Health, Fitness and Style

When patients are too sick to go home but not sick enough to be admitted, observation care gives doctors time to figure out what’s wrong. It is considered an outpatient service, like a doctor’s visit. Unless their care falls under a new Medicare bundled payment category, observation patients pay a share of the cost of each test, treatment or other services. And if they need nursing home care to recover their strength, Medicare won't pay for it because that coverage requires a prior hospital admission of at least three consecutive days. Observation time doesn’t count. more »

Rose Madeline Mula writes: "A while back I was hospitalized for five days for a surprise bout of pneumonia which floored me. When an attendant wheeled my gurney from the ER into a room, I was upset to see an old woman there. They had promised me a private room. I did not want to share space with that old crone. Oh, wait. That wasn't my roommate. It was a mirror." more »

"Numerous published studies have shown the potential negative consequences of short- and long-term use of recreational marijuana in adolescents. These consequences include impaired short-term memory and decreased concentration, attention span, and problem-solving skills, all of which interfere with learning. Alterations in motor control, coordination, judgment, reaction time, and tracking ability have also been documented. These effects may contribute to unintentional deaths and injuries among adolescents, especially those who drive after using marijuana." more »

In a time when the fertility business in the US is booming and so much is possible — artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization (IVF), surrogacy, and potentially, bioengineering of embryos — there are few, if any, laws that protect the children from these less traditional origins. more »