Bakersfield.com Health

Ask Emily: Obamacare's new coverage rules and costs

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:02:24 PDT

Q: I had colon cancer and have had trouble buying health insurance ever since. Under Obamacare, will insurance companies still be allowed to refuse me because of my medical history?

A: Finally, an Obamacare question with a simple answer, and the answer is NO.

Ask TBC: How do student fees figure into school sports?

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:40:20 PDT

Q: What percentage of student fees goes to athletics scholarships, coaches' salaries, staff salaries and other sport-related costs?

-- Craig Holland

Medicare rule change to cost local hospitals

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:32:23 PDT

A new Medicare program that punishes hospitals with high patient readmission rates is forcing administrators to reach out and improve how patients are cared for even after they're wheeled out the hospital doors.

Working to reduce runaway costs, Medicare is now penalizing hospitals nationwide for patients who must be admitted again within 30 days.

Health roundup: Doctors highlight effect of "spice" on pregnancy

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:06:00 PDT

Two local doctors' case study of pregnancy and the synthetic drug spice got attention last week at an annual meeting of obstetricians and gynecologists.

Dr. Cindy S. Lee and Dr. Sally Nalesnik detailed the case in a poster called "Spice Gold, A New Drug, A New Problem, A New Obstetric phenomenon" at the meeting in New Orleans, according to a news release from The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the poster.

Local women, doctors weigh in on test to gauge cancer risk

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:16:37 PDT

When one of Janie Olvera's nine sisters had preventative double mastectomy to reduce her risk of developing breast cancer, Olvera thought she was crazy.

But several years later, Olvera's 28-year-old niece was diagnosed with breast cancer and soon after, in 2006, Olvera learned that she carried the same genetic mutation that her sister and niece harbored.

State loophole allows sex offenders to become addiction counselors

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:07:23 PDT

"Sexual psychopath." That was the diagnosis a court-ordered psychiatrist gave Donald Robert Hoffman after he was convicted of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 1965. Hoffman, the psychiatrist determined, was a danger to others.

But that history didn't stop Hoffman from becoming a state-registered drug and alcohol counselor decades later, even though he had to register as a sex offender once he was released from prison in 1979.

Relay for Life dollars shrink as local cancer fund grows

Sat, 11 May 2013 22:30:30 PDT

Bakersfield has long boasted of having one of the world's largest Relay for Life events, but this year, the fundraiser's net income shrank for the first time in nearly two decades.

The massive fundraiser took a hit as several big donors shifted their giving from Relay to the Kern County Cancer Fund, a local charity effort that emerged last fall amid concerns that the bulk of the dollars donated to the American Cancer Society from here did not go to local programs.

Charity watchdogs caution donors to beware

Sat, 11 May 2013 21:00:00 PDT

When donors pull out their wallets to give to a charity, Daniel Borochoff, president of Chicago-based CharityWatch, warned that they should not assume that the biggest, most famous charity they know of will be the one to address their philanthropic concerns.

"Every individual needs to think about how they would like to help, how they would like to see their donations being used," Borochoff said.

Local doc named California's Family Physician of the Year

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:55:32 PDT

As Dr. Michelle Quiogue puts it, a lot of people had to tell a lot of lies to keep her from learning that she was up for the 2013 Family Physician of the Year award.

Quiogue sits on the committee that reviews the nominees for the honor from the California Academy of Family Physicians, but her nomination was hidden from her until March.

Explainer: Why official wants at-risk inmates out of valley fever-prone prisons and why the state objects

Wed, 08 May 2013 07:15:04 PDT

California prison officials say a receiver's policy for protecting inmates housed at two Central Valley prisons from Valley Fever is "premature" and urged a federal court to oppose its quick implementation.

"The [receiver's] policy is ambiguous and in need of further clarification before it can be appropriately and effectively implemented," said the state Attorney General's Office said on behalf of California Correctional Health Care Services in documents filed Monday in San Francisco's U.S. District Court.

Worth noting in health: Burn unit gets iPads

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:14:36 PDT

The Grossman Burn Center at San Joaquin Community Hospital gained a new resource for patients this week courtesy of the Bakersfield Firefighters Burn Foundation: iPads.

The four iPads, one for each room in the unit, will be loaned to patients and their families when they are admitted to the center for the duration of their stay. Capt. Trever Martinusen, the foundation's executive director, said the firefighters envision the iPads will be used to check email, play games, help folks connect to support resources and use FaceTime or Skype with family members.

Pot ruling a setback, not defeat, attorney says

Mon, 06 May 2013 23:28:18 PDT

The state supreme court ruling on medical marijuana dispensaries was not a defeat for the pot shop movement, a leading attorney said here Monday, but a setback.

Phil Ganong, an attorney representing several medical marijuana collectives in Kern County, said the ruling does not invalidate his pending cases against a law passed by voters in 2012.

LOIS HENRY: Corps' complaint about my column was all wet

Mon, 06 May 2013 07:34:16 PDT

My apologies to those who've had their fill of Kern River news from me lately, but I have a couple housecleaning items.

First, representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers called me last week after my column on how low river levels will ruin this summer's rafting season on the lower Kern.

Debate heats up as California legislators consider bills to allow non-physician providers to do more

Sat, 04 May 2013 22:00:00 PDT

Sitting in an exam room at Kern Medical Center's outpatient clinic, Jeff Jolliff examined a half-dozen bottles of prescription medications.

Dressed in a long, white lab coat, Jolliff chatted with Isidora Ortiz, a diabetic and the prescriptions' recipient, about her daily blood pressure and blood sugar levels. It looked like a typical doctor's visit except for one detail: the title embroidered above Jolliff's jacket pocket read "Pharm.D.," not "M.D."

Worth noting in health: McCarthy visits with NIH director about valley fever, Clinica gets $2 million low-interest loan

Fri, 03 May 2013 08:26:13 PDT

In the latest in a series of meetings with some of the nation's top health officials addressing valley fever, Rep. Kevin McCarthy met with Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, Tuesday in Los Angeles.

In an email McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, wrote that he and Collins discussed efforts underway to fight the disease, including NIH's vaccine research and the need for focus on medications.