SarahLee: This should make you angry - for so many reasons.  I’ve got to add the following snippet from the article:

Now, that photo of Makayla Urias is a photograph of a naked child, a child exactly as naked as nine-year-old Kim Phuc was when, forty years ago, an Associated Press photographer snapped a picture of her, while she was running and crying from American napalm. You’ve probably seen that photo. It’s iconic. The photographer got a Pulitzer prize for taking it.

Yesterday, on the other hand, Maria was told that she would not be allowed to show that photo. It was not appropriate. She had the blessing of the child’s parents, but Republicans on the subcommittee alerted the capitol police (according to Spencer Pederson, a spokesman for GOP panel members), and after the hearing, the capitol police took Maria aside for questioning about “child pornography.”

Now, this is just what it was, and no more. Coalfield activists like Maria face threats, intimidation, and vandalism regularly; she’s received verbal threats to her life, her children have been harassed at school, “wanted” posters of Gunnoe have appeared in local convenience stores, and so forth. This is a strong lady, and I suspect I’m not wrong to say that it’s far from the worst of the shit she’s faced for daring to be strong in a part of the country where Coal is King. It was just the kind of insulting humiliation that it was meant to be. Coal-friendly congresspeople were using the resources at their disposal to harass someone who had the nerve to speak out against the industry they shill for, to try to intimidate someone like Maria who speaks for (and is) one of the people that industry poisons.

But it’s pretty clarifying, don’t you think? The real obscenity is that people drink that water, that they have no choice but to bathe in it, and to bathe their children in it. You know that, and I know that. But if a massive surface mining operation in the vicinity of your house poisons your water table, and if your well water runs brown with coal sludge and heavy metal particulate, well, that’s just the cost of doing business in America, a cost that will be paid by the Appalachians who only live there. It’s regrettable, at best. You can’t call the police and the state doesn’t want to know. And if you dare to take a picture of child’s exposure to that poison, if you have the nerve to walk into the halls of Congress and show them the obscenity that is a child that must wash herself with poison every day, they will call you a child pornographer. They will call the police.

A gay HIV-positive man says in court that a hospital denied him treatment and visitors, as the doctor remarked, “This is what he gets for going against God’s will.”    

Joao Simoes sued Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Union County Superior Court. He says that the hospital admitted him in August 2011, but that “requests for his lifesaving medication were not honored,” and his sister was denied visitation rights.

Ohio is in the final stages of making an Exxon trojan horse on hydrofracking into state law, and it appears that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) connected Exxon’s lawyers with co-sponsors of Ohio Senate Bill 315: at least 33 of the 45 Ohio legislators who co-sponsored SB 315 are ALEC members, and language from portions of the state Senate bill is similar to ALEC’s “Disclosure of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Composition Act.”

[…]

Concern over unconventional energy like gas fracking may be the reason by Ohio SB 315 also addresses clean energy standards and drilling regulations. While the new law will allow doctors to obtain disclosure of fracking chemicals, it places a gag order on them…meaning some chemicals aren’t disclosed to the public at all (Cleveland Plain Dealer). Instead, chemicals that subsidiaries of Big Oil use during fracking can remain exempt from public disclosure as “trade secrets,” mirroring language of ALEC’s model law.

What’s most suspicious is that seven of the ten Ohio Senators co-sponsoring SB 315 are ALEC members, as are 26 of the 35 co-sponsoring Representatives.*

cognitivedissonance:

ThinkProgress reports: “An Oklahoma emergency room doctor refused to provide emergency contraception to a 24-year-old female rape victim because the medication violated the health provider’s personal beliefs… ‘I will not give you emergency contraceptives because it goes against my believes,’ the doctor allegedly told the rape victim and her mother, Rhonda. ‘She knew my daughter had just been raped. Her attitude was so judgmental and I felt that she was just judging my daughter.’

Oklahoma law shields providers from offering the perfectly legal medication under a ‘conscience clause’ which could significantly hinder women’s access to contraception services.”

This is sick. You might have to carry your rapist’s child because MY beliefs say so? In what universe is that OK? Whatever happened to “first, do no harm” – and I mean the living, breathing patient in front of you, not a maybe baby conceived by a rape. The religious right whines about secularism intruding into their beliefs, but what is more intrusive than forced pregnancy?

This woman was luckily able to get EC at another hospital. Other people might not be so lucky.

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) will soon introduce legislation that would allow states to use federal funds they’re receiving through Medicare, Medicaid, and other health care programs to build a universal single-payer system. Advocates are describing the bill as a “lifeline” for advocates:

It would create a mechanism for states to request federal funds after establishing their own health insurance programs…. It would, for the first time, create a system under which a Medicare-for-all program could be rolled out on a state-by-state basis. In California’s case, it would make coverage available to the roughly 7 million people now lacking health insurance.

“This is a huge deal,” said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica advocacy group. “This is a lifeline for people who want to create a Medicare system at the state level.”

The bill could warm the hearts of liberals who expressed frustration with the Affordable Care Act’s more moderate approach of building on the existing health care system and should also satisfy GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor has sought to differentiate his 2006 health reform from Obamacare by rejecting a federal prescription for reform and promising to “pursue policies that give each state the power to craft a health care reform plan that is best for its own citizens.”

The ACA creates state flexibility by granting waivers to states that meet certain coverage standards and a bipartisan group of lawmakers has offered legislation expanding the provision by allowing states with innovative health care solutions to opt out of certain provisions beginning in 2014. Romney, meanwhile, has pledged to build on the ACA’s flexibility and grant states to the ability to opt out of the law entirely.

McDermott’s measure would go even further and encourage states to repurpose federal funds to build a universal single-payer health system of their own. If Republicans are truly interested in states rights, they will back it in mass.

I need to read more about the details, but this sounds like a plan we might want to get behind.

This Wednesday, May 23 marked a first for broadcasting (and for feminism): BBC Radio news anchor Victoria Derbyshire aired her mid-morning show live from an abortion clinic. Her goal was refreshingly straightforward, as explained in her introduction, “What we’d like to do is tell you what happens when a woman considers an abortion and then decides to have one.”

The show came just a day after the public learned of the death of 38-year-old Catherine Furey, a mother of five who died from drinking industrial-strength vinegar in an attempt at a home abortion. Although it’s impossible to know why she took such drastic action, it’s a tragic reminder of the type of situation that could become commonplace if women were denied abortion access.

fastcompany:

Jack Andraka (center), a 15-year-old student from Maryland, came up with a paper sensor that detects pancreatic cancer 168 times faster than current tests. It’s also 90% accurate, 400 times more sensitive, and 26,000 times less expensive than today’s methods. In short: It’s a lot better.

Andraka was inspired to focus on pancreatic cancer because a friend’s brother was killed by the disease. “I became interested in early detection, did a ton of research, and came up with this idea,” he says.

A Cheap, Accurate Cancer Sensor, Created By A 15-Year-Old

stfuconservatives:

animeaves:

hokarotsukino:

mscaptains:

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters… S.T..R …
My friend sent this to me and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a party, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. (they offered to call an ambulance)

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid’s husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital. At 6:00 pm, Ingrid passed away.
She had suffered a stroke at the party. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.

Some don’t die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this…

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke…totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the ‘3’ steps, STR . Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster.
The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions :

S * Ask the individual to SMILE ..
T * = TALK. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (eg ‘It is sunny out today’).
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call the ambulance and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

NOTE : Another ‘sign’ of a stroke is
1. Ask the person to ‘stick’ out their tongue.
2. If the tongue is ‘crooked’, if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.

A prominent cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

And it could be your own.

First reblog post that actually saves a fucking life.

This is a life-saving post.

the more you know

yeah don’t think that this can’t happen to you or someone you know if they’re young. my cousin’s wife is 33 and she had a stroke last year

I’ve had a stroke. It happens to people, and the more you know about this kind of stuff, the better.Because it could be important to know.

LIVE SAVING. WOOOAHH. REBLOG REBLOG REBLOG REBLOG REBLOG 

Had a family member almost die of one, so signal boosting because you never know when you could save a life.

Remember:

S * Ask the individual to SMILE ..
T * = TALK. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (eg ‘It is sunny out today’).
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .

Bei Bei Shuai was released on bail today after more than a year in an Indianapolis jail for being so depressed during pregnancy that she attempted suicide. She survived the suicide attempt but lost her baby — and her ordeal is not over yet.

Even though she was finally released today from jail, she is far from free. Even though she is no longer held in a cell, she must wear a GPS electronic monitor which tracks her location every second of the day, and which she must pay for herself ($12 dollars a day). All of Ms. Shuai’s savings have gone to the enormous cost of her ongoing legal defense, and now, she must literally pay for each day outside a jail-cell.

Ms. Shuai still has to stand trial for attempted feticide and murder of a viable fetus – facing a sentence that could be as long as 45 years. According to the Indiana Court of Appeals women who experience pregnancy losses may be charged with murder, and those who take any intentional act that is perceived as risking pregnancy loss can be charged with attempted feticide and attempted murder. 

This is so incredibly wrong….

To get a feeling for what being sick in America is really like, and to help us understand the findings of our poll with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, NPR did a call-out on Facebook. We asked people to share their experiences of the health care system, and within 24 hours, we were flooded with close to 1,000 responses.

The stories, often lengthy and detailed, echoed what our poll found: Americans with recent first-hand experience of the U.S. medical system are more likely than the general public to say there are serious problems with the cost and quality of care.

From Oregon to Florida and Maine to Mississippi, Facebook respondents told wrenching tales of bankruptcies, missed diagnoses, medical errors, miscommunication, and treatment that was delayed or foregone because of its cost.

The Iowa Senate simply did not have enough time to consider the nomination of a Catholic priest to the state’s Board of Medicine, which is composed of ten seats, including three for non-physicians. Because of that, Monsignor Frank Bognanno is now an active, albeit temporary, board member. The Iowa Senate revisits the nomination in January when the body resumes work, and Bognanno could get a three-year term. But for now, he’ll serve for the rest of 2012.

Bognanno’s nomination to the Board of Medicine, however, could be a problem for women’s health in the state because Bognanno is anti-abortion which means he may also be anti-contraception. Republican Governor Terry Branstad nominated Bognanno after Senate Democrats flatly rejected his previous choice of Colleen Pasnik, a “feverishly” anti-abortion activist. But Bognanno may be just as anti-abortion as Pasnik. Not only did Bognanno join Pasnik as “part of a group that urged the board to reject a Planned Parenthood abortion-pill dispensing system,” he’s already admitted that he would come down on the anti-abortion side if he can find room for interpretation in state law.

[…]

The issue here is that most anti-abortion advocates already believe that state law is wrong and that we should be following Biblical law. As a Catholic priest, Bognanno is required by church law to oppose abortion and contraception. Will he really be able to “fairly apply state law” as he says? Or is that just his way of making himself seem like a nominee the Senate can approve? Once he is approved, Bognanno can vote based on his religious beliefs all he wants, which could put the lives and health of women in Iowa at serious risk.

This also sounds like a violation of the separation of church and state because Branstad has selected a Catholic priest to serve on a state board. He didn’t choose just a Catholic citizen. He chose a priest who takes orders from the bishops, who take their orders from the Pope. Conservative Republicans have been furious about President Obama ordering insurance companies to offer contraception services to female employees of religious institutions. This nomination may be a clear Republican response that they want religion to dictate medical and health policy. I have no doubt that Bognanno is a respected clergy member, I simply doubt that he can objectively protect the health of women. The State Board of Medicine should make decisions based on what is best for people’s health. They should not make decisions based on what someone’s religion says.

Health care costs are projected to reach $20,728 this year for a family of four insured through the most common health plan offered by employers, according to the annual Milliman Medical Index.

The index includes the cost of health insurance and out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles and co-pays.

This year, employers will pay an average of $12,144 toward the total cost, while employees will pay the remaining $8,584 through their share of the cost of health insurance and out-of-pocket expenses.

“When it comes down to it, that’s a lot of money for the typical family of four,” said Scott Weltz, a consulting actuary with the Milwaukee office of Milliman, an actuarial and consulting firm with an office in Milwaukee.

This year’s projected health care cost is up almost 70% from an estimated $12,214 in 2005.

[…]

But economists agree that the rise in the cost of providing health benefits has depressed wages over the long term.

The Milliman Medical Index, which does not include the cost of dental care, projects that health care costs will increase 6.9% this year. This is more than triple the current rate of inflation.

[…]

Nationally, total health care spending increased 3.9% in 2010 and 4% in 2009, the slowest rate of growth in more than five decades.

Part of the slowdown is attributed to the rise in unemployment and increase in people without health insurance. But an array of other factors also could be at work, from physicians becoming more conscious of costs to high-deductible health plans becoming more common.

Total health care spending is even higher than the figures in the Milliman Medical Index: $8,402 a person in 2010. That amounts to $33,608 for a family of four.

The index also doesn’t include what a typical family pays in state and federal taxes for government health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. And though the percentage increase projected for this year is the lowest in the past decade, the total dollar increase is the largest: $1,335.

THREE and a half years ago, on my 62nd birthday, doctors discovered a mass on my pancreas. It turned out to be Stage 3 pancreatic cancer. I was told I would be dead in four to six months. Today I am in that rare coterie of people who have survived this long with the disease. But I did not foresee that after having dedicated myself for 40 years to a life of the law, including more than two decades as a New York State judge, my quest for ameliorative and palliative care would lead me to marijuana.

[…]

Inhaled marijuana is the only medicine that gives me some relief from nausea, stimulates my appetite, and makes it easier to fall asleep. The oral synthetic substitute, Marinol, prescribed by my doctors, was useless. Rather than watch the agony of my suffering, friends have chosen, at some personal risk, to provide the substance. I find a few puffs of marijuana before dinner gives me ammunition in the battle to eat. A few more puffs at bedtime permits desperately needed sleep.

This is not a law-and-order issue; it is a medical and a human rights issue. Being treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, I am receiving the absolute gold standard of medical care. But doctors cannot be expected to do what the law prohibits, even when they know it is in the best interests of their patients. When palliative care is understood as a fundamental human and medical right, marijuana for medical use should be beyond controversy.

So what do you do when you’re accused of hitting up sick patients in the hospital to pay their bills — sometimes even before they get treatment?

Well, if you’re Chicago-based Accretive Health, under fire by not only the Minnesota Attorney General but key members of Congress and possibly the Obama Administration, you fight fire with fire. You line up your own set of political defenders.

[…]

So now Accretive is upping the ante. It has enlisted a veritable who’s who in health policy to come up with “national standards for how hospitals and other providers interact with patients regarding their financial obligations.” In other words, how aggressive can debt collectors be without running afoul of federal law, various or regulation or good public relations.

The group includes some well-connected heavy-hitters, including former Bush administration Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and Medicare chief Mark McClellan, former Senate GOP leader Bill Frist,. There some prominent Democrats too, including former Clinton Administration HHS Secretary Donna Shalala and former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle.

For all of Accretive’s alleged misdeeds, however, the collection of outstanding bills is a serious one for hospitals, particularly as they await the Supreme Court’s decision about the 2010 health law. Hospitals agreed to take significant reductions in Medicare payments with the expectation they would make that money back when currently uninsured patients whose care now goes unpaid would gain coverage.

Should the high court strike down the requirement for most people to obtain insurance, however, that could leave hospitals in a financially difficult spot.

other-stuff:

Afghanistan 90 days Algeria 14 weeks Angola 90 days Argentina 90 days Australia 0 weeks Austria 16 weeks Bahamas, The 8 weeks Bahrain 45 days Bangladesh 12 weeks Barbados 12 weeks Belarus 126 days Belgium 15 weeks Belize 12 weeks Benin 14 weeks Bolivia 60 days Botswana 12 weeks Brazil 120 days Bulgaria 120-180 days Burkina Faso 14 weeks Burma 12 weeks Burundi 12 weeks Cambodia 90 days Cameroon 14 weeks Canada 55% up to $413/week for 50 weeks (15 weeks maternity + 35 weeks parental leave shared with father) Central African Republic 14 weeks Chad 14 weeks Chile 18 weeks China 90 days Colombia 12 weeks Comoros 14 weeks Congo, Democratic Republic of the 14 weeks Costa Rica 4 months Cuba 18 weeks Cyprus 16 weeks Côte d’Ivoire 14 weeks Denmark 18 weeks Djibouti 14 weeks Dominica 12 weeks Dominican Republic 12 weeks Ecuador 12 weeks Egypt 50 days El Salvador 12 weeks Equatorial Guinea 12 weeks Estonia 455 calendar days (100%) Ethiopia 90 days Fiji 84 days Finland 105 days France 16 weeks (100%) rising to 26 weeks (100%) for third child Gabon 14 weeks Gambia, The 12 weeks Germany 14 weeks (100%) 6 before birth Ghana 12 weeks Greece 16 weeks Grenada 3 months Guatemala 12 weeks Guinea 14 weeks Guinea-Bissau 60 days Guyana 13 weeks Haiti 12 weeks Honduras 10 weeks Hungary 24 weeks Iceland 90 days 80% up to a ceiling of Íkr480,000 (€5,300, $6,700) monthly (minimum monthly payment Íkr 91,200 (€1000, $1,275) + 90 days to be shared between the parents India 135 days (Central Government) 90 days or 12 weeks in State Governments Indonesia 3 months Iran 90 days Iraq 62 days Ireland 22 weeks (26 weeks from March 2007) Israel 12 weeks Italy 22 weeks (5 months) (80%) 2 before birth Jamaica 12 weeks Japan 14 weeks Jordan 10 weeks Kenya 2 months Korea, South 60 days Kuwait 70 days Laos 90 days Lebanon 40 days Libya 50 days Liechtenstein 8 weeks Luxembourg 16 weeks Madagascar 14 weeks Malaysia 60 days Mali 14 weeks Malta 13 weeks Mauritania 14 weeks Mauritius 12 weeks Mexico 12 weeks Mongolia 101 days Morocco 12 weeks Mozambique 60 days Namibia 12 weeks Nepal 52 days Netherlands 16 weeks New Zealand 14 weeks Nicaragua 12 weeks Niger 14 weeks Nigeria 12 weeks Norway 54 weeks (12.5 months) (80%) or 44 weeks (10 months) (100%) - mother must take at least 3 weeks immediately before birth and 6 weeks immediately after birth, father must take at least 6 weeks - the rest can be shared between mother and father. Pakistan 12 weeks Panama 14 weeks Paraguay 12 weeks Peru 90 days Philippines 60 days Poland 16-18 weeks Portugal 120 days Qatar 40-60 days Romania 112 days Russia 140 days Rwanda 12 weeks Saint Lucia 13 weeks Saudi Arabia 10 weeks Senegal 14 weeks Seychelles 14 weeks Singapore 12 weeks Solomon Islands 12 weeks Somalia 14 weeks South Africa 12 weeks Spain 16 weeks Sri Lanka 12 weeks Sudan 8 weeks Sweden 480 days (16 months) (80% up to a ceiling the first 390 days, 90 days at flat rate) - shared with father (minimum 60 days) Switzerland 16 weeks (100%), 8 weeks mandatory Syria 75 days Tanzania 12 weeks Thailand 90 days Togo 14 weeks Tunisia 30 days Turkey 12 weeks Uganda 4 weeks Ukraine 126 days United Arab Emirates 45 days United Kingdom 6 weeks (90%) 20 weeks at a fixed amount (as of March 2006 = £108.85) United States 0 weeks Uruguay 12 weeks Venezuela 18 weeks Vietnam 4-6 months Yemen 60 days Zambia 12 weeks Zimbabwe 90 days

The US and Australia with the outstanding 0 days or weeks of mandated paid maternity leave.