Health Highlights: April 2, 2003
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of The HealthScout News Service:
Supreme Court Ruling Forces HMOs to Open Doctor Networks
States can make HMOs open up their doctor networks, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday.
The decision upholds a practice that about half the states have in place to provide patients with more health care choices, the Associated Press reports.
The managed care industry argued that closed care networks are more cost effective, saying that hospitals and doctors that join such networks accept lower fees in return for a guaranteed flow of patients.
The Supreme Court ruling affects what are called “any willing provider” laws. Such laws require that insurance companies or managed care networks accept doctors, pharmacists and other health care providers who aren’t part of a closed care network.
The court decision upheld two Kentucky statutes that were challenged by a group of HMOs and an industry trade association.
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Plush Bears and Snowman Dolls Recalled
Dollar Tree Stores Inc. is voluntarily recalling more than 400,000 plush bears and about 221,000 snowman dolls that may pose a danger to young children.
Buttons on the jackets of the toys can be pulled off and be a potential choking hazard, says a news release from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
There have been no reported injuries or incidents.
The white plush bear is 10 inches tall and dressed in a hat and jacket in one of the following colors: red, blue, hunter green, pink, purple, light green, light blue, and white. The snowman doll is also 10 inches tall and is dressed in a hat and jacket that are blue and pink.
Both types of toys have a label on their backs that reads, “DIST BY: DOLLAR TREE” and “MADE IN CHINA.”
The toys were sold with ear tags that read either, “Christmas House Plush Bear” or “Christmas House Christmas Plush.”
The toys were sold nationwide for about $1 from June 2002 through March 2003 at Dollar Tree, Only One Dollar, Only $1, Dollar Express, and Dollar Bills stores.
Parents and caregivers are advised to take these toys away from children immediately and return the toys to the place of purchase for a refund. For more information, phone Dollar Tree at (800) 876-8077 anytime.
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Cancer Drug Limits Sickle Cell Deaths, Study Finds
A decades-old cancer drug has a dramatic effect on reducing deaths from sickle cell anemia, according to Boston University researchers writing in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
Sickle cell patients who took the drug hydroxyurea were 40 percent less likely to die during the nine-year study than those who didn’t take the medication, reports the Washington Post.
Sickle cell affects about one in 600 American blacks, causing bouts of excruciating total-body pain in about a third of those who have it. Because people with the disease are at higher-than-average risk of pneumonia, stroke, and kidney failure, the average life expectancy is estimated in the 50s for affected men and women, the newspaper reports.
Sickle cell is a genetic disease involving abnormal hemoglobin that clumps inside red blood cells, causing the blood cells to become sickle-shaped. The abnormally shaped cells then get trapped inside small blood vessels, starving body organs and tissues of oxygen.
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U.S. Child Abuse Tally Tops 900,000
About 903,000 children in the United States were victims of abuse or neglect in 2001, a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says. Although the statistic represents a 19 percent drop from a decade earlier, federal officials say the figure is still too high.
“The number of children that are being abused and neglected in this country is an unacceptable daily tragedy,” says HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson in a prepared statement. The Bush Administration has proposed giving states more discretion in using federal foster care funding to combat child abuse and neglect, the statement says.
About 1,300 children died of abuse or neglect in 2001, the agency says, a rate of 1.8 children per 100,000 in the population. The statistics were based on information collected by the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System.
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FDA Approves Drug for Impaired Heart Function
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved GlaxoSmithKline’s beta-blocking heart drug Coreg (carvedilol) for people with impaired heart function.
In clinical studies, when Coreg was begun within 21 days of a heart attack, it reduced the risk of dying from a post-heart attack condition called left ventricular dysfunction by 23 percent, the FDA says. The trials involved 1,900 patients at 160 sites in more than 17 countries.
Left ventricular dysfunction causes a reduction in the pumping ability of the heart’s main chamber.
Glaxo cites an American Heart Association estimate that people who survive acute heart attacks are up to 15 times more likely to become sick or die from a future cardiac problem or other serious illness.
People who shouldn’t take Coreg include those on certain medications to improve blood circulation, those with asthma or other breathing problems, those with irregular heartbeat, and those with liver disease, the company says.
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New Campaign Targets Men With Depression
Depression strikes about 6 million men in the United States each year. But men are less likely than women to seek treatment for the illness, and the male suicide rate is four times that of women.
With those sobering statistics as a backdrop, the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has launched a campaign to raise awareness about depression in men.
The campaign, “Real Men, Real Depression,” features the personal stories of a number of men who live with depression. They include a firefighter, a national diving champion, a lawyer, a publisher, a college student and a retired Air Force sergeant.
In a series of radio, television and print public service announcements, these men discuss how depression affected them. They also talk about the courage required to ask for help.
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