The thrill is gone!” But this year, the NFL has reached a new low—players actually kneeling, sitting, and even eating during our national anthem! Just ten or even five years ago, this would be unheard of. But today’s society is constantly reaching new behavioral lows. Worse than seeing the players disrespect our flag is seeing…

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How to Become ‘Crisis Fit’

Patrick Rooney
Tennessee Star

Like so many Americans, my heart truly goes out to the victims of Harvey, and my admiration goes out to the amazing rescuers. The scope of this disaster is unprecedented, and thankfully the outpouring of support has been overwhelming. The ordeal is hardly over for Houston and adjoining areas, with new storms like Irma barreling toward us. Watching a TV image of a displaced person resting in a shelter got me thinking. Once they have gotten the rest they need, they will then need to maintain or build their physical conditioning. I then considered how strikingly out of condition the average American is, and how it can potentially affect their survivability during a crisis, or their ability to rescue another human being. It has been good to witness the resurgence in “functional” training, led by CrossFit, Spartan Races, progressive calisthenics, heavy barbell work, and kettlebell training, among so many others. Yet there still exists a great mass of deconditioned Americans. They are unlikely to fare well in a crisis – any crisis. I say “any” for a reason: it is far more common for someone to succumb to a self-created crisis, formed by poor sleep, nutrition, exercise, and stress habits than it is…

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‘Which Fitness Path Should I Choose?’

Patrick Rooney
Tennessee Star

  Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –  I took the one less traveled by And that has made all the difference. ~ Robert Frost The Road Not Taken   There are many ways to get fit. Many of these ways are not attractive – at least not to me. Long, boring cardio, burpees till you puke… You get the idea. There are new, trendy, fitness routines coming out all the time. Some are good, and some are outright ridiculous. One can be led to believe that if they’re not doing the latest craze, they’ll be left in the dust. This turns off many who would otherwise find their road to fitness: “If I need to go through all of this $%#! to attain health, count me out!” Fitness choices include: weightlifting (bodybuilding, Olympic lifting, powerlifting), bodyweight training (progressive calisthenics), kettlebells, bands, awkward object lifting, long “steady-state” cardio, high-intensity interval training (H.I.I.T.), yoga, Pilates, barre, Zumba, and so many more. Though I enjoy some of these disciplines, many people do not. And fortunately, that’s okay. There are many roads to fitness, including less regimented ones than those listed above. Activity of almost any kind – particularly in the great outdoors – is beneficial, as…

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It’s Time to Take Care of Our Own Health

Patrick Rooney
Tennessee Star

   Health care “reform” is once again in the news. And while I am happy to see any increase in our choices as citizens and consumers, the conversation is still about other people – politicians – deciding the future of our health care. This is the wrong emphasis. Most Americans want to see those who have special situations get the care they need. And I think that most want as much personal freedom as possible, allowing them to make their own health care choices. Accomplishing both these goals should not be a difficult chore. Meanwhile, I’ve been thinking about what I’d personally like to see more of in health care plans: An increased emphasis on help to get or remain healthy. For instance, gym membership and fitness class discounts (such as done by the SilverSneakers program for senior citizens), and affordable access to blood work, nutritionists, personal trainers and other specialists. Trainers can guide clients through targeted 12-week sessions covering weight and fat loss, lean muscle mass retention and gain, strength and mobility training, etc. Plans such as these will be more popular as the public demands them. I also want to see more freedom to choose in the marketplace, just as…

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