Allina in the News

Here's recent news featuring Allina Hospitals & Clinics, a not-for-profit family of hospitals, clinics and other care services dedicated to meeting the health care needs of communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
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Allina Oxygen Offers Free Mobility Program Friday

[Isanti County News, June 25, 2009 ] Because mobility issues are one of the biggest concerns that seniors deal with, Allina Home Oxygen and Medical Equipment is offering free hands-on education on power mobility and lift chairs Friday, June 26, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at their location at 2560 S. Main St., Cambridge. Read the full story on isanticountynews.com...

The Importance of Heart Health Screenings

[examiner.com, June 26, 2009] With the recent death of Michael Jackson at the age of 50 of a heart attack (pending autopsy results), there is a new focus on cardiovascular conditions. Heart screening at Minneapolis Heart Institute mentioned. Read the full story on examiner.com...

Hospital Auxiliary Gears Up for Move

[Owatonna People’s Press, June 24, 2009] The Owatonna Hospital will move into the facility at 26th Street in October, but when the auxiliary arrives, the ladies and the one man who can be counted as a member will be wearing a new color. Though a few features, like the pink vests, will be left behind, many new services will be added as the auxiliary moves into the new facility. Read the full story on owatonna.com...

Area health news

This summary of health news throughout the areas Allina serves includes links to the full articles on different Web sites. Read more headlines and news stories on Allina.com.

U.S. H1N1 Flu Cases May Have Hit 1 Million

[WCCO.com, June 25, 2009 ] U.S. health officials said Thursday that H1N1 has infected as many as 1 million Americans, adding that 6 percent or more of some urban populations are infected. Read the full story on wcco.com...

E. Coli Fears Spark Beef-product Recall, Including Minnesota and Wisconsin

[Pioneer Press, June 25, 2009 ] JBS Swift Beef Co., has recalled about 41,000 pounds of its beef products because of possible E. coli contamination. Spokesman Chandler Keys said Thursday that the recall is voluntary and no illnesses have been reported. Read the full story on twincities.com...

U of M Experts Want Mine Workers to Volunteer for Cancer Tests

[Pioneer Press, June 26, 2009 ] University medical experts are randomly selecting 1,200 past and present taconite workers and 800 of their spouses for one of three health studies now under way to find out why so many Iron Rangers are dying from mesothelioma.
Read the full story on virginiamn.com
Read the full story on twincities.com...

Supreme Court Reprimands Dakota County Attorney Over Medical Examiners' Expert Testimony

[Pioneer Press, June 26, 2009; viginiamn.com, June 25, 2009] The Minnesota Supreme Court publicly reprimanded Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom for discouraging a medical examiner from letting a doctor from her office testify in a Washington County murder trial. Read the full story on twincities.com...

Dr. Lurie Honored as a Minnesota Health Care Hero by Twin Cities Business

[sctimes.com, June 26, 2009 ] Dr. Keith Lurie, a cardiac electrophysiologist at the Central Minnesota Heart Center, St. Cloud Hospital, was honored as a Minnesota Health Care Hero by Twin Cities Business for his development of two impedance threshold devices. Read the full story on sctimes.com...

Reality Check: Preventive Health Care Saves Lives, But Not Money, Despite Claims by Many

[StarTribune, June 25, 2009 ] When it comes to health care spending, an ounce of prevention is seldom worth a pound of cure. The truth is, shockingly few prevention efforts actually save the health care system money overall, despite claims by the president and some in Congress. Read the full story on startribune.com...

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL HEALTH NEWS

Read more headlines and news stories on Allina.com.

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Pop Star Michael Jackson Dies at 50

Michael Jackson, an entertainment icon since he was a child, died Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The newspaper reported that Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda said paramedics responded to a 911 call at 12:26 p.m. at Jackson's home in Bel Air, Calif. The 50-year-old Jackson was unconscious when the paramedics arrived.

CPR was performed on the way to the hospital, the newspaper reported. Several media outlets reported that the cause of death was cardiac arrest. His spokesman denied reports he had cancer just last month, asserting that the King of Pop was "in the best of health."

A 50-concert tour in Great Britain had been planned for later this summer. Concerns over the state of Jackson's health had surfaced in recent years, but AEG Live, a promoter of the U.K. shows, said in March that Jackson had passed a four-and-a-half hour physical exam conducted by independent doctors, MSNBC reported.

Jackson's death capped a life of superstardom and scandal. The music legend first burst onto the pop scene as a child star with the Jackson 5 nearly four decades ago and went on to become one of the biggest selling entertainers of all time.

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Actress Farrah Fawcett Dies of Cancer at 62

Farrah Fawcett, a national sex symbol in the 1970s thanks to her feathery mane and her role in the TV series Charlie's Angels, died Thursday of cancer in California, the Los Angeles Times reported. She was 62.

Fawcett, initially known more for her layered locks than her acting ability, was diagnosed in 2006 with a rare anal cancer. She was declared cancer-free in 2007, but three months later, doctors at UCLA Medical Center said the cancer had returned and spread to her liver, the Times said. The actress subsequently sought experimental treatments in Europe, according to news reports.

Fawcett was a spokeswoman in the fight against cancer long before her diagnosis. In a statement released Thursday, Elizabeth Fontham, national volunteer president at the American Cancer Society, said: "We are saddened at the news of the passing of Farrah Fawcett. Ms. Fawcett served as the American Cancer Society's chairperson for Women Against Cancer in the early 1980s, appearing in a public service announcement where she encouraged viewers to avoid smoking and get regular cancer checkups. Her public battle against cancer these past few years is a reminder of the work still to be done, and of the toll cancer still takes. Her support of those efforts, and her unique approach to life, will be missed."

Fawcett's publicist, Paul Bloch, said she died at 9:30 a.m. at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, the Times reported.

Women get anal cancer slightly more often than men, according to the American Cancer Society. It estimates that 5,290 new cases will be diagnosed this year, and that 710 people in the United States will die from the disease.

Anal cancer, most often found in adults older than 35, is curable in most cases, the cancer society said.

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New York State Will Buy Women's Eggs for Stem Cell Research

New York's decision to become the first state to allow taxpayer-funded scientists to pay women for eggs to be used in embryonic stem cell research is being greeted with both praise and criticism.

Women who donate eggs will receive up to $10,000 for the time, discomfort and expenses associated with the procedure, the Washington Post reported. The new policy conflicts with guidelines issued by scientific organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences, the newspaper said.

Supporters of the decision say it will help advance stem cell research.

"This is a really great, appropriate policy," Susan Solomon, co-founder of the New York Stem Cell Foundation, a private, nonprofit research organization, told the Post. "This could help us to pursue some critical experiments that we hope will lead to treatments for devastating diseases."

But critics fear New York's policy will result in the exploitation of vulnerable women.

"In a field that's already the object of a great deal of controversy, the question is, are we at the point where we really need to go that route in order to do the science?" Jonathan D. Moreno, a professor of bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, told the Post. "I'm not convinced."

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European Regulator Wants Painkiller Off Market

The painkiller dextropropoxyphene should be withdrawn from the European market because patients using the 50-year-old drug have been dying from overdoses, says the European Medicines Agency (EMEA).

The drug is still on the market in the United States, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to withdraw it, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Dextropropoxyphene, which is called propoxyphene in the United States, is an opioid widely used to treat mild to moderate pain. It was first introduced in the United States in 1957 under the brand name Darvon and is marketed today by a wide number of generic drug makers. Opponents of the drug have tried for years to get it taken off the market, the newspaper said.

According to the EMEA, a "significant" number of Europeans have died from accidental or intentional overdoses of the drug, but it didn't provide an actual number, the Journal reported.

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E. coli Scare Spurs Big Beef Recall

Fears of contamination with the e. coli bacteria has prompted JBS Swift Co., of Greeley, Colo., to recall about 41,000 pounds of beef products, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the products were processed on April 21-22 and sent to distributors and retailers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.

The recalled beef is packed in boxes marked "EST. 969" with packaging date codes of 042109 or 042209. They have case codes of 21852, 21853, 31852, 31853, 33852, 33853, 41853, 79852, 79853 or 90853.

Consumers who have questions regarding the recall should call JBS Swift at (800) 555-7675.

Copyright © 2009 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.

Published on: 06/26/2009

TODAY'S HEALTH NEWS, a compilation of local, national and international health news, comes courtesy of Allina.com.

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