Category: Health

A UW study looks at the most common injury to young athletes, and itâ??s not a concussion. In a first-of-a-kind study, University of Wisconsin researchers will examine whether using ankle braces during football practice and games will help to reduce the incidence of ankle sprains â?? which can be debilitating.

Former head of the cancer pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin Hospital pled guilty Wednesday to stealing a portion of the pills from the hospital pharmacy after having charges filed against him in March.

Dennis Malone made sure to consult his health insuranceâ??s provider directory before making an appointment with an ophthalmologist at UW Healthâ??s East Clinic. The physician was in his planâ??s network, so he figured all heâ??d have to pay for his visit would be the required co-pay for seeing a specialist.Then the bills came.

Mike Abernethy is chief flight physician with Med Flight, which celebrates its 25th anniversary at UW Hospital on April 22. Abernethy has been there 18 years and estimates that no physician in the country has made more medical flights.

The words “health care crisis” are probably strung together as much these days as any three words found in the dictionary. The crisis is very real and challenging in rural places around the country. Programs such as the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine, or WARM, should be supported and expanded where possible. WARM, a part of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, trains doctors in rural places around the state, with the hope that the students will find reasons to stay in those areas upon graduation.

Our countryâ??s obsession with food is nothing new, as a fascinating exhibit at the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Ebling Library, in the Health Science Learning Center makes clear.

â??Itâ??s Good for You,â? which closes April 6, traces the history of our food and diet fads through a thoughtful compilation of books, magazine articles and photos from university libraries and archives that both amuses and surprises.

Dear Editor: Regarding the location of the Madison station for the coming Amtrak high-speed train to Milwaukee and Chicago, I agree totally that the facility must be located as close to downtown Madison as possible. That location simultaneously serves as the center of activity of state government and is close to the UW-Madison and the great medical complex west and south of that campus.

Money for the initiative comes from the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program, which is financed with income from one of two endowments set up when the former Blue Cross & Blue Shield United of Wisconsin converted to a for-profit company. One of the endowments went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, which announced last month that it is committing $10 million over the next five years to finance projects designed to lower infant mortality.

The state Medical Examining Board improperly sanctioned a Madison physician last October after he was accused of fondling female patients, a Dane County judge ruled Tuesday. The board suspended Frank Salvi for 90 days and required him to undergo a mental evaluation and five years of supervision. Four female patients accused Salvi of fondling them, charges Salvi vigorously denied and successfully defended against in a peer review at his then job at UW Hospital. Salvi resigned his post as assistant professor at UW-Madison on June 30, 2007, but his attorney said Salvi is preparing to take a new position in Madison.

Children raised in poverty face daunting challenges in their development, just by virtue of their parentsâ?? lack of income to provide opportunities and resources. But research shows a communityâ??s investment in young children and their families, including support for parents and an enriched early childhood learning environment, can help them succeed alongside their more privileged peers, an expert says.

A growing trend of more sports-related injuries among young athletes is prompting UW Health researchers to get in the game. Over the past two years, sports medicine experts say youth baseball injuries have increased three-fold — specifically among pitchers — who are either overdoing it or not doing it the right way.

A federal grand jury indicted a former head of the cancer pharmacy at University of Wisconsin Hospital Thursday on 25 counts of prescription drug fraud.

When looking for a doctor to travel the country and tout its costly prescription fish oil pill, GlaxoSmithKline didnâ??t select a heavyweight university researcher. Instead, it wrote checks to Tara Dall, a Delafield primary-care doctor who entered private practice in 2001.

Last year, the Journal Sentinel series “Side Effects” found that there was little disclosure to patients of drug-company moonlighting among dozens of doctors at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.

A federal grand jury has indicted a University of Wisconsin Hospital pharmacist with falsifying prescriptions so he could obtain thousands of methadone tables.

Elizabeth Menzel isnâ??t one for following crowds.”I love what I do,” said Menzel, who is studying family medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a first-year resident at the UW-Fox Valley Family Medicine Residency Program in Appleton.

Dane County is moving forward with plans to have an appointed medical examiner, rather than an elected coroner, starting next January. Dane County autopsies have been performed by UW Hospital pathologists for a cost of $165,000 a year.

A McFarland-area teenager was revived by his sister Sunday afternoon after he was shocked when an aluminum roof rake came into contact with a 7,200-volt power line. The boy was taken by helicopter to UW Hospital where his condition was undisclosed Sunday afternoon.

A researcher needs your help in learning why asthma is on the rise in rural areas. Dr. David Van Sickle, a fellow in the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, said the study will pinpoint what causes asthmatics in rural areas to have an attack using GPS monitoring technology that heâ??s invented.

Some University of Wisconsin Medical School students are getting an early dose of reality and at the same time, helping those in need. Some future physicians are learning patient care through a lesson plan taking them out of the classroom into the doctorâ??s office by providing health care to those struggling to make ends meet.