../../../..//2008/03/27/a-test-of-47-natural/
A test of 47 “natural” and “green” labeled soaps, shampoos and other consumer products show that they contain 1,4-dioxan, which has been shown to cause cancer in lab rats. [LAT]
health
Email Addresses For United Health Care Executives
By 3.27.08
Email addresses for reaching 5 executives at United Healthcare insurance company:
Crest Refunds Teeth-Staining Mouthwash
By 3.27.08
For customer’s teeth stained brown by by Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash, Crest is refunding their bottles of mouthwash, but you have to push for them to pay for it. Reader Peter called the 1-800-285-9139 Crest number we posted about. “The rep was very aware of the situation & asked for some #s off the bottles I had. I had purchased 2 huge bottles from COSTCO,” Peter writes. “He offered to send some coupons. I told him that I wanted a full refund. He immediately said he would do so & is sending me a check for almost $16.” So not only will they pay for your cleaning if your insurance doesn’t cover it, they’ll give you your money back for buying the stuff. Good. Now how about taking it off the market?
Liggett Cigarette Company Paid For 2006 Lung Cancer Study
By 3.27.08
CT scanning, a promising approach to detecting lung cancer at early, treatable stages, has been dealt a setback with the revelation that the most prominent study so far in support of it was funded almost entirely by a cigarette company—with the funds funneled through a foundation set up by the study’s author, Dr. Claudia Henschke, reports the New York Times. Although the funding revelation doesn’t negate the results of the study, it raises huge conflict of interest flags and reveals how a tobacco company secretly influenced professional opinion by funneling $3.6 million into the foundation over a three year period.
UnitedHealth Will Cover Teen's Bone Cancer Procedure
By 3.25.08
In the hours leading up to a planned protest outside PacifiCare offices, the health insurance reversed its decision and decided to provide coverage for 17-year-old Nick Columbo to undergo an additional cancer procedure recommended by his doctors, provided the family finds a doctor to perform it. VP of PR for United Health Care, Tyler Mason, told me the coverage for the CyberKnife procedure was initially denied after three review boards, one at Stanford, the USC Cancer Center, and UNH’s California regulator, recommended against it because the cancer was too large, too involved with nerve endings and wrapped in nerves, and because of the potential side effects. Mason said that this information was omitted from the California Nurse’s website because they wanted to use the Columbo case as a political tool. The side effects include Nick needing to use a bag for his bowel movements and the skin on his tailbone falling off. When I asked if the bone cancer, Ewing’s sarcoma, could kill Nick, yes or no, Mason said, “It’s a very challenging situation, I’m not a physician.”
8 Worst Foods In America
By 3.25.08
A new book called Eat This, Not That! shows photos of foods you shouldn’t eat and their more reasonable substitutes. Here is its list of the top eight worst foods in America:
Walmart Successfully Sues Brain-Damaged Worker For $469,216
By 3.25.08
A Walmart worker who was hit by a truck and left brain-dead-damaged has lost her final round of appeals and must repay the retailer $469,216. This is because she both had Walmart pay for her medical expenses and she successfully sued the trucking company for medical expenses. While, on the face of it, reptilian, standard employer-sponsored-insurance contracts have clauses prohibiting double-dipping, and, as we all learned from Seinfeld, double-dipping is gross for society. [St. Louis Post Dispatch] (Thanks to Michael!)
Teen Being Murdered By UnitedHealth Spreadsheet
By 3.25.08
Pacificare, owned by UnitedHeatlh, has decided to deny coverage for Nick Columbo, a 17-year-old dying from bone cancer. Nick has been unresponsive to chemo and his doctors recommend the “CyberKnife” treatment (read their letters here). Nick’s family is holding a protest outside the Pacificare today to try to get the insurance company to change its mind. UnitedHealth is ranked as the worst insurance company in the nation, is being investigated by the state of California, and has been fined over $3.5 million for negligent claims practices. Inside, a plea for help from Nick’s brother.
Walgreens Fills High Blood Pressure Prescription With Generic Allergy Pills
By 3.24.08
Tina claims that last December she had her prescription filled at a Dallas Walgreens store, and was surprised to see that the pills had changed.
McDonald's Has Nutritional Info Right On Boxes
By 3.24.08
Googling reveals they’ve been doing this for over a year, but I ate a cheeseburger yesterday at McDonald’s and they had the “nutritional” info right on the hamburger box. They didn’t have it on the fries which I thought was silly. Otherwise, neat, and a good move towards more disclosure. Thanks to it I learned that the hamburger contained 50% of my RDA of sodium. Yummy!
By 3.20.08
../../../..//2008/03/20/getting-the-wrong-kidney/
Getting the wrong kidney removed is bad enough, but what if you went in for leg surgery and had your anus operated on instead? [Fox News] (Thanks to Gregg!)
By 3.20.08
../../../..//2008/03/20/hospitals-are-reusing-medical-devices/
Hospitals are reusing medical devices labeled as “one-time use” to save money. [WSJ]
Doctors Remove Wrong Kidney
By 3.18.08
A surgical team at Park Nicollet Heath Services in Minnesota removed the healthy kidney from a patient last week, and left behind the possibly cancerous kidney.
Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash Stain Your Teeth Brown? Crest Pays For Your Cleaning
By 3.18.08
Here’s relief for users of Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash finding that the product stains their teeth brown and destroys their sense of taste. Jeremy writes:
I had that happen to me and I went to my dentist to have them cleaned. Since I had gone only a month after my last cleaning (1 free per 6 months) I had to pay. I emailed Crest about it and they said they would pay for it.
So if Crest makes your mouth look like you’ve been chewing tobacco sine you were 13, and your insurance won’t cover the cleaning, email them via this webform or call 1-800-285-9139 and see if Crest will pay for your teeth cleaning. No word on whether they’ll be helping customers recover their ability to taste anything.
Insurance Company Won't Pay For Child's Leukemia Treatment
By 3.17.08
Primary Physician Care, a privately-owned insurance company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has now twice refused to pay for a 3-year-old’s special leukemia treatment recommended by doctors at Duke University Hospital—even after the child’s mother called the insurance company and spoke…
Want To Trade Sex For Pills? Head Over To CVS!
By 3.14.08
Ramon Bautista Juta, 54, of the first block of Trumpet Court in Perry Hall was charged with two counts of possession of narcotics with the intent to distribute, possession and distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, forgery of prescriptions and prostitution, police said. Juta had worked at the CVS in the first block of Compass Road in Middle River, police said.
Student Stripped Of Title, Suspended Over Contraband Candy Purchase
By 3.12.08
As some schools districts whore themselves out to corporate sponsors in a desperate attempt to raise funds (hey, we sympathize with them, but it’s still whoring), others are enforcing a zero-tolerance policy against unwelcome intrusions. In New Haven, Connecticut, the school district banned candy sales in 2003 “as part of a districtwide school wellness policy,” and when an 8th grade honors student was caught buying a bag of Skittles from a classmate two weeks ago, he was stripped of his title as class Vice President and suspended for a day.
Walgreens:"No One Will Want To Be Within 25ft Of You" If You Don't Take Your Depression Meds
By 3.12.08
Last week my mom told me about the unfortunate experience she had at Walgreen’s. She had recently switched to a new antidepressant and when she came down with a cold was concerned about taking OTC cold medicine with it.
