"Health & Medical News"

A legal dispute in Washington state has doctors worried that their ability to employ other licensed medical professionals — and ultimately compete in health care — may be compromised.

The owner of a physical therapy group is suing an orthopedic practice, saying the doctors are profiting illegally from referrals they make to physical therapists who work for them. Columbia Physical Therapy also claims that state law prohibits Benton Franklin Orthopedic Associates in Kennewick, Wash., from hiring physical therapists at all. Both sides are asking the Washington Court of Appeals to clarify the issue. Judges have yet to decide whether to accept the case.

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For some veterans, the fight didn’t stop on the streets of Iraq or in the mountains of Afghanistan. Despite the promise that world-class medical care would be there for them when they arrived home, some are running into a bureaucratic battlefield and a stressed system struggling to give aid.

Recent congressional and public attention has focused on access problems at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, which provides medical care to servicemen and women once they have left active duty in a time of war or an official period of hostility. Although investigators note that improvements are under way, they say the VA has a long way to go.

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Obesity is a national epidemic, yet most medical schools are not equipping their students to address it, nutrition advocates say.

The Assn. of American Medical Colleges would like to see this situation change. In an August report, an expert AAMC panel lays out guidelines on how medical schools can incorporate obesity prevention and treatment into their science courses and clinical clerkships.

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