Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,
compiled by editors of The HealthDay Service:
Artificial Liver Being Tested
Clinical tests on a machine that acts as an artificial human liver are
about to begin in several centers across the United States.
The extracorporeal liver assist device (ELAD) uses human liver cells to
remove poisons from the blood of people with liver failure, BBC News
Online reports.
The machine may help extend the lives of people with liver failure who are
waiting for a liver transplant and may even enable the damaged liver to heal
itself.
ELAD was developed in the United States. It's attached by catheter into a
patient's neck vein. The blood initially passes through a mechanical
filtration process in order to remove some waste products.
The blood then travels through cartridges containing human liver cells
before it returns to the patient's body.
The survival rate for people with acute liver failure is about 10 per
cent.
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Care for Low-Income Pregnant Women Rejected by
Senate
A proposal to expand government health coverage for low-income pregnant
women was rejected by the U.S. Senate.
The proposal also sought to force private health insurance companies to
make contraceptives more widely available and to make emergency
contraceptives available in hospital emergency rooms for sexual assault
victims, the Associated Press reports.
The vote was 49-47 in favor of the proposal, which is 11 short of the 60
needed. Those voting in favor included 42 Democrats, 6 Republicans and 1
independent, while 44 Republicans and 3 Democrats voted against the
proposal.
The vote came during Senate debate on legislation to ban a procedure that
critics label partial birth abortion. The Senate beat back twin actions Wednesday to change the legislation, which is expected to pass on Thursday.
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Hospital Chain Offers Discounts to Uninsured
Patients
Discounts for low-income patients and more financial help for charity care
patients have been announced by HCA, the largest for-profit hospital chain
in the United States.
The HCA plan proposes a sliding scale of discounts for uninsured patients
who have incomes between 200 per cent and 400 per cent of the federal poverty
level, the Associated Press reports.
People ranked at or below 200 per cent of the federal poverty level would
be eligible for free care. About 70 per cent of HCA hospitals already use
that standard, the company said.
Implementation of the new HCA policies will go ahead only if the federal
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule that the policies don't
diminish HCA's Medicare payments, AP reports.
About 75 million Americans were without health insurance at some point
during 2001 or 2002, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The
number of uninsured Americans continues to increase as economic conditions
worsen.
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Medicare Spending Trails Private Insurers
Medicare spending rose at a slower rate over the 30 years from 1970 to 2000 than did spending among people who were privately insured, concludes a study conducted by the Urban Institute and sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund.
Spending by Medicare recipients grew at an average annual rate of 9.6 percent, which is slower than the average annual rate of 11.1 percent for private health insurers, the sponsors say in a press release.
Praising Medicare as a "prudent health care purchaser," the sponsors say the program's ability to hold down costs is "partly a result of its structured payment systems and regulatory controls."
The non-profit Urban Institute examines social, economic and political issues facing the nation. The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that supports independent research of health and social issues.
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Another Transplant Error Comes to Light
The parents of a year-old baby who died in August are suing Children's Medical Center in Dallas after surgeons mistakenly transplanted a liver of the wrong blood type into the child, reports The New York Times.
The case is similar to that of Jesica Santillan, who died last month after doctors at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina transplanted a heart and a pair of lungs of the wrong donor type into the 17-year-old.
In the Dallas case, a surgical error initially destroyed Jeanella Aranda's liver, and doctors tried to save the toddler with a partial liver transplant from her own father, the newspaper reports. He had been identified as a suitable donor, when in fact her mother should have donated a portion of the organ instead. Both the mother and baby were Type O blood, while the father is Type A.
The error was not discovered for 19 days after the transplant surgery, and by then the toddler had developed a blood disorder, fever, kidney problems, lung hemorrhages and severe jaundice, the Times reports. She died a day later on Aug. 6.
The hospital does not dispute the events, but says it relied on information from the laboratory that provided the blood type information, the newspaper reports.
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53 Tons of Contaminated Beef Recalled
American Foods Group is recalling 106,000 pounds of fresh and frozen ground beef products that may be contaminated with
E. coli O157:H7 bacteria, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service says.
Products subject to recall are 1- to 3-lb. trays of:
- "Kroger, BEEF GROUND, GROUND SIRLOIN
PATTIES."
- "Kroger, BEEF GROUND, GROUND ROUND
PATTIES."
- "Kroger, BEEF GROUND, GROUND CHUCK
PATTIES."
- "Kroger, BEEF GROUND, GROUND BEEF
PATTIES."
- "Kroger, KROGER BETTER CHOICE LEAN
BEEF."
- "Kroger, LEAN GROUND BEEF, 91/09."
- "Kroger, GROUND BEEF CHUCK, 80/20."
- "Meijer, GROUND BEEF CHUCK."
Each product bears the establishment number "EST. 20983" inside the USDA seal of inspection and the packaging code "3024" or "3025" below the brand logo.
No illnesses have been reported. The products were produced Jan. 24 and distributed to retailers in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration. The very young, seniors and people with weakened immune systems are most susceptible to foodborne illness.
For more information, contact Sally VandeHei at 1-800-829-2838.
