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Health Highlights: June 30, 2008
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay: White House Delays Medicare Fee Cuts A 10.6 percent fee cut for about 600,000 doctors who treat Medicare patients is being delayed by the Bush administration, the Associated Press reported. Doctors' Medicare claims for services delivered on or after July 1 will be held by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, while claims for services received on or before June 30 will be processed as usual, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Kevin Schweers said Monday. "By holding claims for health care services that are delivered on or after July 1, CMS will not be making any payments on the 10.6 percent reduction until July 15 at the earliest," he said. The cuts were scheduled under a formula that requires fee reductions when spending surpasses established targets, the AP reported. It's believed Congress will take action to prevent the cuts when lawmakers return to Washington the week of July 7 after a July 4 recess. Ads being run by physicians have hinted the cuts may make it more difficult for Medicare patients to find doctors willing to treat them. ----- Hospital Offers Workers Free Weight Watchers Programs The Cleveland Clinic will offer free Weight Watchers programs to staffers enrolled in an in-house program that covers more than 27,000 of its 37,000 employees. "The goal is to help our employees get healthier if they want to... When our employees feel healthier and are healthier, they're able to take care of patients better," Dr. Michael F. Roizen, the clinic's chief wellness officer, told the Associated Press . "Health care organizations ought to stand for health." Employees will be able to sign up for free weight management programs, fitness centers and smoking cessation programs. The Cleveland Clinic stopped hiring smokers last September and doesn't allow trans fats and sugar-sweetened beverages on patient menus or in cafeterias, restaurants, pharmacies and vending machines, the AP reported. ----- BMI Not Effective for Tracking Children's Exercise Using body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) to determine whether children are achieving exercise targets may not be effective, say British researchers who studied 113 boys and 99 girls over four years. The researchers found no difference in BMI between children who got regular exercise and those who didn't, BBC News reported. However, blood tests for health indicators such as cholesterol levels and insulin resistance showed the children who got regular exercise were in better shape. "BMI just doesn't pick up any differences in children -- it's just not a sufficiently sensitive measure," said study leader Professor Terry Wilkin, of the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth. The study was published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood . In adults, BMI has proven useful as a guide to overall fitness and the success of diet and exercise programs, but there's ongoing debate about its effectiveness in children, BBC News reported. ----- Sexual Violence Rate Among NYC Teens More Than National Average As many as 10 percent of American teenagers experience sexual violence at some point, surveys show, but if that adolescent is from New York City, the percentage climbs to more than 16 percent. This finding is one of many from a three-year research project announced over the weekend from Columbia University researchers and a coalition called the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault. The entire study will be released in July, according to a news release from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, but the research highlights indicate New York City adolescents face even more exposure to violence related to sexual activity than teens across the country. "These are alarming statistics any way you look at them," said Harriet Lessel, executive director of the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, in a statement. "We are hopeful that these findings will highlight an issue that has been kept in the shadows for far too long, and encourage more young people to seek help when they are victimized." Among other findings, based on survey of 1,300 New York City teenagers:
----- Doctor Who Was Target in Anthrax Probe Wins Cash Settlement The physician and bio-researcher who was identified by the U.S. Justice Department as a "person of interest" in the bizarre series of anthrax incidents that killed five people beginning in 2001 has settled his lawsuit against the government. The New York Times reported that Dr. Steven Hatfill will receive almost $3 million in cash and an additional $150,000 annually for the next 20 years to settle a lawsuit he filed in 2003, charging the FBI and U.S. Justice Department with leaking information to the news media in order to link him to the mailing of letters that contained anthrax spores. Hatfill has consistently denied having anything to do with the anthrax incidents, in which five people died after inhaling the spore particles and another 17 were hospitalized, in 2001 and 2002. U.S. Justice Department officials have never explained why Hatfill was such a prominent figure in the investigation, and a government statement said only that the government admitted no liability but decided settlement was "in the best interest of the United States," the newspaper reported. Mark Grannis, one of Hatfill's attorneys, told the Times that the settlement "means that Steven Hatfill is finally an ex-person of interest."
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