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'Worrying Link' Between Ketamine Use And Severe Bladder Problems
Medical experts have warned of a "worrying link" between ketamine use and serious bladder and kidney problems.
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Terminally Ill Patients And Their Physicians Delay Conversations About End-of-Life Choices, Study Finds
About half of terminally ill patients do not have discussions with their physicians regarding end-of-life choices, according to a Harvard Medical School study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the Boston Globe reports.The study, funded by the National Cancer Institute, examined files on 1,517 patients in California, Iowa and Alabama with metastasized lung cancer. According to the Globe, a majority of patients diagnosed with metastasized lung cancer do not survive two years. Researchers asked the patients whether a physician or other health care provider had recommended hospice care or discussed end-of-life care preferences with them. According to the study, about 49% of blacks and 43% of Hispanics had discussed end-of-life care preferences with a physician or health care provider within four to seven months of their diagnosis, compared with 53% of whites and 57% of Asians. Lead study author Haiden Huskamp, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said, "Patients who had unrealistic expectations about how long they had to live were much less likely to talk about hospice with their doctor." Huskamp theorized that patients who said they did not discuss end-of-life options with providers might not have completely understood their prognosis or chose to believe in a better outcome. Huskamp also said physicians typically are not well-trained to handle some delicate conversations (Lazar, Boston Globe, 5/26).
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ANA Reaffirms Support Of Health Reform Legislation
The American Nurses Association (ANA) reached out to lawmakers Friday, with a letter in support of H.R. 3200 "America"s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009." After a contingent from ANA took part in a Rose Garden press conference with President Obama July 15th, ANA set out to engage lawmakers, nurses, and other health professionals across the country to voice their commitment to real healthcare reform.
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Veterans Call For Greater Improvements For Veteran Services

Services for veterans have improved recently, but many veterans say more improvements still need to be made. The Detroit News reports: "Services for returning military veterans have improved dramatically in the last two years, including faster assistance for mental health issues, homelessness and job training, a panel of experts on veterans benefits said Monday. But they still aren"t where they need to be for the 1 million GIs returning from conflicts across the globe, local veterans told officials. As the U.S. House of Representatives considers this week Veterans Affairs funding for fiscal year 2010, a group of metro Detroit veterans and their families gathered in Berkley on Monday with U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield, and retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark to consider the needs of veterans in Michigan and across the nation." Some of the issues discussed included the VA claim backlog, veteran hiring and the new GI Bill that will take effect Aug. 1. A new veteran appropriations budget bill calls for an 11.5 percent increase in spending for veteran health care services and hiring more workers to address the backlog. The paper notes: "Dr. John Grabowski, associate chief of staff for mental health at the VA Medical Center in Detroit, said there has been a tremendous expansion of services for veterans in the last two years, including a new program that will work with criminal courts to get veterans into treatment instead of jail. Yet he agreed that one-on-one services for veterans could improve" (Chambers, 7/7). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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