© The Medical-Legal News 2007

• New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. all have some sort of bans on using cell phones when driving. California has a ban going into effect in 2008, and Washington state just passed a no-text-messaging bill.

— Los Angeles Times

• The FDA has almost 80,000 food processing plants or importers to regulate. Critics say the FDA is overwhelmed.

— The Washington Post

• In the March/April issue of The M-L News, a headline about a $3 million lawsuit may have led readers to believe that said sum was the final settlement amount. The final amount is confidential, as was stated in the story. Also, the headline generically referenced an “LNC firm.” A real business called LNC Firm, owned by RN Market, LLC, exists and was in no way involved in the litigation.

— Publisher

• It is thought that in some foreign countries as much as 10 percent of the population has a disease called membrane sensitivity syndrome, similar to chemical sensitivity. It may result from excessive exposure to radio and cell phone waves.

— Science and Public Policy Institute

• Honeybee populations have plummeted in recent years. Some evidence points to electromagnetic waves from cell phones or satellites as the cause.

— George Carlo, MD

• Elementary school achievement tests are quite accurate at predicting IQ, and income success, in adults. Also found in a study was that IQ is fairly steady over time.

— University of Iowa

• Preliminary data suggest that baby boomers are not as healthy as their parents, with obesity cited as a key factor.

— The Washington Post

• In a study, 90 percent of accidental CO poisonings were caused by portable generators. In half of the cases the generators were outside the house.

— American Journal of Preventive Medicine

• Scientists can now make flu vaccines from caterpillar cells, up-staging the current lengthy method of using chicken eggs.

— University of Rochester

• Female stem cells repair damage to tissues better than do male stem cells.

— Journal of Cell Biology

• A web-based professional portfolio management service can be found at www.decisioncritical.com. The service provides an automated and organized repository for portfolios, replacing the hard copy process. Price is $59.95 per year.

— decisioncritical.com 

• The Vickie Milazzo Institute has begun a free directory for attorneys at www.naclncdirectory.org to find Milazzo Institute graduates (CLNC®s) and healthcare experts. The Institute may not review or warrant the listed CLNC®s.

— legalnurse.com

• Wal-Mart plans to open in-store health clinics. As many as 2,000 may be opened.

— Lexington Herald-Leader

• Temp nurse shift scheduling software companies such as ShiftWise, Symbio Solutions and BidShift are growing fast. 

— Business 2.0

• Most people who undergo chemotherapy suffer from various cognitive problems, or “chemo brain.” About 15 percent fail to fully recover. Researchers are not sure why. 

— New York Times

• The nation’s organ transplant network is calling for a plan that would prioritize kidney patients based on need as opposed to length of time spent on waiting lists.

— Organ Procurement and Transplant Network

• On-line organ trading is on the rise, as people are desperate for transplants. A Nashville-based organization called Life Sharers is behind a movement to require donors to receive organs only if they agree to donate their own. About 6,000 people a year die while waiting for organs.

— Wire services

• Tens of thousands of defibrillators and pacemakers have either been warned about or recalled in the last couple of years. Medtronic lost a court battle in late 2006 to have hundreds of lawsuits dismissed centering on its heart defibrillators. About a third of Americans who receive defibrillators probably do not need them.

— JAMA, University of Michigan Medical Center

• The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard the case of Brendlin v. California, a case that deals with passengers detained in traffic stops. The Fourth Amendment is felt to apply to passengers against illegal search and seizure.

— Wire services

• During the late 90s and through the early 2000s, more than 900 hospitals and 425 ERs closed.

— Detroit Free Press

• About 1.5 million people are harmed by drug errors each year.

— Newscom

• A Texas court ruled that a prisoner may sue a nonprison nurse for violations of Eighth Amendment cruel and unusual punishment rights because the nurse was working for a hospital under contract with the prison system.

— Carter v. Benevites (Texas)

• The Florida Supreme Court recently ruled that the state law requiring doctors to disclose abortion risks to women is legal.

— Newscom

• Americans spend $2.2 trillion on healthcare each year.

— MCT

• Almost 13 percent of all babies born are premature. The price tag for preemies is $26 billion per year.

— Newscom

• The number of surgeries for obesity has soared by 2,000 percent among middle-aged patients.

— UPI

• The ability to have one’s entire genetic makeup available inexpensively is thought to be about 10 years away. Such knowledge would revolutionize prescriptions and drug effectiveness. Critics of “personalized medicine” are concerned about genetic discrimination. [See related story, Page 10].

— Personalized Medicine Coalition

• A company called Asthmatx makes a device that kills airway muscles with heat, reducing the effects of asthma. The procedure is called bronchial thermoplasty. The device is not yet FDA approved.

— Science News

• The most dangerous time to be in a hospital is in July and August. This coincides with the time when medical students begin their new residencies.

— Bottom Line Retirement

• Simply calling a document an incident report does not offer it legal immunity.

— Hayes v. Premier Living Inc. (N.C.)