"Health & Medical News"

Imagine being allowed to practice medicine but not being allowed to drive. That’s what some Michigan physicians are facing.

Under a new state law that took effect Jan. 22, doctors in Michigan on a visa cannot get a new driver’s license. That’s because a law intended to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining a driver’s license also prevents legal residents on student or work visas, including physicians, from getting a license.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: unranked [?]

Washington — Reducing the amount of salt in America’s diet would go a long way toward lowering our collective blood pressure, according to AMA testimony before a Nov. 29 hearing of the Food and Drug Administration.

The Association joined with others in asking the agency to set strict limits on the levels of salt in processed foods and restaurant meals and to remove salt from the list of foods that generally are considered to be safe.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: unranked [?]

Texas Medical Board leaders hope to have a new process next year to handle minor violations that some physicians complain cost them too much time and money to resolve.

If the plan is approved by the board after hearings, violations such as failure to release medical records would be handled in a streamlined process, likely within 30 to 60 days.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: unranked [?]

Toni Cordell’s surgery would be “an easy repair,” her doctor said. Embarrassed at being a slow reader, she signed the informed-consent papers she was given without understanding them.

She said no one, including her doctor, explained the procedure in detail beforehand or uttered the word “hysterectomy.” Cordell didn’t discover the nature of her operation until months after surgery when an office nurse inquired about her recovery.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: unranked [?]

On a spring afternoon several years ago, Evan McKinley was hiking in the woods near Halifax, Nova Scotia, when a pain in his chest stopped him in his tracks. McKinley was a [Canadian] forest ranger in his early 40s, trim and extremely fit, with straw-blond hair and chiseled features. He had had a growing discomfort in his chest for the past few days, but nothing as severe as this. He wasn’t sweating or lightheaded, and didn’t feel feverish. But each time he took a breath, the pain got worse. McKinley slowly made his way back through the woods to the shed that housed his office. He sat and waited for the pain to pass, but it didn’t. As a forest ranger, he was used to muscle aches from scaling a steep rocky trail or jogging with a loaded pack on his back. But this was different, and he decided he should see a doctor immediately.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: unranked [?]