AP Finds More Fatalities From
Birth Control Patch Than Expected
North County Times
Several lawsuits have already been filed by families of women who died or suffered blood clots while using the patch, and lawyers said more are planned. Though the Food and Drug Administration and patch-maker Ortho McNeil saw warning signs of possible problems with the patch well before it reached the market, both maintain that the patch is as safe as the pill. However, the reports obtained by the AP appear to indicate that in 2004 -- when 800,000 women were on the patch -- the risk of dying or suffering a survivable blood clot while using the device was about three times higher than while using birth control pills.

Nurse Shortage Problem Persists Despite Mandate
BizJournals
What with lifting patients, working graveyard shifts, and dealing with loads of stress, Bay Area nurses have always had a tough job. Nurses say that difficult working conditions drive turnover that averages 15 percent to 18 percent a year statewide. An estimated one-third of nurses leave the profession in their first two years after graduating from nursing school. And to hear the union tell it, hospitals aren't helping. "Hospitals treated the nurses as if they were commodities that could just be replaced at will, when in reality trying to get into a nursing program is difficult, staying in a nursing program is difficult, and then trying to stay in a job if they're not appreciated is also difficult," said Deborah Burger, president of the California Nurses Association -- the nurses' union -- and a staff nurse at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa.

Community College's 1st Nursing Program
The Arizona Republic
The Gilbert area's community college is joining the battle against the nationwide nursing shortage. Small wonder. Some of the fight is playing out in the school's back yard. The maximum of 40 people have signed up for Chandler-Gilbert Community College's first nursing program, which offers an associate in applied science degree in nursing. Fall classes begin Aug. 22.School officials may consider starting another class in the two-year program in fall 2006 if there is interest, said William Crawford, Chandler-Gilbert's dean of Career and Technical Education.

Jail Struggling With Nurse Shortage
Billings Gazette
MISSOULA -- Some inmates are not getting their medications on time because of a severe nursing shortage at the Missoula County Detention Center. The facility has lost several nurses over the past month and has had difficulty replacing them, officials said. The jail has just one full-time nurse on duty this week, sheriff's Capt. Susan Hintz said. "I think it's fair to say we've been having trouble keeping nurses," she said. "And it's been a real problem lately. It's a cause of real concern for me and for the inmates." The county is close to reaching an agreement with Spectrum Medical of Great Falls for nurses and other jail medical staff. Hintz said those nurses could be on the job relatively quickly.

FDA Examines Deaths Of Patients Using Pain Patches
News-Medical.Net
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating reports of the deaths of patients who were using pain patches that contain the narcotic fentanyl. The fentanyl patches made by Johnson & Johnson are sold under the brand name Duragesic. Mylan Laboratories also markets a generic version. Last month Johnson & Johnson told doctors that it was adding warnings to the Duragesic label about the potential for abuse and misuse of the product. The FDA says it is presently conducting an investigation into the deaths associated with these patches.

Governors Discuss Concerns Over Medicare
ABC News
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Governors came together Sunday on sweeping Medicaid changes that could help President Bush's budget goals, even as more than a dozen of the chief executives are weighing a legal fight over new Medicare policy that will cost states hundreds of millions of dollars. The focus at the governors' summer meeting on the two huge, government-paid health care programs Medicare for the elderly, Medicaid for the poor underscored their widespread view that health care is their most urgent issue, for constituents and for states' financial future.

Health Costs Hit Workers Coming And Going
USA Today
NEW YORK -- Employees are facing a double whammy when it comes to health care costs: Many companies are likely to ask workers to pay more for their insurance, and rising health care costs mean companies may dole out lower raises. Half of large U.S. companies said that increased health care costs have contributed to slower profit growth and as a result more than 75% may ask employees to bear an even greater share of the cost, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers released Monday.

FDA OKs Brain Stimulator For Depression
MSNBC
WASHINGTON -- The government on Friday approved a new therapy for the severely depressed who have run out of treatment options: a pacemaker-like implant that sends tiny electric shocks to the brain. The Food and Drug Administration's clearance opens Cyberonics Inc.'s vagus nerve stimulator, or VNS, as a potential treatment for an estimated 4 million Americans with hard-to-treat depression - despite controversy over whether it's really been proven to work.

Study Hints at Alzheimer's Memory Recovery
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- While a breakthrough for humans could be years away, a new study in mice suggests some memory recovery may be possible in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. "There basically are two prongs and we need to deal with both," said lead researcher Karen Ashe, a University of Minnesota neurologist. "What we're showing is that there are neurons which are affected (by Alzheimer's) but not dead."