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In most towns across Illinois and the U.S., the Public Health Department publicizes any health code violation so that consumers can be aware of the risk they are taking by eating at a restaurant. However, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department chooses not to share the roughly 1,300 inspections done in a year. Many in the restaurant business don’t find this a problem, citing that once the violation is corrected, it should not matter. Unfortunately, there are repeat offenders; “Geovanti’s Bar & Grill on Green Street failed its restaurant inspections five times from September 2008 through February of this year.”
Exposure to lead – even a little – in tap water can cause serious health problems in both children and adults. In this report by Ellen Gabler of the Chicago Tribune, she reveals that a recent federal testing of Chicago’s tap water showed that “nearly 45 percent” of homes “had lead levels spike when more water samples were taken directly” after the initial testing that is done. All homes passed that first test. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials conducted another small study of Chicago tap water earlier this year, which also revealed high levels of lead.
Gabler writes, “Those results suggest that the way water is screened for lead nationwide may inaccurately gauge how much of the toxic metal leaches into our water.”
“The city of Chicago hasn’t exceeded that limit in nearly 20 years, and neither have the majority of communities across the nation. But regulators, scientists and public health officials are worried the flawless results are the result of outdated testing methods, government agencies gaming the system or both.”
Two decades ago, if a doctor ran into malpractice trouble in one state, all he or she had to do was move to another state and their slate was wiped clean. This posed problems for hospitals so, in 1986, Congress “established the National Practitioner Data Bank: a clearinghouse for hospitals, professional societies and state regulators to check doctors’ credentials.” A ‘public use’ file is made available every quarter by the federal Health Resources & Services Administration, but scrubbed clean of any identifying information. However, STLToday and others have been able to find specific information about individual doctors and the Obama administration responded by pulling the entire data bank.
In the series, “A Lethal Dose,” the Star Tribune addresses alarming facts about synthetic drugs. In part II, the Star Tribune reveals how simply it is to obtain these highly dangerous chemicals. All it takes is a credit card and the Internet. The substances are often marketed as harmless bath salts, herbal incense or research chemicals. To find out just how dangerous these drugs are, the Star Tribune ordered 30 different types “from dealers in the United States and overseas” with plans to have the drugs tested.
The majority of the packages arrived “mislabeled” and “some items came with deliberately misleading instructions on how they should be used.”
“The laboratory test results disturbed several drug experts who reviewed the findings for the newspaper. The packages contained an array of psychoactive stimulants, hallucinogens and cannabinoids. Also troubling: Concentration levels varied so much that a dose of one was many times more potent than the same dose of another — even when the products carried the same name, the experts said.”
In a one-hour comprehensive special, KHOU-TV revealed how Texas and U.S. authorities often allow the public to drink water with more radioactive contamination than is allowed by federal law. “A Matter of Risk” also uncovered a report by state-scientists that nearly a quarter of a million Texans drink water that give them a 1 in 400 chance of developing cancer. In addition, Investigative Reporter Mark Greenblatt found the state’s top politicians, including Governor Rick Perry, were involved in an on-going practice to hide just how much radiation was in the state’s drinking water. The report also discusses KHOU’s own testing of one city’s tap water and the surprising results.
Dallas’ Parkland Memorial Hospital, which offers care to much of the poor community in the Dallas County area, have been targeted by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. They found countless incidents of deficiencies in the hospital, including “patients lost in hallways, buckled over in pain. Children discharged without medical screening or stabilizing care. Emergency room patients repeatedly placed in dirty bedding.”
Update: Aug. 23- Brooks Egerton reports on the hospital’s dirty OB/GYN clinic.
In the aftermath of the devastating Joplin tornadoes, cases of a rare fungus that cause potentially deadly infections in humans began showing up in Southwestern Missouri.Local health officials in Green County contacted state health officials with the evidence and suggested sounding a statewide alert. However, Missouri officials declined citing the concern of causing public panic. Sarah Okeson of the Springfield News-Leaderreports that, “frustrated, county officials issued a limited alert themselves.”
“County officials ended up putting out the word to 43 health care contacts. Joplin health officials also alerted providers. The state did eventually issue a health advisory on June 10, a week after the county’s request and two days after the News-Leader wrote about the fungal infections.”
Of the 13 documented cases of the fungal infections, “known as mucormycosis,” five people died.
Brian McVicar from The Muskegon Chronicle investigates the thousands of food code violations that were reported from 2007-2010 in Muskegon County, Michigan (an area with the population size of about 174,000 according to Muskegon County’s website http://www.co.muskegon.mi.us/).
However, restaurants aren’t the only ones skirting the law, “Schools, hospitals, and food stands found in places such as Michigan’s Adventure Amusement Park were cited for breaking the rules, too. ”
McVicar used Microsoft Access to slice and dice the data numerous ways, including what restaurants accumulated the most violations and how common some of the most serious violations are.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2011/07/food_code_violations_rampant_f.html
Fox 9 News in Minneapolis, MN went undercover to investigate the claim that some veterinary clinics are vaccinating pets too often.
Jeff Baillon reports on what can happen to your dog if you listen to your vet and vaccinate for rabies every two years, instead of the vaccine’s intended 1 or 3 year dose. The doctors claim they do this because of the pet owners inability to make appointments on time. However, the risk of vaccinating every two years could outweigh the risk of not vaccinating for, some say, up to five years.
Pam Louwagie, of The Star-Tribune in Minneapolis, reports on the devastating results of “designer” drug use. These legal substances are marketed online as “herbal incense” and “bath salts,” which seem like a safer alternative to street drugs. However, Louwagie points out that all over the country teens and adults alike are experiencing some terrifyingly dangerous side-effects.
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