Month: August 2012
-
Tobacco use higher in rural areas; several factors include tobacco companies’ targeting of rural youth, Lung Assn. says
Tobacco use is higher among rural communities than in suburban and urban areas, and smokeless tobacco use is twice as common. According to the American Lung Association, rural youth are...
-
Pikeville newspaper spotlights local doctors and pharmacists charged in prescription pain-pill epidemic, forecasts more action
The Appalachian News-Express, the thrice-weekly newspaper in Pikeville, has turned the spotlight on Pike County physicians and pharmacists who are aiding and abetting the abuse of prescription painkillers. We have...
-
Comprehensive series looks at new angle of prescription pain pill epidemic: addicted newborns
The Courier-Journal‘s health reporter, Laura Ungar, is again delving into the prescription pain-pill epidemic in Kentucky, this time focusing on babies who are born addicted. For any reporter interested in...
-
New website explores and outs of Affordable Care Act; useful tool for reporters
One of the most complex and far-reaching pieces of legislation to pass in recent years is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the federal health-care reform law that, among...
-
41 percent of the time, Americans go to specialists instead of primary-care doctors for basic health needs, study finds
More than 40 percent of the time, Americans are turning to higher-paid specialists instead of primary-care doctors to deal with their basic health needs, including colds and fever, a new...
-
Hospitals can learn from revealing account of the attack of a superbug; sequencing germ’s DNA seems to be key
Dr. Tara Palmore, deputy hospital epidemiologist at theNational Institutes of Health Clinic Center, left, and Dr.Julie Segre, a geneticist with the National HumanGenome Research Institute. Both were integral inpinpointing the...
-
Hopkinsville council, absent a proponent, narrowly replaces smoking ban idea with plan to require posted smoking policies
The effort to pass a smoking ban in the largest Kentucky town without one may have hit a roadblock Thursday night. The Hopkinsville City Council forwarded a smoking ordinance that...
-
Central Baptist takes over Russell County Hospital
Russell County Hospital in Russell Springs will be managed by Lexington’s Central Baptist Hospital, at least for the next three years. The deal announced this week is the latest in...
-
Laurel County man talks about bout with West Nile; one of few diagnosed with disease in Kentucky
A Laurel County man has shared his story after contracting the West Nile Virus, which, though rare in Kentucky, has been more common nationwide this year than it has been...
-
At least 50 Kentuckians sick from salmonella, likely from cantaloupes; best to wash them with a diluted bleach solution
Photo by Richard North for Gristmill Health officials have zeroed in on a farm in southwestern Indiana responsible for at least some of the cantaloupe that were contaminated with salmonella,...