Doctors May Be Helping Sick Kids Die
The Associated Press
CHICAGO -- Researchers in the Netherlands, the first country to legalize euthanasia for terminally ill people, have found that doctors are helping hasten the deaths of sick children in a variety of ways, sometimes at the edges of what the law allows. The study adds to an international debate expected to heat up in the United States this fall when the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether Oregon doctors can prescribe federally controlled drugs to help patients die. The new study looked at 64 deaths of ill children during a four-month period. Of those, 42 cases involved medical decisions that could hasten death. Doctors were given immunity against prosecution and their responses were kept anonymous in the government-sponsored study.

City Calls Out For Nurse Educator
Modesto Bee
TURLOCK -- About 100 high school students with an interest in health care might someday help solve the nation's shortage of nurses. But they might be slowed by a related problem — a shortage of people who are qualified to teach nursing. Administrators have had trouble finding a permanent teacher for the students, who are taking introductory classes on nursing and other health careers. The classes are held at Pitman High School, and include students from Turlock High School.

Nighttime is the Right Time for Nursing Students
The Journal-Standard
Aspiring nurses have an alternative to traditional academic programs - night nursing at Highland Community College. The college and FHN started the program to accommodate those who might not be able to enroll in the daytime program and to help address a area's nursing shortage.

Possible Outbreak Worries Military Doctors
WJLA-TV Washington D.C
WASHINGTON -- From dehydration to potential outbreaks of infectious diseases, health care threats along the swamped Gulf Coast concerned military officials on Friday as they beefed up medical evacuations. The more immediate threats to public heath are dehydration, malnutrition and intestinal problems, said Maj. Gen. Bruce Green, the Air Force's assistant surgeon general. "If we can get people to where there is food and water and sanitation, we can avoid most of the diseases," Green said.

Miss. Shelter Closes As Several Fall Ill
The Associated Press
BILOXI, Miss. -- Officials closed a shelter Saturday because more than 20 people there fell ill, and doctors believe the patients may have contracted dysentery from tainted water. Another 20 people in the area also were treated for vomiting and diarrhea. The shelter at a Biloxi school had been without water and power since Katrina hit Monday. About 400 people had been staying there, and doctors said some may have ignored warnings to stay away from water.

Troubled New Orleans Hospitals Evacuated
ABC News
Two of New Orleans' most troubled hospitals were evacuated late Friday after desperate doctors spent days making tough choices about which patients got dwindling supplies of food, water and medicines. Rescuers finally made it into Charity and University hospitals and evacuated all remaining patients and staff. "The last information I have is that all of the buildings are empty," said Don Smithburg, head of the Louisiana State University hospital system. About 2,200 people were evacuated, including 363 patients. Some were taken out on stretchers and others on piggyback.

Doctors Hamstrung in Relief Efforts
The Associated Press
Baton Rouge, La. -- Volunteer physicians are pouring in to care for the sick, but red tape is keeping hundreds of others from caring for Hurricane Katrina survivors even as health officials worry about potential outbreaks. Among the doctors stymied from helping out are 100 surgeons and paramedics in a state-of-the-art mobile hospital marooned in rural Mississippi.

Astrodome Triage Center Treating Hundreds
The Associated Press
HOUSTON -- The triage line inside the Astrodome hasn't changed much since the buses began arriving from New Orleans two nights ago. It's long with tired, ailing refugees, some in wheelchairs, some on crutches, some critical, some not, but every one of them waiting on a doctor. This is the Astrodome, not the Superdome. It's smells a lot less here. It's cooler, and less chaotic.

Red Cross Trains Citizens for Storm Relief
New Orleans Times-Picayune
FARMINGTON, Conn. -- In a room filled with nurses, emergency medical technicians, firefighters, veterans, retirees and recent graduates, Jason Timber has a compelling reason for wanting to volunteer with the Red Cross to help hurricane victims. His 5-year-old daughter, Destiny, may be one of them. Since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, Timber has sought information about his daughter, who was living in Mississippi with her grandmother. Finally, he called a toll-free number to volunteer, with the goal of being deployed and finding his daughter.

Ethics Class Not Always a Requirement For Medical Students
Daily Nebraskan
Medical ethics should become a requirement for pre-medical students, said Erin Sayer, University of Nebraska-Lincoln pre-health academic advisor. But according to an American Medical Student Association survey, more than one-third of medical students nationally do not take a medical ethics class.

Ga. Healer Targeted Over Cancer Treatment
The Associated Press
Curtis Brown carries business cards with old pictures of his tumors, including an egg-sized growth on his neck. He says they were each shed after the application of a flesh-eating paste containing the medicinal herb bloodroot. "I cured myself of cancer," the cards read. Georgia's medical board and the Food and Drug Administration don't share Brown's enthusiasm for the paste. The state board has accused its maker, Dan Raber, a pastor-turned-healer, of practicing medicine without a license. FDA agents recently raided Raber's business, and a doctor could lose her medical license for allegedly knowing Raber was giving people the paste _ not approved for the treatment of cancer _ and not reporting him.