"Health & Medical News"

The University of California, Los Angeles, has started a one-of-a-kind program that may start a trend among medical schools serving large Hispanic populations, experts said.

The pilot program prepares international medical graduates who speak English and Spanish for family medicine residency by coaching them through the multistep U.S. Medical Licensing Exam and giving them clinical observerships.

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The nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs continues to be a problem among 12th? grade students, according to data from the 2007 national Monitoring the Future survey.

Fifteen percent of 12th? graders reported the nonmedical use of at least one prescription medication within the past year. Narcotic drugs, such as OxyContin? and Vicodin, were the most prevalent (9.2%), followed by amphetamines (7.5%), sedatives (6.2%), and tranquilizers (6.2%).

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Citing lax security and procedures, undercover investigators said that it would be easy for truckers to cheat on mandatory drug tests required by federal law, NBC News reported Oct. 31.

The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) sent agents to 24 drug-testing sites using fake truck driver’s licenses and found that three-quarters failed to restrict items that could be used to adulterate urine samples. Agents were able to buy drug-masking kils online and use them at testing sites without being caught. “Every drug-masking product went undetected by the drug-screening labs,” the GAO report added.

Popularity: unranked [?]

While physicians in some states will see a break in their medical liability premiums next year, Maryland insurance officials are questioning a proposal by the state’s largest medical liability insurance carrier to issue a credit to its physician policyholders on Jan. 1, 2008.

In a Sept. 13 order, Maryland Insurance Commissioner Ralph S. Tyler halted Medical Mutual Liability Insurance Society of Maryland’s plans to pay a portion of a $68.6 million dividend to policyholders as a premium discount. The company allotted some of the money to reimburse the state because it subsidizes Medical Mutual’s premiums under a program set up in 2005 to ensure that doctors have access to medical liability insurance.

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A new study concludes that blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to have severe cases of a rare form of liver cirrhosis, but experts don’t know why, Reuters reported Sept. 20.

Among patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), which involves destruction of the liver’s small bile ducts, minorities tend to have more severe symptoms. PBC is more likely to strike young and middle-aged Caucasian women, however.

Popularity: 6% [?]

A new report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) finds that Hispanic youth are more likely to use illicit drugs than white or black teens and says trying to adapt to American culture may be the cause, the Associated Press reported Sept. 24.

The “Hispanic Teens & Drugs” report said that more than 10 percent of Hispanic 8th-graders used illicit drugs during the past month, compared to 8.6 percent of blacks and 7.5 percent of whites. ONDCP unveiled the report as it launched a new anti-drug campaign targeting Hispanic youths.

Popularity: 6% [?]