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Publications - General Media
September 2009
Drug
stores in program to take back old medicines
Peninsula Daily News, August 2009
PORT ANGELES -- Those unused prescription drugs that are taking up space in
medicine cabinets across the North Olympic Peninsula can now be dropped off at
Jim's Pharmacy in Port Angeles and Frick Rexall Drug Store in Sequim --
anonymously and free of charge. The pharmaceutical-waste take-back program is
part of a joint effort among the two drug stores, the state Board of Pharmacy,
the state Board of Health and the Clallam County Sheriff's Office.
Free vaccines extended
Spokesman Review, August 5, 2009
The state of Idaho will buy all required vaccines for
children through January 2010, Gov. Butch Otter said Tuesday. The announcement
comes weeks after a legislative task force voted to reverse budget cuts of $2.1
million to restore the states child immunization program at least through the
rest of this year. For years, the state had subsidized vaccinations for
children, but that program was to expire last month amid budget cuts at the
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Idaho has the lowest child immunization
rate in the nation.
Military to be Vaccinated Against H1N1
Military.com, September 2, 2009
All military personnel will be vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus, and the
vaccine will be available to all military family members who want it, a Defense
Department health affairs official said. The H1N1 vaccination program will begin
in early October, said Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Wayne Hachey, director of preventive
medicine for Defense Department health affairs. The vaccine, which has been
licensed by the Food and Drug Administration, will be mandatory for uniformed
personnel, the colonel said. "What we want to do is target those people who are
at highest risk for transmission," he said.
Obscure rule on manure stirs controversy
Yakima Herald-Republic, August 17, 2009
The state Board of Health is considering scrapping a
little-known rule that prohibits the accumulation of manure in places where it
might harm water quality, such as groundwater used by private well owners. "It's
an old rule so it's time we looked at it," said Ned Therien, health policy
analyst with the state board in Olympia.
Others
might adopt Fifes prescription drug disposal: drop-off box: City has collected
20 pounds
The News Tribune, September 3, 2009
A Fife program for disposing of unwanted and expired
prescription pills may provide a model for the rest of the county. Leaders of
the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department plan to meet with Fife leaders in the
next few weeks to talk about the citys pill drop-off box, said health
department spokeswoman Joby Winans. Fife installed the box outside the Fife
Police Department in January. Since then, more than 20 pounds of medications
have been turned in, said council member Glenn Hull, who spearheaded the
project. Police have emptied the green metal container similar to a mail box
three times. Police seal up a bag containing the drugs, weigh it and ship it off
to a company for incineration, Hull said.
State cuts free immunizations
Issaquah Press, August 18, 2009
Parents, get your wallets and insurance cards out:
Washington state is scaling back on free vaccinations for minors. In July,
Washington stopped using state funds to provide free vaccines for the human
papillomavirus. Come May 2010, the state will stop subsidizing all childhood
vaccinations, including measles, mumps and rubella, chickenpox, polio, hepatitis
B and the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine. By cutting its Universal
Vaccine Program, the state will save $48.5 million over the next two years.
Study Finds
Medical Home Pilot Provides Better Care Quality with No Added Cost
RWJF, September 4, 2009
A study published in the American Journal of Managed Care
finds that a pilot patient-centered medical home (PCMH) at a metropolitan
Seattle clinic resulted in significantly fewer emergency department (ED) visits
and hospitalizations among PCMH patients compared with controls, Healthcare
Financial News reports. To assess the efficacy of the PCMH model, researchers
from the Group Health Research Institute and the University of Washington
compared experiences and outcomes among 9,200 patients receiving care through a
PCMH pilot project developed at Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative with
experiences and outcomes among patients at two control clinics of similar size
and Medicare enrollment rates.
Study Finds
Patient Race Affects Physician Communication, Interactions
RWJF, September 9, 2009
A study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
researchers suggests that African-American patients with high blood pressure
communicate less effectively with their physicians, and their physicians with
them, than their white counterparts, United Press International reports.
Published in the September issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine,
the study was based on an analysis of audio recordings of interactions between
226 patients with high blood pressure and their 39 physicians from 15 primary
care practices in Baltimore. According to the analysis, African-American
patients had shorter office visits, fewer biomedical and psychosocial exchanges,
and less rapport building with their physicians than white patients. In
addition, interactions between physicians and African-American patients with
uncontrolled high blood pressure were poorer than interactions between African
Americans whose blood pressure was controlled by medication, but the researchers
observed no difference among white patients based on blood pressure control.
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