Seattle/LocalHealthGuide

Honey often mislabeled and adulterated
The international honey trade is “fire with crime and intrigue” with honey traders “resorting to elaborate schemes to dodge tariffs and health safeguards”, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer senior correspondent Andrew Schneider reports in a two-part investigative series on the honey industry.
As a result, Schneider warns, don’t believe the label. “You may be [...]

By Mark Ganz
Mark Ganz
It is encouraging to have President-Elect Obama declare that we cannot allow these tough economic times to postpone health care reform.
His position mirrors what a recent Regence poll found: People want health care reform now, especially those who must find their own insurance.
Our nation’s mounting job losses are throwing thousands out of [...]

Washington officials consider adoption of a “Guilty, but mentally ill” plea
Both Seattle papers have front-page articles today (Dec. 29) on mental health issues in Washington state.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Carol Smith writes on the “conundrum” facing society when the mentally ill commit crimes.
Smith tells of two cases that highlight the problem.
In one case, a man with [...]

Washington bill would require MRSA screening 
All hospital patients would be screened for the super bug known as MRSA and those at high risk would be tested for the antibiotic-resistant bacterium under proposed legislation, the Seattle Times reports in its Dec. 28th issue.
Patients who tested positive for MRSA, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, would be isolated in private [...]

 The $300 billion U.S. health-insurance industry is dying and should be replaced with a cheaper, more efficient, and equitable single-payer system, says Dr. John Geyman, professor emeritus of Family Medicine at the University of Washington, in a video commentary on the online medical journal MedScape.
Premiums are unaffordable, millions go without coverage, and often those with [...]

Health-care reform should help individuals live healthier lives
U.S. health-care reform should support social-marketing campaigns to combat obesity and promote preventive care, writes Greg Vigdor, president and CEO of the Washington Health Foundation, in an op-ed article in the Seattle Times.
Vigdor cites a recent report by the United Health Foundation finding that while Washington has moved [...]

Giving primary-care doctors time to give care
P-I reporter Vanessa Ho writes about efforts by Group Health Cooperative and Swedish Medical Center to give family doctors more time to see patients. Patients get 30 to 60 minutes a visit, instead of the standard 15, and better care. Doctors get to practice better medicine and have more [...]

Health services for adolescents are often highly fragmented, poorly coordinated, and ill-suited for the needs of many young people, according to a new report.
Adolescents who are poor, recent immigrants to the U.S., from racial or ethnic minorities, or who are gay, bisexual or transgender are particularly at risk, the report says.
The report, “Adolescent Health Services: [...]

Health care will be expensive as long as someone else is paying for it, writes Dr. Roger Stark, a health-care policy analyst at the Washington Policy Center, a Seattle-based think tank that promotes market-based solutions.
“Only when individuals can direct their own medical spending through a market will costs become transparent and likewise come under control,” [...]

[ December 17, 2008; 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. ]  

The Western Washington Chapter of a Physicians for a National Health Program, a group that supports the establishment of a single-payer health-care system for the United States, will hold its monthly meeting this Wednesday evening, Dec. 17.

The meeting will focus on responding to President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team’s call for community discussions on health-care reform.

The Obama [...]